Railroad Tigers

A handful of ragtag freedom fighters take on an occupying Japanese army in 1941 China in Railroad Tigers, a comically violent collaboration between action superstar Jackie Chan and writer-director Ding Sheng. The 63-year-old Chan plays Ma Yun, a railroad porter with a graceful maturity and easy smile that belie his secret role as the leader of train saboteurs who are bedeviling enemy troops. In an early scene set aboard a transport train carrying Japanese soldiers and confiscated goods, Ma and his team knock out the bad guys and steal their uniforms. A couple of villainous officers (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Zhang Lanxin) are called in to get tough at a major station where Ma and company are plotting in secret. The ante is raised when a wounded Chinese soldier—tasked with blowing up a major bridge to stop the Japanese from further exploiting a railway line—turns to Ma to get the job done. What follows are scenes of imaginative action and dazzling stunt work, all taking place on a speeding train heading toward an unknown destination. A limber Chan and a game cast—including Chan's grown son, Jaycee Chan—appear to be in real, constant peril as they carry on inside, beneath, and atop the speeding locomotive. While the film's sometimes gritty violence is surprising for an action comedy, delightful moments abound, such as a scene in which Ma's men argue over the proper key for singing a peasant song. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” featurette (21 min.), a VFX featurette (4 min.), a segment with director Ding Sheng (3 min.), and the behind-the-scenes featurettes “The Dangers of Shooting” (3 min.) and “The Characters” (3 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a bonus DVD copy of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a fun Jackie Chan chop socky flick.] (T. Keogh)