Tag Archives: Jackie Chan

1981, Comedy, Forgotten Films, Stunts

Cannonball Run is Just Plain Fun

August 1, 2016 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment

So I realized something over the weekend. I examined the topics mentioned the most in this blog and number 1 was a surprise…as I seemed to write about Burt Reynolds more than any other topic! So, here’s another blog about him…

If you haven’t seen the film Cannonball Run (1981), now’s the time to do so…it’s just great fun. The original Cannonball Run race was conceived by car magazine writer and auto racer Brock Yates and fellow Car and Driver editor Steve Smith in the early 1970’s. Cannonball Run, was an unofficial, unsanctioned automobile race run five times in the 1970s from New York City and Darien, Connecticut, on the U.S. Atlantic coast, to the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California. Brock Yates participated as a driver in all 5 races and began working on a screenplay, to be titled Coast to Coast, but was scooped by two unofficial films in 1976, Cannonball and The Gumball Rally, (both are not that good). Eventually, an “official” Cannonball Run movie was made — The Cannonball Run — starring a slew of great actors including Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise with Yates in a cameo appearance.

Director and veteran stuntman / stunt coordinator Hal Needham joined Brock Yates in one of the races, in fact, the ambulance used in the movie is the actual ambulance that Hal Needham and Brock Yates souped up and raced in the real race. It had been modified with a HEMI engine that made it go up to 145 mph and was equipped with four gas filler holes so that the required 90 gallons could be pumped quickly. Needham and Yates didn’t actually win the race (the transmission blew in Palm Springs) so Needham kept it in storage for several years until the time came to make this film.

The other actors on board for this comedy was Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcet, Jackie Chan, Adrienne Barbeau, Terry Bradshaw, Jack Elam, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Bert Convey, Jamie Farr, and Mel Tillis. Director Hal Needham and producer Albert S. Ruddy liked the chemistry of Terry Bradshaw and Mel Tillis so much that after this film they tried to sell a pilot to ABC featuring their characters. The head of the network loved the idea but the day before the meeting was to be held to discuss it, the head of the network was fired and the project was canceled. I write about that in another blog (click here to read it)…

In one of the earlier scenes in the movie, Burt Reynolds’s character says “Could get a black Trans Am”, and then answers himself, “Naw, that’s been done.” This is a reference to Smokey and the Bandit (1977) which starred Reynolds, and was directed by Hal Needham, who directed this film. DeLuise co-starred with Reynolds in the 1980 sequel, Smokey and the Bandit II (1980). Jackie Chan makes one of his first US film appearances. Inspired by Hal Needham’s notion of including bloopers during the closing credits, Chan begins a tradition of doing the same in most of his movies from this point onward.

1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1992, Comedy, Forgotten Films, Stunts

Terence Hill and Bud Spencer

May 24, 2016 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment

A successful screen pairing usually last for 3 or 4 films. Some of the really great pairings did 15 or more films together, but most of these were comedy teams, not just actors who would come together every so often and do a film together. Actors who did this that come to mind is Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, who did 10 movies together and Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, who’ve done 4 movies together so far. It’s unheard of that Terence Hill and Bud Spencer performed in 18 films together over their lifetimes! My brother wrote a great post on comedy teams here.

They appeared together in a movie for the first time in 1967 for God Forgives…I Don’t. The movie has many of the elements that made them a popular pairing over the years, being a spaghetti western and having them “buddy” up, but it wasn’t until they were featured in a comedy that they really became popular worldwide. This is, however, identified as a trilogy, as Terence Hill and Bud Spencer play the same characters Cat Stevens and Hutch Bessy again in Ace High (1968) and Boot Hill (1969) all directed by Guiseppi Colizzi. He would direct them one more time for the 1972 film, All The Way Boys, but it is not a western, but it’s a comedy and is considered a “Trinity” film.

You may be wondering what that means…it’s important to note that after awhile all the films they did together would be classified under one word, “Trinity”, to denote that the actors appeared together in a film, but was not necessarily a western. It could have been modern day, or in the past, but was always action, and mostly comedy. It became almost a genre of it’s own, their genre. It refers to their most popular film which came out in 1970, They Call Me Trinity, and really had all of the elements in place by then…comedy, action, fighting, buddy-buddy, some kind of clever con…it was all there. Billed as E.B. Clucher, the movie was directed by Enzo Barboni who has helmed a number of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer comedy collaborations. They are: They Call Me Trinity (1970), Trinity Is STILL My Name! (1971), Go For It! (1983), Crime Busters (1977) and Double Trouble (1984).

