The Foo Chow is a real restaurant in Chinatown. As of August 2024, there is still a sign that states, "...Rush Hour was shot here".
According to director Brett Ratner, this movie was the first movie to be released in the U.S. featuring Jackie Chan in an English-speaking role without any kind of dubbing. According to Ratner, before this movie, Chan always had his voice dubbed over in his English-speaking roles because of his uncertainty in speaking the language. However, Chan spoke in his real voice for his previous Hollywood films Battle Creek Brawl, (1980) The Cannonball Run, (1981) Cannonball Run II, (1984) and The Protector. (1985) For this movie, Ratner claims to have convinced him to forgo the dubbing, as it would lend to the authenticity of his character.
Jackie Chan was almost killed filming the scene where he is almost crushed by metal boxes. They slammed together about a quarter of a second after his head was clear.
Jackie Chan said the scene when his character first meets Chris Tucker's character was very similar to the first time the actors met in real life at the offices of the William Morris Agency. Chan said Tucker was talking so fast that after the meeting ended, Chan told his manager, "I don't understand any of the words coming out of his mouth!" - a line that was used in the film.
Chris Tucker improvised much of his dialogue, as he normally does in his movies. According to director Brett Ratner, during the scene at Grauman's where Detective Carter bribes Stucky for information, there was so much improvisation between Tucker and John Hawkes that they almost did not think they could edit it together as a coherent conversation. There are still continuity errors in the dialogue for this reason.