Version: Cantonese VCD, with English Subtitles
Jackie Chan + yakuza + cars + evil white guys... 'Thunderbolt' should equal pure brilliance. It doesn't. Jackie Chan plays (according to the subtitles) Jackie Chan, a mechanic working with the police. Jackie gets on the bad side of the obligatory-evil-white-guy: In this case, he is Cougar, a race-driver and all-round evil dude. Cougar kills a bunch of policemen, and kidnaps Jackie's sisters, threatening to kill them if Jackie doesn't race him.
'Thunderbolt' is more serious, and darker than a lot of Jackie's movies. Unfortunately, a lot of Jackie's movies are better than 'Thunderbolt', even the other serious ones. Cougar tends to shout a fair bit - he is played by Thorsten Nickel, and I'd be lying if I said he was the most talented actor ever. I'd even be lying if I called him an actor. At least his acting ability provides some much needed comedic relief. On the other hand, the action scenes range from awesome to boring. The fights are generally pretty good, even though there is some obvious doubling and wirework. The final scene, however, is boring, and the speed-up obvious.
6/10.
Jackie Chan + yakuza + cars + evil white guys... 'Thunderbolt' should equal pure brilliance. It doesn't. Jackie Chan plays (according to the subtitles) Jackie Chan, a mechanic working with the police. Jackie gets on the bad side of the obligatory-evil-white-guy: In this case, he is Cougar, a race-driver and all-round evil dude. Cougar kills a bunch of policemen, and kidnaps Jackie's sisters, threatening to kill them if Jackie doesn't race him.
'Thunderbolt' is more serious, and darker than a lot of Jackie's movies. Unfortunately, a lot of Jackie's movies are better than 'Thunderbolt', even the other serious ones. Cougar tends to shout a fair bit - he is played by Thorsten Nickel, and I'd be lying if I said he was the most talented actor ever. I'd even be lying if I called him an actor. At least his acting ability provides some much needed comedic relief. On the other hand, the action scenes range from awesome to boring. The fights are generally pretty good, even though there is some obvious doubling and wirework. The final scene, however, is boring, and the speed-up obvious.
6/10.