Tokyo Ghoul to Get a Live Action Film Adaptation
Welcome to the first stalker guide about a Chinese actor in MDL.
I always thought that my first stalker guide should be saved to an actor whom I watched at least 95% of his productions and what’s better than Jackie Chan to start with?
If I have to describe him in a short sentence, I would say: A living legend. Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan were the first Asian and probably the first foreign actors I ever knew. Jackie is someone I lived my childhood watching his movies with family and friends. When I think of him; I immediately remember our childhood moments where we used to imitate his moves and pretend that we’re Kung Fu masters. Thanks to him and Bruce Lee as well as Jet Li, Martial arts and Wuxia movies became my favorite genres.
I especially appreciate his unique style with acrobats, comedy and fun moves that’s why I bought all of his movies’ DVD’s and I never get tired of re-watching them.
Jackie Chen is known to perform his own stunts during his film career and he always gets injured in the meantime. He’s also known of his acrobatic fighting style and the comic scenes that are present most of the time.
Jackie started his career as a stuntman in two of Bruce Lee’s movies “Fist of Fury”and “Enter The Dragon”. Those of you who saw these movies would remember how much he was beaten to a pulp by the legend Bruce Lee. After that, his career started to grow as he kept appearing in Wei Lo’s productions resulting to hisbig breakthrough in the 1978’s movie “Snake in the Eagle's Shadow” that started the blossoming of his career. But “Drunken Master” was the film that marked his Hong Kong success.
You need to know that I had to scratch my head a lot in order to pick 10 movies only out of his huge filmography. If I had the chance, I would’ve included all of his productions but that would be too long and bothersome to read. So here are my picks, I tried my best to include his older movies in which I believe he shined better. I also tried to choose his different set of roles.
I initially intended to divide the stalker guide into his Chinese and Hollywood productions but then, I figured that I don’t really like his Hollywood movies as much as I love his old Hong Kong films so I decided to dedicate the major part of the Stalker Guide to Jackie’s earlier works and leave only two spots for his Hollywood movies. I also tried to exclude his most popular productions and focus on hidden gems that some of you may not know. Enjoy!
Hong Kong
I will start my journey through Jackie’s Hong Kong productions by one of my favorite quotes said by him:
“I never wanted to be the next Bruce Lee. I just wanted to be the first Jackie Chan.”
Drunken Master (1978)
The trouble maker who became the master
When Martial Arts actors were trying to become the next Bruce Lee (as if that can ever happen), Jackie Chan decided to do something entirely different.
As I stated earlier “Snake in the Eagle's Shadow” was the movie that started Jackie Chan’s success while “Drunken Master” marked the beginning of his stardom. It would’ve been better if I talked about both of those films, but since I am running short on space I decided to pick “Drunken Master” but “Snake in the Eagle's Shadow” is really worth the shot as one of Jackie’s best films.
The Master’s Wong Fei Hung’s story is a real one and there have been other movies to tell his life even before Jackie Chan and others after him such as Jet Li’s“Once Upon a time in China” and Donnie Yen's “Iron Monkey”. Jackie’s portrayal of the character was less serious than the two movies mentioned above and it can’t be considered as a real biography for Wong Fei Hung since it wasn’t proved that he was a master of the drunken boxing.
Wong FeiHung (Jackie Chen) is a troublemaker who’s sent by his father to his uncle’s So Hai who’s a master at the drunken boxing. Things start at the wrong level but after Fei meets the villain "Thunderfoot" played by Lee Hwang Jan, he decides to take his teacher and training more seriously. “Drunken Master” is a classic but it falls under the traditional Kung Fu elements of that era. It’s an old school Martial Arts movie with pleasant humor into it.
The activities department was stunning, the training scenes and the fights were very well made. This is why I love old Martial Arts movies; they’re always action packed with great moves. Drunken Master is one of the most solid entertaining old KungFu movies ever made.
Project A (1983)
The beginning of the “Three Dragons” legend
Have you ever heard of the “Three Dragons” (aka the “Three Brothers” or the “Marx Brothers of Kung Fu Comedy”)? They are Opera school friends: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Biao Yuen who co-starred in many films together and Project A was the start of their legend.
In this movie, Jackie plays the role of Dragon Ma, a Coast Guard officer who will hunt down pirates with his two friends Sammo and Biao and when you have the three dragons together, you’re bound to expect great humor inserted into serious fights and pleasant entertainment.
