Rush Hour deserves to sit amongst the best buddy cop movies of all time, and that’s in great part due to the performances of lead actors Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. The two stars are down-right fantastic together, and they share a number of great moments together in the franchise’s original 1998 installment. One such scene involves Tucker’s Det. James Carter scolding Chan’s Chief Inspector Lee for touching his radio. As it turns out, over 27 years later, Chan still doesn’t understand the iconic line featured in that scene.
The moment in question, which can be found on YouTube, happens as Carter and Lee are cruising Los Angeles in the latter’s car and Lee turns on the radio, after which he delightfully listens to the Beach Boys. Carter then bluntly expresses disbelief over Lee’s actions, emphatically telling him, “Don’t you ever touch a Black man’s radio!” It’s easily one of the funniest exchanges in the entire film, and I always chuckle at it whenever I rewatch the film.
2025 movie release Karate Kid: Legends, took part in a wide-ranging interview with People that was shared to Instagram. While reflecting on Rush Hour, which still stands as one of Chan’s best movies, didn’t mince words when expressing his confusion over the radio-related moment:
might finally make Rush Hour 4. Both stars seem excited about possibly being able to make another sequel. Tucker expressed enthusiasm when asked about the project a few years ago and, just recently, his amiable co-star also discussed a fourth movie while explaining what made the 2007 threequel disappointing.
I’d personally be down to see both Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, who still does his own stunts, reprise their famous characters for another bombastic and hilarious blockbuster. Should that happen, I’d hope to see more cultural misunderstandings between Lee and Carter. Also, I’d hope that, for Chan’s sake, he’d be in the jokes more so than he was when he filmed the fan-favorite radio scene.