They did the movie Blackie the Pirate (1971) the same year they made the sequel Trinity is Still My Name!. By then the Trinity movie was a huge hit and they went back into production on the new one. While on the set they improvised a bit and started to play with the set and made up a few scenes on the spot. This would be a technique that Jackie Chan would utilize in many of his movies from the 80’s and 90’s and Hill and Spencer would continue with in their future films. You can see all of these things and how their fight scenes and comedy are used in very similar ways. In 1974 they released, Watch Out, We’re Mad and The Two Missionaries. Their next film, Crimebusters (1976) was the first movie that my brother and I saw and we loved them instantly. We went home within a short time caught up on all their movies. Little did we know back then that we would eventually work with a star from that movie, David Huddleston in our first film, Reveille and later in our movie, Locker 13. David Huddleston would also star in Go For It (1983). In 2004, when we first worked with him, he told us he was still very good friends with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer.

About this time, Hill and Spencer teamed up with a director also famous for spaghetti westerns to make a few of the modern day – non-western Trinty films. The director was Sergio Corbucci and the films were Trinity: Gambling For High Stakes (Odds and Evens) (1978) and Who Finds a Friend, Finds a Treasure (1981). To make things a little confusing, Sergio’s brother, Bruno Corbucci, also made several movies with Hill and Spencer and directed his last one Miami Cops in 1985. To make the connection between Hill-Spencer and Jackie Chan and “brothers” even closer, the film they made in 1984 Double Trouble and the film Chan made in 1992, Twin Dragons are very similar. They both feature all 3 of the actors playing a set of twins that get mixed up with another twin. One set of twins in both films are even musicians. Now over the years, Bud Spencer and Terence Hill felt a lot like brothers. In their last film together, they played brothers again in Troublemakers (The Night Before Christmas) in 1984, directed by Terence Hill himself.

1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, Stunts

Best Movie Stunts of the Year List 1980-1989

January 26, 2016 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment

Here is the list for the Best Movie Stunts for the Decade 1980-1989 as listed in the book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!

1980 – The Blues Brothers

For a musical comedy this movie has the longest car chase sequence in history. The cars are just piling up at the end, hundreds of cars destroyed…it’s awesome! $3.5 million was spent on this sequence alone and lasts over 20 minutes of the movie.

1981 – The Raiders of the Lost Ark

Although there are plenty of fantastic stunts in this film to mention, Terry Leonard does another through the windshield-off the front hood-then undercarriage crawl underneath an Army transport truck, then up the back and into the driver’s side for another round of fighting.

1982 – Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

A case where the sequel is so much better than the original. This film rocks from beginning to end and has an unbelievable chase that lasts the second half of the movie. Great stunts throughout.

1983 – Project A

Jackie Chan makes a name for himself and becomes a stunt legend in this movie. From this movie on he is untouchable worldwide as a stuntman that does his own acting or as an actor that does his own stunts, whichever way you want to say it. He created his legendary Jackie Chan Stunt Team for this movie and for years to come sets a new standard for stunt teams worldwide.

1984 – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

This decade is unique as the decade ruled by Indiana Jones in stunts and action sequences. The first 3 Indiana Jones films make the list. Also, the second rope bridge sequence to hit since last decade’s The Man Who Would Be King. Vic Armstrong is a stand out here as Harrison Ford‘s stand-in.

1985 – Police Story

Jackie Chan‘s chance to shine in a modern setting this time, and to really showcase what the Jackie Chan Stunt Team can do. To be quite frank about this movie, it’s all stunts from start to finish and I’m surprised that all the stuntmen survived the making of this film. It’s amazing.

1986 – A Better Tomorrow

The combination of John Woo and Chow Yun Fat is just too good to be true. This film is viewed by many as the finest action film ever to come out of Chinese cinema, and put both Woo and Yun Fat in Hollywood’s viewport. John Woo really gets Chow Yun Fat to do some fun stuff in this movie. Very bloody stuff though.

