Rumble In The Bronx (4½ Stars)

"Rumble in the Bronx" (1995) is the film that finally made Jackie Chan a star in America, even though it was originally made for the Hong Kong market. New Line Cinema gave it a wide US release in 1996, and audiences who'd never seen Chan before were amazed by his breath-taking stunts, acrobatic fight scenes and effortless comic timing. Overnight, Hollywood realised it had been ignoring one of the world's greatest action stars.

The film itself is surprisingly uneven. It takes almost half an hour to get going, with too much dull chatter and a paper thin plot before the action really kicks in. Even then, much of its version of New York feels like a collection of Chinese stereotypes about America, complete with cartoonish street gangs and exaggerated culture clashes. Fortunately, once Jackie gets moving, the film comes alive. The spectacular shopping centre fight, rooftop leaps and the unforgettable hovercraft chase in the streets of New York are among the most inventive action scenes of the decade. "Rumble in the Bronx" may not be Jackie Chan's best film, but it was the one that finally introduced his extraordinary talents to America, and cinema was better for it.