Jackie Chan's comedic martial arts movies are his most famous contribution to cinema. From his delightful inebriated antics in Drunken Master II to his endearing charm in classics like Wheels on Meals, Jackie Chan is the master of slapstick comedy in kung fu, but as his career progressed, he branched out into more and more genres.

Arguably, the one Jackie Chan film series that has gone the most unfairly unnoticed is his contribution to the critically-endangered pulp adventure movie genre, the Armour of God trilogy. Essentially a Jackie Chan-led version of the Indiana Jones films, the first Armour of God premiered in 1986, starring Chan as a treasure hunter and former pop musician also named Jackie, also known as "Asian Hawk". Jackie helps his friend acquire the pieces of the legendary Armour of God to save his girlfriend from the clutches of an evil cult.

Jackie Chan's Armour Of God Movies Deserve To Be Bigger Than They Are

It's Hard To Say Why So Many Gloss Over Jackie Chan As Indiana Jones

Though Armour of God was the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong for a time and was reviewed by critics fairly well, it somehow never achieved the audacious level of fame in the West it deserved to have as an adventurous blockbuster led by a major movie star. ittedly, being only an English-dubbed film may have held it back, but it's the universal language of the creative action setpieces that truly do the heavy lifting anyway. From base jumping onto a hot air balloon to some of Jackie Chan's best fight scenes, Armour of God is nothing if not visually spectacular.

Though Armour of God was the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong for a time and was reviewed by critics fairly well, it somehow never achieved the audacious level of fame in the West it deserved to have as an adventurous blockbuster led by a major movie star.

In fact, Armour of God features one of Jackie Chan's most dangerous stunts ever, perhaps the single closest the actor has ever been to death in his entire career as a cinematic daredevil. At one point, when Jackie leaped from a high-up ledge to grab a tree, the branch he was on snapped, sending him plummeting a full five meters to the ground and cracking his skull. Considering Jackie Chan very nearly met his demise ensuring that the stunts in Armour of God were as bombastic it can be, it's unfair that the film is still so relatively obscure.

Why The First 2 Armour Of God Movies Are Some Of Jackie Chan's Best

Even If Their Follow-Up Isn't Anywhere Close

Armour of God at least did well enough to warrant a sequel, Armour of God II: Operation Condor. Here, Jackie is called back into action to find a secret cache of Nazi gold hidden somewhere deep within the Sahara desert. Considering the more Indiana Jones villain and more exotic locales, Armour of God II: Operation Condor leans even harder into the adventure side of things, away from martial arts. The sequel also had a much more eclectic cast, from a mysterious Japanese woman pondering the nature of death to, quite possibly, Adolf Hitler himself.

The first two Armour of God films are honestly some of Jackie Chan's best work, combining his own natural comedic charm and penchant for dramatic stunts with colorful locations and characters for him to literally springboard off of. This leads to a much more dynamic feel compared to many other of Chan's movies, owing its novelty to the unique adventure genre conventions. The cast outside of Jackie are also memorable and dynamic, something that can't always be said for Chan's other movies that rely on him as a focal point.

Sadly, the third and final Armour of God sequel, CZ12, doesn't come anywhere close to the first two. Between the lack of stunts, lack of identity, and boring side characters, the third Armour of God film simply can't compete with its predecessors. But that doesn't mean that the series as a whole should be so devoid of recognition as it currently is, quietly remaining some of the best action movies Jackie Chan has made.