'You Killed my Master /Father/ Accountant': Martial Arts Movie Thread: Now Disc. Tony Jaa

This is Django211's thread, but for some reason, he's having difficulty loading it from his computer, so he PM'd it to me.

This is his originating post:

"The kung fu film is having a revival thanks to films like Kung Fu Hustle, Kill Bill, Hero, & Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. However this is a genre that has been around since the silent era and is quite often misundertsood by foreign (Western) audiences. So in this thread let's take a look at the films, stars, directors and choreographers that make this one of the most fun genres in film.

I suppose the best place to start is with the name synonymous with kung fu and that's Bruce Lee. He was born in 1940 (a dragon year) in San Francisco while his opera performing father was on tour. At the hospital he was given the name Bruce Lee. He was a successful child actor and grew up in front of the camera. It was there that he got his nickname "little Dragon." He didn't study martial arts until he got a bit older under Wing Chun expert Yip Man. He grew up with a penchant for street fighting & cha cha dancing. After a constant string of fights it was decided Bruce's best bet would be to go to the US. He wound up going to school at the University of Washington as a philosophy major. All the while Bruce kept studying various martial arts. He opened the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute where he met Linda Emery. Soon after they married, moved to Oakland & opened another school much to the protests of the local Chinese community. Lee's school was open to any student whereas the Chinese community did not want him teaching the gweilo (foreigners). Straight out of kung fu film, a challenege was issued & had he lost Bruce would close the school to non-Chinese.

Lee won the fight but not in the manner he wanted. By all accounts it is here where he dedicated himself with even greater devotion to training and the studying of martial arts. He trained aerobically before there was such a term, sparred, weight lifted, ran, bicylcled, all in effort to make his body as fit as possible. He was invited to the Long Beach Karate Internationals to give demonstrations of his one figer pushups and one inch punch. It was there he caught the eye of producer William Dozier. Lee was cast as Kato in the television series "The Green Hornet". The show was a ratings failure but Bruce electrified the screen anytime he fought. He would act sporadically but his martial arts students were now coming from Hollywood, most notably Steve McQueen and James Coburn. He was also gaining a stronger status in the martial arts community with the likes of Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis and Mike Stone frequently training with him. A back injury forced him to give up his grueling training. He then dedicated himself to studying with the same veracity of training his mind the way he did with his body. It was during this time he wrote, what would become "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do."

Lee was able to get back on his feet & resume training. He developed a tv show to star himself only to lose it to David Carradine. He went to Hong Kong to discover that he was a huge star from "The Green Hornet" but it was called "The Kato Show." Producer Raymond Chow offered him a two picture deal for $15,000. The first film Fist of Fury aka The Big Boss was a box office smash. His next film The Chinese Connection aka Fist of Fury would make him an icon. He starred, wrote, directed and choreographed his next film Return of the Dragon aka Way of the Dragon, another runaway smash. Lee started work on his next film Game of Death but before he could get much headway on the project Hollywood finally came calling. $500,000 to star in a film titled Blood and Steel, the film eventually changed its name to Enter the Dragon. A difficult shoot, with practically everyone involved in Hong Kong kung fu films appeared. Cultural problems, language barriers, daily challenges, and the pressure to finally break through in Hollywood weighed on this film. In May of 1973 he mysteriously collapsed and in July he died, with the offical explanation as "death by misadventure". His death

 

Recontructed second post:


Zaz: Here's where I have to admit that I have never seen a Bruce Lee movie. Heard of "Enter the Dragon" and "Fists of Fury" but not watched them. Obviously, I'll have to take a look. What Lee movie would you recommend to a beginner?

 

Recontructed 3rd post:

SmoovBillyDee:


Another good one is Game of Death. Lee fights his way to the top floor of a building, with a master of a different style on every floor. It's excellent stuff.

Btw, I'm excited about this thread. I've seen more kung fu movies than I can count. Used to be a Friday night ritual for me and my friends to rent a new kung fu movie every week when we were in high school.

 

Recontructed 4th post:

Rogue1-and-a-half:

The Chinese Connection is the only Lee film I've seen entire, though I've seen the bulk of Enter the Dragon. The ending is a classic . . . it's a surprisingly great movie and when he takes on the whole school at once: wow! That is just hilarious, mindblowing, thrilling and beautiful cinema all at once.

 

Recontructed 5th post:

Jedi_Learner

"What Lee movie would you recommend to a beginner?"

There all easy to recommend, but I'd properly choose Fist of Fury/The Chinese Connection first because its my favourite! Hong Kong Legends here in the UK did a nice job on a platinum edition for this film recently.

 

Reconstructed 6th post:

TheBoogieMan:

I've never seen a Bruce Lee film either. However, I am a bit of a connoisseur of Jackie Chan films. He's quite a star here in Australia.

 

Reconstructed 7th post:

Django211:

Jackie will be the next one we'll talk about so be patient.

There is a scene in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story where Lee is watching Breakfast at Tiffany's and is disgusted at Mickey Rooney's horribly racist character. Linda is laughing but when she sees Bruce she realizes how insulted he is so they get up and leave. I think the scene works well & represents the change in attitude that Lee brought about. Before Bruce no one considered an Asian as a heroic figure. He forever changed how Asians would be seen in cinema.