Project A had one of Jackie’s most dangerous and daring stunts; it did bring us breathtaking moments but then fell from the tower scene almost caused Jackie his life. He had to redo that scene three times to get the exact cut he wanted. I believe Jackie outclassed himself in this movie when it comes to stunts and high-speed action and no movie has ever did action and stunts the way Project A did; not even the high-budget Hollywood films, I doubt if any other film can surpass this stunt excellence.
What makes Project A even more amazing that Jackie was the director, the writer and the action director for it. Which means that Jackie created one his best movies himself; he shot all of those action scenes at high speed and he performed the mesmerizing stunts himself. Jackie didn’t only outshine himself as an actor but also as a director and a stuntman.
It’s highly recommended to Jackie’s fans but I would advise you to obtain the Hong Kong version because the US released version has horrible dubbing and cut many scenes that were the center of fun.
Wheels on Meals (1984)
The three dragons save the girl
This is also another collaboration of the “three dragons” and one of their best. It was filmed in Barcelona (Spain).
Wheels on Meals is about two skilled Martial Arts cousins Thomas (Jackie) and David (Biao) who run a food truck in the streets of Spain; they ran into Sylvia, a beautiful pickpocket and they need to save her from dangerous people who want to hurt her with the help of a the sloppy detective Moby (Sammo) who’s trying to find a Spanish heiress as his first official case.
As usual, the ‘three brothers’ never fail to deliver entertainment and slapstick comedy that’s bound to attract you if you’re into Hong Kong’s sense of humor. Wheels on Meals contained great action scenes and well-made stunts even if it started a bit slow at first.
Directed by Sammo this time around, the three dragons managed to shine once again and create a great mix of comedy and Martial arts. They didn’t only fight thugs on the streets and the guards on the side but they also had impressive deals with champions like Keith Vitali and Benny Urquidez (more than 200 professional wins without any loss). The latter had one of the most amazing fights with Jackie following the great choreographies created by master Sammo who’s so professional at making them. That guy has an amazing eye for action.
Dragons Forever (1988)
The very last pie with the three dragons
This move marked the end of the ‘Three Brothers’ collaborations. It was the very last work where the three dragons worked together side by side. I wish I could’ve introduced you all of their films because they’re pure gold but due to the lack of space, I had to pick only three of them. However, I would recommend the “Lucky stars trilogy” which is an absolute must-watch for their fans.
Dragons Forever is easily one of the best Martial Arts movies ever made; it’s like the perfect goodbye of the three brothers. Jackie plays the role of a corrupt Lawyer but he falls into a conflict of interest in one of his cases when he falls for a beautiful woman. Therefore he asks Sammo and Biao to help him in his case.
Once again, directed by the hot-shot Sammo; this movie delivers a great mix of action and slapstick humor as well as romance. Biao proved his amazing acrobatic skills, Sammo proved his outstanding directing and astonishing acting skills while Jackie led one of the best fight scenes ever shot in the movies’ world; his fight with the champ Benny Urquidez (“The Jet”) is without doubt unforgettable.
There’s another memorable scene where the three dragons fought each other at the same time.
City Hunter (1993)
Jackie surrounded by a bunch of girls
It’s loosely based on Tsukasa Houjo’s manga with the same title but the director WongJing added his own style of comedy to this movie.
In City Hunter, Jackie plays the role of a womanizer private investigator who sneaks into a cruise to find a famous Japanese business man’s daughter. He then, encounters terrorists who high jacked the cruise in order to take everyone’s money. With the help of a fellow detective, his assistant and the girl he’s been looking for, he starts fighting the gang and saving the hostages.
It’s unusual for me to watch Jackie as a womanizer; he was surrounded by many girls and somehow believable as Ladies’ man. The most important thing that he stickled with his unique fighting scenes and had hilarious encounters; my favorite being the “Street Fighters” scene but the final fight he had with Richard Norton was pretty awesome too.
The Legend of the Drunken Master (1994)
Drunken boxing has never been more fun.
This probably the most famous Jackie film made in Hong Kong worldwide. And it does deserve the hype but I wouldn’t consider it as the best Martial Arts movie ever made; I would rather classify it as one of the best and it’s definitely one of Jackie’s better works.
