How the film "Rush Hour" was filmed: footage from the filming and 12 interesting facts about the film (12 photos)

The action comedy film Rush Hour, released in 1998, instantly won the hearts of a huge number of viewers. Watching the duo of Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan was a real pleasure.





1. Remember the moment when Carter (Chris Tucker) did a dance in the style of Michael Jackson (10 minutes). It was a funny scene. But what’s even funnier is that 3 years later, Chris Tucker took part in the filming of Michael Jackson’s video for the song “You rock my world.”



Michael Jackson and Chris Tucker in the video for the song "You rock my world"

2. Remember the scene when two tourists ask Lee (Jackie Chan): "How to get to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles" while he was waiting for Carter outside the Chinese restaurant. This scene is a reference to the Quentin Tarantino film "Jackie Brown", in which starred Chris Tucker. It is this restaurant that Samuel L. Jackson's character uses to lure and then shoot Chris Tucker's character.

3. The role of Carter was offered to such actors as Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy, but they both turned it down due to being busy with other projects. In the end, the role went to Chris Tucker.

4. Director Brett Ratner was a big fan of Jackie Chan and his films, so he definitely wanted this Hong Kong actor in his film.





Jackie Chan and Brett Ratner

And as director Brett Ratner said, this is the first English-language film with Jackie Chan where he did not dub himself, as he did before. The director felt that it would be much more natural and interesting if Jackie spoke English as it is.

5. Remember the moment when Jackie Chan's character (Inspector Lee) at the end of the film falls from a great height and slides across the red canvas. Jackie performed this trick personally (this is the norm for him). But if he did this in just his pants, he would simply burn his entire butt due to friction at such a high speed. Therefore, to perform this trick, Jackie had to wear several pairs of jeans, and also stuff a special pad under her heel.



6. Chris Tucker is a true master of improvisation. In almost all the films with his participation, he did not miss the opportunity to show the wonders of his improvisation skills. And the film "Rush Hour" was no exception. Here, in general, a huge amount of dialogue is built on improvisation.



And in fact, director Brett Ratner really didn’t like this, because Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker were sometimes so keen on improvisation that then it was almost impossible to edit these scenes correctly.

7. The film "Rush Hour" could have been Jackie Chan's last, as he almost died during filming. Specifically, in the scene with the metal boxes, Jackie managed to remove his head less than a second before the boxes collided.



But in general this can be said about many films with Jackie Chan. Surely many of you know how he almost died performing a stunt in the movie “Armor of God”. I talked in more detail about how the film “Armor of God” was filmed in a separate article.



8. With a budget of $33 million, the film grossed $244.3 million, making it a commercial success. At the same time, Jackie Chan's fee was $1.5 million, while Chris Tucker's fee was $3 million.



Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker

9. During test screenings, audiences were unhappy that the film had too few action scenes featuring Jackie Chan. So the crew had to break out all their equipment again and go back to filming a couple of Jackie's fight scenes for a few days.



Unsuccessful take on the set of the film "Rush Hour"

10. Surely, many of you know the popular review aggregator “Rotten Tomatoes”. Did you know that this aggregator appeared essentially thanks to the movie “Rush Hour”?

The site was created by a Jackie Chan fan named Cen Duong. Duong collected various reviews and reviews on ffilms with Jackie Chan, which were released in the USA. It was then that he decided that it was worth creating a separate website where various critics could leave their reviews of films.

11. Despite the fact that Rush Hour is not a Jackie Chan film, the director decided to make credits in the style of films with Jackie Chan, namely to show unsuccessful takes. Personally, I'm all for it.



12. Despite the iconic nature of this picture, you can find many absurd moments in it. Take the scene when Tucker buys C4 explosives. It's quite strange to pull off such a deal in such a crowded place as the parking lot of a diner.



Or, for example. The villain demands a ransom of 50 million dollars, and in certain denominations, namely: 20 million in $50 bills, 20 million in $20 bills and 10 million in $10 bills.

Taking into account his demands, you will need to bring the villain 2.4 million bills. And taking into account the fact that any American bill weighs approximately 1 gram, it turns out that the total weight of the money should be 2.4 tons. You understand that this money will not fit into 2 suitcases, and even more so, such a weight cannot be carried by a person, even if it is Alexander Nevsky.



Well, it should be noted that when Lee and Carter fall from a height of the third floor onto a hard surface, they simply get up and run further after the villain.

Well, okay, let’s not find fault with such trifles, although personally, I even consider film blunders to be interesting facts, despite the fact that many people treat them very poorly.