GRADE: A-

The fourth entry in Jackie Chan's Police Story series is, to my eyes, better than the third (Supercop), on even keel with the second, and not quite as revelatory as the first (available on video in the U.S., cropped, cut, and dubbed, under the title Jackie Chan's Police Force). The story is as inconsequential as ever—Jackie goes after a nuclear arms smuggler this time—but it's easy on the eyes, with location shooting in Russia and Australia jazzing up the proceedings. Plus, it's got two truly great set pieces, the kind of stuff that proves Chan's mettle as a Buster Keaton successor (and that was missing from Supercop). In the first, Jackie fends off a gang of hired goons with a stepladder. And in the second, an extended kung fu climax takes place entirely underwater, with sharks swimming around to mix up the proceedings a little.

Really, now, how long can a fortysomething like Jackie keep this business up? I had worried that last year's Thunderbolt was a harbinger of Jackie's impending retirement from such flagrant daredevil high-jinx, but he's certainly up to his old tricks here. New Line supposedly has this one queued up for a January 1997 release, and it'll be worth the wait -- but your local alternative video shop may have already imported a copy. Since the tapes I've seen are subtitled, not dubbed, it's probably be worth your while to seek out a copy before the Americans have their way with it!