Te wu mi cheng (2001)

Director:

Teddy Chan

Writers:

Rod Dean (English adaptation)
Ivy Ho

Release Date:

18 January 2001 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Thriller

Tagline:

Ordinary guy. Extraordinary spy

Plot:

This action movie unfolds with the story of Bei, a salesman at a workout equipment store, who harbors dreams of adventures...

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Fighting | Martial Arts | Bathhouse | Surveillance

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	Buck Yuen
Eric Tsang	...	Many Liu
Vivian Hsu	...	Yong
Min Kim	...	Carmen Wong (as Kim Min Jeong)
Hsing-kuo Wu	...	Lee Sang-Zen (as Wu Hsing Kuo)
Murat Yilmaz	...	Celik
Alfred Cheung	...	Cheung the Lawyer
Lillian Ho	...	Candice
Tat-Ming Cheung	...	Tsui / Stan
Vincent Kok	...	Moving Worker
Poon Hang Sen	...	Rich Man
Paulyn Sun	...	Rich Man's Wife
Ping Ha	...	Cleaning Lady (as Ha Ping)
Ken Chang	...	Cop at Mall
Glory Simon	...	TCN Field Reporter
Vahdet Çakar	...	Police Officer
Ahmet T. Uygun	...	TCN News Crew (as Ahmet Uygun)
Rakela Kunyo	...	TCN News Crew
Cheung Tat Chuen	...	TCN News Crew
Erdem Kaya	...	TCN News Crew
Emre Tannverdi	...	TCN News Crew
Abrim Gurgen	...	TCN News Crew
Faith Koroglu	...	TCN News Crew
Wai Hung Chan	...	TCN News Crew
Eric Lee	...	Lee's Bodyguard
Bradley James Allan	...	Lee's Bodyguard
Paul Andreovski	...	Lee's Bodyguard
Anthony Carpio	...	Lee's Boydguard (as Carpio Anthony)
Gordon Milne	...	Lee's Bodyguard (as Gordon William George Milne)
Siros Niaros	...	Lee's Bodyguard
Scott Adkins	...	Lee's Bodyguard (as Scott Edward Atkins)
Raven Choi	...	Lee's Bodyguard
Taner Barlas	...	Priest
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rezzak Aklar	...	United Nations Scientist
Sirma Bradley	...	United Nations Scientist
Man-Ching Chan
Dang Chiu-Yau	...	Robber
Wilgun Cinal	...	United Nations Scientist
Burak Damah	...	Turkish Family - Son
Ipek Deger	...	Turkish Family
Hervé Décalion	...	CIA Agent (as Herve Decalion)
Didem Erol	...	Girlfriend of Mafia Boss
Orhan Güner	...	United Nations Scientist (as Orhan Guler)
Fatih Haciosmanoglu	...	United Nations Scientist
James Hills	...	Beggar
Anthony Rene Jones	...	Philip Ashley (as Tony Jones)
Choo Gyne Jung	...	Buck's Mom
Yan Kin-Wai	...	Robber (as Yan Gin Wai)
Selim Kocak	...	Fishing Village Prayer
Joh Young Kwan	...	Park Won Jung
Yung Kwan	...	Robber
Kennedy Lau	...	Korean Officer
Lemon Liu	...	Korean Offical
Yildinm Ocek	...	Bank Manager
Erdinç Olgaçli	...	Turkish Family
Ray Pang	...	Bartender
Figen Amber Senbas	...	Bank Clerk
Pamela Spencer	...	Fishing Village Woman
Alay Stailmis	...	United Nations Scientist
Hamit Suzen	...	Fishing Village Kid
Chan Sai Teng
Paxton Winters	...	United Nations Scientist
Ming-Sing Wong	...	Salesman (as Wong Ming Sing)
Stephanie Wong	...	Korean Officer
Gordon Alexander	...	Hitman (uncredited)
Teddy Chan	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Athena Chu	...	Woman Interested in Gym Equipment (uncredited)
Mustafa Presheva	...	Italian Mob (uncredited)

Directed by
Teddy Chan

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Rod Dean		English adaptation
Ivy Ho

