let go in U.S. theatre of operations in 1996,Rumble in the Bronxwas the film that introduced American audiences to kung fu legend Jackie Chan . Though the 41 - year - old had already been an external superstar for decades , untilRumble in the Bronx , Chan had struggled to make a real splash in the United States . The movie , which is full of Chan ’s earmark blend of clowning and kung fu , tells the storey of a even guy cable named Keung ( Chan ) who comes to the Bronx for his uncle ’s marriage ceremony and somehow , within hours of his arrival , manage to get mixed up with a local motorcycle gang and a mathematical group of diamond stealer . Like many of Chan ’s best pic , Rumble in the Bronxis light on secret plan and packed with beautifully choreographed combat and genuinely grievous stunt . Here are 13 things you might not have known aboutRumble in the Bronx .
1. IT WAS FILMED IN VANCOUVER.
Anyone with even a passing noesis of New York City can see thatRumble in the Bronxwasn’t filmed in the Bronx . The buildings are different , the license plate on the cars all wrong , and , of course , there are forest - cut through mountains in the background of many shots . But while some witness were upturned that the context for the film was so clearly fake ( “ When I spend money to go to a movie calledRumble in the Bronx , I expect the flick to have been filmed in the Bronx — or at least look like it take space in the Bronx , ” Bill Wallace ofBlack BeltMagazinewrotein 1996 ) , Chan told his biographer that he thinks sticklers for realism are miss the decimal point .
“ Because of production business organization , Vancouver doubled as the Bronx , " Chan explain inI Am Jackie Chan . " And yes , I know there are no passel in New York City ! At first we adjudicate to maintain the illusion , nullify buck angle that would show the mountains . We even hired people to paint the graffiti on the walls . But then we had to paint over it all at the ending of the day . In the last , I decided to blank out about seek to simulate New York , figuring that mass should n’t be watching the scene so much as the natural process anyway . ”
2. JACKIE CHAN WANTED IT TO BE HIS BREAKOUT AMERICAN FILM.
Throughout the eighties and nineties , success came easy to Chan in Asia , where his picture were consistently box office hits . But America was a wholly unlike tarradiddle . Rumble in the Bronxmarked hisfourth attemptto break into Hollywood . antecedently he ’d starred in Robert Clouse’sBattle Creek Brawl(1980 ) and appeared inThe Cannonball Run(1981 ) andThe Protector(1985 ) . But none of those films made much of an impact for Chan . ForRumble in the Bronx , he decide it was clip to take thing into his own hands : Instead of looking for the right function in a big - budget Hollywood photographic film , he decided to make a Hong Kong film that could work as a cross - over hit .
3. THE FILM WAS SET IN THE BRONX TO MAKE IT MORE ACCESSIBLE TO A WESTERN AUDIENCE.
When it comes down to it , most of Jackie Chan ’s plastic film are about one thing : Jackie Chan . It does n’t matter if he ’s fighting assassins in Qing Dynasty China or pack members in the Bronx , just as long as the film showcases his skills . In the 1990s , Chan acknowledge that , and decided the good way to make his next film an American winner was to employ the chemical formula that made his Hong Kong movie so democratic , but change the circumstance to a familiar American locale .
“ InRumble , [ film director ] Stanley Tong and I withdraw the idea of making an ‘ outside ’ Hong Kong movie — one that would be as accessible to Western hearing as for easterly unity — as far as it could go … The setting ofRumblewas totally westerly . The baddie and background characters were all non - Asian . And much of the dialogue was in English , ” Chan said inI Am Jackie Chan . “ From the very root , [ executive producers ] Raymond Chow and Leonard Ho believed thatRumblewould be my ticket West . They were on the brink of selling a package of my early films to U.S. distributor . A movie set in America would seal the deal — and make a fantastic lead - in for a regaining to Hollywood … My way . And that ’s why , rather thanShowdown in MacauorGang War in Kowloon , my second moving-picture show with Stanley Tong becameRumble in the Bronx . ”
4. IT WAS THE BIGGEST MOVIE IN AMERICA DURING ITS OPENING WEEKEND.
Opening on 1736 screens in North America , Rumble in the Bronxwas thenumber onemovie in America in its hatchway weekend . The film also broke box office record in Hong Kong .
5. CHAN WAS IN A WHEELCHAIR BY THE END OF THE SHOOT.
Toward the end of the film ’s shoot , Chan bust his articulatio talocruralis attempting to jump from a pier onto a impress ground-effect machine . After returning from the hospital , Chan continued shooting the celluloid , wearing a sock paint to attend like a sneaker over his mould . Both Chan ’s sick - fatten jump and his tennis shoe - sock can be seen in the outtake that play during the movie ’s credits .