1987 – Lethal Weapon

The next two films became great series and both just happened to be set during Christmas. Lethal Weapon became the standard for buddy-buddy cop movies. This film is dedicated to legendary stuntman Dar Robinson who died the year before, and features some great fight choreography by Cedric Adams, Dennis Newsome, and Rorion Gracie and a great backward high fall by actress Jackie Swanson.

1988 – Die Hard

This movie became the template for many action films to come for years after it was made. So much so, that pitching an action screenplay to studios became as easy as saying, “It’s Die Hard on a plane… or It’s Die Hard on a boat”. The whole film rocks, but the highlight here is Ken Bates as he doubles for Alan Rickman in a fall from the Nakitomi building.

1989 – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Five years later, Vic Armstrong does it again as the stand-in for Indiana Jones. His jump from a horse to a german tank has been voted in the top ten of movie stunts of all time on many lists over the years.

Check out our new Book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!

1992, Stunts

Michelle Yeoh for Supercop

January 12, 2016 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment

Driving a dirt bike alongside a train before leaping off a ramp directly onto its roof then rolling off as it crashes into the dust below? No big deal. At least for Michelle Yeoh it’s not. Not bad for an actress who – allegedly – hadn’t ridden a motorbike before appearing in the film. Originally, Jackie Chan had planned to use a stunt double for all of Yeoh’s stunts, but after seeing her ability during the action sequences he agreed to let her do all her own stunts.

Never a trained martial artist, she relied on her dance discipline and her on-set trainers to prepare for her martial arts action scenes. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance from the Royal Academy of Dance (London, England). With this in mind she still fought her way to the top in the male-dominated genre of Hong Kong action films, where she has been known for years as the “queen of martial arts”.

There is one scary moment, you can see it during the credits of Supercop (which is really Police Story 3, but the way, but released as Supercop in the US). Michelle falls on the hood of the car driven by Jackie Chan and he catches her. They did several takes of the stunt but in one take she hits the ground and takes a pretty hard tumble, she was alright, but looks quite dangerous on film. Supercop was directed by Stanley Tong for Golden Harvest.

Things to look up (click on item to go to IMDB page or Website):

Michelle Yeoh
Jackie Chan
Golden Harvest
Stanley Tong

Check out our new Book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!

1978, Stunts

Stunt Performers for Hooper

December 17, 2015 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment

The film is lightly based on Hal Needham’s (director) experiences as a stuntman, but the film’s main character is modeled after stuntman Buddy Joe Hooker, who just happens to do many of the stunts in the film himself. This film is also a tribute to Jock Mahoney (who Brian Keith’s character, Jocko Doyle, is modeled after), who really is Sally Field’s stepfather in real life.

The film is also notable for the fact that it inspired a successful television series, The Fall Guy which starred Lee Majors. The show’s theme song’s, “The Unknown Stuntman” lyrics including references to both Reynolds (the star of Hooper) and Farrah Fawcett (who worked with Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds in Cannonball Run), Majors’ ex-wife.

As a side note, Hal Needham also started using bloopers during the end credits of his films, and this one presented many of the outtakes from several of the stunts. Another “winner of my Best Stunt Awards”, Jackie Chan, saw this technique used when he worked with Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds in Cannonball Run 2 and has used the technique ever since to highlight the stunts by him and the Jackie Chan Stunt Team in his movies.

In one climactic scene, stuntman A.J. Bakunas jumped from a helicopter at a whopping, world-record-breaking 232 feet onto an air bag. If you take into account that the old-school air bags would lift you 30 feet into the air if not precisely hit, it makes the feat all the more impressive. Hooper was directed by Hal Needham for Warner Bros.

Things to look up ( go to IMDB ):

Hal Needham
Hooper
Burt Reynolds
Warner Bros.
Buddy Joe Hooker
Jock Mahoney
AJ Bakunas

Check out our new Book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!

1985, Stunts

Jackie Chan and Police Story

December 1, 2015 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment

This is for several stunts, including an opening sequence featuring a car chase through a shanty town, Chan stopping a double-decker bus with his service revolver and a climactic fight scene in a shopping mall. This final scene earned the film the nickname “Glass Story” by the crew, due to the huge number of panes of sugar glass that were broken. During a stunt in this last scene, in which Chan slides down a pole from several stories up, the lights covering the pole had heated it considerably, resulting in Chan suffering second-degree burns, particularly to his hands, as well as a back injury and dislocation of his pelvis upon landing. Chan holds the Guinness World Record for “Most Stunts By A Living Actor”, which emphasises “no insurance company will underwrite Chan’s productions, in which he performs all his own stunts”.

