Tavern on Wheels is a Chinese-made comedy action movie that is considered a cult around the world. Interesting humor, excellent staging of fights, a fascinating story, the favorite of the public, Jackie Chan in the title role, ensured the film the love of millions of viewers.
Plot
Cousins ​​Thomas and David moved to Barcelona from China. They have a small common business - they sell food from their own high-tech tavern on wheels. The brothers are doing well. They fight well, which is very useful in a hassle with local gangs.
The brothers come to a psychiatric clinic to visit father David, where they encounter the daughter of one of the patients - Spanish Sylvia. David immediately feels sympathy for the girl, but hesitates to call her on a date.
A little later, the brothers encounter Sylvia in the square where they trade. Having heard from the girl a story about her difficult life, they pity her and even allow her to spend the night at home. However, in the morning the girl disappears with all the guys ’money.
Later, the loser detective Moby, who is looking for Sylvia, goes to the brothers. It turns out that the girl is the heiress of a huge fortune, which bandits are seriously interested in. They want to get all the money, and for this they kidnap Sylvia and her mother. Thomas, David and Moby decide to save the abducted women. To do this, they will have to infiltrate the ancient castle and fight with the bandits.
Actors
At the time of filming The Tavern on Wheels, the actors Jackie Chan (Thomas), Sammo Hung (Moby) and Yuen Biao (David) were already widely known in China. Sammo Hung not only played the role of a detective, but also directed the film. For Chinese film enthusiasts, it was a golden time, because the three brightest movie stars of those years worked together.
Laura Forner, who played the role of Sylvia, in 1979 received the title of “Miss Spain”. Later, she again starred with Jackie Chan in the film "Armor of God."
The film was attended by former kickboxing champion Benny Urkides. Their final fight with Jackie Chan is considered one of the greatest in the history of cinema.
Interesting Facts
According to the film, a computer game was created called "Master Kung Fu."
The name of the film in the original should have sounded like this: “Meals on Wheels”, but the studio has already released two films with names starting with “M”, which failed at the box office. Therefore, it was decided to name the film "Wheels on Meals", which sounds a bit strange.
In an interview, Benny Urkides admitted that he had never heard of Jackie Chan before filming began.
Benny Urquidez in battle scenes usually beat a partner that was strength. There were even rumors that the reason for this was his disagreement with Jackie Chan. However, in fact, Benny did not have experience in filming films and practiced his skills only in the ring, because many of his hits reached a shooting partner.
In one of the scenes, Benny made such a quick and sharp kick, that the candles standing nearby blew out the air. The director liked this scene so much that it was included in the final editing.
During the filming of one of the scenes, Keith Vitali hit Jackie Chan hard in the throat. He got scared and rushed to his partner to make sure that everything was in order. After Keith, he was seriously scolded for this, because he should not leave the role until the team is “removed” from the director. A little later during the filming, Keith hit the director Sammo with all his might and did not leave the role until the victim found the strength to give the command “removed”.
History of creation
Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao were familiar from the school itself. Later, this trio began working on joint films. Since 1980, they have been releasing several films one after another, which are becoming extremely popular in China. In 1984, the world saw the Tavern on Wheels, which was able to win love all over the world.
The film was decided to shoot outside of Hong Kong. There were two reasons. Firstly, by that time the star trinity was so popular in China that it couldn’t walk quietly on the streets without attracting other people's attention. Secondly, obtaining permission from the government to shoot in Hong Kong was not easy. Bruce Lee in 1971 shot the film "The Way of the Dragon" in Italy, which opened up new opportunities for other Chinese filmmakers. Sammo Hung decided to follow his example, and the shooting of Tavern on Wheels took place in Barcelona. Compared with the Hong Kong authorities, Barcelona authorities were very willing to give permission to shoot, even to chase the streets and shootings.
In 1985, the film received a nomination for the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Choreography of Battle Scenes.
Thus, the film "Tavern on Wheels" was shot during the period of immense popularity of comedic action movies. Thanks to the participation of three of the greatest Chinese stars in it, the film gained popularity not only in China, but throughout the world. The fighting scenes from the film were included in the list of the best in history.