Themes: Mistaken Identities, Switched at Birth, Twins and Lookalikes
Main Cast: Teddy Robin, Jackie Chan, Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Nina Li Chi, Anthony Chan, Philip Chan
Release Year: 1992
Country: HK
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
International action star Jackie Chan stars opposite knockabout comedy sensation Jackie Chan in this story about identical twins separated in childhood who are unexpectedly reunited years later. While on the run from a Hong Kong hospital, an escaped convict takes an infant hostage, leaving the baby's identical twin brother behind. While the criminal is soon back behind bars, the police can't find the baby, who was hidden in the woods. The child is found by a well-meaning but hard-drinking woman who raises him on her own, while his brother moves to the United States with his parents. Years later, the brother raised in America, John (Jackie Chan), is a world-renowned classical musician, while the other, Boomer (Chan again), is a rough-and-tumble auto mechanic who likes to race cars and start fights. When Boomer's best friend hatches a dubious scheme to win the freedom of a nightclub singer (Maggie Cheung) in dutch with gangsters, he finds himself involved and in danger, just in time for John to arrive in Hong Kong for a concert appearance. The two brothers soon meet by accident, and suddenly finds themselves mistaken for each other. On one hand, both are pleased with the romantic possibilities, as John takes a shine to the nightclub chanteuse and Boomer discovers John's girlfriend is turned on by his more physical personality. On the other hand, John finds people are shooting at him, while Boomer is now expected to conduct an orchestra. Two of Hong Kong's leading directors, Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark, teamed for this action comedy, which was a major hit in Hong Kong in 1992, but didn't receive a wide theatrical release in the United States until seven years later. The 1999 American release was dubbed into English (with Chan doing his own voice) and trimmed to 89 minutes from the original running time of 100 minutes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Directed by two of Hong Kong's most prominent action filmmakers, Twin Dragons features Jackie Chan at his lighthearted best. As its title would suggest, Twin Dragons has Chan playing dual roles as a pair of identical twins separated at birth. One goes on to become a world-famous classical pianist, while the other becomes a street-smart mechanic and racecar driver. Through a series of mishaps, the two end up switching identities, causing confusion for the women in their lives, and eventually leading to a knock-down, drag-out confrontation with the Hong Kong mob in a car-testing factory. High art it ain't, but Chan's good-natured, go-for-broke attitude makes the farce work. Some scenes are way over the top, but they all fit in with the unabashedly goofy nature of the film, which is staged with about as much restraint as a Bugs Bunny cartoon. While it might take a certain frame of mind to appreciate a lot of the movie, Chan devotees will not be disappointed, especially since it's like getting two Chans for the price of one. Unfortunately, the U.S. theatrical release in 1999 was dubbed into English and cut by 11 minutes. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
Sylvia Chang - Twins Mother; James Wong - Twins Father; Lai Ying Chow - Gang Leader; Kirk Wong - Crazy Kung; Ringo Lam - Car Mechanic; John Woo - Priest; Tsui Hark - Card Player; Teddy Robin
Credit
Lam Chun Fai - Art Director, Lun Chon Hung - Art Director, Chong Che Leung - Costume Designer, Tsui Hark - Director, Ringo Lam - Director, Mak Chi-Sin - Editor, Ng See Yuen - Executive Producer, Phe Loung - Composer (Music Score), Michael Wandmacher - Composer (Music Score), Wong Wing-Hang - Cinematographer, Wong Ngor Tai - Cinematographer, Teddy Robin - Producer, Tsui Hark - Screenwriter, Barry Wong - Screenwriter, Cheung Tung Jo - Screenwriter, Wong Yik - Screenwriter, Stephen Tung Wei - Action Director
Twin Dragons aka. Brother vs. Brother, Double Dragon, Duel of Dragons, When Dragons Collide (Chinese title: 雙龍會) is a 1992Hong Kongmartial arts-action film starring Jackie Chan, and directed by Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark. The film did not receive an international release until 1999.
Made as a benefit film with the proceeds going to the Hong Kong Directors Guild, The Twin Dragons features many cameos by noted Hong Kong directors including John Woo, Wong Jing, Kirk Wong, Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark.
In the movie, Jackie Chan plays two roles, twins who were separated at birth and ended up with very different upbringings - one (John Ma) became a famous classical pianist while the other (Boomer) became a common crook.
As is inevitable in such a situation, when Ma visits Hong Kong he and Boomer are mixed up with each other and are forced to assume each other's identity. Boomer eventually has to come to the rescue of Ma when he gets himself stuck in the middle of a gang war.
Box office
The Twin Dragons was a box office hit in Hong Kong, earning HK $33,225,134. Profits were supposed to go to building a headquarters for the Hong Kong Directors' Guild, but the headquarters was never built.
The Twin Dragons was released in 1,129 North American theatres on April 9, 1999. Reviews were poor, and the film barely made a dent at the box office, earning US $2,829,990 ($2,506 per screen) in its opening weekend, on its way to a total of just $8,359,717. Of Chan's films that were re-edited for North American release, this was the least successful.
US Version
The version of The Twin Dragons that was released in North American theatres by Dimension (a subsidiary of Miramax) was given a new musical score, and its dialogue was dubbed to English with participation by Jackie Chan. In addition, this version is 11 minutes shorter than the Hong Kong version.
Critical reception
The version of The Twin Dragons released by Dimension received generally poor reviews from North American critics. Currently, it has a 40% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and 33% with the 'Cream of the Crop.'[1]. Tellingly, the film was not screened in advance for critics.
Jeff Vice of Desert News was particularly negative:
"Even an entire army of Jackie Chans couldn't make this lame martial-arts comedy watchable. It's filled with dumb jokes, unfunny shtick and long boring stretches between the film's only real highlights, the fight scenes. And frankly, there are not nearly enough of them to justify seeing the movie. To say that 1992's 'The Twin Dragons' isn't one of Chan's best is an understatement. In fact, it makes you wonder why, of all the Chan products out there, a movie studio chose to re-release this one."[2]
One of the more positive reviews came from Lawrence Van Gelder of the New York Times, who wrote:
"Made as a fund-raising project for the Directors' Guild of Hong Kong, this enjoyable blend of action, romance and humor requires only that the audience suspend its disbelief at the popcorn counter, ignore the paper-thin plot and dubbed dialogue and watch the two Chans work out their destinies as twins separated at birth."[3]
Cast
Jackie Chan - Ma Yau / Die Hard (John Ma / Boomer in US version)
