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Jackie Chan - How to Do Action Comedy

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C

Cronox

Banned
Modern fight scenes try to achieve with the camera what the actors themselves should be doing or showing. The kinetic cameras of the Bourne, Transformers, and other movies are a poor replacement. That example of the fight from Guardians of the Galaxy is at least not as badly edited as some modern action movies, but the guy is completely right to call it out for it's complete lack of oomph. The fight scenes in GotG was probably that movie's biggest weakness. Luckily, it had other qualities to hang its hat on. Other movies aren't so lucky.

Oh yeah, Jackie Chan is pretty great and stuff.
 
C

Chichikov

Member
Absolutely brilliant, like pretty much everything in Every Frame a Painting (I strongly urge anyone with even a passing interest in film to check them out).

As for Jackie Chan, he's the GOAT, both as a martial artist and a physical comedian.
 
H

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
Oh shit these guys have a video on Satoshi Kon's use of space and time. I know what I'm watching.
 
H

HyperZone<3

Member
The clip doesn't explain so much about his comedic technique, but does explain rather well the importance of good and clear editing and directing when it comes to capturing physical movement.

Jackie has always been hugely underrated as a filmmaker, probably because the non-action parts of so many of his films aren't usually as compelling as the stunt filled parts. But who else shoots and performs action, and yes, comedic action as well. I'd say nobody else.
 
A

AlphaTwo00

Member
Korten said:
Personally I like his american stuff (Rush Hour 1-3, both Shanghai movies.)
Click to expand...
It's decent, but it's nowhere close to his best work. In fact, most Hong Kong stars suffer from the same terrible transition into the western market: chow yun fat, jet Li, sammo hung. All suffered from the same issues when talking about jackie's films in America.
 
T

thenexus6

Member
This guy does great videos, I watch them all. I loved this one (obviously) I think there is a lot to Jackie which people don't realise or take for granted until they see videos like this.
 
B

benzy

Member
MrCookiepants said:
I like them too, but his Chinese movies are much better (at least in terms of action), as this video demonstrates.
Click to expand...

Yup, no hollywood film beats the Wheels on Meals martial arts action.

ilJOgg7vRIDjO.gif


iKYD6Z5LAvLRQ.gif
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Man .. Rush Hour 1 is one of my favorite action-comedy movies of all time.

Its a shame he hasn't been in much Hollywood stuff lately. Would have absolutely loved for him to be in Expendables.
 
Z

ZackieChan

Member
Those Wheels on Meals gifs...hnnnnnngggggg.

It's one of the few Jackie films that I think holds up as a great, fun movie as well (along with, say, Dragons Forever, Drunken Master 2 and Operation Condor).

But man, seeing those clips of the playground fight from Police Story 2 made me nostalgic. Him beating those guys with the pipe, with that throw at the end, is just a perfect action movie shot. I think they channeled that with Baseball Bat Guy in The Raid 2.
 
P

ppor

Member
Damn, 30 years later and those scenes still look fresher than ever. The bit about editing is so true.

I hate how modern actors will spend months in training and practicing swordfighting or whatever, but then the fight choreography and editing totally obscure the action.
 
T

thenexus6

Member
This video points one thing I really don't like in Hollywood action movies is the editing is so fast its pointless you can't see anything at all
 
A

Abounder

Banned
Man, the comparison between Jackie Chan vs Guardians of the Galaxy...action comedy scenes have declined so much.

Anyway I looked up Jackie Chan's IMDB and this quote about a possible Rush Hour 4 is great:

Jackie Chan told the English press, "Lately they want to make Rush Hour 4. I said 'No, show me the script first. I don&#146;t need another Rush Hour 4. You need Rush Hour 4. Show me the script.' I don&#146;t want to do a rubbish script just because they want to make the movie."
Click to expand...
 
T

thenexus6

Member
When I saw CZ12 in the summer with a live Q/A with Jackie after he spoke about people (press and cast) constantly asking him about being in the Expendables and that he's not really interested just for the sake of it - which is good. Those movies are really trashy. He's a smart guy.

Apparently he said to Sly, how about just the two of us make a movie together, which is in some early stage of discussion.

One thing recently which I would LOVE is that Donnie Yen approached Jackie with the idea of a Chinese version of the Expendables, with Jackie saying lets talk to Jet Li... Imagine all the chinese greats coming together for a movie. I have no doubt that the action would destroy Slys Expendable movies.
 
P

Paganmoon

Member
benzy said:
Yup, no hollywood film beats the Wheels on Meals martial arts action.

ilJOgg7vRIDjO.gif


iKYD6Z5LAvLRQ.gif
Click to expand...

Don't think it was mentioned in the video in OP, but another thing in Jackie's movies, is that in the steady shots, with almost every punch, they hold for a split second, which emphasizes the actions, and makes it much clearer what's going on for the viewer. As seen especially in the second GIF.

Edit: come to think of it, I think this technique was used quite a bit in The Matrix, at least in the Dojo scene in the first movie, and the teahouse scene in the second one.
 
Coreda

Coreda

Member
The second shot frame delay with punches was an interesting point. Never would have occurred to me that this is happening, or that it's what can add to the impact.
 
C

Chichikov

Member
benzy said:
Yup, no hollywood film beats the Wheels on Meals martial arts action.
Click to expand...
No film beats the Wheels on Meals martial arts action.
Period.

So good.

Edit: by the way, the candles shot is not a trick shot, there isn't even anyone blowing on the candles.
It took quite a few takes to get that...
 
