Jackie Chan - The Chinese Cinema

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Jackie Chan

A collection of 15 posts

Glory to the Fat Dragon!

Glory to the Fat Dragon!

Since today is Sammo Hung's birthday, I figure it's a good time to repost this look at his career, originally posted on the now-defunct website Frame.land back in the summer of 2017. There were originally several video clips interspersed throughout the essay, but they seem

The Shaolin Cinematic Universe

The Odd One Dies

The Shaolin Cinematic Universe

This was originally commissioned by the Vulgar Cinema website in July 2014, and was published in December 2015. Then, after that site disappeared, it was revised and republished at Frame.land in May 2019. Now that site too appears to be defunct, so I'm posting it once again

New Fist of Fury (Lo Wei, 1976)

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New Fist of Fury (Lo Wei, 1976)

High Risk (Wong Jing, 1995)

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High Risk (Wong Jing, 1995)

Heart of Dragon (Sammo Hung, 1985)

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Heart of Dragon (Sammo Hung, 1985)

Police Story 3: Supercop (Stanley Tong, 1992)

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Police Story 3: Supercop (Stanley Tong, 1992)

Stanley Tong Capsule Reviews

Stanley Tong Capsule Reviews

Police Story 3: Supercop (Stanley Tong, 1992) — March 3, 2018 At what point do you think Jackie Chan realized Michelle Yeoh was going to upstage him in every scene? He already had to contend with a vastly overqualified Maggie Cheung, and you just know he didn’t give Yuen Wah

The Best of the Martial Arts Films (Sandra Weintraub, 1990)

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The Best of the Martial Arts Films (Sandra Weintraub, 1990)

Gorgeous (Vincent Kok, 1999)

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Gorgeous (Vincent Kok, 1999)

Dragons Forever (Sammo Hung, 1988)

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Dragons Forever (Sammo Hung, 1988)

Jackie Chan Capsule Reviews

Jackie Chan Capsule Reviews

Drunken Master (Yuen Woo-ping, 1978) — June 13, 2013 Much better subtitled than dubbed (obviously). Even still, the subs translate Jackie Chan’s character’s name as “Freddy Wong,” which kind of obscures one of the most interesting things about the film: that it’s a total subversion of the Wong

Railroad Tigers (Ding Sheng, 2016)

Railroad Tigers (Ding Sheng, 2016)

January is the greatest movie month there is. Not only are we in the lesser metropolises of America finally granted access to tardiest of the previous year’s award hopefuls (see this week’s Silence), but via studio counter-programming logic, we also get Hollywood’s most interesting action films. The

Project A 2 (Jackie Chan, 1987)

Project A 2 (Jackie Chan, 1987)

The sequel is even more Chan-focused than the first Project A was, as the other Little Fortunes are absent (they were off in the jungle making Eastern Condors) and Jackie is joined by a trio of women played by Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, and Rosamund Kwan, in an apparent nod

Project A (Jackie Chan, 1983)

Project A (Jackie Chan, 1983)

Comparing Project A to Sammo Hung’s Wheels on Meals, released the next year in 1984, shows some stark differences between Sammo and Jackie Chan as directors. Both films are swashbuckling adventures with ridiculously athletic fights and stunts, slapstick comedy, and a real obsession with beating the hell out of

Winners & Sinners (Sammo Hung, 1983)

Winners & Sinners (Sammo Hung, 1983)

More a straight comedy than any of the other Sammo Hung films I’ve seen, though it does contain some interesting stunts. An amiable hangout movie, with Sammo and his buddies just playing around with goofy jokes and the barest necessities of a plot. Sammo and his four ex-con friends