Jackie Chan emerged as one of the most noteworthy action stars of the late 90s and 2000s after years as a leading man in Hong Kong cinema, but he produced an all-time classic upon breaking out in Hollywood. His prowess as a martial artist and charisma as an actor helped him earn the trust of legendary Hong Kong filmmakers like John Woo, Lo Wei, and Yuen Woo-ping. As he began to break into Hollywood in the 1980s, Chan found a foothold in the action comedy genre in particular, both in Hollywood and in Hong Kong cinema.
After establishing himself as an international star, he finally got his big break as a Hollywood leading man in the 1998 buddy cop comedy classic Rush Hour, starring alongside breakout comedy star Chris Tucker. A massive success at the box office, Rush Hour would go on to spawn two additional sequels, with a fourth movie in the franchise reportedly in the early stages of development under inauspicious circumstances. No sequel ever reached the heights of the original, however, which remains one of the seminal comedic action thrillers of a decade that had plenty of competition in the space.
‘Rush Hour’ Is the Most Iconic Action Comedy of the 1990s
The 1990s were positively loaded with action comedies, particularly within the buddy cop subgenre. Bad Boys, Men In Black, and The Last Boy Scout were all huge hits in their own right, but Rush Hour remains the defining movie of the decade in that regard. Chan and Tucker’s complementary personalities and skill sets meshed perfectly from an entertainment perspective, as Tucker’s fast-talking wisecracks combined with Chan’s incredible physical stunt work combined for a raucous adventure. The banter and begrudging friendship between the odd couple felt totally legitimate and natural, and there is certainly no shortage of memorable quotes from the movie.
The chemistry may have been the element that made the movie a classic, but Rush Hour also has a solid script. The jokes all land, the pacing is on point, and Jackie Chan’s breathtaking fight scenes still hold up to this day. The combination of all those elements makes it the best action comedy of the 1990s, and explains why it’s regarded as a masterpiece of its time.
‘Rush Hour’ Inspired the Creation of Review Aggregator Site Rotten Tomatoes
Rush Hour is also partially responsible for inspiring the creation of the now-popular movie and TV review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Per an editorial posted on the site itself, the creator of Rotten Tomatoes, Seng Duong, was inspired to create the site out of his love for Jackie Chan’s Hong Kong movies. In seeking out reviews of those movies, Duong got the idea for the site that would eventually come to be known as Rotten Tomatoes. He was pushed to code and launch the site by the then-upcoming release of Rush Hour in accordance with Duong’s Jackie Chan fandom.
- Release Date
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September 18, 1998
- Runtime
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97 minutes
