Police Story 4: First Strike (1996)
★★★ — Police Story 4: First Strike (1996)
By 1996, Jackie Chan had been the biggest action star in Hong Kong for over a decade, but his crossover to Western audiences was still a work in progress (that would arrive more fully with Rumble in the Bronx the same year, and Rush Hour in 1998). First Strike, the fourth instalment in the Police Story series, was directed by Stanley Tong, who had also helmed Supercop (1992) and Rumble in the Bronx, making him something of Chan's go-to director for the mid-1990s globe-trotting formula. Shot across Hong Kong, Australia, Ukraine and Russia, the production leaned hard into its post-Cold War backdrop, sending Ka-Kui into ex-Soviet territory at a moment when that setting carried real novelty for mainstream action cinema. The budget was a modest $1.5 million, which makes the scale of the location work and stunt programme all the more striking.
Police Story 4: First Strike (1996) is peak Jackie Chan in motion, daring stunts, inventive fight choreography, and that signature blend of bone-crunching action and slapstick humour that only he can pull off. Chan is a one-man spectacle. His physical commitment is awe-inspiring, and the sheer fun he clearly has during the action sequences is contagious. You don’t just watch these moments, you flinch, you laugh, you marvel. That said, everything between the stunts falls flat. The plot (a convoluted mess involving nuclear submarines, Russian mobsters, and secret agents) is barely coherent, and the dialogue (whether due to writing or subtitling) is stiff, awkward, and often unintentionally funny. The tone veers between spy thriller, family drama, and cartoonish comedy with little balance. And while Michelle Yeoh brings her usual grace and skill, she’s underused, stuck delivering exposition instead of sharing more fight scenes with Chan. But let’s be real, you don’t watch a Police Story film for the script. You watch it for Jackie doing things no sane person should survive. And on that front, First Strike delivers. It’s not his best work, but it’s packed with enough jaw-dropping moments to make it worthwhile. Nonsensical, poorly written, but undeniably entertaining. A flawed gem in the Chan canon. For fans of action, it’s comfort food with a body count.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 1996 | Watched: 2025-10-02
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Stanley Tong Gwai-Lai: Rumble in the Bronx (1995) · Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992)
More with Jackie Chan: Hand of Death (1976) · Rumble in the Bronx (1995) · Skiptrace (2016) · Gorgeous (1999)
More from Hong Kong: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Hand of Death (1976) · Come Drink with Me (1966) · Street Fighter (1994)
More from the 1990s: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · Blue (1993) · Cemetery Man (1994)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
