Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A passionate advocate for animals, Jackie Chan has once again teamed up with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) to create awareness of a little-known example of appalling cruelty to animals – bear farming in Asia. Chan and WSPA have filmed a powerful 30-second PSA calling for an end to the cruel practice and showing the intense suffering and deplorable conditions bears on farms are forced to endure.
WSPA has identified bear farming as the planet’s worst example of animal suffering inflicted by humans, and the PSA is part of a worldwide campaign to highlight the plight of the 12,000 bears living in Asia’s bear farms.
“Around the world, WSPA is working hard to make people aware of what happens on bear farms,” said Peter Chen, WSPA Canada Community Outreach Officer. “We’re grateful that Jackie Chan is helping to further WSPA’s mission to end bear farming.”
Bile from the gall bladders of bears is used in Tradition Asian Medicine and believed to have medicinal properties. As a result, bears are raised in captivity and forced to suffer painful procedures to extract their bile. The conditions the bears live in are dire – most live in cages about the size of a telephone booth turned on its side, where they cannot stand or easily turn around. They can live this awful existence for decades.
The use of bear bile in Traditional Asian Medicine is unnecessary. A synthetic alternative has existed since the 1950s, and many experts in Traditional Asian Medicine agree that alternatives such as herbal remedies and acupuncture are equally effective.
“The World Society for the Protection of Animals campaigns to stop cruelty and change attitudes towards animals,” said Jackie Chan. “They are doing great work in so many countries and deserve our support.”
To watch the PSA and for more information, please visit: www.wspa-usa.org
Jackie Chan’s support lends a well-known voice to an important campaign to protect defenseless bears in Asia. The public can also lend their support by signing WSPA’s petition at www.endbearfarming.org.
One of the biggest threats faced by bears in the United States today is an illegal yet thriving trade in bear parts, including bear gallbladders. Each year wild bears are killed so that their parts can be sold in Traditional Asian Medicine (TAM) shops in the United States and internationally. US Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) recently re-introduced H.R. 5534, the Bear Protection Act of 2008, to protect North American bears. The Act specifically bans the import, export and interstate trade of all bear parts and products, while closing loopholes in existing state laws.
Supporters are urged to contact their representative and encourage them to co-sponsor and pass this important legislation:
http://capwiz.com/wspausa/issues/alert/?alertid=11109406
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) works to raise the standards of animal welfare throughout the world. WSPA holds consultative status with the United Nations and observer status with the Council of Europe, and is the world’s largest international alliance of welfare organizations. Headquartered in the UK with offices in 15 countries, WSPA works towards building a global animal welfare movement with compassion and action through partnerships with over 850 animal organizations in more than 150 countries.
| Name : | Jackie Chan |
| Birth Date : | April 7, 1954 |
| Birth Place : | Hong Kong, China |
| Birth Name : | Kong-Sang Chang also known as Jackie Chan Sing Lung (which means 'Already a Dragon') |
| Height : | 5'8 |
| Education : | Nan Hua Elementary Academy Chinese Opera Research Institute (1961-1971) Peking Opera School |
| Nationality : | Hong Kong/Chinese |
| Profession : | Actor, director, producer |
| Wife : | Lin Feng-Chiao (aka Lin Feng Chow; Taiwanese; actress; married in 1983; separated) |
| Relationship : | Elaine Ng (Miss Asia, 1 daughter) |
| Claim to fame : | as Ah Keung in Rumble in the Bronx (1995) |
| Fan Mail : | Willie Chan Golden Harvest Ltd. Hong Kong China |
The only child of Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, Jackie Chan was born Chan Kong-Sang (meaning Born In Hong Kong) on the 7th of April, 1954. The family lived in a mansion in the exclusive Victoria Peak district, not owned by them Charles worked as a cook for the French Ambassador, while Lee-Lee was the housekeeper. He was not academically bright which was noticed by Charles, who decided to enrol the boy, now 7, at the Peking Opera School, operated by Shu Master Yu Jan-Yuen.
Being part of the Chinese Opera Research School, Jackie learnt through ten years of nineteen hours a day the major discipline of the Peking Opera, which includes acting, singing, dance, mime, acrobatics and a variety of martial arts. After graduation he went to work at the Shaw Brothers Studios as a stuntman, where after two years he was promoted to stunt co-ordinator. Watching Jackie direct stunt men, a producer spotted his talents and gave him his first adult in Little Tiger from Canton (1971). After years of being paid minimally for his abilities, 1978’s Snake in the Eagle Shadow and Drunken Master gave Jackie the freedom to create the genre of kung fu comedy, which transformed the Hong Kong film industry. In 1980 Jackie directed his first film, The Young Master, with producer Raymond Chow. The major success of The Young Master prompted Chow to bring Jackie to the United States to star in Big Brawl and Cannonball Run, which also starred Burt Reynolds and Roger Moore.
