8 ms·
Here’s a really cool video breaking down exactly how Jackie sets up his stunt-action-comedy. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ https://m.youtube.com/wa
by doitLP 8y ago
Here’s a really cool video breaking down exactly how Jackie sets up his stunt-action-comedy.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ
One thing that was particular interesting to me is how the setup always starts with him at an extreme disadvantage: no shoes, tied to a chair, hanging upside down, etc. I never noticed it before and it’s exactly what makes his action so enjoyable to watch.
(The YouTube Channel is called Every Frame a Painting and all the other videos are fascinating and very worth checking out.)
- crushcrashcrush 8y agoHe’s also incredibly expressive, which to a western audience may come across as “cheesy” but I personally love it. Give Rush Hour a shot and I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.
- 52-6F-62 8y agoRush Hour 1 through 3 have long been some of my favourite movies! If we're getting into Jackie Chan movies, though, one cannot leave out Drunken Master
- uep 8y agoYes (to Drunken Master)! I just noticed this last weekend that it was on Netflix and re-watched it. After many years, I still really enjoy the movie. Another one of his that I really enjoyed was Who Am I, but I haven't seen it in probably a decade.
- 52-6F-62 8y agoI'm not sure I've seen it. I'll have to give it a watch. I also really enjoyed his recent one with Pierce Brosnan— The Foreigner. It has a far more dramatic tone than the others, but it's great.
- uep 8y agoJust a warning, but with Who Am I, my love of the movie largely comes from the rooftop fight sequence. It has been long enough that I only vaguely remember a few parts of the movie outside of that sequence. Thanks for the tip on The Foreigner, I will definitely check it out. Not the same kind of movie (and not Jackie Chan), but Kung Fu Hustle is definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it. I also always thought that Bjarne Stroustrup kind of looks like The Beast in Kung Fu Hustle (it's the hair and glasses). http://www.stroustrup.com/xBjarne2018.jpg.pagespeed.ic.hePTBHSpev.jpg http://www.stroustrup.com/xBjarne2018.jpg.pagespeed.ic.hePTB... https://cinema1544.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/the-beast.jpg https://cinema1544.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/the-beast.jpg
- micah94 8y agoDon't forget about Police Story! I can still remember seeing that in a smokey Chinatown theater in NYC and being stunned by that mall scene at the end.
- vgeek 8y agoThunderbolt from the mid 90's is one of his less popular, but it was Fast and the Furious, but 5 years earlier. He loves Mitsubishi, they're in a lot of his films. Who Am I, First Strike, Police Stories, Armour of God, Mr. Nice Guy are all great, too.
- rangibaby 8y agoPolice Story and Chan's other 80s movies are the rare genuinely "all ages" entertainment (the only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is Spongebob). They're good for kids because they are funny and full of action without being grim or dark. They're easy to follow, even for young kids, because of the lack of shaky cam and fast cuts. They're good for adults because of all the crazy choreography and stunts. Police Story is definitely my favorite!
- JohnBooty 8y agoA note of clarification: Drunken Master is pretty good! Drunken Master II (re-released in slightly edited form as "Legend of the Drunken Master" in the US) is the one that's typically regarded as a bona-fide classic masterpiece.
- 52-6F-62 8y agoThanks for clarifying! I had to look it up, but I'm definitely referring to the first one in this case. I don't even think I've seen the second one! Guess it's going on the list
- JohnBooty 8y agoOh my lord you are in for such a treat. Enjoy it!
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- sirmarksalot 8y agoJust a note, "Legend of the Drunken Master" is more heavily edited than you may be aware. Here's a video illustrating some of the problems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A1vMKS6jFg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A1vMKS6jFg I wouldn't recommend watching it. It's really missing a lot of the charm of the original.
- kindatrue 8y agoI liked Rush Hour, but according to IMDB he's been quoted as saying those are some of his least favorite movies.
- crushcrashcrush 8y agoAh that’s disappointing. I hope he knows the first movie was a highlight of my movie-going childhood!
