Film

Bleeding Steel

Name: Bleeding Steel
Genre: Science Fiction, Action, Adventure, Thriller
Released: 2017
Cast: Jackie Chan, Show Lo, Ouyang Nana, Erica Xia-Hou, Callan Mulvey

Military action

A sci-fi action vehicle pairing Jackie Chan with a time-bending premise. It's cheerfully messy—ambitious plotting crammed into a 109-minute thriller that lurches between hand-to-hand combat, heist sequences, and earnest metaphysics about reincarnation. For Chan fans willing to ride out the chaos.

TMDb rating

3.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a chase-and-brawl action film with a sci-fi sheen, where the fights are the point and a veteran star still throws himself through them with real commitment.

Skip it if you need a slow-burn story with quiet character work, since this runs on momentum and spectacle and rarely lets the emotional thread breathe.

What it asks of you: Expect a brisk, nonstop run of set pieces across about 109 minutes, so stay alert and accept a plot that moves faster than it explains itself.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Police Story1985

Chan at his most inventive, turning everyday environments into stunt playgrounds. Pure kinetic joy with genuine danger—he builds elaborate action sequences from practical problem-solving rather than cutting tricks.

But The plot is tissue-thin and the romantic subplot drags. If you need story coherence over spectacle, it vanishes under the action set pieces.

Rush Hour1998

Chan paired with Chris Tucker creates comedy gold through contrast—martial arts precision meeting improvised banter. The action feels fresh because it's framed through humor rather than po-faced intensity.

But The 90s action movie formula feels dated now. Tucker's hyperactive riffing will exhaust some viewers before the first act ends.

Drunken Master1978

Chan's breakthrough film showing why he became a legend. The drunk-style martial arts choreography is ingenious—balletic and absurd simultaneously—and he commits fully to both comedy and pain.

But The dubbing is stiff, the framing occasionally awkward. Older films ask patience with technical limitations, and this one hasn't aged as smoothly as his 80s work.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Bleeding Steel

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat1896

Both are built on a central conceit that shouldn't work—a simple idea played so straight it becomes transcendent. Bleeding Steel's reincarnation mystery and Arrival's impossible moment both run on belief.

The Lumière brothers' 52-second film that redefined what audiences thought cinema could do. It's not entertainment—it's witnessing the exact moment the 20th century became possible. Pure visual wonder.

But It's 52 seconds long and nothing happens. If you need narrative or sustained action, this is a museum piece, not a film.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat poster

The Foreigner2017

Chan in a genuinely serious role—a grief-stricken man pursuing justice through a political thriller. Pierce Brosnan anchors it well, and Chan's restraint proves he can act when the script demands it.

But It's a grounded spy thriller, not an action comedy. Fans expecting the charisma and humor of his best work will find something grimmer and slower.

Police Story 21988

The rare sequel that matches its predecessor. The action is even more elaborate—a rooftop shantytown finale that defies physics—and Chan's willingness to absorb punishment becomes genuinely hard to watch.

But The plot is forgettable melodrama. The film exists for stunts; everything else is scaffolding around set pieces.

Rumble in the Bronx1995

Chan's North American breakthrough balances slapstick Hong Kong energy with Hollywood action-movie pacing. Hoverboard, ice skating, the man fights a goddamn biker gang in every possible location.

But The New York setting is obviously Toronto. The early 90s CGI and some dialogue feel clunky now, and the action formula becomes repetitive in the third act.

Armour of God1986

Indiana Jones but actually funny, with Chan as a globe-trotting adventurer. The stunt work is phenomenal—he literally broke his nose during production and kept performing. Adventure without self-seriousness.

But The pacing is uneven and the plot threads get tangled. The treasure-hunt structure meanders, and some sequences outstay their welcome.

Gorgeous1999

Romantic action-comedy where Chan chases Qi Shu across Hong Kong and the Thai islands. His genuine charm lands here better than in earlier films, and the romantic element doesn't suffocate the action.

But The rom-com elements feel dated and the emotional beats don't land if you're resistant to earnestness. Mileage varies wildly based on taste.

The Young Master1980

Pre-superstardom Chan proving his versatility with genuinely innovative fight choreography and comic timing. The film feels ragged and hungry—you sense a performer still figuring out what he could be.

But The production values are low and the editing is choppy. It's rough around the edges in ways that feel more like a limitation than a choice, and the pacing stumbles regularly.

Everything Everywhere All at Once2022

Both use sci-fi mechanics (time, alternate realities, reincarnation) to explore connection and identity across impossible distances. Both ask: who would you fight for across dimensions?

Multiverse action-comedy where the physics are impossible and the emotional core is unshakeable. It's chaos that somehow holds together—wild genre blending (action, sci-fi, family drama, absurdist comedy) that feels inevitable in retrospect.

But The plot is genuinely difficult to follow and the visual style is aggressively chaotic. If you need clear narrative beats and stable cinematography, this will feel like drowning.

Everything Everywhere All at Once poster

Promare2019

Both are action films that embrace spectacle over realism, using impossible premises (fire-wielders in a city engineered to fight them; reincarnation across timelines) to justify visuals that shouldn't exist. Form over logic, wonder over sense.

A Japanese animated action film that abandons physics entirely in service of pure movement and color. Every frame is a painting; every action sequence is kinetic sculpture. It's what happens when you give a visionary animator unlimited budget and zero restraint.

But The plot is secondary to the visuals—you'll spend it processing stunning animation rather than following story beats. Subtitled anime with hyperactive pacing will lose viewers who want conventional narrative flow.