Produced by
David Chan	....	executive producer
Jackie Chan	....	producer
Raymond Chow	....	producer
Stephen Chu	....	executive producer
Neung-yeon Joh	....	line producer
Candy Leung	....	line producer

Original Music by
Peter Kam
Pui Tat Kam

Cinematography by
Wing-Hung Wong

Film Editing by
Chi-Leung Kwong

Production Design by
Kenneth Mak

Art Direction by
Ziya Ulkenciler
Oliver Wong		(as Oliver Wong Yui Man)

Set Decoration by
Haluk Ünlü

Costume Design by
Shirley Chan

Makeup Department
Yun-Ling Man	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Ali Akdeniz	....	production manager: Turkey
Jo Jo Hui	....	production supervisor
Ken Park	....	executive in charge of production
Wing Yee Alice Tse	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lemon Liu	....	second assistant director
Yasemin Samdereli	....	third assistant director
Ahmet T. Uygun	....	first assistant director
Man-ching Wong	....	assistant director (as Wong Man Ching)
Liu Yick Man	....	assistant director

Art Department
Hulya Karakas	....	assistant art director
Na Young Kim	....	assistant property master: Korea
Eda Tutuk	....	assistant art director
Nergis Çaliskan	....	prop buyer

Sound Department
Joe Barnett	....	sound re-recording mixer: 2002 US re-release
Steve Chan	....	sound recordist (as Steve Chan Wai Wung)
Matt Dubin	....	sound recordist: 2002 rerelease
David Knauer	....	sound recording engineer
Val Kuklowsky	....	supervising sound editor
Wai Hung Kwong	....	foley artist
Kinson Tsang	....	sound designer

Visual Effects by
Stephen Ma	....	special visual effects supervisor
Wai-Yuk Tang	....	special visual effects supervisor
Chuen Cho Ting	....	special visual effects supervisor (as Ting Cho Chuen)

Stunts
Scott Adkins	....	stunts
Gordon Alexander	....	stunts
Bradley James Allan	....	assistant stunt coordinator (as Bradley James Allen)
Paul Andreovski	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Alain Bour	....	stunt driver: Turkey
Anthony Carpio	....	assistant stunt coordinator (as Carpio Anthony)
Jackie Chan	....	stunt coordinator
Philipe Dailler	....	stunt driver: Turkey
Cyrille Dufaut	....	stunt driver: Turkey
Hervé Décalion	....	stunt driver: Turkey
Jean-Benoit Guillon	....	stunt driver: Turkey
Jean-Claude Lagniez	....	car stunt coordinator: Turkey
Benny Lai	....	stunt coordinator
Rocky Lai	....	stunts
Laurent Mulot	....	stunt driver: Turkey
Siros Niaros	....	stunt performer
Daniel O'Neill	....	stunt performer
Pascal Roblin	....	stunt driver: Turkey
Wei Tung	....	stunt coordinator
Jack Wong Wai Leung	....	assistant stunt coordinator (as Wong Wai Leung)
Ming-Sing Wong	....	deputy stunt coordinator
Jackie Chan	....	stunt performer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Kam-Chuen Chan	....	still photographer (as Chan Kam Chuen)
Durmus Demirezen	....	lighting technician
Yuen Chun Ming	....	focus puller
Man-Ching Ng	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Yu Ho Tang	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Rod Dean	....	editorial consultant

Music Department
Dan Wallin	....	music scoring mixer (US score)

Transportation Department
Menderes Demir	....	transportation captain: Turkey

Other crew
Bahadir Atay	....	location manager: Turkey
Chan Mang Chin	....	assistant to director
Erhan Ozogul	....	production accountant
Wei Tung	....	action choreographer
Cheung Sun Yee	....	script supervisor
Garson Yu	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Golden Harvest Company
• Panfilm

