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Stanley Tong

Stuntman-turned-director Stanley Tong must share some of the credit for Jackie Chan's long overdue successful incursion into the lucrative US film market with the 1996 release of a dubbed and mildly edited version of "Rumble in the Bronx" (released throughout Asia in 1995). Although Chan had previously attempted to duplicate his awesome Asian success in the USA, it took Tong to showcase the action comedy star's acrobatic clowning, fighting and winning personality. American audiences embraced this likably goofy story about a Chinese cop who visits "The Bronx" (actually Vancouver, British Columbia) for his uncle's wedding but ends up battling a local gang and other more ominous criminal figures. Tong served as director, martial arts director and story writer for this modestly-budgeted ($6 million) production. Boasting a Hollywood sheen and somewhat more conventional stunt choreography than that in Chan films geared primarily for the Asian market, "Rumble in the Bronx" garnered positive stateside reviews and over $32 million in domestic grosses, thereby becoming one of the most profitable films of 1996. This achievement becomes even more remarkable when one learns that this was only Tong's third outing as a feature director.