Supercop truly brought me many great memories.
In the scene where they helped the prisoner escape,
we used a helicopter, 100 cars, and armoured vehicles.
There was even a gun fight, because the clock tower was at the High Court building.
When we applied for a filming permit,
all seven judges rejected the application
because "it would send the wrong message."
To me, it was only a movie plot line
and the scene was really set there,
so there was no reason to have to look elsewhere.
If we must shoot there, what could we do?
Fortunately, the Traffic Department of the Police was very supportive
and promised to give me four hours.
But we had to clear out by 9 a.m. Monday morning
because that was an important highway.
But I found I needed 28 shots to complete the sequence,
including shots of the helicopter and the car chase.
And I only had four hours; it was very difficult.
All I could do was try my best and do the best I could.
So I split up my crew into four teams.
The previous day, we rehearsed according to the shot list.
We started setting up at 4:30 a.m.,
and started filming at dawn.
The scene started with the helicopter,
Maggie Cheung being pushed off the helicopter,
Michelle Yeoh leaping onto the prison truck,
the squibs to explode during the gun-fight.
I also had to deal with the 100 cars.
It is already difficult to find extras in Malaysia,
it already took a lot of time to place the 100 cars.
And I only had those four hours.
The whole crew was running around carrying the cameras.
Not one person walked.
After filming every sequence, with one command through the walkie-talkies, everyone would run again.
I had four walkie-talkies,
one to talk to the crew in the helicopter, one to talk to the traffic police,
one to talk to the Assistant Directors, and one to manoeuvre the camera crew.
One assistant held two of them for me.
I had one in my pocket, and held the fourth.
That is how I finished that day's shoot in four hours.
I was so happy.
When we filmed the scene where the helicopter chased the train,
the hardest part was how to hook the helicopter to the train
because that is a very dangerous thing to do.
We needed to suspend Jackie under the helicopter,
so that it would look like he was really holding onto the rope ladder
and film him being flown towards the oncoming train,
and at the last moment, pull him up out of the way.
If the rope ladder did get caught on something
it would be very dangerous.
So, how should we shoot this?
Our idea was to hook the rope ladder to the train
and have people on board the helicopter holding on to the rope ladder.
If anything happened, they would simply let go of the rope ladder.
Everyone thought it was a good idea.
But what I really wanted was the helicopter wobbling
after it got caught.
So, how can I get that shot?
I asked the pilot to make the helicopter wobble
while the action choreographer and I
held the rope ladder to work it with the movement.
But when we filmed
we thought we were prepared, but failed to consider one thing.
When we threw the rope ladder down, we didn't throw it far enough.
The rope ladder was really very heavy. It got tangled on the helicopter's skids.
It almost really dragged the helicopter down.
I watched as the helicopter tilted onto its side
with the rotor blades almost touching the top of the train.
Fortunately, the pilot was alert.
Captain Yau, formerly of the Malaysian Air Force.
He calmly asked me which skid the rope ladder was on.
I immediately told him the left one.
He turned the cyclic, hard.
Just before an accident occurred the helicopter rolled mid-air.
It was amazing, the helicopter shot up 1 km into the sky like a spring.
Afterwards, even the pilot heaved a sigh of relief.
He had sprained his shoulder from turning too hard.
We saw that we were going to die.
The helicopter was really caught,
the rotor was going to hit the train,
and just from the pilot turning the situation around
by going into an accelerated climb.
I was shaky for the next two weeks whenever I thought about this.
Filming just looks simple.
I should mention Ken Tsang's scene off the helicopter.
He was thrown off the aircraft by the wobbling movement.
I was his stunt double for the jump down.
It looked simple, but from the helicopter
it was 40 meters, and the moving train was shaking.
If I did not land exactly as planned,
because I only had a space this wide in which to land, if I didn't land right there, or if I was thrown off the train
and landed on the path next to the track...
It was full of hard and sharp rocks,
so if I landed there, I would be dashed into a thousand pieces.
Also, I had not been a stunt double in a long time
and forgot to wear protective pads.
The wardrobe crew gave me shoes and I put them on.
When I landed from the wobbling helicopter
I cracked my heel.
That's why, until the end of principal photography
I had to walk around on crutches.
I remember the first time I worked with Jackie Chan.
It was 13 years ago. I was very young,
but he was already a superstar.
So when I talked to him, I was very respectful.
Whenever we had different opinions
we would not get into heated arguments.
After we argued, I would first listen to what he had to say and remain silent.
Then I would ask him to give me some time to think about it.
I would wait until he had calmed down
and was patient enough to listen. Then I would slowly explain my method
and explain the reasons behind it.
Usually, if I used this way, he would accept my ideas easily.
But if I brought up my suggestion
in opposition to his idea, and argue with him right away
once he got the idea into his head
he might not agree with your methods.
But when you wait until he is patient
and explain it to him slowly and clearly, he will listen to your views.
I think we work so well together
because I understand his personality so well.
Supercop did bring me many great memories
because it was a new director working together with a super-star.
So of course I tried my best to apply
everything I've learned and all the action scenes I had ever seen.
How to add in elements from sea, land and air.
Thus the film has speedboats, gunfights, explosions, hand-to-hand combat,
car chases, car crashes, helicopters motorcycles, trains,
almost every action element, you can see it in Supercop.
The most memorable thing was, I was trying to be creative
and hoping for a breakthrough in the ending of the film.