With his experience in American film making techniques, Jackie’s headed back home to improve Hong Kong cinema and this is evident in Project A (1983). Jackie returned to the United States twice as an actor, in Cannonball Run 2 and the Protector, before the New York Film Festival honoured him for Police Story (1986). His direction in Police Story II, Project A II, and Armoured of God II which were all well acclaimed in the States increasing the popularity of Hong Kong Cinema. The conquest of Jackie and many of Hong Kong filmmakers went into full swing. But a major turning point came when Jackie starred in Rumble in the Bronx (1994), a Hong Kong production filmed in Canada and distributed by New Line Cinema. The success of Rumble in the Bronx helped launch a series of American films of Jackie’s and which lead finally to the present day of Rush Hour and it’s sequel Rush Hour 2.
Hollywood studios are taking their fight against piracy in China into the belly of the beast by erecting a huge billboard with an antipiracy message from Jackie Chan in Beijing's Silk Market.
Billboard features a simple warning from the Hong Kong star: "Protect the movies, say NO to piracy."
Billboard was launched in partnership with the Beijing Silk Street Co. and Chaoyang Model Anti-Copyright Infringement and Piracy-Free Zone.
It will be displayed for two weeks in one of the busiest spots in Chaoyang district, spreading its message to more than 20 million people.
"Chan's message to Beijing's citizens is direct and simple," said Mike Ellis, MPA's regional prexy and managing director. By eschewing pirated fare, Chinese will take steps toward "nurturing and protecting China's movie industry, which then will be free to reach out and tell compelling, exciting Chinese stories to people around the world."
Putting the billboard in Silk Market is an ironic touch for the MPA, as the shopping area was once the place to go for counterfeit goods, including pirated DVDs, despite its location right next to the U.S. embassy.
These days, following some high-profile legal actions and so much international attention on combating piracy, the Silk Market is trying to go legit. It recently launched its own brand of goods and warned pirates not to copy them or risk the consequences.
The MPA has been busy in China, announcing the winners in a copyright protection-themed student film contest and last week inking a deal with the seven most popular Chinese websites -- where millions of films and TV programs are being uploaded, watched or downloaded every day -- regarding copyright protection of U.S. films.
The websites have promised to remove any programs illegally uploaded by users once notified by MPA and its member companies.
Armour of God (Chinese: 龍兄虎弟, Long xiong hu di) is a 1986 Hong Kong martial arts-action film co-directed by, and starring Jackie Chan. The film features Chan's regular kung-fu, comedy and stunts, with an Indiana Jones-style theme. During a relatively routine stunt in this film Chan came the closest he has ever been to death when a tree branch snapped sending Chan plummeting a huge distance and cracking his skull.
In the movie Jackie plays the character of Asian Hawk (the character's real-name being also Jackie), an adventurer with a mercenary-like way of thought. Jackie used to perform in a band with his friends Alan and Laura (Lorelei) before he was kicked out of the band by Alan, who wanted Laura for himself. At the beginning of the film Jackie steals a sword from an African tribe that is one of the five pieces of a valuable armour known as the Armour of God. Alan is still a successful singer and Laura is a renowned fashion-designer,
An evil cult wants to destroy the armour and has already collected two pieces of it. To get the final three pieces they kidnap Laura to force Alan to get Jackie to collect the remaining pieces of the armour for the cult.
* This film was taped in Croatia and Slovenia.
* Chan and his crew were filming in Yugoslavia and the scene called for him to jump from a wall to a tree branch. The first take went perfectly, but Jackie wasn't satisfied and had wanted to do the scene once more. The second time, his grip on the branch slipped and Jackie fell 15 feet to the ground below. He landed on a rock on his head, causing part of his skull to crack and shoot up into his brain. He was flown to the hospital and was in surgery 8 hours later. He now has a plastic plug, and a permanent hole in his head. He is also slightly hard of hearing in one ear from that fall. Chan took time off for a month in recuperation, touring across Europe. During his recuperation, Producer Raymond Chow opted Chan to keep his hair long, which explains the continuity problem between his short hairdo in the beginning in the film to the long hair we see after completing the tree stunt once more along with the rest of the film.
* In the scene where Jackie infiltrates the cult's hideout and rescues Alan and Laura, Laura addressed Jackie's name as "Kong-Sang". When Jackie tries to leave Alan in the prison by himself, Alan addressed his full name as "Chan Kong-Sang". In an ironic twist, "Chan Kong-Sang" is actually Jackie Chan's birth name in real life. However, in the U.S. version of the movie, Jackie's name had been changed from Kong-Sang to "cowboy". Whether this change is due to Chan's childhood fascination as a cowboy or merely a ploy to westernize the character of Asian Hawk is up for debate.
At the Hong Kong box office, Armour of God was Jackie Chan's biggest hit up to that point, grossing HK $35,469,408 in its theatrical run.
