Railroad Tigers

Railroad Tigers is set in China in 1941, during the Second World War. Ma Yuan, a railway worker, leads a band of resistance fighters who use their knowledge of the rail network to ambush Japanese troops and steal supplies to feed starving local people. Known as the Railroad Tigers, the group is drawn into a more dangerous undertaking when it is asked to destroy a heavily guarded bridge and so slow the Japanese advance. The mission requires them to seize a train, putting Ma Yuan and his comrades in serious danger.

Ding Sheng directed and co-wrote the film with He Keke, placing it third in the run of features he has directed, between Police Story: Lockdown and A Better Tomorrow. Jackie Chan stars as Ma Yuan, heading a large credited cast of 43 that includes Huang Zitao, Jaycee Chan, Wang Kai, Xu Fan and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi as Yamaguchi. The production, backed in part by Shanghai Film Group and Sparkle Roll Media, was made for about 50 million US dollars.

Released in December 2016, the film took roughly 102 million US dollars worldwide, about twice its budget. Audiences have been mixed: it holds 5.8 out of 10 on IMDb from some 5,300 votes and 6.1 out of 10 on TMDB from 158 votes. A critics' rating of 5.5 out of 10 from 35 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores, though all three sit in similar territory. The result is a moderately received wartime action comedy rather than a standout in Chan's later career.