Distributors

• Golden Harvest Company (2001) (worldwide) (all media)
• RCV Film Distribution (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (Argentina)
• Dimension Films (2002) (USA) (dubbed)
• Gativideo (Argentina) (VHS)
• Highlight Film (Germany)
• Imagem Filmes (Brazil) (DVD)
• Imagem Filmes (Brazil) (VHS)
• Miramax Films
• Panasia Films (2009) (Hong Kong) (DVD) (remastered version)
• RCV Film Distribution (Belgium)
• RCV Film Distribution (Luxembourg)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• TFM Distribution
• Universe Laser & Video Co. Ltd. (2001) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Veronica (2005) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)

Special Effects

• Cubists (visual effects)
• Fantasy Digital Limited (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Cine Art Laboratory  film processing
• Cinerent  camera equipment supplied by
• Filmtech Camera Services  camera equipment supplied by
• Kodak (Hong Kong) Ltd.  film stock supplied by
• Media Business Service Limited  post-production sound services
• Salon Films  crane and grip equipment supplied by
• yU+Co.  main title design

Also Known As:

"Dak mou mai seng" - Hong Kong (Cantonese title) (imdb display title)
"The Accidental Spy" - International (English title)
"Agent z przypadku" - Poland (imdb display title)
"Altin yumruk Istanbul'da" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"Espía por accidente" - Argentina (video title)
"Espião Acidental" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"Espião Por Acidente" - Brazil
"Espion amateur" - France
"Espion malgré lui" - Canada (French title)
"Jackie Chan - Spion wider Willen" - Germany (TV title)
"Kamukém" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Kataskopos kata tyhi" - Greece (DVD title)
"Spia per caso" - Italy
"Spion wider Willen" - Germany
"The Accidental Spy" - Sweden (imdb display title)
"The Accidental Spy - vahingossa vakoojaksi" - Finland (imdb display title)
"Vahingossa vakoojaksi" - Finland (TV title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for strong action violence, some drug content and nudity

Runtime:

108 min | Argentina:92 min | USA:87 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin | English | Korean | French | Turkish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS (English version) | SDDS (English version) | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Brazil:14 | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Golden Harvest Company

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After the escape from the shed where Buck saves Yong, the masked assailants open the door, where a dead person lies in the shot. When the door opens, the dead person twitches and blinks.

Movie Connections:

References Sink the Bismarck! (1960)

I know I'll be hated, but...

Except for one glaring error, I think Dimension Films did an excellent job in recutting/redubbing The Accidental Spy for the American Market. They didn't cut any major action sequences, the editing in general was better in the US version, and the actors who did the dubbing in the US version were 500% better than the ones who spoke English in the original (especially the woman who played Carmen--she had a gorgeous face, but her English was less convincing than Jackie's and she was a horrible actress to boot). Also, the new English dialog is MUCH better in Dimension's version, easily beating out the original's English dialoge as well as the subtitle translations of it's Cantonese and Turkish dialoge.

For instance, in an early scene where shop-clerk Jackie is demonstrating exercise equipment to a middle aged man and his hot young wife, the man becomes indignant over that attention Chan pays to his trophy spouse. In the original version, the translation of his complaint about Chan to the shop manager is "Is he a circus clown?" In the US version, he says, "Is he hitting on my wife?" which makes MUCH more sense (to americans anyway).

Of course, the most unusual thing about this re-edit is that Dimension gave the film an entirely different story! The original was about the chase for an ultra-lethal, weaponized pathogen called Anthrax II. Spy was set to come out right in the middle of our nation's big Anthrax scare, however, so that was out. In Dimension's remake, everyone is chasing after vials of a prototype drug 100 times more addictive than heroin. I say "six of one, half a dozen of the other." The chase is the important part in a Jackie Chan movie, not what everyone's running after. In fact, the drug plot works much better in many ways.

The only thing they messed up was the very end of the film--a common problem for Dimension (see the awkward end of the US version of Legend of Drunken Master). Spy's original ending was both bittersweet and comic. The US version's chopped up ending is just jarringly abrupt and the explanation of the plot is even more nonsensical than the HK version (oddly enough, the "simple" US-version explanation is more unbelievable than the convoluted version in the original.).

The Accidental Spy is Chan's best HK film in years--great cinematography, slick set design, great action! A class act, as these things go.