I discussed this in the previous win of Jackie Chan’s Stunt team, 1983 Best Movie Stunt, about the way that Jackie Chan works on a film. Edward Tang, the screenwriter for this film and many others, confirmed by saying that he did not write this film the way normal Hollywood screenwriters work. Bey Logan pointed out that in America, the screenwriter has an idea and goes to discuss it with producers and directors prior to production. In this case, Jackie Chan gave Tang a list of things he wanted in the film – a shopping mall, comedy, the village, a bus, etc. – and Tang essentially wrote the rest of the story around these elements. In other words, a Hong Kong screenwriter takes the director’s ideas and works them into the film.

I saw an interview with Chan, where he discussed the stunt of sliding down the pole covered with lights. As with the clock tower stunt from Project A (1983), Chan described his fear at the thought of performing the stunt. However, during the filming of Police Story (1985), there was the added pressure of strict time constraints, as the shopping mall had to be cleaned up and ready for business the following morning. One of Chan’s stuntman gave him a hug and a Buddhist prayer paper, which he put in his trousers before finally performing the stunt. Police Story was directed by Jackie Chan for Golden Harvest.

Things to look up (go to IMDB ):

Jackie Chan
Golden Harvest
Police Story

Check out our new Book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!

1983, Stunts

The Jackie Chan Stunt Team and Project A

October 20, 2015 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment

This movie is a marvel of stunt work, but it’s so hard to separate any one stunt that the award is given to the team as a whole for the most stunt fantastic film of 1983. This is the time when Jackie started to come into his own. So many of the films he made during this period is simply mind blowing. I have no idea how he does what he does.

The stunt at the end, the “hanging from the clock tower” stunt is a homage to Safety Last!. At least three different takes were shot; two are shown during the course of the film, and a third at the end under the credits. The second take almost cost Jackie his life as he lands directly on his head. Jackie fills his films with stunts from start to finish but he always seems to try and top himself with a shattering closing stunt.

The way Jackie works on his films are very different than a lot of filmmakers. Steven Spielberg for example has everything storyboarded out for a film, every location, every camera angle, every stunt. Jackie will have a line in the script that will read as, “Jackie fights” and then when Jackie gets to the actual set that they will be filming the fight scene, he goes through several days exploring the set for props to fight with, furniture to fight around, and major stunts that he can use from the set. It’s all created there and then. The crew and stunt team then can spend weeks filming the sequence to make it just perfect.

The great thing about Jackie Chan is that his process allows for creativity on the spot. He likes to document everything and so the audience is given access to the process. He puts a lot of the accidents, stunts and background footage into the credits of his films so we can feel like we are a part of the making of the film and to see how things are done. It really adds an excitement to the whole thing. At times, my brother and I would replay these credits, more than we would the films!

Project A was directed by Jackie Chan for Golden Harvest.

Check out our new Book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!

Things to look up (go to IMDB):

Jackie Chan
Project A
Golden Harvest

History of stunt terms as defined by Wikipedia: The Jackie Chan Stunt Team, also known as Jackie Chan’s Stuntmen Association is a group of stuntmen and martial artists who work alongside Jackie Chan.

The group originated from the relationships Chan formed in his early starring roles in Hong Kong action movies. Several of his co-stars and stuntmen hired by the film studios began working together regularly. This engendered a familiarity of one another’s skills and abilities and it made sense for them to become a working team. Some of the members had received training at the Peking Opera schools, similar to Chan.

By 1983, and the release of the film Project A, the stunt team had become an official organisation of 6 members. The organisation meant that the stuntmen not only received insurance coverage, but also a monthly salary and higher pay. By the time of Police Story 2 in 1988, the team had expanded to around 20 members. This incarnation of the team was disbanded in 1990 and thereafter, individual members were contracted and used on a film by film basis rather than all members remaining on the payroll. This allowed for some new faces, and the return of former members.

