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Project A Part 2 (1987)


teako170

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Got a text that both Project A & Project A 2 were on Kung Fu HD this morning.

Sadly, I don't get that station.

How does PA2 stand up to the original?

Only seen the first film.

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TibetanWhiteCrane

Almost as good, in my humble opinion! More stunts than fights, like the first one, and the usual canto comedy (one scene does stretch on a bit too long for my taste) The lack of Sammo an Biao is apparent. But Jackie and his stunt team throws so many crazy, fun things in there, that you almost forget!

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Unfortunately, while Project A is in the full 2.35:1 ratio on Kung Fu HD, Project A Part 2 is c ropped to fill the 16:9 screen...

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GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG
Not as good as the first one, but still very good. Tons of crazy stunts. It's a must see.

Watched this for the first time last week.

Loved it.

A lot more hijinks.

The last 1/2 hour is total comic mayhem.

That Jackie is some kind of genius with his choreography.

PrA2.jpg

GD Y-Y

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It's all opinion but the difference between Project A Pt 1 and Pt 2, FOR ME, is akin to Jaws and Jaws 2.

Jackie works brilliantly off Sammo and Biao in the original, as Roy Scheider did with Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss. As someone else said, when Sammo and Biao are gone you lose the feel of that ensemble casting and it hurts the sequel.

For me the original has better fight sequences, but comes in second best for stunt work. Jackie wanted to prove that he hadn't lost his nerve following the accident on the set of Armour of God, and that's why he is Gung Ho for danger in Project A Pt 2.

The original Project A is superior. It also has a better storyline, a better villain (Dick Wei), better comedy. Better, better, better.

Maggie Cheung and Rosamund Kwan are good to look at in Pt 2 mind you.

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masterofoneinchpunch

I favor the original over the second, but I do think the second is a must watch for fans of Jackie Chan or Hong Kong action cinema. I don't think the quality went down that much for the second (heck there are some authors like John Charles who prefer the second.)

My longish review on KFC on the second film.

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I slightly prefer the second to the original, actually. I don't really think Project A's finale holds up to what precedes it (and Hong Kong's action cinema is known for its finales), whereas the sequel builds to a spectacular finale. And it's got one of the best "30 people all hiding from each other in the same house" bits that I can think of. But that finale, you guys...money. Money, I'm telling you. It's kind of a predecessor to Miracles, in a way - Jackie paying homage to his silent film idols, and I love the movie for it.

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PA2 is my favorite Chan film. It's the closest he ever came to making a genuine Buster Keaton silent. A stone cold classic in my humble opinion.

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I've acquired the HKL of PA2 since my original post (hard to believe that was over 6 years ago).

Thanks for bumping this. I haven't looked at it yet but will put it on the short list.

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It's kind of a predecessor to Miracles, in a way - Jackie paying homage to his silent film idols, and I love the movie for it.

I agree with this. PA2 and Miracles were Jackie's finest directorial efforts. You can see a similar style in both films.

In the end, I think I still like the first slightly better because of the power of the three kung fu-teers, but this one is on the same high level.

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In addition and this is my opinion, the theme song to PA2, sung by Jackie, is much better than the theme song of the original :)

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Always found PA2 annoying. One thing about Jack as a director. He's good at entertaining while making movies about nothing. Young Master is a fantastic mess about nothing. Starts off with something then becomes about whatever he's shooting at the time and it works. It doesn't work for me here. PA2 is a disconnected movie about whatever segment is showing. but doesn't really even have a plot. I could forgive that but I just don't find it to be as fun as some of his other directed works. It's a tedious chore for me. Looks good cinematic-ally though.

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Does anyone know why Sammo and Yuen Biao didn't play in this movie ?

It would have been a great movie with them teaming again with Jackie...

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TibetanWhiteCrane

Probably off doing Eastern Condors.... or the supposed rift between Sammo and Jackie over Millionairs Express.

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One Armed Boxer

I remember reading that because Chan had already achieved super-stardom by the time 'Project A' was released, a lot of his fanbase at the time were disappointed that he didn't have a one on one finale with Dick Wei, instead sharing it was Sammo and Biao.  I assume this was what gave him the confidence (translated: ego) to go it alone for Part II, knowing that it was going to be a sure fire success.

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I remember reading somewhere that Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao didn't want to continue being in Jackie's shadow, so they opted for starring roles of their own instead of continually being his co-stars. I was under the impression that Dragons Forever was supposed to be the last film they all starred in with Jackie before doing their own projects.

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Cognoscente

Part of the charm of PA2 is that Jackie basically transferred the characters of Police Story to a period setting. With there being three main actresses, there were enough love interests for Jackie to share with Biao and Hung.

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Cognoscente

I think it's fair to say that the fight with the three agents would have been evenly divided between the three brothers.

I also think it's fair to say that Chan Wai-Man would not have been involved seeing as how him and Sammo got into a fight in the '70s. According to a Chinese webpage, it began with Lam Ching-Ying getting into a fight with Chan's brother in a nightclub.

In retrospect, Jackie should have delayed Project A Part II until Eastern Condors was completed. That way, we would have got a proper sequel instead of Dragons Forever.

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TibetanWhiteCrane
15 minutes ago, Cognoscente said:

I also think it's fair to say that Chan Wai-Man would not have been involved seeing as how him and Sammo got into a fight in the '70s. According to a Chinese webpage, it began with Lam Ching-Ying getting into a fight with Chan's brother in a nightclub.
 

Pretty sure that beef was squashed by then as CWM appared in both Boho and D&B films in the 80's.

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