Thunderbolt (Jackie Chan's Breakout Hits) - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Thunderbolt (Jackie Chan's Breakout Hits)



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
To round out the last of the Jackie Chan hits, we get to that one weird one that I had embarrassingly never seen before. And as a huge Jackie Chan fan that was sort of a hit to my ego, as I had SWORN I had seen every one of his earlier career films up until this point. But after glancing at the trailer from the boxset, I realized this one had gone under my radar. And frankly, it wasn’t a huge loss either, as Thunderbolt is widely known as being one of his more “meh” films from that time period, and I concur after this watch. The movie is solid enough, but a huge letdown after the wild success that was Rumble in the Bronx.

While the man is a martial arts god, even Jackie Chan is technically mortal. And if you remember my review from Rumble in the Bronx, you’ll recall mentioning the fact that Jackie had to wear a cast for the final scene where he waterskied behind the boat due to breaking his ankle during a stunt. Well, Thunderbolt was filmed directly after Rumble in the Bronx ended, so Jackie was still healing from his injury (which was a pretty bad one if my memory of interviews serves me right) and was forced to heavily cut back on his traditional stunts. As such, director Gordon Chan was forced to make some compromises to the action scenes, and trim them back just a bit. But the sad result is that his normal adherence to doing his own stunts is broken due to having to use VERY obvious stunt doubles, quick cuts that obscured the front of Jackie when fighting (to mask the double), and wirework that likely was needed to cover up his weak legs at the time.

And let's not forget the story. Thunderbolt is basically what happens when you have a Hong Kong version of Days of Thunder mixed with Fast & The Furious criminal elements. Jackie is Foh To Chan, an ex-racecar driver who ends up in Hong Kong after a stunt test driving a prototype at Mitsubishi Motors gets him fired. Now he and his two sisters work at their father’s tow truck company, doing their best to get by. But things go south in a hurry when the criminally psychotic international terrorist/race car driver Cougar (Thorsten Nickel) ends up in a street race with Foh. Locking on to the fact that Foh is a great driver, Cougar’s ego takes over, and he decides to kidnap Chan’s sisters to force the tow truck driver to step back on the track with him. Which of course works, because, well. This is the movies.

Thunderbolt is not your usual Jackie Chan movie, where we laugh ourselves silly at his antics, and watch him kick some Kung-Fu butt. Instead, Gordon Chan directs the film as a “high-octane thriller”, with Chan playing his character straight as an arrow. And while that’s not a bad thing, it certainly feels stilted here, as the story suffers from significant edit and cut issues that make it feel disjointed. Especially in regards to the kidnapping. Not to mention the fact that the villain is so out of place here; you’d expect Jackie to play Foh Chan with some comedy. Instead, the villain is comically mustache-twirling, only to use that psychotic villainhood to force Foh into a structured legal race. So the end result is a movie that feels like it's at odds with itself. There’s bits of action strewn throughout, with some classic Hong Kong action elements, but the second we get to the racetrack the movie jumps a rail, and shifts another direction.

Jackie Chan is solid, but he's definitely hamstrung by his injuries here, but Thorsten Nickel is hilariously over the top as the villain. So much so that I really wished Chan’s character was more comedic to complement the top antagonist performance. There’s a ton of classic Chan side kicks, including Corey Yuen as the doctor, Michael Wong (brother to Hollywood actor Russell Wong, who made an entire career in Hong Kong despite not knowing a lick of Chinese or martial arts at all) as the inspector, and even Ken Lo (Jackie Chan’s bodyguard, also the villain from Drunk Master II) in a few minute fight scene that was probably the highlight of the film.




Rated R by the MPAA




Video: Video:

Restored/Remastered from the OCN via Arrow themselves, the results are amazing. I just have to glance at a copy of the DVD that I have had for 20 years (and never seen) this is a MASSIVE improvement in every way. Colors are bright and warm, with a hefty punch added to the reds and blues and whites, with some really great black levels as a result as well. Fine details are superb, with much less “blurring” around the edges of the film (compared to what we’ve seen with the rest of the films in this set) and great nuance on clothing details. There are a few Sepia tinges here and there (such as the opening shot), but overall this is an impressive-looking image.








Audio:

Thunderbolt showcases 3 different audio tracks, including the original Cantonese and a “made for export” English dub track in 2.0 LPCM, and the 5.1 DTS-HD MA New Line Cinema dub for when it was released domestically on DVD. Naturally I’m leaning towards the Cantonese track, and while it is only 2.0 compared to the New Line dub, it is substantially brighter and punchier. The other two dubs seem to have more going on, but also less crisp dialogue, in my opinion. This is a front-heavy mix no matter if it’s 2.0 or 5.1, but the racing scenes can at least spice things up a bit. LFE is mild at best, but still solid enough considering the budget. All in all, a solid array of sound options for fans.









Extras:

• Commentary by Frank Djeng & FJ DeSanto
• Play Japanese Cut
• Breakout! Part 3: Thunderbolt
• A Thunderous Presence
• Textless Outtakes
• Alternate Export Credits
• International Trailer
• Japanese Jackie Trailers
-- Drunken Master II
-- Rumble in the Bronx
-- Thunderbolt
-- Police Story 4: First Strike
-- Mr Nice Guy
-- Who Am I?
• Image Gallery

Final Score: ​

Thunderbolt is sadly a mess. There is no “Hong Kong Cut” here, as the International Cut and the Hong Kong Cut were the same viewing. Instead of an American cut that was cut short, we have a Japanese cut with 15 minutes or so of cut footage that is included as a 1080p extra on the disc. I will say this, though. The Japanese cut’s one advantage is that it has an opening scene at the beginning of the movie that explains WHY Foh moves back to Hong Kong, as it shows him disobeying orders to test drive a prototype at the Mitsubishi Motors training facility. Something that I feel would have helped in the theatrical cut. Audio and video for the set are great, and once more, we get some absolutely killer extras on board. Fans of the film will definitely be pleased with the set, but for most people this one is a rental.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jackie Chan, Anita Yuen, Michael Wong, Thorsten Nickel
Directed by: Gordon Chan
Written by: Gordon Chan, Hing-Ka Chan, Paul Clay
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English LPCM 2.0 (Export Dub), Cantonese LPCM 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH, English
Studio: Arrow
Rated: R / NR
Runtime: 110 minutes (Theatrical) / 97 Minutes (Japanese Cut)
Blu-ray Release Date: June 30th, 2026

Recommendation: Rental