The Legend of the Drunken Master (aka: Drunken Master II) is barely a sequel to the first Drunken Master movie; there’s actually nothing that relates the two productions when it comes to the plot that’s why I rather use the title that doesn’t make this look like a sequel. Many consider this as a legendary Kung Fu movie but I still insist it’s not the best. However, this movie can be categorized as a classic in its genre.
Jackie plays the role of a Wong Fei Hung; a skilled user of the drunken boxing who have to stop smugglers from stealing China’s greatest treasures using his Kung Fu style but he has to beware of his pacifist father who doesn’t allow him to use the drunken boxing. The movie contained nice humor but it’s less than other Jackie’s films that are packed with comedy. Wong Fei Hung’s step-mother was the funniest character in the movie; I really appreciated her presence and the way she treats him.
In the action scale, this movie contained great choreographed stunts by Jackie as well as amazing duals. Jackie got burnt during the fire stunt and got a permanent skin graft on his arm because of it. The Legend of the Drunken Master had memorable fights such as the one against the Ax Gang and the final fight against the professional kicking Thai boxer who is Jackie’s bodyguard in real life.
Rob-B-Hood (2006)
The thieves and the cute little baby
As I said in the opening; I tried my best to pick different roles performed by Jackie and not only his pure Martial Arts movies. Rob-B-Hood made me love Jackie again after I’ve been disappointed with his released Hollywood films such as “The Tuxedo”, “The Medallion” and “Around the World in 80 Days”.
Somehow inspired by “Three men and a Baby”; this movie tells the story of Fong Ka Ho (Jackie) and Octopus (Louis Koo) who are professional thieves; they take a job that pays a lot money but they didn’t get informed that they will kidnap a baby. As both burglars get attached to the baby, a thrill ride to escape with her gets started.
Rob-B-Hood is simply one of the best movies that Jackie has made after his Hollywood stardom; it gave the feeling that Jackie got back to his Chinese roots and style and I highly appreciated that. The movie was full of comedy and probably Jackie’s funniest movie but the action was never absent; we get to have our usual dish of great stunts and astounding choreographies. It also had one the best cameos in Jackie’s films by the appearance of Nicholas Tse and Daniel Wu.
Shinjuku Incident (2009)
Jackie goes Noir with a Yakuza movie
This is without doubt an atypical Jackie Chan’s movie. It’s a crime centered movie without any type of Martial Arts going on. It’s categorized under the genres of Crime, Drama and Thriller so you can expect what you’re going to encounter.
Shinjuku Incident tells the story of Chinese emigrants to Japan and Jackie is one of them. It also focuses on the Yakuza world and the consecutive fights to get hold of power. It’s a great movie but its’ a pure crime movie with some drama going on as well as love interests. So do not expect Jackie’s usual stunts and slapstick humor here.
This movie is Jackie’s more serious role and with many super violent sequences so I wouldn’t recommend it to sensitive people but Jackie’s fans should check it out to see the variety of roles that Jackie can play.
Hollywood
I will start with two quotes said by Jackie:
“In Hollywood, they care more about comedy, relationship and so many things before action stunts. In Hong Kong, we go straight into stunts and action, but in America sometimes that's too much. So, now I'm making a film half and half, take some good things from Hollywood and some good things from Asia.”
“I have reasons to make each film, I have something to say. Unlike "Rush Hour" there was no reason (in making it), you just give me the money and I'm fine. I dislike "Rush Hour" the most, but ironically it sold really well in the U.S. and Europe."
As you may have noticed; I am a fan of Jackie’s Hong Kong films especially his earlier works and I still insist that his Hollywood movies can never beat the classics he created in Hong Kong. I left only two spots for his Hollywood movies so I will leave many famous titles behind.
Battle Creek Brawl (1980)
Jackie’s US debut wasn’t as bad as it’s rumored
I would still pick the so called “failed” US debut on other Hollywood films that I consider them Jackie’s failures somehow.
There’s history behind this movie; Jackie Chan broke his contract with Wei Lo because he kept pushing him to become the next Bruce Lee (when he didn’t want to), so he signed with “Golden Harvest” but Wei Lo’s threats put him in danger’s way.Therefore, his manager Willie Chan advised him to go make films in the US. The problem is, American filmmakers tried to make Jackie the next Bruce Lee in this film when he left Hong Kong running away from it. If you want to blame someone, blame the American executives who didn’t know how to make things right.
