Jackie Chan has been appearing in movies since the 1960s as a child actor. He has worked as a stuntman in two Bruce Lee movies: Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon. Choosing the best Jackie Chan movies is not an easy task, considering the fact that he starred in a lead role in over 60 movies.
His first leading role was in the 1978 film Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow. It was the same year that he starred in Drunken Master which propelled him to mainstream success. His first Hollywood film was Battle Creek Brawl in 1980.
During the ’80s, he made several famous action-comedy films like Wheels on Meals (1984), Police Story (1985), Armour of God (1986), and Police Story 2 (1988). In the ’90s, he continued to star in successful movies, including the sequels Armour of God 2: Operation Condor (1991), Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992), and Drunken Master 2 (1994). He was offered to play Simon Phoenix in Demolition Man, but he didn’t want to play the villain.
With the release of Rumble in the Bronx (1995), Chan finally established himself in the United States. His first huge blockbuster success came with the buddy cop action comedy Rush Hour, where he co-starred with Chris Tucker. This was the movie that made him a Hollywood star. It is also one of his highest-grossing movies ever.
The 2000s were also a good decade for Jackie Chan. He reunited with Chris Tucker for Rush Hour 2 (2001), which was even more successful than the first movie. He also made two movies with Owen Wilson: Shanghai Noon and its sequel, Shanghai Knights, as well as the third installment in the Rush Hour series.
In 2010, he starred in The Karate Kid remake, which was a super successful movie, making $359 million worldwide.
From his movies made in the last few years, we would recommend the buddy cop action comedy Skiptrace (2016) with co-star Johnny Knoxville and the action thriller The Foreigner (2017).
Here is our list of the best Jackie Chan movies of all time, ordered by release date:
1. Drunken Master (1978)
Genre: Action, Comedy
Director: Woo-Ping Yuen
Starring: Jackie Chan (24), Siu Tin Yuen, Jung-Lee Hwang
It’s the role in this movie that propelled Jackie Chan to mainstream success. The kung fu comedy genre, for which he became famous, started with this one.
He plays a young kung fu student with a lack of discipline. After many failed attempts, his father decides to send him to another, more cruel teacher. The new teacher is a master of drunken kung fu. He will eventually escape from the new teacher, but after getting beaten in a fight, Wong Fei-hung will return to his drunken master.
2. The Young Master (1980)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Directors: Jackie Chan
Starring: Jackie Chan (26), Pai Wei, Biao Yuen
Two brothers, Dragon and Tiger, are competing for their school against the rival school in Lion Dance, but Tiger betrays his school in order to help the competitors win. After Tiger is exiled, his brother Dragon vows to bring him back. On his journey, Dragon will eventually end up fighting a dangerous criminal named Kam in order to save his brother.
3. Wheels on Meals (1984)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Directors: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung
Starring: Jackie Chan (30), Biao Yuen, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung
Two cousins run a mobile food restaurant in Barcelona from their van. They will team up with their friend, private detective Moby, to protect a beautiful pickpocket named Sylvia who is targeted by a gang. After she is kidnapped, the rescue team of the three must infiltrate the villains’ hideout and defeat the gang using their martial arts skills.
4. Police Story (1985)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Directors: Jackie Chan, Chi-Hwa Chen
Starring: Jackie Chan (31), Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin
Jackie Chan is a tough Hong Kong cop who single-handedly arrested a big drug lord. As revenge, the drug lord frames him for the murder of a dirty cop. Now he needs to clear his name while escaping arrest and avoiding being killed.
This is the first movie of the Police Story series, a non-stop action film with a lot of dangerous stunts done by Jackie Chan himself. The movie was a huge success, and according to Chan’s autobiography, he considers Police Story his best action film.
Next to Drunken Master 2, it is the best-rated Jackie Chan movie on IMDb.
5. Armour of God (1986)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Director: Jackie Chan
Starring: Jackie Chan (32), Alan Tam, Lola Forner
Armor of God would be best described as Jackie Chan’s version of Indiana Jones. He is a treasure hunter who needs to help his friend Alan save his kidnapped girlfriend from an evil cult. They infiltrate the cult’s hideout and rescue the girl, but it is exactly what the cult leader wants. The cult possesses two pieces of legendary armor called the “Armour of God,” and they intend to have Jackie bring them the three remaining armor pieces.
6. Police Story 2 (1988)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Director: Jackie Chan
Starring: Jackie Chan (34), Maggie Cheung, Kwok-Hung Lam
In the Police Story sequel, the supercop Chan fights against a group of bombers who are blackmailing building owners for millions. On top of that, he needs to be on the lookout for the old enemy’s revenge.
