Way up on the list of boxed sets that never seemed possible, Arrow's ten-disc UHD collection, Jackie Chan's Breakout Hits!, is something fans have been craving for over two decadeas. As everyone knows by now, Jackie had been starring in jaw-dropping action films in Hong Kong for years after his first major hit, 1978's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, and Golden Harvest tried to make him a star in the West with English-language vehicles like The Cannonball Run, The Protector, and Battle Creek Brawl. An exacting director as well as a martial arts star, Jackie was always a very different entertainer than the legendary Bruce Lee who continued to cast a large shadow over the industry. Action comedies had been around in Hong Kong before him, but Jackie revolutionized the idea with spectacular fusions of Buster Keaton-worthy sight gags and stunt work with eye-popping action spectacles involving the wholesale demolition of vehicles and buildings. By the time he ascended to indisputable masterpieces like the Police Story, Project A, and Armour of God series, action fans around the world were paying close attention and scrouging the globe for English-subtitled releases on any format they could get-- be it VCD, laserdisc, VHS, or any gray market option around. By the mid-'90s, the time was right for Jackie to finally punch his way through to Western movie theaters in full force-- but fans were still frustrated for a long time by the treatment these films still received. In addition to answering a lot of prayers with the films themselves, the Arrow limited edition comes with new art by Tom Ralston, a 160-page book (with an archival Jackie interview plus new essays by Thorsten Boose, Peter S. Bruce, Matt McAllister, Elaine Chung and Jialu Zhu), 24 lobby card reproductions, and a reversible poster.

First up in the set is 1994's Drunken Master II, later released in the U.S. in 2000 as The Legend of Drunken Master since it was a perfectly solid standalone film despite technically being a sequel to the 1978 hit Drunken Master. One of his very best films, this one feels like something of a victory lap closing out his pure Hong Kong era by returning to and upping the ante for the martial arts format he hadn't really visited recently in favor of modern crime-oriented films. On the other hand it was also part of an attempt to taper down on Chan's tendency to go over schedule and budget, with director Lau Kar-leung (36th Chamber of Shaolin) brought in to keep things in check. While traveling back home to Canton in the early 1900s, Wong Fei-hung (Chan) gets into a checkpoint scuffle and chase that results in his accidentally acquiring an Imperial Seal earmarked by British government smugglers. The villains enlist some thugs to go after Wong and his friends and family back home, which escalates into a series of showdowns that force Wong to use his trademark fighting style that can only be employed when he's intoxicated.

With its wide variety of fighting styles and spectacular steel factory climax, Drunken Master II is a great gateway film for newcomers as well as a high point in '90s action in general. The original uncut Hong Kong version was a major box office success but was virtually impossible to see for years, with its bizarre and utterly ridiculous final punchline involving the price Wong has to pay for his extreme alcohol consumption felt inappropriate to export anywhere else. A typical dub for the period was created for a general international export version, which omitted the final scene and simply ended with the climax's bubble-blowing gag. That solution was a lot better than the one for the U.S. dubbed version from Miramax subsidiary Dimension Films, which had the advantage of Chan dubbing his own voice but also swapped out the entire music score and many sound effects while ending awkwardly with the group photo shot during the final scene. As with other '90s Jackie films, the U.S. version became the international default in most countries for years with Asian imports in particular either blocked or highly challenging to import. Salvation finally arrived with the U.S. Blu-ray release from Warner Archive in 2021, which was 100% complete and looked quite nice with the full international English dub which switches to Cantonese for the final scene. On the other hand, the full Cantonese track was hobbled by the inclusion of only an English subtitle track drawn from the 1994 burned-in version released in Hong Kong, complete with comical misspellings and bad grammar that made it completely useless. The Arrow release is even better, featuring all three versions of the film which, as with the other titles in the set, has been restored from the original negative with HDR10-compatible Dolby Vision. Obviously detail here is the best of all, with refined color timing really shining during the fiery finale as well as less color and contrast boosting that makes sky shots in particular look more natural. The Hong Kong version comes with the original theatrical and alternate video Cantonese LPCM 1.0 mono tracks, Mandarin 1.0, and English 1.0 with excellent optional English subtitles; the international version (which runs the shortest) is English LPCM 1.0 mono with English SDH subs, and the U.S. version is English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with SDH subs. The Hong Kong version can also be played with a new audio commentary by Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto who have a great time covering a film that rightfully regard as the last truly great kung fu movies with lots of detail to cover including Chan's action directing, his rocky relationship with the main director, the multiple versions, the cast including Ti Lung and Andy Lau, and the film's relationship to the films that came before and after including input from talking to Jackie himself about his actual directorial input.

