Jackie Chan in Rush Hour (1998)
Vitals
Jackie Chan as Yan Naing Lee, athletic Hong Kong Police Force detective
Los Angeles, Fall 1997
Film: Rush Hour
Release Date: September 18, 1998
Director: Brett Ratner
Costume Designer: Sharen Davis
Background
Happy 70th birthday, Jackie Chan! Born April 7, 1954 in Hong Kong, Chan grew to fame for his impressive stunts and his ability to blend such acrobatic fighting with comic timing—a skill exemplified throughout the action-packed 1998 buddy comedy Rush Hour, a DVD that my high school friends must have watched dozens of times.
After a Chinese diplomat’s daughter is kidnapped in Los Angeles, the consul calls on a devoted friend from the Hong Kong Police Force to assist the investigation. Unwilling to accept the foreign detective’s help, the FBI passes Inspector Lee off to the LAPD—specifically the loquacious and foolhardy Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker), who resents being tasked with a babysitting assignment. While the feds follow the investigation by-the-book, Tucker’s unorthodox methods and Lee’s familiarity with those involved give the mismatched pair an advantage as they track down Soo Yung’s kidnappers… much to the FBI’s chagrin.
What’d He Wear?
Lee and Carter both dress in variations of the monochromatic color schemes that dominated men’s fashions across the late 1990s, illustrated by the popularity of Regis Philbin’s matching shirts and satin ties on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? (Yes, 10-year-old me owned a gold Regis Philbin-brand shirt and tie. Let’s move on.)
Inspector Lee arrives in Los Angeles wearing a black suit and black shirt, accented by a bold red silk tie that contrasts against the rest of the black clothing. The outfit is surprisingly flashy for an understated and generally serious investigator like Lee, but that further demonstrates how deeply this quasi-Mafioso look infiltrated menswear—while also keeping in mind that costume designer Sharen Davis was dressing movie stars for a fun action comedy.
Carter wears a purple tie that echoes his lighter-colored shirt while Lee embraces the monochromatic black suit and shirt.
The texture and folds of Lee’s black suit suggests polyester, roomily cut with a baggy fit that’s consistent with ’90s fashion trends that fortuitously provide Jackie Chan considerable range of motion for his dextrous stuntwork.
The ventless suit jacket has notch lapels that roll to a single-breasted two-button front. The front quarters are squared, with straight flapped hip pockets in addition to a welted breast pocket. The shoulders are wide and padded, and the sleeves are finished with three-button cuffs.
Lee’s black trousers rise to Jackie Chan’s waist, with reverse pleats that add volume through the thighs and harmonize withe jacket’s fuller cut. Styled with side pockets and plain-hemmed bottoms, the trousers are held up by a black leather belt that closes through a silver-toned single-prong buckle.
The dust and dirt accumulated after Lee’s long night makes his black belt appear to be a lighter color as he and Carter leave the consulate.
Over his black cotton crew-neck short-sleeved T-shirt, Lee wears a black soft poplin shirt with a point collar, front placket, set-in breast pocket, and button cuffs. His bright scarlet-red silk tie is printed with a scattered arrangement of black squares, and Lee often tucks the tie behind his shirt’s placket when anticipating intense action scenes like the bar-fight and pursuing Sang (Ken Leung) after the warehouse bombing.
Lee settles into the back of an L.A. tour bus, believing he’s evaded Carter. Note his tie-tag facing the camera before he rearranges himself.
Lee’s distinctive derby shoes are fashioned with black suede uppers that have a moc-style apron-toe and four-eyelet open lacing, all fastened to black rubber outsoles. These are likely Jackie Chan’s tried-and-true stunt shoes, as he even wears them with his tuxedo during the final act when these are hardly formal enough to be considered appropriate with black tie. His black ribbed socks continue the leg-line of his black trousers.
The Gun
Though the Hong Kong police had issued Inspector Lee a Glock 17, he evidently leaves his service weapon behind upon traveling to the United States, where he has a reasonable expectation on relying on his fists and feet when force is needed while investigating Soo Yung’s kidnapping.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Lee has little familiarity with firearms, as seen when he deftly disarms Carter of his Beretta 92FS Inox while trying to evade his LAPD “babysitter”. Lee’s dexterity so impresses Carter that he later asks how to master the technique during the montage set to Edwin Starr’s 1970 hit single “War” before Carter eventually gives Lee his gun and badge to investigate the Foo Chow restaurant in Chinatown.
This being America, Lee may not have anticipated that Carter would have a second gun… and the cabbie would have one too!
Beretta had launched its 92 series of pistols in 1976, evolving to the iconic 92FS developed in the mid-1980s in response to the U.S. military’s extensive testing for a new service pistol to replace the aging M1911A1. With its double-stack magazine feeding 15 rounds of now-standard 9x19mm Parabellum ammunition through the recoil-operated pistol with a traditional double-action trigger, the Beretta 92FS met the Army’s requirements and would eventually be adopted as the “M9” in American military service.
By the time Rush Hour was filmed in the late 1990s, the Beretta 92FS was also an issued sidearm for the LAPD, as represented in movies like the Lethal Weapon series. It’s possible that Carter obtained his model with Beretta’s shiny satin stainless steel “Inox” finish to fit his flashy undercover persona—which, as it happens, aligns with his real persona—as the more typical authorized pistol for the LAPD was the all-blued 92FS that Carter seems to carry as a backup.
Lee also gets his hand on a few blued Beretta 92FS pistols at the consulate, taking one from an agent at the gate that he coolly disassembles with one hand (as his other hand is cuffed to the steering wheel he removed from Carter’s Stingray) and another from FBI agent Dan Whitney (Rex Linn) after unbelting Whitney during a fight that sent the agent’s holster falling to the floor.
How to Get the Look
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in Rush Hour (1998)
In his all-black suit, shirt, and ties—contrasted only by his dramatic red printed tie—Inspector Lee’s costume may be a relic of 1990s fashions but also indicates how seriously he takes his task in recovering the consul’s beloved daughter, dressing more like a cinematic killer than the traditional investigator.
- Black polyester suit:
- Single-breasted 2-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
- Single reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
- Black poplin shirt with point collar, front placket, set-in breast pocket, and button cuffs
- Scarlet-red silk tie with abstract black square print
- Black leather belt with silver-toned single-prong buckle
- Black suede apron-toe 4-eyelet derby shoes
- Black ribbed socks
- Black cotton crew-neck short-sleeve T-shirt/undershirt
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
Not being able to speak is not the same as not speaking. You seem as if you like to talk. I like to let people talk who like to talk. It makes it easier to find out how full of shit they are.
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