In North America, Armour of God was released direct-to-video by Miramax after the theatrical distribution of its sequel, Armour of God 2: Operation Condor, which was released in North America as simply Operation Condor. As such, the title Armour of God was changed, somewhat confusingly, to Operation Condor 2: The Armor of the Gods it was released after Operation Condor.
A new musical score was created for this release, and English dubbing (with the participation of Chan) was also done. Nine minutes of cuts were made to the Miramax version, including:
* The concert scene of Jackie Chan's band, 'The Losers.'
* Chan's dream sequence.
* The scene in which May (played by Lola Forner), disguised as a prostitute, encounters a monk who wants to sleep with her.
* An extended version of the slapstick sequence in which Alan (played by Alan Tam) hides in May's room. The scene also includes Laura (while under the cult's spell) attempting to seduce Jackie.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A martial arts dream team -- Jackie Chan and Jet Li -- won the weekend as their movie matchup "The Forbidden Kingdom" debuted at No. 1 with $20.9 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Jet Li and Jackie Chan star in Liongate Films' "The Forbidden Kingdom."
The tale of a modern American teen hurtled back in time to a kung fu adventure in ancient China, "The Forbidden Kingdom" features Asian superstars Chan and Li in multiple roles and their first big-screen duel.
"I couldn't believe it had never been done before," said Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Co. released "The Forbidden Kingdom" along with partner Lionsgate.
Universal's romantic comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," starring Jason Segel as a nice guy who's dumped by his glamorous girlfriend (Kristen Bell), opened in second place with $17.3 million. It's the latest from producer Judd Apatow ("Knocked Up").
The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, the slasher remake "Prom Night," fell to third with $9.1 million, raising its total to $32.6 million.
Al Pacino's serial killer thriller "88 Minutes," from Sony's TriStar Pictures, was a dud, premiering at No. 4 with $6.8 million. The movie stars Pacino as a crime profiler who receives a call telling him he has 88 minutes to live.
"Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," a rare documentary opening in wide release, debuted at No. 9 with $3.1 million. Released by Rocky Mountain Pictures, the film features Ben Stein as he challenges Darwinian theories that prevail in academic circles and suggests that life could have emerged through intelligent design.
In narrower release, the Weinstein Co. documentary "Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?" bombed with just $143,299 in 102 theaters, averaging a paltry $1,405 a cinema. "Forbidden Kingdom" averaged $6,623 in 3,151 theaters.
A globe-trotting hunt for the al Qaeda leader, "Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?" was directed by Morgan Spurlock, who made the hit documentary "Super Size Me."
With a PG-13 rating, "Forbidden Kingdom" proved a family friendly film, compared with more action-intense martial arts flicks. The movie is part of a new Asian line of films from the Weinstein Co., including an upcoming remake of "Seven Samurai."
"I have three daughters who have never seen a martial arts movie, and they loved this," Weinstein said. "A lot of females identify with it. That's the audience that's going to grow. I think we'll get young girls and moms next weekend."
Overall receipts were up for the first time in a month as Hollywood lumbers through a prolonged dry spell. The top 12 movies took in $82.1 million, up 12 percent from the same weekend last year.
"There is a collective sigh of relief in Hollywood," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers. "This is overdue and much needed as we head toward the beginning of the summer season."
Movie attendance is running 6.5 percent behind that of 2007, according to Media By Numbers, whose sales figures are estimates for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters. Final figures will be released Monday.HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Jackie Chan: A-list Asian megastar, iconic kung fu hero to millions and basically a really famous guy. We had been pursuing an in-depth interview with him for months through "The JC Group," Jackie's all-conquering management company.
Gaining access to Jackie Chan's personal "museum" uncovered many gems during filming.
Schedules conflicted, dates came and went - then finally a breakthrough. He was setting aside an afternoon in between a dizzying array of international commitments. Better still, we would be filming in Jackie's Hong Kong den -- his office which is home to a private "museum" of memorabilia and awards collected over the years.
Jackie Inc. is a sprawling, multi-tentacled empire with offices all over the world - but his hideaway is in a particularly charmless area of Hong Kong. Once inside the dreary office block, you pass a team of people working on JC merchandise and into Jackie's inner sanctum.
The first thing that confronts you is the ordered chaos in his suite of rooms. Clearly incapable of throwing anything away, his office is littered with props, costumes, trophies (including several for his bowling skills), CDs, and -- some might say -- junk.
He is also a compulsive collector. As he later tells us, if a friend gives him a gift such as a tea cup, he begins amassing tea cups until he has to build glass display cases to house his out-of-control collection.
Another obsession is antique locks, including one vast, heavy model he hand-carried back from Turkey.
Our first sighting of Jackie is odd. We were told he is a very late riser and the main challenge of the shoot for his staff was getting him out of bed. Instead, he arrives early, unannounced and on his own - a rarity with film stars.
We are still setting up and he stares at us blankly through thick glasses, then disappears into his gym without a word. We begin to wonder if he actually knows about the interview.