The video extras kick off with "Before the Breakout" (8m50s) with stunt man Wang Yao, Dr. Wayne Wong, David West and James Mudge covering Jackie's career up to this point as an actor and director, including previous crossover attempts and the martial arts legacy that had defined the early part of his starring vehicles. The quartet continue with stunt man Cheung "Mars" Wing-fat in "Breakout! Part 1: Drunken Master II" (9m28s) focused on the making of this film and its importance at the local box office, as well as its beloved status in the Jackie canon and the trend of Jackie's Stunt man Association films to have their director bolt at some point. In "Deadly When Drunken" (12m17s), co-writer Yuen Kai-chi looks back at the casting process early on in production, the approach to melding comedy with action, the financing, and the growing trend of doing Chinese period films and shooting on location. Mars returns solo for "Tipsy Tribulations" (10m47s) talking about his early days with Jackie and their long friendship, his impressions of the earlier kung fu films, work with Sammo Hung as his stunt double at Golden Harvest, and the relative ease of doing the fight scenes in this film. In "Period Postures" (12m17s), Dr. Lars Laamann delves into the historical Chinese setting including the struggle to maintain British control and impact of railways and changes in towns and the military around Canton. Finally in "Drunken Defiance" (10m22s), Ricky Baker appraises the film from a martial arts perspective with great enthusiasm upon its release among those waiting for him to go back to what made him famous in the first place. Also included are a 2000 interview with Jackie (6m40s) to promote the U.S. release, the Mandarin opening credits (1m18s) and alternate drinking scene (2m9s), 2m27s of textless outtakes from the end credits, two Lunar New Year messages (42s) recorded by Jackie for the Taiwanese and Malaysian openings sourced from VHS, the Cantonese, English international, and American trailers, and a 29-image gallery.

Next up on discs two and three is the film that truly made Jackie a star in the U.S. and a surprise box office smash for New Line: Rumble in the Bronx, whose trailer and TV spots hammered home the fact that Jackie did his own death-defying stunts. Here Vancouver substitutes sort-of convincingly for the mean streets of the Bronx as Hong Kong cop Ma Hon Keung (Chan) arrives for the wedding of his uncle, grocery store owner Bill (Tung). The store itself is being sold to new owner Elaine (Mui), who's an easy target to some nasty street punks who start a full-on feud with Keung-- at least until their leader, Angelo (Cross), gets involved in a covert diamond heist that puts them all in the crosshairs of a dangerous crime syndicate headed by White Tiger (Lord). Much fighting and mayhem ensue, leading to a memorable climax involving improper use of a hovercraft.

For at least one generation, this was the Jackie film that got them hooked since it not only got a very wide national theatrical release but seemed to be everywhere on VHS and cable TV (and eventually streaming and Blu-ray). It's fast, fun, and ridiculous, featuring some lively fight scenes involving props like pinball machines and refrigerators as well as colorful punk characters straight out of a comic book. The Vancouver location gives it an odd feeling compared to most of the earlier Jackie films (though Police Story 3, issued as Supercop in the U.S. in the wake of this film, was heading in that direction); it seems appropriate this would turn out to be the star's big calling card in American since the very non-HK feeling would continue in many later '90s films. In what would turn out to be a regular trend as mentioned above, this one was heavily reworked for its American release and was virtually impossible to see through any legit channels after that in its much longer Hong Kong cut. Not only was it cut down by 17 minutes (mostly character and comic relief footage), but the hybrid English-Cantonese dialogue was dubbed almost entirely into English (with a few burned-in subtitles -- see comparison below) and a new, very Hans Zimmer-ish music score by J. Peter Robinson plus an end credits song by Ash, "Kung Fu." Despite the R rating (due to language and a little risqué lingerie dancing more than anything else), this is one you could easily show older kids with no problem -- though it was still censored in countries like Germany and Australia with quick bits of violence toned down to make it more family-friendly.

