FIRST STRIKE

"FIRST STRIKE"
(1996) (Jackie Chan, Chen Chun Wu) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	Mild	Mild	Minor	*Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	Minor	None	Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Mild	None	None	Minor	*Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Action/Adventure: A Hong Kong police officer goes to the Ukraine to stop nuclear weapons from being smuggled out.

PLOT:: Jackie (JACKIE CHAN) is a Hong Kong police officer working with the C.I.A. He follows a woman, Natasha (GRISHAJEVA NONNA) to the Ukraine where it's believed that someone is trying to smuggle out nuclear warheads. She leads him to Jackson Tsui (JACKSON LOU), a former agent and head of the smuggling operation. Also involved is Col. Gregor Yegorov (YURI PETROV ) who heads the F.S.B., a new and improved version of the old Russian KGB. Along the way, Jackie meets Annie (CHEN CHUN WU), Jackson's sister. They all get involved in many dangerous encounters as they try to stop the bad guys from smuggling out the nuclear weapons.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of Chan's or other martial arts films, they will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For plentiful action/violence.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: JACKIE CHAN plays an unassuming and humble man who can and does use physical skills to defend himself and others.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 7 out of 10: If you've never seen a Jackie Chan movie before, you should see this one. If you've seen his other works, this one won't come close to disappointing you. While the plot is incomprehensible at times, it's merely a skeleton on which to hang all of the spectacular stunts that occur. With a nod and a wink to the James Bond films (with skiing and shark scenes and a Bond-like theme), this movie blows past that series to where it could never go. While those films always had neat and often spectacular stunts, everything Chan does one ups those and more. Many of the scenes show just how nimble Chan is (at the age of 42), and that he truly is a one man human special effects machine. He's been compared, and justifiably so, to Astaire and Kelly for making what has to be terribly difficult to accomplish, look so darn easy. It's just incredibly fun to watch him wiggle, jump, scramble and contort his body to get out of the predicaments in which he finds himself. What he does with no props is amazing. What he does with simple tools, such as using a step ladder to defend himself, is such a treat you'll have to see it to believe it. And it's all done with such self-deprecating humor that you can't help yourself from smiling whenever the action starts. Sure, it's a dubbed movie and the film will never when awards for plot clarity or acting performances. It was never intended to do so. Instead, it's a pure action film that puts most "similar" Hollywood flicks to shame. It's too bad Chan can't be given a great script to work with, because those two forces combined would be unstoppable. Still, taking into account what it's trying to do, this film succeeds at being a funny, wait till you see what he does next, extravaganza. We give it a big 7 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: While there's lots of violence and gun use, most of it is cartoon-like in nature and only a few scenes have a little blood in them. Still, people are killed, so if that bothers you, you should take note. Younger kids may find some of the scenes to be a bit tense (such as when sharks are coming after people), but none of the scenes are intentionally designed to be scary. Other than that, there's a lot of martial arts action where people are punched, kicked and hit with various objects (poles, stilts, a ladder, etc...), but no one seems seriously hurt. The only other "big" thing is that we see Chan's bare buttocks after he's been forced to strip by a bad guy, but the scene is played for laughs and not for sexiness or violence. Other than that, the movie's quite tame in the other categories. We still suggest, however, that you check out all of the listings to decide if this movie is appropriate for you and your family.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: People appear to have drinks in a restaurant.

BLOOD/GORE: A little blood is seen from the body of a soldier that Jackie uses a shield to ward off machine gun fire while underwater.
A bad guy cuts Jackie's finger while underwater to draw sharks to the smell of blood. Jackie then cuts the bad guy's fingers to do the same and just a small amount of blood is seen in the water.
Tsui's hand is just a little bloody after a gun has been shot from it.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Obviously all of the bad guys have both in a cartoon-ish way.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Some viewers may find the many fight scenes and close escapes that Chan is involved in as tense, but they certainly aren't designed to be that way. The most notable are ones where Jackie fights off two huge attackers while out on a balcony twenty stories above the street and another where there's underwater fighting while huge sharks come after the men.
A woman feeds large sharks from a shark cage and has some close calls with them. Later, Jackie and others enter the pool and have closer encounters with the sharks.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns/Machine guns/Knives/Missiles: Used to threaten and/or kill several people. See "Violence" for details.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Younger kids will love to imitate all of the martial arts action and behavior that Chan exhibits. In particular, a sequence where Chan defends himself with a step ladder may prove irresistible to some kids.
Phrase(s): "Bastard."

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There's just a minor bit of suspenseful music played out in more of a fun/adventurous style.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 2 hells, 1 damn, and 1 use of "Oh my God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Jackie is forced to strip off all of his clothes by a bad guy and there's a full rear nude view of him.

SMOKING: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: How Chan does all of those marvelous stunts (and lives to talk about it).

VIOLENCE: Obviously there's a lot of martial arts action (too much to describe in detail). Needless to say, many people are punched, kicked and hit with various objects during the fights.
Tsui shoots a man dead.
A big machine gun battle takes place at the top of a snow-covered mountain. Many people are shot and killed (not graphically) and two helicopters are blown up with missiles. Several people are also run over by snowmobiles and others crash while driving snowmobiles.
Machine guns are fired at Jackie after he's fallen through a hole in a frozen lake.
Annie kicks Jackie in the leg with her steel tipped boots.
Annie's sick father is killed in a hospital (not seen).
Some bad guys smash a car's widows to abduct Annie.
A sniper shoots a gun out of Tsui's hand as he prepares to shoot Gregor.
A man is stabbed to death.
A big machine gun battle takes place between the bad guys and the police and a horse drawn cart is blown up by a missile (but the horses escape unharmed).
Sharks attack several of the bad guys during an underwater fight sequence (but nothing graphic or gory is seen).
A man tries to stab Jackie with a knife and then cuts him on the finger (hoping that the smell of blood will draw the sharks). In turn, Jackie cuts the man on two of his fingers. Gregor then shoots at the huge aquarium, bursting the glass and sending water, people and sharks spilling everywhere.

Reviewed January 10, 1997

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.