Introductions are finally made and the effusive, likeable Jackie Chan is alive and well. He throws himself into the idea of us filming him working out - putting on a bright yellow sweat suit, then pouring out the sweat from his sleeve after 40 minutes on the cross trainer.
During the interview, he is animated and a great story teller, discussing brushes with the triads and the last time he saw Bruce Lee alive.
As China's Olympic poster boy, he was clearly uncomfortable discussing Tibet and drew the distinction between sport and politics currently favored by the IOC.
Our eventual guided tour took in his room of autographed film star photographs (Robert De Niro his most treasured) and his personal walk-in wine chiller, which was naturally behind a false wall.
His business drive is evident. His merchandising arm produces clothes, glasses and Jackie Chan action figures, while he also dabbles in gizmos that interest him - he owns the distribution rights to the Segway in Hong Kong and cheerfully taught Anjali how to ride one.
Exhausted, we took our leave after a five hour shoot while Jackie still appeared to be warming up. The following day he left for Japan - ahead of Olympic duties on the Great Wall of China and a quick skip over to India.
Unarguably "the hardest working man in showbusiness" -- when awake
Monday, May 19, 2008
I will answer in a very straightforward manner. Jackie was a better stuntman and comedian but Bruce was a true martial arts master. Lee used filmmaking to prove and to demonstrate his fighting theories while Jackie exaggerates often by adding wild stunts and a lot of wire work. If you watch Jackie fight, you will be entertained but when you watch Bruce, you might learn something.
Jackie appeared in Bruce Lee's breakthrough classic Enter the Dragon, as one of the numerous people Bruce fights off. Although only on the screen briefly, Jackie's face can clearly be seen.
As Jackie said himself after his success, Bruce Lee could not be replaced.
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| Bruce and Jackie in "Enter the dragon" |
| “Wheels on Meals” - 1984 | ||||
 | ||||
| This was his first face-off with American champion kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. This is one of the best fights ever filmed. Benny is a great fighter and a legend --good enough that he tested Jackie’s skills to the limit. In fact, throughout the filming of this scene, Jackie teased him that they should fight a real match, not just a movie brawl. "Come on, Benny, let's do it," he'd say. And Benny would say, "Any time, Jackie, any time." Well, the time was always "sometime soon," and by the time the film was finished, he finally caught on that Jackie was just joking. “To be honest, I don't know who would have won if we did fight. He's that good”, Jackie says. OK, Jackie, you are good but he is the real thing. Don’t even think about trying to get in the ring with this guy. | ||||
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| “Dragons Forever” - 1987 | ||||
| ||||
| Jackie Chan, Samo Hung and Yuen Biao. | ||||
| This is the third and last movie that Jackie and his opera brothers, Samo and Yuen Biao, co-starred in. It is also the only film where the three brothers fight against one another. | ||||
| | ||||
| “Drunken Master” - 1978 | ||||
| This film portrayed a traditional theme about a well-known Kung Fu Master, Wong Fei-Hung, in a very creative way. Jackie acts the part of the young Wong who was very rebellious and finally learnt the art of "drunk boxing". The film retained the successful elements of “Snake in the Eagle's Shadow” and introduced humour at the same time. The outcome was phenomenal, and since then Jackie has become a superstar. Jackie faces off in the finale of his first big box-office smash against Hwang Jang Lee, a Korean martial artist who is one of the greatest kickers in the history of kung fu cinema. It's an intense and unusual fight, featuring his comical "Eight Drunken Fairies" drunken-style fighting against Hwang's tae kwon do: fast, funny, and furious. On “Drunken Master,” his brow ridge was injured, and he nearly lost an eye. | ||||
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| “Police Story” -1985 | ||||
| ||||
| “Police Story” was Jackie's favourite action movie and several sequels were afterwards made. The many amazing stunts included a hillside car chase and sliding down a 70-foot pole wrapped in Christmas lights in a shopping centre. Success didn't come without suffering; both of Jackie's hands were seriously burnt. Jackie is fast and furious in this film and plays an unstoppable police officer. In the final fight he uses his “anything goes” style against a lot of thugs. No Hollywood movie - no matter the budget - has ever captured this kind of action on film. | ||||
| | ||||
| “Police Story II” -1988 | ||||
| An example of intricate prop fighting, in which he uses playground equipment to take out a gang of thugs. Think of a complicated dance with a whole bunch of partners, over, under, through, and around swing sets, jungle gyms, and seesaws, and you'll get a small piece of the picture here. | ||||
| | ||||
| “Armour of God” -1986 | ||||
| ||||
| A bizarre battle between Jackie and a mob of angry monks, with a few warrior women thrown in for good measure. Jackie perfected his "one-man-against-the-world" fighting style in this crazy fight, battling outward in a spiral while using circular kicks to keep the cassock-wearing combatants at a distance. His fight against the black amazons is very spectacular and original. | ||||
| | ||||
| “The Young Master” –1980 | ||||