The Arrow UHD option is easily one of the big selling points all by itself, with disc two featuring the long-awaited truly uncut, English-friendly Hong Kong version in a spectacular scan that remedies all past home video sins. Here you get the DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo original Cantonese and English track as intended (with English subs), plus a 1.0 all-English export dub track if you feel so inclined (with optional English SDH subs as well). Djeng and DeSanto return for another audio commentary here, covering the Vancouver shoot (with some second unit in New York), the release history, the pertinent crew members, and of course, all things Jackie Chan. In "Breakout! Part 2: Rumble in the Bronx" (14m32s), Mars, Baker, West, Mudge, and stunt woman Kathy Hubble discuss the long process of getting into the American market, the frequent hacky sack games on set, the most painful stunts, the depiction of Chinese emigres, and the real ankle injury Chan suffered during the finale. Then "Rumble Recollections" (18m44s) features Hubble solo talking more about her memories of the shoot, her earlier work doing stunts on The Stepfather, her judo expertise that came in handy, and the fun she had on this career-changing film. Also included are the textless closing outtakes (3m33s), a 55s bit of alternate footage from the New Line version, an alternate 31s sanitizing mooning shot, and a 71-image gallery.

Disc three is devoted to the familiar "international" (New Line) version of the film, also fully restored and looking very similar albeit a tad less saturated than Hong Kong one. Here you get LPCM 2.0 stereo and DTS-HD MA 5.1 English audio with optional English SDH subtitles, plus two scenes added and re-dubbed for the U.S. network TV version (5m24s), a 2m55s EPK interview with Jackie for the film's U.S. release, the American trailer, and four of those memorable TV spots.

On to disc four, we get to the film in this set a lot of people tend to forget about, even though it got a U.S. release: Thunderbolt, Jackie's contribution to the car racing action movie subgenre. Of all the films here, this was tampered with the least as it was left basically uncut almost everywhere with its soundtrack remaining intact apart from getting an all-English dub in some territories (with an exclusive new Chan-voiced one in the U.S.) versus its original English and Cantonese hybrid audio. The one country where it did get edited significantly for some reason was actually Japan, with that 97-minute alternate included here as an extra in HD only. With Sammo Hung stepping in for fight directing, this one has earned something of a reputation as the "serious" Jackie movie from this period with a more violent tone and the least amount of comedy. it's still a rip-roaring good time though, essentially doing his version of Days of Thunder with Jackie starring as race car mechanic and sometime driver Chan, who also moonlights helping cops bust illegal street racers. One night he ends up helping and commandeering the car of reporter Amy (Yuen) in pursuit of criminal racing honcho Cougar (Nickel), which ignites a series of arrest, reprisals, escapes, and murders, leading to Cougar using extreme means to force Chan to compete for him at a big race in Japan.