7. Armour of God 2: Operation Condor (1991)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Director: Jackie Chan
Starring: Jackie Chan, Carol ‘Do Do’ Cheng, Eva Cobo
Agent Jackie is hired to find the gold in Africa hidden by the Nazis during World War II. On his journey, he is accompanied by three women. They soon realize that a team of mercenaries is also looking for the same gold, and they are ready to remove all competition.
8. Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Director: Stanley Tong
Starring: Jackie Chan (38), Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung
Police Story 3: Supercop, also known as Supercop, is the third installment of the popular Police Story series. This time, Inspector Chan will team up with a beautiful female inspector named Jessica (Michelle Yeoh) to break up a drug-smuggling ring. They need to work undercover in order to bring down the syndicate.
9. Drunken Master 2 (1994)
Genre: Action, Comedy
Directors: Chia-Liang Liu, Jackie Chan (uncredited)
Starring: Jackie Chan (40), Ho-Sung Pak, Lung Ti
Drunken Master 2, or better known in North America as The Legend of Drunken Master, is a sequel to Chan’s 1978 film Drunken Master. It was named one of the top 100 best films of all time by Time magazine. Also, the British Film Institute (BFI) selected Drunken Master II as one of the 10 best action movies of all time.
Chan reprised his role as Wong Fei-hung, and this time he is caught up in the battle between foreigners who wish to export ancient Chinese artifacts and loyalists who don’t want the pieces to leave the country.
10. Rumble in the Bronx (1995)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Director: Stanley Tong
Starring: Jackie Chan (41), Anita Mui, Françoise Yip
A young man visiting and helping his uncle in New York City finds himself forced to fight a street gang and the mob with his martial art skills.
With this movie, Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market and attained a cult following in the United States, which was rare for Hong Kong movie stars. It was one of the most profitable films of 1996.
11. Mr. Nice Guy (1997)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Director: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung
Starring: Jackie Chan (43), Richard Norton, Miki Lee
The film is set in Australia, and it is Chan’s first film to be scripted and shot in English. He plays a well-known television chef who ends up being chased by a mob. A TV reporter named Diana has a tape with evidence against the drug lord Giancarlo, and that tape accidentally ends up in Jackie’s car. Now his girlfriend is kidnapped, and the mob wants their tape.
12. Who Am I? (1998)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Directors: Benny Chan, Jackie Chan
Starring: Jackie Chan (44), Michelle Ferre, Mirai Yamamoto
In this action-comedy, Jackie Chan is a secret agent who crashes into the African jungle after his mission goes awry. When he wakes up in a village of local natives, he has no idea who he is. His memory is completely lost. Now he is on a journey to find out his identity.
13. Rush Hour (1998)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Jackie Chan (44), Chris Tucker, Ken Leung
A loyal and dedicated Hong Kong Inspector (Jackie Chan) must team up with a reckless and loudmouthed L.A.P.D. detective (Chris Tucker) to rescue the Chinese Consul’s kidnapped daughter while trying to arrest a dangerous crime lord along the way.
Rush Hour is Jackie Chan’s first huge blockbuster success, which led to two sequels. This film made him a Hollywood star. It grossed over $244 million worldwide.
14. Rush Hour 2 (2001)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Jackie Chan (47), Chris Tucker, John Lone, Roselyn Sanchez
In the second installment of the Rush Hour series, Carter (Tucker) and Lee (Chan) head to Hong Kong on vacation, but they find themselves neck-deep in trouble with the Triads after an explosion in the American Embassy.
The film was an even bigger success than the original, grossing $347 million worldwide.
15. Rush Hour 3 (2007)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Jackie Chan (53), Chris Tucker, Max von Sydow
Three years after their last adventures (in Rush Hour 2), Inspector Lee and Carter will meet again. Lee is following Ambassador Han, who is to address the World Criminal Court. After an assassination attempt on Han, Lee and Carter head to Paris to track down the Triads responsible for the attack.
10 Best Jackie Chan Movies According to IMDb
According to IMDb, these are the 10 best Jackie Chan movies in the lead role:
- The Legend of Drunken Master (1994) – 7.6
- Police Story (1985) – 7.6
- Drunken Master (1978) – 7.5
- Project A (1983) – 7.4
- Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978) – 7.4
- Operation Condor (1991) – 7.3
- Dragons Forever (1988) – 7.3
- Armour of God 2: Operation Condor (1991) – 7.3
- Wheels on Meals (1984) – 7.2
- The Young Master (1980) – 7.2
5 Best Jackie Chan Movies According to Box Office
- The Karate Kid (2010) – $359 million
- Rush Hour 2 (2001) – $347 million
- Rush Hour 3 (2007) – $258 million
- Rush Hour (1998) – $244 million
- Rumble in the Bronx (1995) – $76 million
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