Enough with the history, this movie is set in 30’s and it tells the story of Jerry, an Asian American who’s forced to participate in a competition like Street Fighter where he has to go against free wrestlers who are far behind in skill compared to other Jackie’s opponents. The movie was good but I do agree that’s not one of Jackie’s best. However, I wouldn’t consider it a “failure”.
Jackie didn’t have control over the film’s action like he used to in other films; the stunts weren’t well choreographed like other works but the action was quite good and the comedy is always present even in a lesser amount.
Shanghai Noon (2000)
Mismatched buddies save the princess
I had to pick this over Rush Hour because I liked Owen Wilson/Jackie Chan combo better than Chris Tucker/Jackie Chan’s collaboration. Call it a personal reference but I liked this one better.
The movie is a Western-Comedy that tells the story of Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) who arrives in Nevada to save the kidnapped Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu) with the help of the outlaw Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson).
This movie is one of the best that Jackie made in The US, of course it can’t measure up to his classic Hong Kong movies but it was quite good. Plot-wise, everything was predictable just like any other action Jackie movie but it was pretty enjoyable. The humor was really good; it managed to bring the laughter as well as entertainment.
I believe that Jackie and Owen got great chemistry which made “buddies” roles look easy; they felt very comfortable as they acted side by side which is an impressive strength point for this movie. The action department was interesting and well-made; I liked the stunts and the duals in Shanghai Noon and the somewhat slapstick humor.
Jackie’s best cameos:
The Twins Effect (2003): Just watch the ambulance scene.
The Twins Effect 2 (2004): You just need to watch the fight between him and Donnie Yen then ignore the rest.
Shaolin (2011): Somehow a special appearance for Jackie but it’s worth watching.
Other Remarkable Movies :
I just couldn’t leave without mentioning these movies. Although I have about 20 other Jackie movies that I want to mention them so badly but the article is very long to do so.
Shaolin Wooden Men (1976): Jackie plays a mute undercover monk who wants to avenge his father’s death. He’s trained under two teachers and then he has to fight the evil one out of them. Action packed and a real gem for 70’s Kung Fu fans.
Snake and Crane (1978): Jackie plays a master who has to protect the book written by the eight masters of Snake and Crane from everyone who’s trying to cease it. I consider it as one of the best old school Kung Fu movies. It had one of the finest action choreographies out of that period.
Fearless Hyena (1979): Once again, Jackie plays a disciple; it does look a lot like Drunken Master but Fearless Hyena was one of the most energetic movies that Chen has ever made; there were some pretty hard acrobatic scenes in here and what makes it sound even better that Jackie himself wrote and directed this movie.
The Young Master (1980): Jackie leaves home to find his framed brother and to clear his name; he had great action scenes with that fan. It’s his first post-Wei Lo breakthrough that smashed many records in HK and established Jackie as one of the best Martial Arts actors.
Island of Fire (1990): It’s a Chinese prison film without many Martial arts going on but Jackie was really good in here. It’s a star packed movie that deserves to be watched by Jackie Chan fans.
Crime Story (1993): It’s a crime thriller movie where Jackie plays a tough cop to solve a case that’s based on true events. It’s without doubt an atypical serious Chen movie that lacked comedy but it was quite well-done with lots of action.
Gorgeous (1999): This is also a non-Jackie Chan style, it’s a romantic comedy. You didn’t read that wrong, it’s a romantic comedy with Jackie and Shu Qi as the main leads and it happens to contain Jackie’s first on screen kiss. There weren’t too many martial arts scenes but the fight scenes where Tony Leung was beaten around by Chen were cool to watch. Those who only love Jackie’s martial arts films aren’t guaranteed to enjoy this.
1911Revolution (2011): This movie is a Commemorate of the Centennial of the 1911 revolution which is about the fall of the Qing Dynasty and China's first failed attempts at becoming a Republic. It also marks Jackie’s 100[sup]th[/sup] movie. It’s his most violent dramatic film; he also co-directed this movie which shows the variety of films he made.
Upcoming works:
Skiptrace (2014)
This would be the end of my lengthy stalker guide although I have much more to say about Jackie and many more movies to introduce. Let us know how many Jackie movies have you seen and which ones were your favorites.
I will leave you with this quote by Jackie Chan:
“I like action but I don't like violence”.
If there is an actor or an actress that is worthy of a Stalker's Guide in your opinion, and you have watched enough dramas of his/hers to prove it, please contact Elisabetta about it.