Though it doesn't skimp on the high-throttle racing scenes, Thunderbolt still makes room for plenty of traditional action scenes as well with a much higher body count than you might expect. (This time the R rating was definitely earned.) Jackie calibrates his performance appropriately, giving it more gravitas given the lethal stakes here and giving a bit more ferocity than usual to his fight scenes. In a sense this was probably ahead of the ball a bit, as this would have made a bigger splash a few years later once street racing became a big movie trend following 2001's The Fast and the Furious. Needless to say, New Line didn't hesitate to pick this up in the wake of Rumble's success but didn't quite seem to know what to do with it; the marketing made it look like a generic Jackie vehicle, and though it's been on DVD numerous times, there was nothing better around until the Arrow UHD which looks and sounds excellent. Here you get the DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo Cantonese-English original audio with subtitles or either of the English dubs, with the American one in DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English SDH subs. Djeng and DeSanto return to do the commentary honors here, analyzing the Hung approach to the fight scenes, the unusual nature of the film predicated on Jackie's love of cars, and the immense box office success in Hong Kong and Japan which didn't translate much elsewhere. In "Breakout! Part 3: Thunderbolt" (12m21s), Mars, West, Mudge, and dubbing supervisor Paul Clay chat about the film's unusual slot in the '90s run of films, the changes in tone, and the way it still ended up being tailored to the strengths of its star. In "A Thunderous Presence" (8m32s), Clay continues solo talking about his work on Jackie Chan movies in general and the challenges of finding the right voice for star, and the creation of an English script to match both the translation and the actors' performances. Also included are the usual textless outtakes (4m1s), alternate 5m30s export credits, the international trailer (which basically looks like the U.S. home video promo), a fun batch of Japanese Jackie trailers for all six films in this set, and a 95-image gallery.

Speaking of forgotten aspects of Jackie Chan, by this point many tend to overlook the fact that 1996's First Strike was originally released as Police Story 4: First Strike in Hong Kong, continuing the adventures of Hong Kong cop Chan/Kevin "Jackie" Ka-Kui in a much bigger, more globe-trotting saga than ever before. The obvious inspiration of James Bond films that had been growing in Jackie's films reaches its most spectacular iteration here, complete with elaborate snow and water action sequences that outdo what 007 had been up to recently. (Appropriately, this came out in a year between Pierce Brosnan's first two Bond films with Michelle Yoeh about to become the latest leading lady.) Here Jackie is working with American intelligence on the track of some nuke smugglers, which leads to Ukraine where he comes across a plot involving Russian gangsters and a nuclear scientist, Jackson (Lou), who might be masterminding the theft. From there it's off to Australia where Jackie works his way into the graces of Jackson's sister, Annie (Wu), whose job at an aquarium with a gigantic shark tank comes into play for the film's most outrageous action scene. However, nothing is quite as it seems...

Firmly planting Jackie back in modern action movie mode, this feels much more like the grandiose Armour of God or Project A films in spirit with any semblance of normal, local police work long gone here. The stunts here are truly insane, whether it's plunging from a helicopter into a frozen lake or a protracted fight scene involving lots of long ladders. Of all the films in this set, this one arguably suffered the most in its move to North America with New Line brutally hacking the running time down from 107 minutes to 83 and once again replacing the music score with a new one by J. Peter Robinson. The end result feels more like a trailer than a film at times, similar to the almost identical amount of pruning they did to Dario Argento's Phenomena when it became Creepers. Much of the characterization and storyline were stripped to the bone, but even worse, some great action beats were taken out -- most inexcusably including major chunks of the shark aquarium fight and some of its craziest gags. Once again this was intended to be a multilingual film with dialogue in English, Cantonese, or Russian (among others) depending on the characters and location; that aspect is lost in the English dub, but the uncut version was at least floating around on DVD from Hong Kong or Japan if you dug hard enough (or a pricey German Blu-ray set). The Arrow UHD features both versions, splitting them onto two discs with the uncut Hong Kong one featuring the original language track or a fully-dubbed Mandarin option, both DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with English subtitles were applicable (or full English SDH ones). Another great Djeng and DeSanto track covers all the bases including the original Hong Kong release (with a title that translates to Police Story 4: A Simple Mission), the state of the industry and the world when it came out, the disconnect between this and the three previous films, the Uncle Bill character, the usual deficiencies with some of the English-speaking actors, the 007 influence, and much more. In "Breakout! Part 4: First Strike" (7m33s), David West and James Mudge cover the declining fortunes of Hong Kong local films at the time apart from Jackie, this film's massive success at home compared to its more muted reception abroad, and its place in the canon with very different choreography and creative decisions than its predecessors. Finally you get the textless outtakes reel (3m32s) and a 95-image gallery.