In addition to film in a mould , Chan also shoot down some of his chase scenes directly from his wheelchair . In aninterviewwith Conan O’Brien , Chan explicate that , for close - ups , he ’d act to be running , but in reality , his arms would be move , and he ’d be pushing himself along , kneeling on his wheelchair .
6. CHAN MADE THE FILM WITH MANY OF HIS REGULAR COLLABORATORS.
Chan has been working with the same team of filmmaker for much of his calling : Bill Tung , who plays Uncle Bill inRumble in the Bronxalso appears repeatedly in thePolice Storyseries , while Sammo Hung , who was an uncredited stunt coordinator onRumble in the Bronx — and has had a orbit of onscreen and behind - the - scenes roles in Chan ’s movies — started out as a schoolfellow of Chan ’s at the Peking Opera School when the two were kids . Director Stanley Tong has also worked with Jackie Chan on five other films , including the upcomingKung - Fu Yoga , set to premiere in 2017 .
7. DIRECTOR STANLEY TONG’S ONLY ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FILM WASMR. MAGOO.
Shortly after the success ofRumble in the Bronx , Tong made his first — and to this day , only — English - spoken communication film , directing the resilient - legal action adaptation ofMr . Magoo . Produced by Disney , and released in 1997 , the film star Leslie Nielsen ( ofAirplaneandNaked Gunfame ) as the eponymic , nearsighted Magoo .
8. CHAN DECIDED TO MAKERUMBLEIN THE BRONXAFTER TURNING DOWN A ROLE INDEMOLITION MAN.
Before he decide to makeRumble in the Bronx , Chan was hop to find his breakout role in an American movie . He was champion with Sylvester Stallone , who repeatedly put up him roles in his upcoming films — which Chan , for one reason or another , repeatedly become down . InI Am Jackie Chan , Chan recalled , “ Another film Stallone offered me wasDemolition Man , a picture show with Sandra Bullock from the movieSpeed . He wanted me to play a super villain running open in the far future , chased by a ace copper , play by him . I did n’t sense right about that part either . It ended up going to Wesley snipe — so the two people I ’d want to work with , and could n’t , ended up working with each other . ”
9. IT WAS COMPLETELY RE-DUBBED FOR ITS AMERICAN RELEASE.
Rumble in the Bronx
was shoot with all of the actors speaking their native oral communication : While many of the Canadian form speak English during the shoot , Chan spoke only Cantonese . The integral film ( both English and Cantonese ) was later completelyredubbedin English .
10. NEW MUSIC WAS COMPOSED FOR THE FILM’S AMERICAN RELEASE.
in the beginning , thescoreforRumble in the Bronxwas compose by Nathan Wang , who gave it an unobtrusive malarky and rock soundtrack . But for the U.S. spillage , New Line had composer J. Peter Robinson make a Modern , more declamatory score ( Robinson also re - compose the wads of four other Chan films as part of a pot with New Line ) .
11. ROGER EBERT COMPARED CHAN TO FRED ASTAIRE.
“ Any attempt to defend this movie on noetic grounds is futile , ” Roger Ebertwrotein his review of the motion-picture show . “ Do n’t tell me about the plot and the dialogue . Do n’t harp on the acting . The whole point is Jackie Chan — and , like Astaire and Rogers , he does what he does well than anybody . ”
12 . STANLEY TONG ALSO JUMPED THE ALLEY .
YouTube
One of the most impressive stunts inRumble in the Bronxfeatures Chan bound from a rooftop parking lot onto the balcony of a building across the street . Chan made the impressive 28 - animal foot jump on his own , without wires or a harness . But Chan was n’t the only one to make the jumping . Tong , an accomplished stunt military personnel in his own right , allegedly had a rule that he ’d never take an thespian to perform a stunt he would n’t do himself . So before Chan jumped the alley on film , Tong jumped it first . Tong , however , did expend a harness and wires — which Chan on the face of it scrap not to make the stunt more realistic , but because he felt that , with the comportment of nearby power lines , they in reality made it more severe .
13. CHAN BOUGHT ALL THE PROPS HIMSELF.
During one of the movie ’s most notable scenes , Chan fights a bike ring in a warehouse they use as their undercover stamping ground . In the plastic film , the warehouse is pack with refrigerators , pinball game machines , sporting goods , and other random detritus , which Chan spontaneously expend to support himself from his assailants . While the storage warehouse front like it was arbitrarily furnish , Chan really carefully chose each prop for its electric potential in the panorama . “ Before the competitiveness in the warehouse , it was totally empty , ” Chansaidwhile promoting the cinema . “ We had to put everything in and then figure everything out with my stunt guy wire . ” Chan explain that he had purchased all of the props he thought would mould in the scene , then worked with his stunt coordinator to choreograph the fight , using each prop .
