88 Films UK Blu-ray Synopsis: After high-kicking Hong Kong cop Eddie Yang (Jackie Chan, Rush Hour) dies in the line of duty, he finds himself reanimated by an ancient mystic talisman, now with superpowers at his disposal! His return stuns his former girlfriend Nicole James (Claire Forlani, Meet Joe Black) and partner Arthur Watson (Lee Evans, There's Something About Mary). The trio must rejoin forces to take on a similarly supernaturally enhanced villain, Snakehead (Julian Sands, Warlock) and his right-hand man Calvin(Scott Adkins, John Wick 4). Shot in English by director Gordon Chan (Fist Of Legend) and choreographer Sammo Hung (Ip Man), The Medallion delivers a whole new kind of magic to a Jackie Chan action epic! (88 Mins)

 

Universe HK DVD Synopsis: A Hong Kong cop Eddie Yang (Jackie Chan), teamed with British agent, Watson (Lee Evans) and Nicole (Claire Forlani), hot on the trail of the ruthless international crime-lord Snakehead. Eddie gets killed in the line of duty, but then, is resurrected as with super power. With the stakes higher that even before, Eddie must master his new skills in order to survive a showdown with the apparently invincible Snakehead. Jackie Chan takes action to a whole new level in this stunning mix of martial arts, stunts and state-of-the-art special effects. (89 Mins)

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Columbia Tristar UK Ex-Rental VHS Synopsis: Action superstar Jackie Chan (Rush Hour 2, Shanghai Knights) combines his high flying style with state-of-the-art special effects as he unleashes the power of THE MEDALLION. Chan plays Hong Kong detective Eddie Yang, who works with the beautiful Interpol agent Nicole (Claire Forlani - Meet Joe Black, The Rock) and the bumbling agent Watson (Lee Evans - There's Something About Mary, Mouse Hunt) to try to rescue a boy from the clutches of the villainous Snakehead (Arachnophobia's Julian Sands). But when a fatal accident ends his life, Eddie is brought back to this world with the help of THE MEDALLION and is supercharged! Now empowered with superhuman strength, Eddie sets out to thwart Snakehead's plan for world domination. Filmed on location in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Ireland, Jackie Chan has got the power - and kicks THE MEDALLION into high gear! (85 Mins)

 

Views: When The Medallion first got its release 20 years ago, I was more upset than excited to see it having learned that my heroes, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, were here in Ireland – even going as far as shooting a scene close to my home – but I'd missed out on the chance to meet them. After all, I had only spent the last few years living in Canada and America trying to find Jackie when I caught wind of where he was shooting next, often rushing from Toronto to New York to Los Angeles, and back again. So, in 2001, when I heard that he was shooting The Medallion in Dublin, I thought it was time to return home and finally meet my hero. It took me a little longer to get the money raised so that I could leave Toronto and fly back to Ireland, and the same again once I got home to prepare for my trip from Belfast to Dublin, but by the time I had managed to accomplish all of this, finally ready to do whatever I could to meet Jackie, I found out that he had left Dublin to go and shoot The Tuxedo – in Toronto – where I had just left. Fuck! And to make matters worse, Chow Yun Fat turned up in the same city very soon after to shoot Bulletproof Monk. Double fuck!!

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The first English language feature for writer and director Gordon Chan, the same man behind Jackie Chan's Thunderbolt as well as hit Hong Kong films such as Fight Back To School, King Of Beggars, Fist Of Legend, Beast Cops, 2000 AD and The Four Trilogy, The Medallion started life under the title of Highbinders that saw a different storyline focus on the main villains attempt to create a superpowered Highbinder army - bearing some resemblance to the extremely popular animated show, Jackie Chan Adventures that came out only a few years earlier. Although it was Gordon's intention to keep a running time of around 108 minutes, the film was heavily cut by Columbia TriStar (Sony) who bought the distribution and editing rights worldwide (except for Hong Kong, Japan, and France), and ordered some reshoots after seeing Gordon's initial offering. Interestingly, these reshoots came about when Jackie was making Shanghai Knights, and are recognisable by the length of his hair as he would still be wearing the extensions attached to him from the new production. Although the final American cut was the only ever edit completed, the majority of the deleted, extended, and alternate scenes have always been made available on DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film for the fans to enjoy, with many revealing more of the original plot.