The other First Strike disc features the eviscerated "international" North American cut with LPCM 2.0 stereo or DTS-HD MA 5.1 English options with English SDH subs, looking the same quality-wise. Extras include a 10m22s batch of redubbed and/or rescored bonus scenes prepared for the U.S. TV airings (including a lot of the tank fight that should've stayed in anyway), a "Striking Out" (11m49s) appraisal of the film with Djeng covering the odd status of the film as a partially camouflaged sequel, and the American trailer.

Inevitably after the direction he’d been moving in with his past few films, Jackie finally returned to making a film completely in English for the first time since The Protector with Mr. Nice Guy, with Sammo Hung taking full directorial duties here. This time Jackie stars as, well, Jackie, an upbeat chef who does a TV show in Australia along with Baggio (veteran Aussie character actor Otto). His life takes a wild change when he ends up running into Diana (Fitzpatrick), a reporter on the run after filming the nefarious activities of ruthless gangster Giancarlo (Norton), which results in the swapping of two videotapes. Now in possession of incriminating evidence, Jackie ends up being targeted by both Giancarlo and his thugs as well as a rival gang, the Demons, and when the cops get involved as well, an all-out war ensues that will threaten Jackie and those he holds dearest.

Though the plot may be an obvious rehash of Diva, Mr. Nice Guy delivers everything you could want from this point in Jackie’s career:  fun fights, slightly naughty comedy, and lots of sunny Australian scenery after spending much of the previous film there. In keeping with tradition at this point, New Line felt the need to tinker with the film significantly for its U.S. theatrical and initial home video releases including swapping out and shortening the opening of the film (sort of understandable given how sadistic the original version is) and altering the music score. The cuts weren’t nearly as ruinous as the ones for First Strike, but it still felt rushed especially to those familiar with Jackie’s landmark Hong Kong work by that point. An extended Japanese version also turned up, featuring a bit more character development as well as the best English-language mix. The uncut Hong Kong version eventually turned up rather surprisingly on U.S. Blu-ray from Warner Archive in 2019, looking excellent and easily making for the best presentation of a ‘90s Jackie film on the format in North America by that point.

The Arrow UHD option wisely splits things onto two discs, with the 95-minute Hong Kong and 97-minute Japanese cuts together with DTS-HD MA 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 stereo options for either one with optional English SDH subtitles. The latter also comes with a Mudge commentary, and he does himself proud with an expert look at the film including the Melbourne shooting, the multiple versions, the finer points that have become easier to appreciate over the years, the multiple languages at play in Hong Kong films around this time, Hung's career as a director, the mechanics of the stunts, and the backgrounds of pretty much every actor. Then it's Mars, Mudge, and West together in "Breakout! Part 5: Mr. Nice Guy" (8m24s) doing a pretty quick rundown of the film's production history, the initially nonplussed reaction to the film, the interesting use of Jackie's action hero persona here, and the intricacies of the fight choreography. Then it's Djeng's turn in "Nice Thoughts" (11m56s) exploring Jackie's eagerness to get into the Western movie market, his apex of popularity at home at the time, and the role this film played in his eventual transition to American moviemaking. Also included are the alternate English export credits (1m20s) in HD but cropped to 1.78:1, textless outtakes (4m19s), and a 156-image gallery. The second disc features the 88-minute U.S. cut with DTS-HD 5.1 or 2.0 audio options with SDH subtitles, plus the U.S. trailer.

Finally the Arrow set closes out with another double disc treatment, this time for Who Am I?, a return to the international spy movie format and a coda of sorts right before Jackie went full Hollywood with Rush Hour. Again this one was written and shot fully in English, though multiple cuts were prepared again. Here Jackie is – no rewards here for guessing – Jackie, an agent who finds himself completely memory wiped in an African tribal village where his repeated question, “Who am I?,” is mistaken for his actual name. All he knows is he’s connected to a nearby helicopter crash from which he was the only survivor, though as we know from the opening, it’s all connected to international espionage connected to experiments on a meteorite. Upon making his way to the nearest city, Johannesburg, Jackie is targeted by nefarious CIA agent Morgan and finds he can’t even trust his supposed new friends, Japanese racer Yuki (Yamamoto) and reporter Christine (Ferre). Now he’s racing against the clock to stage a break-in to uncover the formula everyone’s after, while assassins lurk around every corner to stop him.

