Rush Hour (1998)
77%RT Audience Score: 78%
Awards & Nominations: 6 wins & 9 nominations
A kick-ass addition to the cop-buddy film genre
Rush Hour is the perfect movie for when you want to see Jackie Chan kick some butt and Chris Tucker talk a mile a minute. It’s a classic buddy cop movie that’s both explosive and hilarious. Sure, the plot may be a bit cliched, but who cares when you’re having this much fun? Chan and Tucker make an unlikely but delightful pair, and their chemistry is what makes this movie truly memorable. Plus, that scene where Chan weaves between tour buses like a kung-fu version of Singin’ In The Rain? Pure gold. Rush Hour may not be high art, but it’s definitely high entertainment.
Production Company(ies)
Dreamworks Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Amblin Entertainment,
Distributor
New Line Home Video [us], New Line Cinema
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Ambassador Hotel – 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for sequences of action/violence and shootings, and for language
Year of Release
1998
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
-
Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 38m
-
Language(s):English, Cantonese, Mandarin
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 18, 1998 Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2007
Genre(s)
Action/Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Tom Wilkinson, Elizabeth Peña, Philip Baker Hall, Mark Rolston, directed by Brett Ratner, written by Jim Kouf, Ross LaManna, action, comedy, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Xan Brooks, Michael O’Sullivan, Nell Minow, Caroline Westbrook, Lisa Alspector, Charlotte O’Sullivan, Daniel Howat, Mike Massie, Kevin Carr, Peter Canavese, PG-13, FBI, LAPD, Chinese diplomat, daughter, kidnapping, Hong Kong Detective Inspector Lee, wisecracking Detective James Carter, buddy cop, martial arts, action scenes, dynamic, flare, energy, lively comedy, cartoonish, predictable, unorthodox detectives, Chinese consulate, recover, task force, American Pie, Men in Black II, Wild Wild West, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Marvel Movies in Order, The Sea Beast, Black Bird, Thor: Love and Thunder, Moon, 66 Questions, Both Sides of the Blade, Murina, Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel, Cop Secret, The Road to Galena, Take the Night, Khuda Haafiz: Chapter 2 – Agni Pariksha, Fair Game, London Nahi Jaunga, Sohreyan Da Pind Aa Gaya, Elvis, The Deer King, My Name Is Sara, The Killer, Hyde Park, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, SDDS, DTS, Surround, Dolby Digital, 35mm, Scope (2.35:1), New Line Home Video [us], New Line Cinema
Worldwide gross: $244,721,064
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $449,097,660
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 334
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 48,974,663
US/Canada gross: $141,186,864
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $259,097,804
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 242
US/Canada opening weekend: $33,001,803
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $60,562,962
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 171
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $33,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $60,559,653
Production budget ranking: 676
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $32,611,373
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $355,926,633
ROI to date (est.): 382%
ROI ranking: 353
Chris Tucker – Detective James Carter
Tom Wilkinson – Thomas Griffin, Juntao
Elizabeth Peña – Tania Johnson
Philip Baker Hall – Captain William Diel
Mark Rolston – Warren Russ
Director(s)
Brett Ratner
Writer(s)
Jim Kouf, Ross LaManna
Producer(s)
Arthur M. Sarkissian, Jonathan Glickman, Roger Birnbaum
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
6 wins & 9 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (74) | Top Critics (23) | Fresh (45) | Rotten (29)
A brief sequence where he weaves between tour bus, truck and camper van views like a kung-fu version of Singin’ In The Rain. But Chan’s physical poetry is boxed inside narrow margins.
January 16, 2019
Xan Brooks
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
A misbegotten marriage of sweet and sour.
January 16, 2019
Michael O’Sullivan
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Buddy cop fun amidst explosions, bad guys, and language.
October 19, 2010 | Rating: 3/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
By the book buddy-buddy movie. This is a weakly scripted parade of set-pieces which aren’t as exciting as regular Jackie Chan films.
October 18, 2008 | Rating: 2/5
Caroline Westbrook
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The contrast between Tucker’s motormouth and Chan’s man of few words should be funnier, but the plot — which is cliched without quite becoming self-reflexive — and the uneven pace dampen most of their moments.
October 14, 2008
Lisa Alspector
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Much of the best dialogue, you suspect, was improvised by Tucker and Chan, who seem truly taken with each other and make a delightful, ordinary-extraordinary pair.
February 9, 2006
Charlotte O’Sullivan
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Endlessly quotable and completely memorable, Rush Hour stands head and shoulders above most buddy-cop movies.
May 18, 2022 | Rating: 8/10
Daniel Howat
Next Best Picture
Chan plays his typical good guy, scripted to be serious in the right places yet silly at others, embodying the perfect, composed straight man to Tucker’s relentless joker.
September 24, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
The fast-talking Tucker and quick-kicking Chan are a surprisingly good team that manages to deliver a stylish and fun combination of highly choreographed action and comedy.
January 16, 2019 | Rating: 3/4
CSM Staff
Christian Science Monitor
a big heap of fun
January 5, 2014 | Rating: 4/5
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures
Chan…can make something out of nothing, while Ratner’s chief skills seem to be talking himself into the director’s chair and hiring the right people. [Blu-ray]
December 29, 2010 | Rating: 2.5/4
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews
A lightweight, but highly enjoyable buddy cop movie elevated by its two lead stars.
December 15, 2010 | Rating: 8/10
R.L. Shaffer
IGN DVD…
Plot
Cultures clash and tempers flares as the two cops named Detective Inspector Lee a Hong Kong Detective and Detective James Carter FBI, a big-mouthed work-alone Los Angeles cop who are from different worlds discovers one thing in common: they can’t stand each other. With time running out, they must join forces to catch the criminals and save the eleven-year-old Chinese girl of the Chinese consul named Soo Yung.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Rush Hour stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as an unlikely pair of detectives.
Brett-Ratner.jpg
