Wheels on Meals (1984)
Benny Urquidez, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung
A truly international production, Wheels on Meals teams up Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao in a comedic-action-crime caper that includes what some consider one of the greatest fight scenes ever filmed. Directed by Hung, the movie takes place in Spain, marking the first Jackie Chan vehi... (read more) A truly international production, Wheels on Meals teams up Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao in a comedic-action-crime caper that includes what some consider one of the greatest fight scenes ever filmed. Directed by Hung, the movie takes place in Spain, marking the first Jackie Chan vehicle set in a non-Asian location. Chan and Biao play two lunch-truck restaurateurs who are trying to make a living selling egg rolls and hamburgers in the busy squares of Barcelona. Hung is a novice private investigator searching for a beautiful pickpocket named Sylvia (Lola Ferner) whose thieving teams her up with Chan and Yuen. Sylvia is kidnapped after she discovers she is actually a wealthy heiress, and that's when Chan, Yuen, and Hung join forces to free her and kick some bad guys' butts. Wheels on Meals is lighthearted fun with stunts and action scenes (including skateboarding tricks and a scene in which Chan and Yuen face off against a motorbike gang) that simply reaffirm the stars' physical and comic talents. The celebrated fight scene is a matchup between Chan and international kickboxing champion Benny "the Jet" Urquidez. The intensity of their scenes together spurred rumors of a rivalry beyond the film. Whether or not this was true, the two paired up again four years later in Dragons Forever. As for the nonsensical title, one theory claims the film's distributor (Golden Harvest) had little success with films whose titles started with "m" so they simply switched the two words around. The DVD boasts subtitles in eight different languages but does not include the "blooper" outtakes that frequently accompany Chan's films. --Shannon Gee
Flixster Users
Unrated, 99 min.
Directed by:
Sammo Hung
Release Date: Jan 01, 1984
DVD Release Date: Aug 14, 2001
Your Rating
Your Friends' Ratings
No recent reviews.
Flixster User Reviews
A Kungfu entertainment from the trio of Jackie, Biao Yuen and Sammo Hung. Action's good, but I need more comedy... It's no fun setting in Spain... Their film gotta set in Hong Kong!
Tremendous fun. Jackie was dabbling in comedy by this point and it really shows. But working with Sammo Hung is what drives the comedy.
An oddball slapstick comedy about two kung fu fighting roommates who run a sort of chip wagon/mobile restaurant, who fall in with a pickpocketing hooker who is being pursued by their buffoonish private investigator friend. Or something like that. The... (read more) An oddball slapstick comedy about two kung fu fighting roommates who run a sort of chip wagon/mobile restaurant, who fall in with a pickpocketing hooker who is being pursued by their buffoonish private investigator friend. Or something like that. The plot isn't really what matters here, it is, of course, all about the action, and there is plenty of it. Great fight scenes and some good gags make this a fun watch.
Ho-ly shit! - was what I was thinking through most of this film - awesome stunts, awesome fights, awesome action - just awesome. Jackie Chan's fans need to see this film if they haven't already, and anyone else who likes martial arts should check it... (read more) Ho-ly shit! - was what I was thinking through most of this film - awesome stunts, awesome fights, awesome action - just awesome. Jackie Chan's fans need to see this film if they haven't already, and anyone else who likes martial arts should check it out too...
This has some of the most stupid humor I've ever seen in a movie, but I still love it. It's an interesting setting for these three heroes, and Jackie vs. Benny The Jet is the best one-on-one fight I've ever seen in a movie!!
The fighting between Jacky and Benny is epic, let me remind the one between Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee. However, other parts of this movie is definitely not good, too tedious and boring. It should be a good action movie when it comes the trio of Jack... (read more) The fighting between Jacky and Benny is epic, let me remind the one between Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee. However, other parts of this movie is definitely not good, too tedious and boring. It should be a good action movie when it comes the trio of Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Biao Yuan. I do love Lola Forner, she is really hot in this movie.
