A veteran police detective gets ambushed by a young group of bank robbers and after his fellow officers are attacked, he blames himself. Drowning his sorrows in booze and self loathing, a young detective tries to convince him to sober up and get back on the case.

I had never heard of nor seen any work by Director Benny Chan, but I must say, I will go out of my way to seek out his other work after seeing NEW POLICE STORY (aka SAN GING CHAAT GOO SI). His visionary visuals and stunningly beautiful work here reminds me of early John Woo (before he came to the US!), but even more memorable. His use of the camera, lighting and overall visual design is quite remarkable. Not that it takes away from the storytelling aspect of the film, quite the contrary; it definitely enhances it. You can always tell a good director by how layered his “bad guys” are and this film has some of the most interesting and complex to date. Director Chan manages to take an overused plot and story line and give it a fresh jolt of nitrogen-infused energy. It’s quite an achievement and I give credit where credit is due – its great cinema.

So with all this high praise, why doesn’t it get the full modicum of stars? Two words – Jackie Chan. While I am a fan of a lot of the funny, inventive Karate films that Chan has done over the years, he is absolutely, 100% the wrong man for this job. And while some of his scenes of physical combat are still top notch, his overall emotional performance in the film is utterly laughable and it’s a crying shame. With Jackie serving as Producer on this film, I sense the movie may not have been made if not for him, but it’s no excuse. A great film should always have the actors that are right for the roles, not just the ones who help the film get greenlighted. Director Chan’s work here suffers from having an actor who cannot portray the range and depth of a character that is integral to the overall story. And it was very distracting, as I found myself awestruck by the film one minute, shaking my head in disbelief the next. The film needed a seasoned actor (think Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung or even John Lone) to properly portray a man who has reverted inside himself, someone who could, performance wise, match the brilliance of Director Chan. It reminded me a lot of when I saw the film THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT. The film had a great sense of style and initially told a story with the lead character being younger, of which the two kid actors who played the character were sensational. Then the adult version of the character surfaced, played by the uber-awful Ashton Kutcher, and the film sank like the Titanic. His bad acting and overall unbelievability ruined what could have been a very original piece of work. Jackie Chan is NEW POLICE STORY’s Ashton Kutcher, taking a film that had so much greatness and making it a laughing stock. My words of advice to Director Chan – lose Jackie, keep the style.

Video: Presented in a crisp Widescreen (2:35:1) with Director Benny Chan’s visuals getting the quality format they so deserve.

Audio: With English and Cantonese 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital, with subtitles for both. Forget the awful and retched dubbing in English, it’s horrible. Just go Cantonese 5.1, a better format, with English subtitles. There isn’t that much to read and most of the words, thankfully, stay in the black space!

Jackie Chan DVD Introduction (0:17): With only lasting seventeen seconds and having Chan complaining about spending the last 2 days doing dubbing, can this one really be considered an Intro???

Scene Commentaries with Jackie Chan: This one includes commentaries for the Bus Sequence (3:37) and Convention Center Rooftop Sequence (2:54). With Chan in a small box in the corner of these sequences talking, it’s more an interview then a scene specific commentary. Hell, he’s not even looking at any footage! What does being called Big Brother by fans have to do with these sequences? What this DVD set and even this very feature needed was commentary by Director Benny Chan, the real unsung hero of this film. I would pay double just to hear his thoughts, views and stories of creating such an original and memorable piece of work.

The Making Of New Police Story (15:34): A fast moving and well edited mini-doc. Seemed at times more like a promo then a making-of, but it captivated me nonetheless. Especially loved (in lieu of a commentary track!) hearing the various pieces of insight from Director Benny Chan.

English Dubbing with Jackie (7:15): Here we sit in a session with Chan, who is recording the English Dialogue for the Dubbed version. And while it’s not exactly exciting to watch, it’s not the hard work that Jackie spewed in the Intro. (Try working construction Jackie!) Most surprising moment - When Jackie in frustration states “I hate English!” Hey, I hate all dubbing too Jackie, but don’t knock an entire language because of it! (And is it just me, or was watching Jackie grunt for fight scenes a little obscene?!)

Jackie’s Personal Piracy PSA (0:13): An even quicker clip then the Intro, though same location, with Chan saying not to buy a pirated copy of the film. And whether you pirate movies or not, this is not, repeat NOT a DVD extra. Ever!

There are also Trailers for BLACK MASK, NOWHERE TO HIDE, KICKBOXER, REPLICANT (Yeah, we needed another double dual role Van Damme film!), THE RAMBO ULTIMATE EDITION, LORD OF WAR, and SEE NO EVIL.

It’s a shame when a great director gives 110% to make a film look and feel wholly original, only to have his work be lessened by a bad casting choice. Jackie Chan, while a great physical comedian, does not have the depth or acting chops for the lead role in NEW POLICE STORY and his awful acting here is a detriment to the visionary work by Director Benny Chan, a filmmaker to watch. As a producer on the film, Jackie should have realized his job was to do what’s best for the film, not what’s best for Jackie.