I also think that Lee was an embodiment of being an American. He would not let anyone dictate what he could and could not do. His Jeet Kune Do was an amalgam of many different styles from all over the world. In the ultimate irony he even rejected his own style in favor of a style dictated by every student's own strengths and experiences. The Chinese take great pride in Lee yet a lot of his attitude is in direct conflict with traditional Chinese culture. He is Chinese yet he is also American. I think the reason why Enter the Dragon is not as successful in China is because Lee is more an American in this role. In his previous roles he was more Chinese.

 

Reconstructed 8th post:

Django211

Game of Death is terrible. However it is so bad that it takes on a surreal quality and becomes entertaining in a Plan 9 sort of way. Lee was filming the fight scenes for Game when Warner Bros came to him, so he put the movie on hold to work on the Hollywood film. When shooting for Enter the Dragon finished Lee went back to shooting Game. When he died there was a lot of footage but only from the fight finale. He still had yet to film the rest of the story and was trying to get George Lazenby to co-star in the film. Hack director Robert Clouse took his footage and decided to finish the film.

They used two look alikes and came up with all sorts of ways to disguise the fact that it wasn't Bruce Lee the audience was watching. Having their Lee-alikes wear sunglasses, or a motorcycle helmet, using shots from Lee's previous films, to even optically replacing the actors face with a still picture of Lee. You simply have to see it to believe it. The film is truly pathetic until the ending when you can actually see Lee's fighting. Despite the terrible quality of the film this is where you see Lee in the famous yellow jumpsuit.

A few years ago Lee's footage was re-edited according to the notes Bruce left. The results are far better than the actual film. You can find it on DVD called Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey. Watching this is revelation. You can get a clearer idea of where Bruce was going with the fight scenes. It's a tremendous idea. Bruce along with two other men fight their way up a pagoda. On each level are different styles of fighting that they must contend with. The finale is the famous fight with Kareem Abdul Jabaar, which is even better in this version. The fights are better paced, funnier, grittier and just better than what hack director Robert Clouse left. If you compare it to Lee's work from Way of the Dragon you can see that Lee was growing as a film-maker. I highly recommend this film to any Bruce Lee fan.

 

That's some impressive work, there Zaz. Keep going like this and you'll make Admin, one day.

 

Laugh it up, fuzzball.

 

~Great Moments In Amphitheatre History~

 

I was wondering where my post had gone from my latest posts.

 

Sorry, Jedi_Learner.

 

My favorite Kung-Fu movie is Ninja Vs. Peasant.

 

Enter the Dragon

This is the film that brought the kung fu to the world. It was crafted to make Bruce Lee a star and it worked. Everyone who was anyone in Hong Kong worked on this film. Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Angela Mao, Bolo Yang, Tung Wei, etc... would all go on to successful careers after this film. Despite Lee's status as the star quite a bit of attention is paid to John Saxon & Jim Kelly, the studio wasn't as confident in Lee as everyone says now. Saxon & Kelly were a lame attempt to try to bring in a bigger (white & black) audience than what Lee could provide. However it didn't matter. After this film Lee would have fans from all over the world.

The fighting still looks good today. All choreographed by Bruce working with everyone available in Hong Kong. What happened behind the scenes are more interesting than what happened onscreen. It's fun to listen to the stories of Lee being challenged almost daily by random fighters, like the old gunfighter being tested by the kid with the quick draw. Often he could get them to give up their foolish notions and other times he had to put them in their place. Definite alpha male syndrome here. Bruce Lee accepted Jackie Chan's invitation to go bowling after a day of shooting all of Chan's friends thought he was lying when he claimed to know Bruce Lee, when Lee showed up Chan was given a lot of "face". Sammo Hung expected to hate Lee but their scene went off without any problems and they became friends. Bob Wall accidently broke a real bottle on Bruce's hand, as payback Lee kicked him so hard that when Wall collided with a man behind him, the force broke this poor guy's arm. Lee didn't get along with writer Michael Allin so in turn Allin named a character Braithwaite because he knew Lee would have problems pronouncing it. Actresses refused to play prostitutes so they had to hire real prostitutes to be in the film, which caused the martial artists to temporarily quit. Shih Kien couldn't speak a word of English so he spoke phoenetically while actor Keye Luke redubbed his lines.

Bruce is the reason to watch this film. He oozes charisma and when he isn't on screen you just keep waiting for his scenes to come up. I don't think any other actor could have pulled off this film. As good as Lee is in the fighting scenes, he also takes the time to give some of his philosophy toward fighting. The film has a comic book/James Bond quality to it. Lalo Schifrin gives a terrific score.

 

If Bruce Lee is the king of Kung Fu then the inheritor of the crown is Jackie Chan. However Jackie was smart enough to do something different than the dozens of Bruce Lee wannabees, he forged his own style. He is everything Bruce is not. He doesn't get by because of his superhuman skill, he is successful because of his determination. His Chinese name Cheng Long means becoming the dragon. Chan was also smart enough to play to his strengths, which lie in comedy. While watching a Jackie Chan movie you are just as likely to laugh out loud as you are to wince in pain. He takes a lot of inspiration from Buster Keaton & the silent age more so than Bruce Lee.