The formation of Chan’s team influenced others in the business to follow suit, particularly his former co-stars and “brothers” Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao (their stunt teams known as “Hung Ga Ban” and “Yuen Ga Ban” respectively). Other actors to form their own stunt teams include Lau Kar-leung, Philip Ko, Stanley Tong and Bruce Law. Chan’s stunt team has worked in collaboration with Sammo Hung’s team on films including Thunderbolt and Around the World in 80 Days. A small number of films that Chan produced but did not appear in, or was not involved in at all, have utilised his stunt team. These include The Gold Hunters (1981), Rouge (1988), The Inspector Wears Skirts 2 (1989), Stage Door Johnny (1990) and Angry Ranger (1991).

These are former and current members of Chan’s stunt team. Where possible, the films they have worked on are included:

Michael Tse –
Andy Kay –
Colin Flora – Rumble in the Bronx, Rush Hour 2
Brad Allan (Bradley James Allan) – Mr. Nice Guy, Who Am I?, Jackie Chan: My Stunts, Gorgeous, Shanghai Noon, The Accidental Spy, Rush Hour 2, The Tuxedo, Shanghai Knights, The Medallion, New Police Story, Rush Hour 3, Armour Of God 3: Chinese Zodiac. Stunt Team Leader. First ever non-Asian member of the JC Team.
Paul Andreovski – Mr. Nice Guy, Who Am I?, Shanghai Noon, The Accidental Spy, Rush Hour 2, The Tuxedo, Shanghai Knights, The Medallion, Around the World in 80 Days, The Spy Next Door Chan’s personal boxing coach
Andy Owen (Andrew Owen) – Rush Hour 3
Andy Long (Andreas Nguyen) – Armour Of God 3: Chinese Zodiac
Yamson Domingo – Police Story, Thunderbolt
Anthony Carpio (Go Shut-Fung) – Armour of God, Project A Part II, Police Story 2 Miracles, Twin Dragons, Drunken Master II, Thunderbolt, Jackie Chan: My Stunts, The Accidental Spy, The Medallion, New Police Story, Rob-B-Hood
Chris Chan (Chan Sai-Tang) – Project A Part II, Police Story 2, Miracles, Twin Dragons, City Hunter, Crime Story, The Accidental Spy
Chan Man-ching – Dragons Forever, Police Story 3: Supercop, Drunken Master II, Rumble in the Bronx, Thunderbolt, Police Story 4: First Strike, Mr. Nice Guy, Rush Hour, Who Am I?, Jackie Chan: My Stunts, Gorgeous, The Accidental Spy, Rob-B-Hood
Chan Tat-kwong (Chan Daat-Gong) – Project A, Police Story, Armour of God, Project A Part II, Police Story 2, Dragons Forever, Miracles, Twin Dragons, Crime Story, Drunken Master II, Thunderbolt, The Medallion, New Police Story, Rob-B-Hood
Andy Cheng (Cheng Kai-Chung) – Mr. Nice Guy, Who Am I?, Jackie Chan: My Stunts, Rush Hour, Shanghai Noon, Rush Hour 2, The Tuxedo
Johnny Cheung (Cheung Yiu-Wah) – Dragon Lord, Project A, The Protector, Police Story, Armour of God, Project A Part II, Dragons Forever, Police Story 2, Miracles, Twin Dragons, Crime Story, Drunken Master II, Police Story 4: First Strike, Rush Hour, Who Am I?, Jackie Chan: My Stunts, Around the World in 80 Days, Rob-B-Hood
Danny Chow (Chow Yun-kin) – Dragon Lord, Police Story, Project A Part II, Dragons Forever, Miracles
Joe Eigo – The Medallion, Around the World in 80 Days
Fung Hak-on (Fung Hark-On) – Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, The Young Master, Winners and Sinners, Heart of Dragon, The Protector, Police Story, Dragons Forever, Miracles, Twin Dragons
Hon Chun – Project A Part II, Thunderbolt, Rob-B-Hood
Dani Hu (Fok Chan Keung) – The Protector, Police Story
Louis Keung (Mak Wai-Cheung) – Heart of the Dragon, Miracles, Police Story 3: Supercop, Thunderbolt, Jackie Chan: My Stunts, Gorgeous, The Medallion
Benny Lai (Lai Keung-Kuen) – The Young Master, Dragon Lord, Project A, Wheels on Meals, Police Story, Armour of God, Project A Part II, Police Story 2, Dragons Forever, Miracles, Operation Condor, Twin Dragons, Rumble in the Bronx, Thunderbolt, The Accidental Spy, Rush Hour 2
