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So is the age of Hong Kong action stars almost over?

onilink88

Member
Martial arts films in general just aren't what they used to be. We'll never see anything on the level of Jackie vs Benny the Jet again, I'm certain.

qllTedT.gif

Yup. This fight is legendary.

Honestly Jackie has a better fight in Gorgeous. He's much older in that movie. It's not a great movie but if you're into Jackie it's pretty fun. The main fight at the end is worth it.

Indonesia makes some incredible martial arts films. The kitchen fight at the end of The Raid 2 is on and beyond the level of the scene you posted.

Nah. There's a hundred or so reasons many people put the Jackie vs Benny fight in Wheels on Meals above even anything in Drunken Master 2.

The major one among them being the bone-crunching brutality and realism of the fight. And I don't mean that in an artificial sense. A lot of the hits you see are actually landing. Benny Urquidez wasn't a stuntman or martial arts movie star; he was one of the best kickboxers on the planet and didn't know how to pull his punches. Jackie took a beating because in the first and only time in his career was there someone even he had a hard time keeping up with and started taking it seriously, too. The two ended up beating the living fuck out of each other as a result. An actual brawl almost occurred on set based on some of the behind-the-scenes stuff I read way back when. They ended up on good terms, by the end, though, and Jackie even suggested they go at it for real some day.

But the speed, ferocity, technical skill, and surgical precision of that fight, to this day, are still unmatched. That insane dedication to the craft is what gave birth to this

jackiebennywomghiq1.gif


which is far and away the most impressive sequence ever shot in a martial arts movie. I have yet to see this replicated elsewhere. Hell, Jackie himself couldn't live up to it afterwards. :p
 
J

JeremyEtcetera

Unconfirmed Member
Wheels and Gorgeous have top 10 fight scenes, however the rest the time in those two movies aren't that great leading up to the big fights. In terms of top 10 overall consistent fighting action movies where the action is good throughout and the plot moves well, The Raid and Jackie Chan's Who Am I(Or possibly Supercop) are better movies. Jet Li's Fist of Legend is up there too.

For Wheels and Gorgeous, I'd recommend just skipping the movies and looking up the fights on youtube. If you watch the whole wheels movie, the weak buildup to that fight lessens the fight overall, even if it's still incredible.
 
One thing I’m impressed with is how even though the fight choreography doesn’t have the brutality of a movie like The Raid, they feel like they hurt more. Does that make sense? Like Chan and co look like they’re beating the crap of each other and both combatants are getting bloody and bruised. The choreography is more stylish and acrobatic but the moves hit just as hard.

I think it's because the stunts Jackie Chan would go for are relatable to the average person than the more lethal stuff. I don't know what it feels like to get stabbed or whatever, but I've fallen off stuff and smashed my ribs or been knocked flat on my butt enough times to know exactly how much it hurts when I see it happen to Jackie or his team. It's kind of shocking to see a guy just crunch his ribs on metal playground equipment, shot so plainly you can tell that there was no safety equipment or trick photography used.

Plus they were great at selling the hits and actually showing that pain on camera, as opposed to the more 'serious' martial arts movies where manly men just kind of shrug off direct punches to the face like they're nothing. When Jackie took a hit to the face you knew it hurt :p
 

rackham

Banned
Really? That final fight in the first Raid was like an anime fight. I think most people didn't like the slower parts of the story in the sequel.

Bat Boy and Hammer Girl are shitty anime characters. The Raid had a better story and although it was bullshit it was grounded. The two anime characters had that whole "evil stare I'm super dangerous" cliche crap.
 
The Raid 2 is anime garbage compared to the first movie. I kind of hated The Raid 2. It's just bad in comparison.

Just admit you don't even want an attempt at story and nonstop action because Raid 2 was more a crime film with martial arts than Raid 1, which was straight up just a martial arts movie. It was a better movie. It just had less fighting in it
 

A Pretty Panda

fuckin' called it, man
Wheels and Gorgeous have top 10 fight scenes, however the rest the time in those two movies aren't that great leading up to the big fights. In terms of top 10 overall consistent fighting action movies where the action is good throughout and the plot moves well, The Raid and Jackie Chan's Who Am I(Or possibly Supercop) are better movies. Jet Li's Fist of Legend is up there too.

For Wheels and Gorgeous, I'd recommend just skipping the movies and looking up the fights on youtube. If you watch the whole wheels movie, the weak buildup to that fight lessens the fight overall, even if it's still incredible.
Are you saying Gorgeous isn't the greatest RomCom of all time
 

WaterAstro

Member
What are you on about, that's absurd. Taiwanese food is getting fashionable at the moment, but Shanghai doesn't even qualify for one of the eight major Chinese cuisines.

Well, that's if China even started recognizing Taiwan.

I just had 3 Shanghai restaurants open up this year in my area. Everyone wants that small steamed bun.
 

aznpxdd

Member
Well, that's if China even started recognizing Taiwan.

I just had 3 Shanghai restaurants open up this year in my area. Everyone wants that small steamed bun.

Taiwan owns the best and largest "Shanghai" cuisine chain (or Chinese food in general) in the world - Ding Tai Fung.
 

rackham

Banned
Just admit you don't even want an attempt at story and nonstop action because Raid 2 was more a crime film with martial arts than Raid 1, which was straight up just a martial arts movie. It was a better movie. It just had less fighting in it

Shut up. I hated The Raid 2 because of the cliche fantasy characters.
 
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