Top 10 Times Jackie Chan Got Seriously Injured

Unlike his character in this film, Jackie Chan is not invincible. “Rumble in the Bronx” features Chan playing a Hong Kong cop who gets embroiled in a skirmish with a New York City biker gang. During the film’s climactic action sequence, Chan jumps from a bridge to a hovercraft. Unfortunately, the stunt ended up breaking one of the actor’s ankles. Whereas other actors would have taken time off to heal their broken limb, Chan simply wore a specially-designed covering over his cast that resembled a shoe, which allowed him to finish the film without significant delay. True grit? Chan’s got it in spades.

In this action-comedy Jackie Chan plays a womanizing private eye tasked with tracking down the runaway daughter of a powerful CEO. The film is jam-packed with zany fight scenes and cringe-worthy jokes that only the early ‘90s could get away with, but perhaps the craziest moment is when Chan must escape a pack of thugs on a skateboard. Somewhere between zipping through traffic and doing backflips over cars – all the while holding onto his board - Chan tore up his knee pretty badly. Of course, it didn’t stop him from completing the film.

Jackie Chan is a man of many talents. Nowhere was this more apparent in Chan’s early career than on the set of “Dragon Lord”, a film he wrote, directed and starred in. Chan plays Dragon, a young man in love who finds himself ensnared by a gang of thieves; once again forced to fight his way out of trouble. Unfortunately, one scene got a little too real when Chan injured his chin while performing a stunt. The gaff made it difficult for him to speak clearly, which is quite the hiccup when you’re both starring in and directing a film. As you’ve probably guessed, the unstoppable Jackie Chan found a way to make it work!

“Police Story 3: Super Cop” saw this daredevil of an actor pulling off some of the most complicated and risky stunts of his entire career. In fact, fellow filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has stated that the film boasts the "greatest stunts ever filmed in any movie ever". That’s some seriously high praise. Of course, making history comes with its risks - meaning that injury was almost inevitable for Chan. As seen in the end credits, while swinging on a long metal pipe, Chan failed to get out of the way of an incoming helicopter and it clipped him, reportedly ripping up his shoulder muscles and breaking his cheekbone.

There was nothing funny about the injury Chan experienced while filming this action- comedy. “Armour of God II: Operation Condor” featured the Hong Kong native reprising the role of Indiana Jones inspired treasure hunter Jackie, aka the Asian Hawk, aka the Asian Condor. The injury in question occurred while Chan was attempting to swing from one platform to another via a long chain. Unfortunately, Chan’s grip wasn’t exactly on point and he fell face first onto the ground and the result was a dislocated sternum. We may not be medical professionals, but something tells us that had to hurt!

This one sounds absolutely brutal! While working on the 1993 action film “Crime Story,” Chan suffered what can best be described as an injury for the ages. During an action sequence, Chan’s legs were caught between two cars and crushed. Of course, when you’re as determined an actor as Jackie Chan you don’t let that sort of thing slow you down; especially when you still have a film to complete! Not only did Chan brush off a pair of crushed legs and finish the movie, but he worked on another one later that year! Suffice it to say this guy isn’t human… at least as far as his pain threshold and willpower are concerned.

Chan sustained a laundry list of injuries while working on “Police Story”. First, he fell from a second story window and landed directly on his back. That miscue earned him a couple of broken vertebrae. Then, during the infamous pole slide escape scene, in which he slides down a pole covered in Christmas lights, Chan suffered electric shock, second and third degree burns on his hands as well as numerous cuts from shards of glass and dislocated his pelvis. Apparently the lights had been improperly rigged, resulting in extremely high temperatures. The fact that he survived to make 5 more of these movies, is quite frankly astounding.

Most people would have given up on the whole “becoming an action star” thing after nearly losing an eye, but not Jackie Chan! While he was working on the seminal 1978 comedic kung-fu film “Drunken Master,” Chan sustained an injury to the ridge of his brow and as a result nearly lost his eye! Thankfully he didn’t, completing the film and subsequently going on to make dozens more. It’s scary to think that the world was almost deprived of decades worth of Jackie Chan! Of course, even without the eye he probably would have kept on acting!

As the title of this entry implies, Chan went through the ringer while shooting “Project A”, an action-comedy that famously borrowed from the films of silent era stars Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. The injuries that Chan sustained while shooting included broken fingers, a broken nose and a serious neck injury. The latter occurred while attempting to replicate a scene from Lloyd’s 1923 film “Safety Last!” in which he hung from the minute and hour hands of a clock suspended high above the street. Chan purposely fell 60 feet while performing the stunt, but landed awkwardly on his neck. Miraculously, he managed to survive the harrowing ordeal.



Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:



Broken Hand

“The Protector” (1985)



Aggravated Back

“The Forbidden Kingdom” (2008)



Nose Injury

“Mr. Nice Guy” (1997)

Far and away the most serious injury of his career, Chan was on death's doorstep after this stunt went horribly wrong. The scene called for him to jump from a wall to a tree; and he pulled it off easily on the very first try. Unfortunately, ever the perfectionist, Chan insisted on a second take - which is when his luck gave out. His hands slipped on a branch and he fell between 20-40 feet to the ground. Chan’s head hit a rock, resulting in a fractured skull, a brain hemorrhage and some hearing loss in one ear. Incredibly, he managed to survive, though he still has a plug in his skull, a constant reminder of his brush with death.