Swapping out Australia for South Africa and mainly Holland, Who Am I? is an enjoyable way to end the cycle here with the hoary amnesia plot simply serving as a framework for a virtual nonstop parade of chases and fight scenes. As usual there’s at least half a dozen moments guaranteed to make you gasp, including a great showdown on a rooftop and some energetic car mayhem. Of course, this one was also altered for its U.S. release by Columbia TriStar who sent it straight to video (on DVD and VHS) with nine minutes of edits and some scenes shuffled around to make things less twisty. The full 120-minute cut was released (non-anamorphic) on Hong Kong DVD, with the shorter international cut appearing on Australian Blu-ray from Umbrella in 2019. That option was deeply frustrating since it had two highly flawed viewing options: an HD transfer (probably prepared for broadcast) heavily cropped to 1.78:1, or a 2.35:1 option in SD. The latter was still substantially zoomed in and didn’t look so great, which means the Arrow UHD is really the first truly satisfying release out there, period. It looks marvelous and comes with DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 English (plus a bit of Xhosa) options plus the English-Xhosa-Cantonese version as a 5.1 option, with English SDH subs. Mudge returns for commentary honors here discussing the genre blending here with elements of sci-fi, the international locals which were becoming a major part of Jackie's films, the Hong Kong release and reception, the nature of African rallies, the unique aspects of the big car chase, and much more.

In "Breakout! Part 6: Who Am I?" (9m48s), Mudge, actor Glory Simon and second unit cinematographer Ray Wong analyzes this final frenzy of international Jackie Chan before his career made a major turn, the one-off use of Benny Chan as co-director on this film, Jackie and his team's oversight of the action scenes, and the intense demands of meeting his standards. Then "From Drunk to Slam Dunk: Jackie Chan in the New Millennium" (20m7s) features Mudge, Simon, Wong, Baker, West, Mars, Hubble, and stunt man Wang Yao covering Jackie's career after this starting with the presentation of the Rush Hour script during Who Am I? and going through titles like Shanghai Noon, Around the World in 80 Days, and other Hollywood projects that earned him new generations of viewers around the globe. The vintage Golden Harvest making-of "The Making of Who Am I?" is split into three parts -- "Jackie's On-Set Diary" (27m10s), "A Leap of Faith and Sweat" (33m28s), and "Heroes Revealed" (28m31s) -- with tons of production footage and cast and crew interviews, all subtitled here. Then you get some alternate English credits in SD (6m54s), textless outtakes (3m39s), and a 43-image gallery. The other disc features the international 108-minute cut with English DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 stereo options with English SDH subtitles, with comparable a/v quality to the other version. Also included are a standalone "Who, When & Where" (8m15s) interview with Wong about his career at the time of this film having just come to Canada, hopping off to Malaysia to shoot an action scene, and going on a wild adventure. Then Simon goes solo in "Jostling with Jackie" (8m32s), sharing more memories from the production including coming over from Dusseldorf to Rotterdam, the tricks of finding Chinese food in the Netherlands, and her disappointment at having to give up her CIA ID card after filming. A U.S. video trailer is also included.

DRUNKEN MASTER II: Arrow Video (UHD)

DRUNKEN MASTER II: Warner Archive (Blu-ray)

RUMBLE IN THE BRONX (U.S. Version): Arrow Video (UHD)

RUMBLE IN THE BRONX (Hong Kong Version): Arrow Video (UHD)

RUMBLE IN THE BRONX: New Line (Blu-ray)

FIRST STRIKE: Arrow Video (UHD)

FIRST STRIKE: New Line (Blu-ray)

MR. NICE GUY: Arrow Video (UHD)

MR. NICE GUY: Warner Archive (Blu-ray)

WHO AM I?: Arrow Video (UHD)

WHO AM I?: Umbrella (HD) (Blu-ray)

WHO AM I?: Umbrella (SD) (Blu-ray)

Reviewed on May 29, 2026