| In this epic, extended battle, Jackie fights hapkido expert Whang Inn Sik. He was very impressed with his martial arts, and was determined to show the audience the power and beauty of this Korean fighting style. As a result, Jackie shot the entire scene at a wide angle with relatively few cuts. To finally defeat the master, Jackie throws out all of his traditional techniques, and just goes at him like a lunatic, flailing his arms and smashing into him with his head, his fists, and every other part of his body. He does win in the end, but at a price: the last scene of the movie shows him in a complete body cast, waving goodbye with his fingers! During “The Young Master,” he was almost suffocated when he injured his throat. Also you might think that ‘Someone Up There’ had it in for Jackie and his nose! It's bad enough that it's so big to begin with, but he has actually broken it at least three times--one of them was the “Young Master” (the others were “Project A,” and, most recently, “Mr. Nice Guy”). | ||||
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| “Dragon Lord” -1982 | ||||
| ||||
| “ Dragon Lord,” nominated the Best Action Design, Hong Kong Film Awards, 1982, was originally intended as the sequel to “Young Master” but was soon considered a story in its own right. The movie didn't sell well in Hong Kong but was widely accepted and very popular in Japan. Jackie fights Wang Inn-Sik, the Hapkido master for the second time. Jackie injured his chin on “Dragon Lord.” It was painful even talking for a while which made it hard to direct, not to mention act. Wang Inn-Sik is Bruce Lee’s Japanese opponent in “Way of the Dragon” Director: Jackie Chan. | ||||
| | ||||
| “Project A” - 1984 | ||||
| This movie was the first time the three "brothers", Jackie, Samo and Yuen Biao, co-starred in a movie together. Jackie was the director and they had plenty of dangerous stunts such as the famous jump from the clock tower. The three were a winning combination; the movie made HK$14 million in its first week at the box office. The movies they worked on together always enjoyed great success. Jackie, Yuen Biao and Samo Hung fight together in an epic battle against a fearsome pirate played by Dik Wei (one of my favorite Hong Kong actors that usually plays the villain). | ||||
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| “Heart of Dragon” - 1985 | ||||
| Very different from the traditional Jackie movies, this film focused on the relationship of the brotherhood rather than on Kung Fu fighting. Westerners saw it as the action version of “Rain Man”. This is a boring movie but the final fight scene against Dik Wei is awesome. | ||||
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| “City Hunter” - 1993 | ||||
| ||||
| In this movie, produced primarily for the Japanese market, Jackie acts as the funny, joke-cracking cartoon character, Meng Po. Jackie fights against Richard Norton and Gary Daniels. The movie has very good fights but it has a very crazy script | ||||
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| “Gorgeous” - 1999 | ||||
| Unlike his usual brand of movies, this passionate movie marks an attempt by Jackie to try something different from stunts and action. The film is full of small delights and the action scenes are cleverly inserted. It also has the right kind of martial artist spirit, getting into fights without being vicious. Jackie fights against Bradley James Allan . Brad is an Australian fight choreographer and stuntman and is the first ever foreigner to become a member of the Sing Ga Ban. He has trained under Master Liang Chang Xing, who was, along with Jet Li, a former member of the Beijing Wushu team. I first noticed Brad Allan in “Gorgeous,” and I was hooked. From the first moves he made, I saw that this guy truly was a great martial artist. Incidentally, Brad was the bodyguard for Jackie while he was promoting "Who am I?" in Japan. |
| “Wheels on Meals” - 1984 | ||||
| | ||||
| This was his first face-off with American champion kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. This is one of the best fights ever filmed. Benny is a great fighter and a legend --good enough that he tested Jackie’s skills to the limit. In fact, throughout the filming of this scene, Jackie teased him that they should fight a real match, not just a movie brawl. "Come on, Benny, let's do it," he'd say. And Benny would say, "Any time, Jackie, any time." Well, the time was always "sometime soon," and by the time the film was finished, he finally caught on that Jackie was just joking. “To be honest, I don't know who would have won if we did fight. He's that good”, Jackie says. OK, Jackie, you are good but he is the real thing. Don’t even think about trying to get in the ring with this guy. | ||||
| | ||||
| “Dragons Forever” - 1987 | ||||
| ||||
| Jackie Chan, Samo Hung and Yuen Biao. | ||||
| This is the third and last movie that Jackie and his opera brothers, Samo and Yuen Biao, co-starred in. It is also the only film where the three brothers fight against one another. | ||||
| | ||||
| “Drunken Master” - 1978 | ||||
| This film portrayed a traditional theme about a well-known Kung Fu Master, Wong Fei-Hung, in a very creative way. Jackie acts the part of the young Wong who was very rebellious and finally learnt the art of "drunk boxing". The film retained the successful elements of “Snake in the Eagle's Shadow” and introduced humour at the same time. The outcome was phenomenal, and since then Jackie has become a superstar. Jackie faces off in the finale of his first big box-office smash against Hwang Jang Lee, a Korean martial artist who is one of the greatest kickers in the history of kung fu cinema. It's an intense and unusual fight, featuring his comical "Eight Drunken Fairies" drunken-style fighting against Hwang's tae kwon do: fast, funny, and furious. On “Drunken Master,” his brow ridge was injured, and he nearly lost an eye. | ||||
