movie poster

Wheels on Meals

AKA: Meals on Wheels, Million Dollar Heiress, Spartan X, Weapon X

1984

Director: Sammo Humg

Stars: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Lola Forner, Richard Ng, John Sham, Ng Ma, Keith Vitali, Benny Uriquedez

Okay, Wheels on Meals does have a silly title (it was originally titled Meals on Wheels, but superstitious executives at Golden Harvest changed it after two high-profile movies starting with "m" flopped) but it is one of Jackie Chan's best films from this period. Gimmick movies are normally a hit-or-miss proposition (in this instance, using a European location and a large, racially diverse cast); luckily, this one works. Though the script isn't really too solid and there are definitely some scenes (mostly attempts at comedy) which could have been trimmed or cut completely, Wheels on Meals sports some of the most impressive fight sequences ever to come out of Hong Kong (via way of Spain in this case).

The story has Chan and Yuen Biao as two buddies running a fast-food truck in Spain who both fall in love with pickpocket Lola Forner (a former Miss Spain offscreen who also appeared in Armour of God). They notice a shady looking character (Hung, who was in his really bad jheri-curl phase at this point) following her about and decide to confront him. It turns out Hung is a private eye hired to protect Forner, who is really a rich heiress. After she is kidnapped, the "three brothers" join forces to rescue her. The exposition is really just fluff to get to the action sequences, which are great. Wheels on Meals' highlight has to be the ass-stomping finale, most specifically the battle between Chan and Benny Uriquedez -- they got so into this matchup that they both ended up hurting each other for real. This is good stuff all around for martial arts fans and well worth checking out.

RATING: 8

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Click here to view the trailer for this movie (clip courtesy of Aloho's Video Page)