Shanghai Noon (2000) - Synopsis
The Wild West meets the Far East in a battle for honour, royalty and a trunk full of gold when acrobatic Chinese Imperial Guard Chon Wang (JACKIE CHAN) comes to America to rescue beautiful Princess Pei Pei (LUCY LIU) who has been kidnapped from The Forbidden City.
With the help of a partner he doesn't trust (OWEN WILSON), a wife he didn't expect (BRANDON MERRILL), a horse with a personality all its own and martial arts moves no one can believe, Chon finds himself facing the meanest gunslingers in the West, in Touchstone Pictures'/Spyglass Entertainment's comedy/action/adventure, "Shanghai Noon."
Touchstone Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment present A Birnbaum/Barber Production in association with A Jackie Chan Films Limited Production, "Shanghai Noon." Directed by Tom Dey, the screenplay is written by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar. Producers are Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber and Jonathan Glickman. Executive producers are Jackie Chan, Willie Chan and Solon So. The film is distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.
When the lovely Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu) is kidnapped from China, the Emperor dispatches three of his most fierce and noble Imperial Guards to deliver the ransom in gold to her kidnappers in America's Wild West. Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) isn't among the chosen. However, he manages to tag along anyway by offering to carry the luggage for his uncle, the Interpreter.
Heading through the Nevada desert by train, the Imperial entourage is hijacked by a motley crew of would-be train robbers calling themselves the Roy O'Bannon gang. Its eponymous leader spends more time self-promoting than pulling the heist. Some quick martial arts moves by Chon mean the thieves lose the loot, but they also leave Chon alone in the desert.
In the meantime, because of the bungled train robbery, Roy (Owen Wilson) has been abandoned by his former partners in crime and buried up to his neck in the desert sand. He's to be a feast for a flock of ravenous vultures, a gathering of which is already sampling the banquet.
Trekking through the wilderness, Chon serendipitously comes across the helpless Roy who begs to be extricated from his dire situation. Chon obliges by providing a set of chopsticks and suggests Roy dig himself out - no hands!
Chon continues his journey and takes on a party of Crow warriors to save a small Native American boy and finds himself a hero with the boy's Sioux tribe. Fringe benefits include a peace pipe smoke-up, a horse with some bizarre habits and a beautiful wife named Falling Leaves. When Chon sets off again to rescue the princess, all but the peace pipe come with him.
An unexpected run-in with Roy in a saloon lands the two in jail. But, hearing that Chon's mission involves not only a beautiful princess but also a trunk of gold coins, Roy becomes his new best friend. Chon engineers a brilliant jail break and the unlikely partners head to Carson City where they face brawls, bordellos, treachery and plenty of what Roy calls "crazy, girlie, kick-fightin'" as East meets West in a battle for honour, royalty and a fortune in gold.