Jackie Chan started his career as a child studying Chinese opera. Under Dickensian conditions he & fellow students had to undergo inhuman training for a dying art form. His skills could only be utilized in one area, films. Chan worked as a stuntman in Bruce Lee films. In Fist of Fury he doubles the villain in the final fight taking a huge leap backwards, in Enter the Dragon Lee snaps his neck. After Lee's death director Lo Wei tried to make him the next Bruce Lee in a series of films that all died at the box office. Chan hooked up with Yuen Wo-Ping (yes the Matrix's Yuen Wo-Ping) for [b[Snake in the Eagle's Shadow[/b] for a strange combination of kung fu & comedy. It was Chan's first hit. They followed it up with Drunken Master. Here Chan played a young version of Chinese hero Huang Fei Hong. Instead of adhering to the tradition of master Huang being a great man, Chan went the other way & showed just how bad Huang was as a young man. The audience ate it up & Chan was now a star.

 

With 1997 looming and all of Hong Kong wondering what the handover would bring Chan decided to give Hollywood one more shot. Rumble in the Bronx is a lesser Chan film but scored big at the box office. A few of his older films were given Hollywood releases but redubbed and given hip-hop soundtracks. He then paired with the unknown Chris Tucker, after Martin Lawrence dropped out of the project, for Rush Hour. Upon this success he again teamed up with Owen Wilson for Rush Hour. Both films were hits and spawned sequels. Since then he has traveled between Hong Kong and Hollywood with various degrees of success. He has 2 franchise films in Hollywood and 3 in Hong Kong but still has yet to get the artistic freedom he so richly deserves in Hollywood. Now he seems content with traveling between Hollywood & Hong Kong.

He has way too many films to list but here are some of the highlights:

Project A 1 & 2
Police Story 1,2,3
Drunken Master 1 & 2
Miracles
Wheels on Meals
Dragons Forever
Armour of God
Crime Story
New Police Story
Rush Hour
Shanghai Noon
The Myth

 

" Enter The Dragon " is the crown jewel of American Kung Fu movies, but IMO and the opinion of many is that Drunken Master II, released in the U.S. as " The Legend of Drunken Master " with Jackie Chan is the best kung fu movie ever. Its based on a true story and character, believe it or not. Its the same character that Bruce Lee plays in " The Chinese Connection " , Jet Li plays in " Fist of Legend " and also Li again in " The Once Upon A Time In China " movies. The Shaw brothers were responsible for all the great Staurday morning fare. Most of the martial artists were part of that brutal Chinese Ballet Troupe ( Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and many others ). Martial Art movies are my weakness by the way. Here are some of my favorites and Im defintely forgetting a bunch because theres literally HUNDREDS of good ones:

Enter The Dragon
Drunken Master
Drunken Master II
The Way of The Dragon
Binchunmo
Duel to the Death
The Duel
The Assassin
The Seven Deadly Venoms
The Street Fighter
The Five Fingers of Death
Master of the Flying Guillotine
The Zatoichi Series
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman - the one with Takeshi " Beat " Kitano
The Invincible Pole Fighter
Iron Monkey
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Shogun Assassin - the original Lone Wolf and Cub manga series and movies are NOT martial arts movies, their high drama. ( well, on second thought they are so include them, too )
Armour of the Gods
The Defender
Fist of Legend
Hero
Crying Freeman

 

You're mixing up two real life Chinese heroes; Huang Fei Hong & Huo Yuan Jia. Bruce Lee played neither. Jet Li & Jackie both played Huang Fei Hong, & most recently Jet Li played Huo Yuan Jia in Fearless.

 

I like Snake in the Eagle's shadow. Old Jackie Chan film, very entertaining.

Psycho priest.

 

I thought they were all the same guy. My bad. I knew the guy from Drukken Master is the same guy from Once Upon A Time In China and I thought that Bruce Lee in the Chinese Connection was the same guy that Jet plays in Fist of Legend. And for some reason I thought they were all the same person. I havent seen " Fearless " yet but I heard it was sick.

 

Bruce Lee & Jet Li both played Chen Zhen, a fictional character. However Chen Zhen was supposedly the student of real life master Huo Yuan Jia, whom Jet Li plays in the spectacular Fearless.

 

Yeah, it comes highly recommended that movie. Gotta buy. I gotta a great collection of Hong Kong, Mainland, South Korean ( theyre getting HUGE - seen Musa? ) and Japanese movies. We gotta compare notes, me and you. I think its great that you can get all these Shaw Brother movies brushed up with subtitles and in their original languages. Do you agree or do you prefer dubbed?

 

I love the Shaw Brothers collection. Celestial Pictures are doing a tremendous job with the library. The only problem is the DVDs aren't region 1, so if you don't have a region free player then you're out of luck. I prefer the original language of course. I have hundreds of films, luckily where I live DVDs go for less than a dollar.