Jackie Chan

[TallAdam85]

Ok is it just me or does it seem more and more hard to have respect for jackie chan The last few movies he had where bad I did not like them The new he has coming out looks almost like the old one the tuxiedo and his cartoon is just getting dume
does anyone else think he is selling out on real martial art moves to make money?

 

[Touch Of Death]

Originally posted by TallAdam85
Ok is it just me or does it seem more and more hard to have respect for jackie chan The last few movies he had where bad I did not like them The new he has coming out looks almost like the old one the tuxiedo and his cartoon is just getting dume
does anyone else think he is selling out on real martial art moves to make money?

Jackie Chan thinks it would be selling out to make pure martial art films. If you knew anything about Jackie Chan you would know he has always sought to break away from the sock em up sterio type. His Chinese Opera background keeps pulling on his heart strings I suppose.
Sean

 

[Elfan]

I think Mr. Chan is sturuggling to find ways to expand with an American audience and is constrained by people think he should be doing. I mean, he is getting older and his body has taken an incredible beeting. Its not like he can jump off clock towers for real anymore.

I don't think he is a sell out. He doesn't seem to hold any illusions about doing "real martial arts" in his movies. Its a strictly cheographed dance that depends on hours of memorization and team work. And its very entertaining.

 

[tarabos]

seemed to me that i saw some wire and cable use in this next movie he has coming up. don't remember the name...the medalion i think...

i'd be dissapointed to see him make a lot of use of wire and go matrix style.

could be wrong though...i only saw the preview once...

 

[kilo]

I have much respect for Jackie Chan I know I cant do half of the things he does. As for selling out I think he makes movies that mabe he enjoys and thinks other people will like.

 

[tarabos]

i would not take anything away from him either. the man has given us years and years of martial arts entertainment and has put his life on the line more than once to do so.

Chan is getting older, and yes, times may be changing. perhaps people do want to see the "unrealistic" stuff instead of the "real" stuff these days. sure, JC's fight scenes were always choreographed, but it was alway him doing the moves on his own without the help of any wires or computers or camera tricks. i guess it will just be kind of....strange to see him utilize those types of technology.

but hey...maybe he's got something up his sleeve and will make it work with his "old-school" type choreography.

 

[tarabos]

btw i think his cartoon is one of the best cartoons on tv right now, better than most live action tv shows if you ask me.

(yes i'm in my mid twenties and love to watch cartoons...)

 

[Blindside]

JC has used wirework in the past, just in a subtle fashion. In Drunken Master II (rereleased as the Legend of Drunken Master) there is plenty of wirework, but you don't see people flying through the air. They mostly use it for the falls and big kick reactions.

Actually I was watching Project A last night, and the final scene where they blow up the pirate also looks like wirework, it is just subtle. (or else Sammo managed to vertically jump higher than his own head, which I doubt....) Another JC movie with wirework is Armor of God.

Oh, can you tell that I am a JC fan?? Actually I should make a caveat with that statement, the last JC film I saw was Shanghai Noon, and thought it was stupid. I refused to see its sequel or the Tuxedo. I have had to make up for it by collecting his old stuff, I found previewed editions of Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin and To Kill with Intrigue at the video store for $2 each yesterday.

Lamont

 

[tarabos]

2 bucks eh? good deal...

i've just recently started my dvd martial arts collection. i've got a lot of movies so far, but unfortunately my collecting consists of me re-purchasing movies that i already have to get them on dvd.

right now i'm working on cleaning out best buy of all their cheap 10 dollar martial arts dvds (some cheaper than that). i guess no one else wants them but me.

 

[Blindside]

Man, I hate to suggest this, but "try Walmart." Lots of DVD's in the below $10 category and you can find oddballs in their 5.98 bin. Don't forget about the Blockbuster clearances and other video stores, I saw Project A II on DVD for $4 on the pre-viewed racks last weekend but I already own it on DVD.

Lamont

 

[tarabos]

Originally posted by Blindside
Man, I hate to suggest this, but "try Walmart." Lots of DVD's in the below $10 category and you can find oddballs in their 5.98 bin. Don't forget about the Blockbuster clearances and other video stores, I saw Project A II on DVD for $4 on the pre-viewed racks last weekend but I already own it on DVD.

