It stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as mismatched police officers who are assigned to rescue a Chinese diplomat's abducted daughter.

Detective James Carter, a talented but obnoxious LAPD officer who is disliked by the rest of his precinct for his self-aggrandizing attitude, is tricked into "babysitting" Lee as punishment for botching a sting operation.

While arguing with Special Agent in Charge Warren Russ, Carter unwittingly negotiates with Sang, arranging a $50 million ransom drop.

However, Carter refuses to give up and appeals to Johnson for assistance to sneak on board Lee's plane, where he persuades the Hong Kong detective to help stop Juntao together.

At the opening of a Chinese art exhibition at the Los Angeles Convention Center, overseen by Han and Griffin, the now $70 million ransom is delivered, and Carter, Lee, and Johnson enter disguised as guests.

Carter orders the guests to evacuate for safety, angering the FBI, but Lee catches Griffin accepting a remote for the detonator from Sang.

Griffin threatens to detonate a bomb vest attached to Soo Yung and demands that the ransom be paid in full, as compensation for the priceless Chinese artifacts which Lee recovered in his raid.

Juntao's men start a shootout with the FBI while Carter sneaks out, locates Soo Yung in the van, and drives it into the building within range of Griffin, preventing him from setting off the vest.

The screenplay was sold by LaManna's William Morris agent Alan Gasmer to Hollywood Pictures, a division of the Walt Disney Company, with Arthur Sarkissian attached as producer.

New Line Cinema was confident in Ratner, having done Money Talks with him, so they made a hard commitment to a budget and start date for Rush Hour.

[9] After the success of Rumble in the Bronx, Ratner wanted to put Chan in a buddy-cop movie, not as a co-star or sidekick but on equal footing with an American star.

A few days later Chan agreed to star and not long after flew to Los Angeles and met Chris Tucker, the latter actor who ended up taking the role as Detective James Carter.

The website's critical consensus reads, "While it won't win any awards for originality, the combustible chemistry between its stars means Rush Hour hits just as hard on either side of the action-comedy divide.

[20] Roger Ebert praised both Jackie Chan, for his entertaining action sequences without the use of stunt doubles, and Chris Tucker, for his comical acts in the film, and how they formed an effective comedic duo.

Hollywood needs to stop treating him as if he were one of those fondue sets given as wedding gifts in the '70s: a foreign novelty shoved in a closet due to absolute cluelessness about what to do with it.

"[23] Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post calls the film a "misbegotten marriage of sweet and sour" and says, "The problem is it can't make up its mind and, unlike Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, the sharply contrasting flavors of these ingredients only leave a bad taste in the customer's mouth."

In anticipation of Rush Hour, Chan's first major Hollywood crossover, he coded the website in two weeks and the site went live shortly before the film's release.

The film's soundtrack features the hit single "Can I Get A..." by Jay-Z, Ja Rule and Amil, as well as tracks by Flesh-n-Bone, Wu-Tang Clan, Dru Hill, Charli Baltimore and Montell Jordan.