For instance, in a typical Hong Kong film
the ending scene would usually take place in a warehouse or a studio set.
The audience can guess that as soon as the door is locked
there would be a 10 to 15 minute piece of intense fighting.
The audience would know what is coming.
So in Supercop, I wanted the ending to be a surprise to them.
From rescuing the prisoner, to their own escapes,
to the car chase to the clock tower,
then to the helicopter... And then what?
Every step would be unpredictable to the audience.
I remember I made Jackie Chan leap out into thin air
from a seven-storey rooftop to catch a rope ladder
and at the same time, see what was happening on the ground.
This is a really dangerous thing to do.
Of course we rehearsed,
but Jackie Chan was actually afraid of heights.
I didn't know that at first because I had seen his other films.
When I asked him how he did it then he said he could do it only while the camera was rolling.
At any other time, leave him out of it because he was afraid of heights.
I remember when I took him to the rooftop
I could see he was frightened.
But when the cameras rolled, he was a different person.
Once the camera rolled, he became a professional.
He became a super-man, charged off the rooftop,
grabbed the rope ladder, and remained suspended in mid-air.
But this is dangerous while the helicopter was in flight.
It was going at 80 miles per hour.
I remember there was a shot.
I had arranged for another helicopter to follow the first to film it
because I wanted his face to be clearly visible.
But because the cameraman was in the other moving helicopter
he could hold the camera steady.
And the tighter you zoom, the more magnified the movement became.
Although we had filmed the same shot many times,
the cameraman said over the walkie-talkies that
he could not get Jackie's face clearly on film.
I said, Jackie has been hanging there for so long,
if we can't get a clear picture of his face
the audience would think it's just a stunt double.
That won't do, so try again.
But I turned and saw that Jackie's face had gone pale
because he had been suspended in mid-air for too long.
We had flown too many times, and it was very cold.
I asked if he was okay.
The pilot said it looked like Jackie could not hang on much longer.
He suggested that we give it up.
But I knew if we didn't get that shot we would be in trouble,
so I looked down and asked Jackie if he could still hold on.
He looked up and said, "When it's okay."
He meant, when I said the shot was okay, he can finally be released.
So I told the pilot,
"Jackie said he's okay, let's film it again."
So we took another flight.
And on that one shot we successfully caught Jackie's face clearly on film.
But Jackie showed that he was losing his temper.
You can see under the end roller credits
how he kicked off his shoes in anger.
When he got back onto the ground
I said, "Hurry and watch the tape!"
His face could clearly be seen.
And after he saw it, all his temper was gone.
He was very satisfied.
The best thing about working with him is that
his strength is his fighting spirit.
He'll do it if he thinks it's worthwhile.
And the pressure in being a director is that
when an actor is willing to risk his life for you,
if I cannot deliver the desired results...
It's my responsibility.
And that is my memorable experience with Jackie Chan.
I met Michelle Yeoh in 1986 on the set of Royal Warriors.
I was an assistant action director, we often rehearsed together.
At that time, I already had admiration for her.
She is an actress admired by many stuntmen.
Because stuntmen are usually arrogant and highly skilled.
I believe that Michelle Yeoh was the only woman that stuntmen admired.
Not only was she beautiful,
she also knew kung-fu, worked hard and was not afraid of hardship.
She is also an excellent actress.
I feel that she is a great and rare actress
and the pride of Chinese people.
I remember a scene where she had to ride a motorcycle
and make a flying leap onto a moving train.
I remember she did not know how to ride a motorcycle.
When I explained the concept to her
she loved it, but could not ride a motorcycle.
What to do?
I suggested that she take some lessons.
In order to comfort her, and make her feel at ease,
and since I also couldn't ride a motorcycle.
I'm good at stunt-driving in cars,
but disliked motorcycles
because it was too dangerous,
and many of my friends were injured in motorcycle accidents,
so I never liked riding motorcycles.
But we had to film the sequence very soon, what could we do?
I went and took lessons with her.
We took lessons one week before filming.
Michelle was a quick learner.
She only fell a few times,
but she was an even match for any man.
Although she is very feminine, in the martial arts department, she can be better than a man.
She is like Wonder Woman.
So I took lessons with her,
then we learned to ride uphill and make flying jumps.
The first time we shot the flying leap stunt
we fitted stunt cables on her.
I told her that she just needed to create the feeling of leaping,
because we could assemble the rest of the stunt with editing.
But when the motorcycle flew up
and we pulled her up
her shin bumped against the motorcycle's handlebars.
At that time, we were 100 yards away.
I was operating the camera filming her,
but I already heard a very loud "bang"
and saw her curled up in pain.
I instantly ran to her
and saw she was in tears from the pain.
As I ran to her
the first thing she asked me was if the shot was okay.
I was in tears myself, seeing her like that.
I could already see her shin swelling up.
But she bore the pain and only asked how the shot was.
I saw her that way, and could not bear to ask her to try again,
but in my heart, I knew the shot would not work.
She saw my hesitation, and said,
"Director, let's do it again."
I said, "Okay, let's do it again!"
But when I turned around, I felt very moved
to see an actor so willing to try so hard for you.
Perhaps she saw Jackie Chan try so hard
and felt she had to keep trying.
Because we had the best action actor
and the best action actress, and this is their first time working together.
Maybe this was why they worked so hard on this film.
On her second attempt, she really did succeed.
It is that spirit of persistence that makes me admire her so much.