- JohnBooty 8y agoIn terms of martial arts action those movies are pale shadows of his earlier Hong Kong work. Partially because Chan is older in those movies and is a little less physically capable. But IMO mostly because of Hollywood's unfortunate style of directing fights and martial arts battles. Traditional Hong Kong martial arts movies use a lot of wide and long, unbroken shots. You can really see the performers performing these physical acts of skill and beauty -- you see their entire bodies, it's almost like watching performers on a stage. Which is of course Chan's background. In contrast, Western directors typically use a lot of fast, tight, jerky, almost seizure-inducing cuts. A closeup of a fist hitting a face. A closeup of an elbow hitting a knee. A closeup of a face showing somebody's reaction to the pain. Etc. etc etc. There's much less continuity. 98% of the scenes are probably shot by stunt/body doubles. It doesn't take a lot of talent for an actor to pull off a scene like that, at least not compared to the traditional HK style where the actors have had a lifetime of martial arts training. Of course, those are vast generalizations. You can name plenty of counterexamples from both schools!
- pimlottc 8y agoWRT your comments regarding framing/cutting techniques, the episode of “Every Frame a Painting” mentioned elsewhere in this discussion goes into this in depth and really demonstrates how it makes a big difference in the type of action that Jackie excels at. Highly recommended if you haven’t watched it before (along with the rest of the videos in the series).
- ryanmercer 8y ago>He’s also incredibly expressive, which to a western audience may come across as “cheesy” but I personally love it. His heightened capacity for emoting is arguably as good of entertainment as his stunt skills.
- burger_moon 8y agoThat could be why Rush Hour was such a hit. Chris Tucker is also very expressive in everything he does so it was a good matchup with two great actors.
- nickik 8y agoRush Hour 1 is a fun movie, the others are meh. They are not even close to the quality of some of the Hong Kong movies. Also Tucker gets pretty old quickly. Rumble in the Bronx is an insane movie that is US based, better then Rush Hour.
- nicoburns 8y agoI read similar things about Mad Max: Fury Road. Basically that they did all the stunts for real, and then edit it with still camera shots, and with a real sense of rhythm. IMO that worked absolutely fantastically, and I hope other films catch on. https://www.provideocoalition.com/art-cut-margaret-sixel-editor-mad-max-fury-road/ https://www.provideocoalition.com/art-cut-margaret-sixel-edi...
- rip_netrunner 8y agoloved the article. Appreciate the link
- jdietrich 8y agoThe lack of respect Chan gets in the west is a travesty IMO. His fight choreography is rooted in the traditions Chinese opera while being constantly fresh, playful and imaginative. He shows absolute technical mastery, but there is always a sense of child-like joy underpinning that mastery. The fact that his films are often regarded as frivolous and lightweight says something profound about what is valued in our cultural milieu.
- pbhjpbhj 8y agoDoesn't he do a lot of frivolous and light-hearted movies though -- I'm a huge fan. Take a movie like "Who am I", it's like Johnny English meets Drunken Master. "Kung Fu" films to me always have a notion of slapstick, even the beautiful ones like House of Flying Daggers; Chan's background in Opera I imagine helps to fulfill that element of slightly ludicrous spectacle (at least if Chinese opera has any similarity to its Western namesake). I mean Shanghai Noon, great film within its genre, but goofy as anything; actors doing those sorts of movies just aren't treated as serious actors I guess.
- Fricken 8y agoI don't really count films he did after Rumble in the Bronx as part of his oeuvre, he effectively retired from doing the kind of physical performances that made him great after 1995. By the time he made his debut in Hollywood his body was a little too broken to keep up the routine.
- jdietrich 8y agoYou can be goofy and fun and make high art. Slapstick spectacle can also be profound. There's a certain po-faced affectation that is necessary to be called an artist. Being good isn't good enough; you also need to convincingly ape the norms of a self-appointed cultural elite. The disparity in esteem between pop and rock springs to mind. We have an ingrained sense that if a record appeals to 13-year-old girls, then it must on some level be inherently inferior to a record that appeals to middle-aged men, regardless of the actual sophistication of the music in question. A teenage boy learning to play guitar carries an entirely different set of cultural connotations and expectations than a teenage girl learning to sing, regardless of how much effort they each expend. The term "credibility" hides a deep vein of ugly bigotry.
- fhood 8y agoNothing better than finding even more cool content in the comments. Thanks for the link. It put to words a bunch of things that annoy me about modern action movies.