Lamont

i know what you mean...i hate Walmart too. we've actually got one opening up here in a few weeks in our tiny little town. no one really wanted it here...so i have no idea who gave the go-ahead to put it up. our area is congested enough...now with all the traffic and characters that a Walmart attracts, it's going to be even worse.

i will check out the oddball bins though. i might as well get something out of that eyesore...

 

[TallAdam85]

i got some ok movies out of the cheap rack and some rare ones who cares if there not realy super good they used to be my fav when i was younger for example 3 Ninjas

 

[Cthulhu]

I'm willing to excuse and wire work or other such tricks in this 'The Medallion' movie. In his other movies, Chan plays characters who are normal people with excellent physical skills. In this one, it appears he gets endowed with 'super powers', so it makes sense to give him some extra 'oomph'.

Cthulhu

 

[theletch1]

The biography channel runs a show now and then called "Jackie Chan: My stunts" That is a documentary of his stunt studio, how his choreography works and when he does use wire work. To this point I think all of his movies have used wire work but as stated before it has all been very subtle. I've also seen a documentary on his life beggining with being given over to the peking opera at the age of 4 or 5 by his parents so they could go to Australia to work at the Chinese embassy there. The training that he went through at the opera would be considered torture anywhere else. I can't say that I would blame him at all to see a little more wire work find its way into his films given the abuse his body has taken over the years. As a big fan of both satire and martial arts movies I've always liked his because of the humor that he puts into them. Without the humor level it just becomes another Hong Kong kung fu flick.

If you didn't see Shanghai Knights or Tuxedo you didn't miss anything. They were a big dissappointment but (and I may be a bit biased) I blame that on the co-stars chosen for the movies.

 

[Senfeng]

I love Chan's HK films and I have a lot of respect for the man, but I always saw him as more of a stuntman than a martial artist. This is by no means a bad thing. His movies are highly entertaining as my large collection of Jackie Chan DVDs will show.

I myself love some of the wirework movies out of Hong Kong. I find it just as entertaining as Jackie Chan's version of the Kung Fu flick. I personally believe that it still takes a lot of work to make wirework look good. Compare Keanu's wirework "kung fu" to Jet Li's and you'll see what I mean. Sure a lot of it is in the choreography and camera work, but I think that guys like Jet Li, Donnie Yen, and apparently Jackie Chan in his next flick have the skill, sinew, and coordination to make the art of wirework look good.

On a somewhat related note...
As mentioned above Jackie Chan is getting on in years. Jet Li is no spring chicken. Donnie Yen, though the guy looks like he's in his 20's, is following suite. What do you think will happen in the next decade when these Kung Fu icons retire or are too old to continue their craft? From what I hear, there aren't a lot of opera troops roaming around anymore and there aren't a lot of young wushu champions in the HK entertainment industry. I'm just hoping that this isn't the end of a genre or that this genre is overtaken by soap opera actors skilled in "CG Fu".

 

[satans.barber]

Jackie Chan's martial arts skills are excellent, by all accounts - I read an interview with that guy near Hollywood who has a lot of celebs come to his studio (can't remember the guys name now), and he said that he sparred with Jackie and couldn't touch the man.

If you train as rigourously as they did in those Honk Kong Opera Schools, you're going to be pretty damn good I think!

You can tell that his balance, speed, poise and accuracy are all excellent from his film work, very important qualitities for a good martial artist!

Although he's made the odd dodgy film (Twin Dragons is very poor IMHO), I really enjoy all of them. They're always entertaining, with good fighting and good humour, and I hope he makes plenty more before he retires! When he does retire, he'll have left one of the most impressive catalogues of film in cinema history behind him.

Ian.

 

[Senfeng]

Yeah, I believe that "opera kung fu" has its origins in Shaolin. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember something about one of the thirty Monks that survived the Qing army attack on Shaolin Temple taking refuge with an opera troupe and teaching them gung fu in return.

Perhaps I should rephrase my post by saying that I enjoyed his movies more because of his stunts than his martial arts. In my opinion, his stunts gave his movies the originality that set them apart from the typical kung fu flick.

 

[stickarts]

to me, his movies are just pure entertainment!

 

[satans.barber]

His auto-biography 'I Am Jackie Chan' may lend interested parties more insight into his training.

Ian.

 

[Elfan]

Originally posted by satans.barber
His auto-biography 'I Am Jackie Chan' may lend interested parties more insight into his training.

Ian.

I greatly enjoyed that book although I question how "auto" it was.