| | ||||
| “Police Story” -1985 | ||||
| ||||
| “Police Story” was Jackie's favourite action movie and several sequels were afterwards made. The many amazing stunts included a hillside car chase and sliding down a 70-foot pole wrapped in Christmas lights in a shopping centre. Success didn't come without suffering; both of Jackie's hands were seriously burnt. Jackie is fast and furious in this film and plays an unstoppable police officer. In the final fight he uses his “anything goes” style against a lot of thugs. No Hollywood movie - no matter the budget - has ever captured this kind of action on film. | ||||
| | ||||
| “Police Story II” -1988 | ||||
| An example of intricate prop fighting, in which he uses playground equipment to take out a gang of thugs. Think of a complicated dance with a whole bunch of partners, over, under, through, and around swing sets, jungle gyms, and seesaws, and you'll get a small piece of the picture here. | ||||
| | ||||
| “Armour of God” -1986 | ||||
| ||||
| A bizarre battle between Jackie and a mob of angry monks, with a few warrior women thrown in for good measure. Jackie perfected his "one-man-against-the-world" fighting style in this crazy fight, battling outward in a spiral while using circular kicks to keep the cassock-wearing combatants at a distance. His fight against the black amazons is very spectacular and original. | ||||
| | ||||
| “The Young Master” –1980 | ||||
| In this epic, extended battle, Jackie fights hapkido expert Whang Inn Sik. He was very impressed with his martial arts, and was determined to show the audience the power and beauty of this Korean fighting style. As a result, Jackie shot the entire scene at a wide angle with relatively few cuts. To finally defeat the master, Jackie throws out all of his traditional techniques, and just goes at him like a lunatic, flailing his arms and smashing into him with his head, his fists, and every other part of his body. He does win in the end, but at a price: the last scene of the movie shows him in a complete body cast, waving goodbye with his fingers! During “The Young Master,” he was almost suffocated when he injured his throat. Also you might think that ‘Someone Up There’ had it in for Jackie and his nose! It's bad enough that it's so big to begin with, but he has actually broken it at least three times--one of them was the “Young Master” (the others were “Project A,” and, most recently, “Mr. Nice Guy”). | ||||
| | ||||
| “Dragon Lord” -1982 | ||||
| ||||
| “ Dragon Lord,” nominated the Best Action Design, Hong Kong Film Awards, 1982, was originally intended as the sequel to “Young Master” but was soon considered a story in its own right. The movie didn't sell well in Hong Kong but was widely accepted and very popular in Japan. Jackie fights Wang Inn-Sik, the Hapkido master for the second time. Jackie injured his chin on “Dragon Lord.” It was painful even talking for a while which made it hard to direct, not to mention act. Wang Inn-Sik is Bruce Lee’s Japanese opponent in “Way of the Dragon” Director: Jackie Chan. | ||||
| | ||||
| “Project A” - 1984 | ||||
| This movie was the first time the three "brothers", Jackie, Samo and Yuen Biao, co-starred in a movie together. Jackie was the director and they had plenty of dangerous stunts such as the famous jump from the clock tower. The three were a winning combination; the movie made HK$14 million in its first week at the box office. The movies they worked on together always enjoyed great success. Jackie, Yuen Biao and Samo Hung fight together in an epic battle against a fearsome pirate played by Dik Wei (one of my favorite Hong Kong actors that usually plays the villain). | ||||
| ||||
| | ||||
| “Heart of Dragon” - 1985 | ||||
| Very different from the traditional Jackie movies, this film focused on the relationship of the brotherhood rather than on Kung Fu fighting. Westerners saw it as the action version of “Rain Man”. This is a boring movie but the final fight scene against Dik Wei is awesome. | ||||
| | ||||
| “City Hunter” - 1993 | ||||
| ||||
| In this movie, produced primarily for the Japanese market, Jackie acts as the funny, joke-cracking cartoon character, Meng Po. Jackie fights against Richard Norton and Gary Daniels. The movie has very good fights but it has a very crazy script | ||||
| | ||||
| “Gorgeous” - 1999 | ||||
| Unlike his usual brand of movies, this passionate movie marks an attempt by Jackie to try something different from stunts and action. The film is full of small delights and the action scenes are cleverly inserted. It also has the right kind of martial artist spirit, getting into fights without being vicious. Jackie fights against Bradley James Allan . Brad is an Australian fight choreographer and stuntman and is the first ever foreigner to become a member of the Sing Ga Ban. He has trained under Master Liang Chang Xing, who was, along with Jet Li, a former member of the Beijing Wushu team. I first noticed Brad Allan in “Gorgeous,” and I was hooked. From the first moves he made, I saw that this guy truly was a great martial artist. Incidentally, Brad was the bodyguard for Jackie while he was promoting "Who am I?" in Japan. |
| “Wheels on Meals” - 1984 | ||||