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While it proves to be a fun watch, although far from one of Jackie Chan's greatest films, critics reviews for The Medallion were mixed and never very favourable, often criticizing its muddled writing – with Gordon joined by no less than four other scribes which included producer Alfred Cheung, who also appears briefly. Another would be the decision to have Jackie Chan cast in a SFX heavy role considering the star has quite often been referred to as 'the' special effect of his own movies, but perhaps the most negative point was directed at the bumbling over-acting of his co-star Lee Evans; which was one of the biggest distractions of the film for me, although one can't deny the star power he had at the time and his comedic abilities. While I may have had some reservations about the latter, its fair to say that – as one of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong productions – The Medallion definitely offers up the best Western cast of any his modern projects. The wonderful and late Julian Sands, whose body was found later this year after he went missing in January of 2023 during a hike in the San Gabriel Mountains, plays the villainous Snakehead – a character very reminiscent to his animated counterpart Valmont, which he voiced in the aforementioned Jackie Chan Adventures. English actress Claire Forlani stars as the Inspector and girlfriend of Jackie's character of Inspector Eddie Yang, with the two reuniting when he arrives in Dublin after chasing Snakehead from Hong Kong. Like Sands before her, Claire had a strong filmography behind her and proved to be the perfect choice for the role along with award winning Welsh actor John Rhys Davies, who never fails to boost the cast list with his powerful presence and stars here as their boss.

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Of course, there are a number of Hong Kong stars who are as equally impressive such as the aforementioned Alfred Cheung who appears as a Chinese professor, Jackie Chan Stunt Team Member Anthony Carpio briefly pops-up as a warrior monk, and the great Lau Siu Ming – who had previously starred with Jackie in Project A 2, Police Story 2, Drunken Master 2, and Miracles – stars as the antique dealer from the opening scene. The incredible Anthony Wong, star of Hong Kong hits such as The Untold Story, Ebola Syndrome, Taxi Hunter, Beast Cops, and Infernal Affairs, stars as Snakehead's assistant Lester Wong in what would be his only appearance in a Jackie Chan movie (which is odd for a Hong Kong star with over 200 credits to his name). Canadian actress Christy Chung, the beautiful starlet who appeared in Hong Kong hits The Bodyguard From Beijing, Love On Delivery, Tai Chi Boxer, and Gen Y Cops, co-stars as the wife of Lee Evans and gets to kick some ass during the attack on their home. Then there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-them cameo from Nicholas Tse and Edison Chen as restaurant waiters, while Sammo Hung's son, Sammy, appears as one of the policeman on Jackie's team – going on to star alongside him again the following year in the fantastic New Police Story.

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Interestingly, Jackie would actually take time out of this production to shoot The Tuxedo – another fun, but similarly themed FX driven Hollywood adventure that proved to be equally entertaining but ultimately, another disappointment overall. In hindsight, both The Medallion and The Tuxedo would have been the perfect projects for his burly big brother, Sammo Hung, which would have been more effective considering the super abilities given in both storylines to a man of his stature. But instead, the Hong Kong movie legend was hired as the action choreographer on The Medallion, working with Jackie for the first time since 1997s Mr. Nice Guy and again with director Gordon Chan since 1995s Thunderbolt. Here, Sammo delivers a number of fun action scenes utilising many great martial artists from both the east and west including the fantastic Scott Adkins, appearing here in his second Jackie Chan film after The Accidental Spy, along with others such as Bruce Khan, Paul Andreovski, Mark Strange, Jude Poyer, Reuben Langdon, and the late Brad Allen. While the first 45 minutes of The Medallion certainly prove to have the more exciting action scenes, keeping things a little more real before Jackie and Snakehead get their superpowers in the second half, the martial arts action and choreography is still far from Jackie and Sammo's finest work. That said, there's plenty to enjoy from the fight scene in the sewers to the nighttime infiltration on the ship – which was definitely one of the highlights for me. Jackie giving chase in Dublin was a lot of fun and hugely impressive, proving once again (and decades after he led his first movie) that he has always been the king of parkour. While I still enjoyed the superpowered action later on in the movie, I just felt that it was a missed opportunity that saw Jackie's previous martial arts skills reduced for some silly moments and cheap laughs in order to use some special effects.

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With some great cinematography courtesy of Arthur Wong, The Medallion proved to be the most expensive Hong Kong production at the time, with a projected budget of $35 million, and while it saw moderate success at the box-office, has remained a favourite of many Chan fans over the years. With shades of Eddie Murphy's 80s hit The Golden Child and the amount of talent behind the camera, the film should have been so much stronger and I'd still love to see Gordon Chan's original version to understand why Sony were so intent on completely re-editing and reworking things. Still, it's only fair to say that even today, The Medallion holds enough charm to warrant a watch and mostly thanks to Jackie Chan!

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Overall: While not one of Jackie's greatest films, The Medallion still has enough going for it and proves to be an enjoyable piece all-round!

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88 Films Blu-ray Extras: Audio Commentary with Producer & Editor, Deleted Scenes, Alternate Ending, Trailer

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Universe DVD Extras: Stars Bios, Production Notes​

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Watch my unboxing video for the 88 Films Blu-ray release HERE

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Watch my video retrospective on the film HERE