Rocky Lai (Lai Keung-Kun) – Project A, Police Story, Armour of God, Project A Part II, Dragons Forever, Police Story 2, Miracles, Twin Dragons, Police Story 3: Supercop, Drunken Master II, Thunderbolt, Rumble in the Bronx, Police Story 4: First Strike, Mr. Nice Guy, Who Am I?, Jackie Chan: My Stunts, Gorgeous, The Accidental Spy, The Medallion, Rob-B-Hood
Sam Wong (Lai Sing-kwong / Wong Ming-Sing) – Project A, Police Story, Armour of God, Project A Part II, Police Story 2, Miracles, Polie Story 3: Supercop, City Hunter, Crime Story, Drunken Master II, Thunderbolt, Rumble in the Bronx, Who Am I?, Rush Hour, Jackie Chan: My Stunts, Gorgeous, The Accidental Spy. Stunt Team Leader.
Ben Lam (Lam Kwok-Bun) – Heart of Dragon, Police Story, Project A Part II, Police Story 2
Chris Li (Lee Kin Sang) – Project A, Police Story, Project A Part II, Police Story 2, Miracles, Twin Dragons, Drunken Master II
Lee Chun-kit – Project A Part II, Police Story 2, Miracles
Nicky Li (Li Chung-Chi) – Project A, Armour of God, Project A Part II, Dragons Forever, Miracles, Twin Dragons, Crime Story, Drunken Master II, Thunderbolt, Rumble in the Bronx, Mr. Nice Guy, Rush Hour, Who Am I?, Shanghai Noon, Rush Hour 2, The Tuxedo, Shanghai Knights, The Medallion, Around the World in 80 Days, New Police Story, Rob-B-Hood. Stunt Team Leader.
Ken Lo (Lo Wai-Kwong) – Project A Part II, Police Story 2, Miracles, Operation Condor, City Hunter, Police Story 3: Supercop, Crime Story, Drunken Master II, Thunderbolt, Police Story 4: First Strike, Who Am I?, Rush Hour, Jackie Chan: My Stunts, Gorgeous, Rush Hour 2, Shanghai Knights, Around the World in 80 Days, New Police Story, The Myth, Rob-B-Hood, Armour Of God 3: Chinese Zodiac Also known for working as Chan’s personal bodyguard.
Mars (Chiang Wing-fat / Feng Sing) – The Young Master, Dragon Lord, Winners and Sinners, Project A, Wheels on Meals, The Protector, Police Story, Armour of God, Project A Part II, Dragons Forever, Police Story 2, Miracles, Operation Condor, Police Story 3: Supercop, Twin Dragons, Crime Story, Drunken Master II, Thunderbolt, Police Story 4: First Strike, Rumble in the Bronx, Mr. Nice Guy, Rush Hour, Gorgeous, Jackie Chan: My Stunts, Rush Hour 2, Shanghai Knights, Around the World in 80 Days, New Police Story. Chan’s best stunt double.
Max Huang (Huang You Liang) – Armour Of God 3: Chinese Zodiac
Jack Wong (Wong Wai-Leung) – Jackie Chan: My Stunts, The Accidental Spy, Around the World in 80 Days, New Police Story, Rob-B-Hood
Pang Hiu-sang – Police Story
Frankie Poon (Poon Bin-chung) – Project A, Project A Part II
William Tuen (Tuan Wai-Lun) – City Hunter, Police Story 3: Supercop, Crime Story, Drunken Master II, Thunderbolt, Rush Hour, Gorgeous, Rush Hour 2
Wan Faat – Snake in the Monkey’s Shadow, Project A, The Protector, Police Story, Project A Part II, Dragons Forever, Police Story 2, Miracles, Operation Condor, Twin Dragons, Crime Story, Drunken Master II
Paul Wong (Wong Kwan) – The Young Master, Dragon Lord, Winners and Sinners, The Protector, Police Story
Jon Foo (Jonathan Patrick Foo) – The Myth
Peng Zhang – Rush Hour 3
He Jun (Hoh Gwan) – Shanghai Knights, The Medallion, Around The World In 80 Days, New Police Story, The Myth, Rob-B-Hood, The Spy Next Door, Armour Of God 3: Chinese Zodiac
Gang Wu (Ng Kong) – Shanghai Noon, Rush Hour 2, The Tuxedo, Shanghai Knights, The Medallion, Around the World in 80 Days, New Police Story, The Myth, Rob-B-Hood, Rush Hour 3, The Spy Next Door, Armour Of God 3: Chinese Zodiac
Park Hyun Jin – Rush Hour 2, The Tuxedo, Shanghai Knights, The Medallion, Around the World in 80 Days, New Police Story, The Myth, Rob-B-Hood, Rush Hour 3, The Spy Next Door
Lee In Seob – The Tuxedo, Shanghai Knights, The Medallion, Around the World in 80 Days, New Police Story, The Myth, Rob-B-Hood, Rush Hour 3, Armour Of God 3: Chinese Zodiac
Han Kwan Hua (Han Guan Hua) – Shanghai Knights, The Medallion, New Police Story, Around the World in 80 Days, The Myth, Rob-B-Hood, Rush Hour 3, The Spy Next Door, Armour Of God 3: Chinese Zodiac