Wheels on Meals was one of the efforts of a collaboration between Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The end result is an extremely satisfying and hilarious romp of Kung Fu genius. The story is very thin (dealing with a princess, I think), but th... (read more) Wheels on Meals was one of the efforts of a collaboration between Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The end result is an extremely satisfying and hilarious romp of Kung Fu genius. The story is very thin (dealing with a princess, I think), but that matters very little. When the 3 stars get on screen together, gold is made. Sammo Hung gives a wonderful performance as an effeminate hero, Biao has some kind of nerd look going and Jackie Chan is just perfect as the strong hero type. The action is startling and even includes one of the greatest Jackie Chan fight scenes ever captured on film. No cheap camera tricks are employed and a lot of the shots are sustained for quite a while. There even happens to be a song (though that is the weakest part of the movie). One thing that can be taken as a problem is the style of the comedy which is not western in the least. Still, Kung Fu is not western, so trying to include something to appeal to the US would ruin the film. Even if you skip through this movie, at least watch the final fight scene. Your jaw will hit the floor.
Awesome Chan, Hung, Yueb Biao team up. The fights at the end are amazing. Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao do some skateboarding in Spain (where everyone speaks Cantonese) and run this badass food stand. Their is even a cool car chase in it. Only gripes is ... (read more) Awesome Chan, Hung, Yueb Biao team up. The fights at the end are amazing. Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao do some skateboarding in Spain (where everyone speaks Cantonese) and run this badass food stand. Their is even a cool car chase in it. Only gripes is I think the comedy in Dragons Forever was better than this one but I did like the guy who thought he was a clock.
âWheels On Mealsâ is a Sammo Hung-helmed goofball kung fu/comedy (with the emphasis on COMEDY) oft lauded as one of the greats. Certainly âWheelsâ has a great cast, lead by the Peking Opera School âbrothersâ â Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, a... (read more) âWheels On Mealsâ is a Sammo Hung-helmed goofball kung fu/comedy (with the emphasis on COMEDY) oft lauded as one of the greats. Certainly âWheelsâ has a great cast, lead by the Peking Opera School âbrothersâ â Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Jackie Chan, and a fight-capable professional kick-boxer Benny âthe Jetâ Urquidez. Sammo has made some of the true all-time classic fu flicks, but this reviewer has to break with the mutual admiration society and state plainly that âWheels On Mealsâ is not among the classics. Before all the rabid Jackie fans go nuts, this is not to say that âWheelsâ is a bad movie. In fact itâs quite watchable and even enjoyable. The story is not bad, the goofball comedy is played to the hilt (as it is meant to be, over the top to the extreme â hell I almost peed my pants seeing Sammo for the first time in his 80âs weave complete with geri curl), and the acting is decent. BUT, as a fu flick (the other half of the formula) it simply fails to deliver for a vast majority of the film. For instance, there are only two brief fight scenes within the first hour of the movie and then we have to wait almost until the last 15 minutes for anything substantial to happen again.
Now, many reviews talk about the âgreatââ¦âone of the best of all timeââ¦âbest in all of Jackieâs filmsââ¦fight scene between Jackie and Benny âThe Jetâ, and it is good â but again in the opinion of this reviewer over-hyped. First of all the fights look sped up at several points and it is pretty clear from their motions that if Benny ever met Jackie in a back alley to have it out, heâd in reality kick Jackieâs ass. Benny âthe Jetâ was not an undefeated kick-boxing champion by accident; but heâs no actor either â something the âthree Peking brothersâ are. Yuen Biaoâs fight with his baddie in the final fight sequences certainly shows off his quickness and acrobatic prowess but is too short to be terribly impressive. Sammoâs fencing fight in the same section is good but again restrained and short â certainly of the sequences Jackieâs is longest and best. Yet, even as good as this latter fight is itâs not enough to make this a fu classic.
As a HK comedy from Sammo Hung this is a solid 4 star movie; as a fu flick this is a 4 star movie for the 8-10 minutes of fight screen time but only about a 1.5 star movie sustained in its entirety. In the end this reviewer is compelled to give âWheelsâ not more than 3 total stars and this is generously erring to the comedy.
Critic Reviews
No recent reviews.
Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.
More Like This
No recent suggestions.
Bookmark This App
Make it easy to check out new movies! Click +Bookmark Movies at the bottom of your screen.
- Get Flixster
- iPhone (free!)
- Myspace
- Flixster.com
- iGoogle
- Settings
- Profile Settings
- My Account
- Help