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| This was his first face-off with American champion kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. This is one of the best fights ever filmed. Benny is a great fighter and a legend --good enough that he tested Jackie’s skills to the limit. In fact, throughout the filming of this scene, Jackie teased him that they should fight a real match, not just a movie brawl. "Come on, Benny, let's do it," he'd say. And Benny would say, "Any time, Jackie, any time." Well, the time was always "sometime soon," and by the time the film was finished, he finally caught on that Jackie was just joking. “To be honest, I don't know who would have won if we did fight. He's that good”, Jackie says. OK, Jackie, you are good but he is the real thing. Don’t even think about trying to get in the ring with this guy. | ||||
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| “Dragons Forever” - 1987 | ||||
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| Jackie Chan, Samo Hung and Yuen Biao. | ||||
| This is the third and last movie that Jackie and his opera brothers, Samo and Yuen Biao, co-starred in. It is also the only film where the three brothers fight against one another. | ||||
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| “Drunken Master” - 1978 | ||||
| This film portrayed a traditional theme about a well-known Kung Fu Master, Wong Fei-Hung, in a very creative way. Jackie acts the part of the young Wong who was very rebellious and finally learnt the art of "drunk boxing". The film retained the successful elements of “Snake in the Eagle's Shadow” and introduced humour at the same time. The outcome was phenomenal, and since then Jackie has become a superstar. Jackie faces off in the finale of his first big box-office smash against Hwang Jang Lee, a Korean martial artist who is one of the greatest kickers in the history of kung fu cinema. It's an intense and unusual fight, featuring his comical "Eight Drunken Fairies" drunken-style fighting against Hwang's tae kwon do: fast, funny, and furious. On “Drunken Master,” his brow ridge was injured, and he nearly lost an eye. | ||||
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| “Police Story” -1985 | ||||
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| “Police Story” was Jackie's favourite action movie and several sequels were afterwards made. The many amazing stunts included a hillside car chase and sliding down a 70-foot pole wrapped in Christmas lights in a shopping centre. Success didn't come without suffering; both of Jackie's hands were seriously burnt. Jackie is fast and furious in this film and plays an unstoppable police officer. In the final fight he uses his “anything goes” style against a lot of thugs. No Hollywood movie - no matter the budget - has ever captured this kind of action on film. | ||||
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| “Police Story II” -1988 | ||||
| An example of intricate prop fighting, in which he uses playground equipment to take out a gang of thugs. Think of a complicated dance with a whole bunch of partners, over, under, through, and around swing sets, jungle gyms, and seesaws, and you'll get a small piece of the picture here. | ||||
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| “Armour of God” -1986 | ||||
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| A bizarre battle between Jackie and a mob of angry monks, with a few warrior women thrown in for good measure. Jackie perfected his "one-man-against-the-world" fighting style in this crazy fight, battling outward in a spiral while using circular kicks to keep the cassock-wearing combatants at a distance. His fight against the black amazons is very spectacular and original. | ||||
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| “The Young Master” –1980 | ||||
| In this epic, extended battle, Jackie fights hapkido expert Whang Inn Sik. He was very impressed with his martial arts, and was determined to show the audience the power and beauty of this Korean fighting style. As a result, Jackie shot the entire scene at a wide angle with relatively few cuts. To finally defeat the master, Jackie throws out all of his traditional techniques, and just goes at him like a lunatic, flailing his arms and smashing into him with his head, his fists, and every other part of his body. He does win in the end, but at a price: the last scene of the movie shows him in a complete body cast, waving goodbye with his fingers! During “The Young Master,” he was almost suffocated when he injured his throat. Also you might think that ‘Someone Up There’ had it in for Jackie and his nose! It's bad enough that it's so big to begin with, but he has actually broken it at least three times--one of them was the “Young Master” (the others were “Project A,” and, most recently, “Mr. Nice Guy”). | ||||
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| “Dragon Lord” -1982 | ||||
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| “ Dragon Lord,” nominated the Best Action Design, Hong Kong Film Awards, 1982, was originally intended as the sequel to “Young Master” but was soon considered a story in its own right. The movie didn't sell well in Hong Kong but was widely accepted and very popular in Japan. Jackie fights Wang Inn-Sik, the Hapkido master for the second time. Jackie injured his chin on “Dragon Lord.” It was painful even talking for a while which made it hard to direct, not to mention act. Wang Inn-Sik is Bruce Lee’s Japanese opponent in “Way of the Dragon” Director: Jackie Chan. | ||||
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| “Project A” - 1984 | ||||
| This movie was the first time the three "brothers", Jackie, Samo and Yuen Biao, co-starred in a movie together. Jackie was the director and they had plenty of dangerous stunts such as the famous jump from the clock tower. The three were a winning combination; the movie made HK$14 million in its first week at the box office. The movies they worked on together always enjoyed great success. Jackie, Yuen Biao and Samo Hung fight together in an epic battle against a fearsome pirate played by Dik Wei (one of my favorite Hong Kong actors that usually plays the villain). | ||||