1971, Forgotten Films, Stunts

The Big Boss (AKA: Fists Of Fury)

September 5, 2015 Donovan Montierth 1 Comment

Bruce Lee was the first worldwide asian superstar and this was the film that put him in the spotlight. The highest grossing film in China up to this time, it was also a sensation in the US and all over the world. Martial Arts became a phenomenon. Lee didn’t know it, but when he went to China to make this movie, he was already a star because The Green Hornet was released in China as The Kato Show.

This is somewhat of a surprise as it was another TV show that forced Lee to make Fists of Fury in China. In 1971 Lee went to Warner Bros. with an idea for a TV Show he called The Warrior about an asian martial arts expert in the wild wild west. Warner Bros. went forward with the show but without Lee and they hired a caucasian to play the asian in the show and named it Kung Fu.

He was so upset that they went with a caucasian for the role that he went to make a real martial arts film to show Warner Bros what he was capable of. The rest is cinema history and in the end, Bruce Lee became a worldwide sensation. Lee also paved the way for the asian stars to come later, like Jackie Chan and many others.

In this film, the martial arts was really revolutionary for the day, although, Lee doesn’t have a fight scene until 45 minutes into the film. You can definitely see a difference between him and all the other fighters…Bruce Lee sizzles. He really is electric. I especially liked the fight scene in front of the icehouse (which is hilarious by the way – unintentionally – when he punches a bad guy in the chest and he flies back through the icehouse wall leaving an exact shape of his body in the wall of wood slats) and the fight scene at the end. Although, the Big Boss at the end, just doesn’t seem to have even a fraction of the power and strength that Bruce Lee does, but manages to catch Lee off guard several times and slice him up a bit.

Fists of Fury (The Big Boss) was directed by Wei Lo for Golden Harvest.

Things to look up (click on item to go to IMDB page or Website):

Bruce Lee
Fists of Fury
Wei Lo
Golden Harvest

History of film companies as defined by Wikipedia: Orange Sky Golden Harvest is a film production, distribution, and exhibition company based in Hong Kong. It played a major role in becoming the first Chinese film company to successfully enter the western market for an extended period of time, especially with the films of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. At the same time, it dominated HK box office sales from the 1970s to 1980s.

Notable names in the company include its founders, the veteran film producers Raymond Chow (鄒文懐) and Leonard Ho (何冠昌). Chow and Ho were executives with Hong Kong’s top studio Shaw Brothers, but left in 1970 to form their own studio. They succeeded by taking a different approach from the highly centralized Shaws model. Golden Harvest contracted with independent producers and gave talent more generous pay and greater creative freedom. Some filmmakers and actors from Shaws defected. But what really put the company on the map was a 1971 deal with soon-to-be martial arts superstar Bruce Lee, after he had turned down the low-paying, standard contract offered him by the Shaws.

Brothers' Ink Productions

Tag Archives: Jackie Chan

Cannonball Run is Just Plain Fun

Terence Hill and Bud Spencer

Best Movie Stunts of the Year List 1980-1989

Michelle Yeoh for Supercop

Stunt Performers for Hooper

Jackie Chan and Police Story

The Jackie Chan Stunt Team and Project A

The Big Boss (AKA: Fists Of Fury)

Brothers' Ink Productions Official Website