C

Chairmanchuck

Member
thenexus6 said:
When I saw CZ12 in the summer with a live Q/A with Jackie after he spoke about people (press and cast) constantly asking him about being in the Expendables and that he's not really interested just for the sake of it - which is good. Those movies are really trashy. He's a smart guy.
Click to expand...

CZ12...
I really though his hollywood movies got worse and worse each year. While the old ones were more comedy-action movies, the new ones felt like they want to be childrens movies.
 
I

ItIsOkBro

Member
I can‘t deal with those attack edits in hollywood fights. It really looks like first shot -> fist moving toward face, second shot -> fist moving away from face, and leave your brain to fill in the contact but it doesn‘t work half the time.
 
K

krYlon

Member
Good breakdown. Jackie, Yuen and Samo still in a league of their own after all this time. Their 80s HK films can't be beat.

I really hate the way hollywood shoot and edit their action scenes.

benzy said:
Yup, no hollywood film beats the Wheels on Meals martial arts action.

ilJOgg7vRIDjO.gif


iKYD6Z5LAvLRQ.gif
Click to expand...

I always thought the fight between Jackie and that guy in Dragons Forever was even better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq6T9u9LReg

(4:12 and 8:50)

It's a better film overall than Wheels on Meals too. My favourite is still Project A though, and Young Master has the best end fight in any film ever made.
 
S

shuri

Banned
While I love Jackie Chan, a lot of humor sequences in his old '80 movies are incredibly cringe-worthy; but I blame it on cultural differences.

Ive read that Benny the Jet and Jackie Chan hated each other for some reasons, and that during the shooting of the fight, a few of the hits connected hard.
 
B

Bulzeeb

Member
shuri said:
While I love Jackie Chan, a lot of humor sequences in his old '80 movies are incredibly cringe-worthy; but I blame it on cultural differences.

Ive read that Benny the Jet and Jackie Chan hated each other for some reasons, and that during the shooting of the fight, a few of the hits connected hard.
Click to expand...

interesting but now I have a question, who hit first?
 
J

jetpacks was yes

Member
Cronox said:
Modern fight scenes try to achieve with the camera what the actors themselves should be doing or showing. The kinetic cameras of the Bourne, Transformers, and other movies are a poor replacement. That example of the fight from Guardians of the Galaxy is at least not as badly edited as some modern action movies, but the guy is completely right to call it out for it's complete lack of oomph. The fight scenes in GotG was probably that movie's biggest weakness. Luckily, it had other qualities to hang its hat on. Other movies aren't so lucky.

Oh yeah, Jackie Chan is pretty great and stuff.
Click to expand...

Yup. The all-time great fight scenes have a combination of talented movie fighters with actual skill (rhythmic fighting timing that's needed for movies), camera work that's clear enough to see what's going on and knowing when to emphasize which parts of the body and when, and editing that enhances clarity rather than trying to make things seem exciting by jumping all over the place. It is something that HK filmmakers pioneered and perfected (especially in the 80s), and seems to be less and less prevalent not only there but of course here in the states, as time goes by.

At least we have Donnie Yen still cranking out decent work. Those Raid movies were pretty great for that particular flavor they were going for, too.
 
F

freeofgreed

Member
Wow great video OP, I love these types of film analysis so thanks for giving me a new subscription. Now it's time to marathon a bunch of old Jackie Chan films!
 
S

shuri

Banned
Bulzeeb said:
interesting but now I have a question, who hit first?
Click to expand...

Ok my sources sucks, but I remember hearing this in a documentary about martial art fights in movies, but here are some crappy sources..

-The Benny hit Jackie for real a few times during the scene
-Jackie warned him he would never work in this business again if he kept doing it
-Hyped up a real life fight with the him for charity
-Benny told him "I do this for a living....i'll hurt you"
-Chan pussied out by saying "I was just kidding!
Click to expand...
source #1

This was his first face-off with American champion kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. This is one of the best fights ever filmed. Benny is a great fighter and a legend --good enough that he tested Jackie&#8217;s skills to the limit. In fact, throughout the filming of this scene, Jackie teased him that they should fight a real match, not just a movie brawl. "Come on, Benny, let's do it," he'd say. And Benny would say, "Any time, Jackie, any time." Well, the time was always "sometime soon," and by the time the film was finished, he finally caught on that Jackie was just joking. &#8220;To be honest, I don't know who would have won if we did fight. He's that good&#8221;, Jackie says. OK, Jackie, you are good but he is the real thing. Don&#8217;t even think about trying to get in the ring with this guy.
Click to expand...
source #2 http://www.fightingmaster.com/actors/jackie/topfights.htm

I remember reading somewhere that on the set of Wheels on Meals, Jackie was furious at Benny Urquidez for not pulling his punches (Benny was not yet used to screen fighting). As the story went, Benny apologized profusely but Jackie wouldn't cool down. He was about to challenge him for real until Sammo pulled Big Nose aside and showed him footage of The Jet in action in a kickboxing match. Supposedly, that was the last that was mentioned of i
Click to expand...
http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14270&page=3
 
J

jetpacks was yes

Member
krYlon said:
Project A, The Young Master, Armour of God, Dragons Forever, Operation Condor

Edit: Police Story II is really underrated too.
Click to expand...

Project A II has some of the JC stunt team's best work ever, too. Don't overlook that. I would also add Miracles, Who Am I (as terribly cheesy as it is, there are some great fight scenes and stunts in there), and Snake in the Eagle's Shadow.

But then expand to Sammo Hung's and Yuen Biao's 80's and late 70's work, and continue from there.
 
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