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| “Heart of Dragon” - 1985 | ||||
| Very different from the traditional Jackie movies, this film focused on the relationship of the brotherhood rather than on Kung Fu fighting. Westerners saw it as the action version of “Rain Man”. This is a boring movie but the final fight scene against Dik Wei is awesome. | ||||
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| “City Hunter” - 1993 | ||||
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| In this movie, produced primarily for the Japanese market, Jackie acts as the funny, joke-cracking cartoon character, Meng Po. Jackie fights against Richard Norton and Gary Daniels. The movie has very good fights but it has a very crazy script | ||||
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| “Gorgeous” - 1999 | ||||
| Unlike his usual brand of movies, this passionate movie marks an attempt by Jackie to try something different from stunts and action. The film is full of small delights and the action scenes are cleverly inserted. It also has the right kind of martial artist spirit, getting into fights without being vicious. Jackie fights against Bradley James Allan . Brad is an Australian fight choreographer and stuntman and is the first ever foreigner to become a member of the Sing Ga Ban. He has trained under Master Liang Chang Xing, who was, along with Jet Li, a former member of the Beijing Wushu team. I first noticed Brad Allan in “Gorgeous,” and I was hooked. From the first moves he made, I saw that this guy truly was a great martial artist. Incidentally, Brad was the bodyguard for Jackie while he was promoting "Who am I?" in Japan. |
| His worst injury ever, "Armour of God" | ||
| Anyone who's a fan of Jackie’s movies knows that if he watches the films to the very end, he'll get a sort of ghoulish treat: a selection of his "no-goods," out-takes from stunts and fight sequences that just didn't work out right. A lot of times the result is an injury, and sometimes a bad one. His very worst injury ever, the one that almost killed him, actually occurred on a very routine stunt. He was shooting “Armour of God” in Yugoslavia, and was still recovering from the jet lag of flying twenty hours to get there. The stunt was simple-just jumping down from a castle wall to a tree below. The first time he tried it, the stunt went perfectly, but he wasn't satisfied with the take. He tried it again, and the second time, he somehow missed the branch he was trying to grab. He fell past the tree and onto the ground below. Actually, there was a cameraman down there trying to capture a low angle, and if he hadn't scrambled out of the way, Jackie would have probably landed on him. They would both have been hurt, but not badly. Instead, he hit the rocky ground, head first. A piece of his skull cracked and shot up into his brain, and blood poured from his ears. The production team quickly got on the phones to try to find the nearest hospital that could do emergency brain surgery, and eight hours later, he was going under the knife. The operation was successful, and Jackie recovered quickly - even though there's a permanent hole in his head now, with a plastic plug there to keep his brains in. | ||
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| The Great Glass Slide, " Police Story” | ||
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| As far as action is concerned, “Police Story” is Jackie’s favorite movie that he ever made, a real whirlwind of slam-bang stunts and wild fights from beginning to end. | ||
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| Clock Tower Tumble, “Project A” | ||
| After a wild bicycle chase through Hong Kong's back alleys, Jackie finds himself high in the air, dangling from the hands of a giant clock face. With no other way to get down than fall, he let go--and crashed through a series of cloth canopies before smashing into the ground. He had to do this one three times before he was satisfied with the way it looked. “I wouldn't want to do it a fourth time”, he says smiling. Jackie has hurt his neck a lot, but one of his worst neck injuries happened during the clock-tower fall in “Project A.” | ||
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| No Way to Ride a Bus, “Police Story II” | ||
| Another chase sequence--this time running along the tops of moving buses, while narrowly dodging signs and billboards that pass overhead and around him. At the end of the chase, he leaps through a glass window.... Unfortunately, he chose the wrong window as his target, and instead of hitting prop glass, he smashed through a real pane which left him in real “pain.” | ||
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| Going Down ... in “Who Am I?” | ||
| This scene was billed by Jackie’s producers as the "world's most dangerous stunt." They were probably telling the truth--although just about any of Jackie’s stunts is dangerous, if you do it wrong. (The stunt that nearly killed him took place less than fifteen feet off the ground, after all.) Luckily, he did it right. Eventually. Even though one of his stuntmen proved it could be done (from a lower level, of course), it took him two weeks to get up the nerve to try it himself. The sequence begins with him fighting it out with some thugs on the top of a very tall building in Rotterdam, Holland. After battling with them around the roof, and nearly falling off once or twice, he finally took the quickest possible trip to the sidewalk below --sliding down the side of the building, which is slanted nearly forty-five degrees, all the way to the ground. Twenty-one stories. | ||
