Yea naz, I think a big factor in them picking Jet Li was that movie "the black mask" which was like a Kato movie. I personally would have perfered Jason Scott Lee in the role instead.
I don't like Jet Li as an actor, something about his acting really bugs me. His voice, mannerism and intensity lacks; don't get me wrong, I think his martial arts skills on the screen is awesome, he's very quick. Jet li is a better stunt man and fight cordinator then an actor.
The only movie that I like that he stars in was "Fist of Legend". "Romeo must die" licked ball sacks. All of his movies are worthless and I don't recomend anyone watch anymore of his films and let a new Martial Art star, bust out on to the scene.
Have any of you seen Jet li´s Meltdown?
That movie is hilarious, co-starring a Jackie Chan wannabe Jackie Cheung. Cheung plays a role of kung fu movie star who is a wuss and can only fight on the screen. His Bruce Lee and Jackie chan imitations are awesome! I got my copy for 5 dollars from auction
Jet Li is the man! I have 20 of his movies on DVD. I would definitely see the Green Hornet if he was starring in it. Background info on Meltdown. I heard that Jackie Chan was suppose to do the movie with Jet but backed out of it last minute. So the director got a little payback by parodying Jackie in an unfavorable light.
As far as Jason Scott Lee, his skills totally sucked in "Dragon". I figured the guy wasn't a real martial artist so it was to be expected. Then he trained with Poteet for a number of years and did Time Cop 2. That movie blew chunks. His movie MA was wack and he played the role like a Bruce Lee clone. I thought I was watching "Dragon the Time Cop Story". I always thought he was a talented actor and his "acting skills" in Dragon were top notch but it feels like he replayed his character from Dragon on Time Cop 2. His skills as a martial artist may have improved but being good at MA and being good at theatrical Martial Arts are two different things. He would have looked more impressive had he studied TKD or Wushu for a year, just to give some fluidity to his kicks. He's a bit stiff.
So I would rather see Jet Li in this movie because he's the better theatrical martial artist.
Hello; I don't have anything against Jet Li I like that he plays a quiet, calm, guy who can kick some but, my favorite movie of his is kiss of the dragon and meltdown was fun to watch too. However Jason Scott Lee is a Sifu in JKD under Jerry Poteet and in my opinion is the only one for the role. As far as Jet Li being a better actor I don't see it. As far as Jet Li having real MA skills he admits to never being in a real fight in his whole life and has never competed in a NHB event or any kickboxing events. These are things that give crediblity. Belts and sashes are a good goal but when talking about real MA skill there a joke.
This message has been edited by Bushidocfs on Apr 4, 2004 2:40 PM
All martial art movie actors suck at acting. Even Bruce, let's be honest and go beyond the "Bruce is god you *******, I hate you," the only way Bruce could have EVER won an oscar was if he threatened the judges lol.
As for Jet Li, personally I'm not too fond of him. Like with any martial arts film, his movies are entertaining, but that's about it. And his pathetic excuse for mimicked Bruce Lee movements in Fist of Legend (the craptacular footwork, noises, etc.) made me want to ressurect Bruce somehow so he could slap him senseless.
Jet Li's native language is cantonese I wouldn't expect his acting to be all that great because he doesn't have a good command of the english language. And since I don't speek contonese I wouldn't be able to tell you if he was a good actor in cantonese either.
In my opinion I have always found Jason Scott Lee to be a topnotch actor. Although his acting and MA skills in Time Cop 2 were awfull. We could probably fault the fight choreagrapher for that but he was playing the role like a Bruce Lee clone. It was odd.
Jet Li may not be a proficient fighter but his theatrical martial arts are excellent. Meaning he's good at those flashy kicks people including myself love to see. He's good at selling a kick or selling a punch and that is what I like about him.
But if Jason Scott Lee was signed on as the role of Kato I would still see. I hope his theatrical martial art has improved since TC2 though.
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Hi Masamune,
About Jet Li you said, "And his pathetic excuse for mimicked Bruce Lee movements in Fist of Legend (the craptacular footwork, noises, etc.) made me want to ressurect Bruce somehow so he could slap him senseless.
I actually loved his performance in Fist of Legend. I didn't see what you saw cuase except for the story being based on Bruce's movie, the martial art scenes were pure Jet. I did not think that he played the role mimicking Bruce's movements at all. There were more joint locks and the kicks were more well done. ie not entirely comprised of spinning hook and crescent kicks that Bruce Lee made famous. I don't remember him mimicking Bruce's sounds either. I have an english dubbed copy so maybe they were added by the actors dubbing the movie, unless you have a subtitled copy.
Anyway, if you want to see a horrible remake of "Fist of Fury", then check out Donny Yen's DVD of the series he had with the same name. That was completely awefull. It was so bad that I couldn't even finish watching it. Pure junk.
Wow! Talk about differences of opinion! While I agree with the statements about Donnie Yen's "Fist of Fury", I certainly disagree with what is being said about Time Cop 2! I thought the fight scenes rocked! Almost straight JKD, and I thought Jason looked more like Bruce Lee in his movements than he did in "Dragon"! By the way, Sifu Jerry Poteet choreographed the fights, and I do not appreciate the insult to the man that I consider to be my main Sifu! Both Jason and myself are certified Full Instructors under Sifu Jerry.
As for Jet Li, I think "Fist of Legend" was very well done. I loved the fight scenes, and being based on the same story, it couldn't help but be similar to Bruce Lee's "Fist of Fury" (Chinese Connection). I also like "The One" and several other Jet Li movies.
I guess we all look for different things in movie fights, but I look for the more realistic things, especially if they are JKD or "JKD-like" movements. The new movie "Walking Tall" has some excellent fight scenes that are very well choreographed! I highly recommend it, and I think few of you could find anything to complain about with that movie. Go see for yourself, though. Don't just take my word for it!
El Mastero, not all of his movements were like Bruce's. In fact I agree, most of them were original. However, I am talking about the emphasized martial arts action, or the "main-stream" action for lack of a better word. All the subtle movements were pure BL rip-offs, and looked utterly horrible. Those subtle movements really gave a substance, kick (no pun intended) and emotion to Bruce Lee's movie fighting style, and Jet did a horrible job impersonating it. Hell he shouldn't have even tried to mimic it, but rather find his own way instead.
As for the story-line, techniqually it's not copying Chinese Connection because that film is actually based on a true story.
I understand where you're coming from about preferring to watch MA movements that are more realistic than threatrical. Some of Jason's MA skills may have been more realistic than most threatrical fighting styles but they did not all look good on film. Some did and some didn't. Some of his theatrical martial art skills were not very well done.
There are several factors that could have caused the fight scenes to not look well on screen.
Choreography: I am well aware that Jerry Poteet certified Jason Scott Lee in JKD and also choreographed the fight scenes in the film Time Cop 2. Perhaps some of the fights were too realistic for their own good and didn't look well on film. Bruce Lee knew the difference between JKD and theatrical martial arts. JKD is real fighting, theatrical martial arts is movie fighting. They are not interchangable. It has to look good on film.
Direction/Editting: Camera angles are very important in fight scenes. If shots are taken at the wrong angles then some of the action can be missed or not expressed fully in the shot. Some scenes are better when shot wide so that all of the action is seen on film and others look better when their in close. The director of the film using films scenes in different angles, from different perspectives and if put together the right way will look great but if editted wrong will appear like crap.
I'll have to rewatch the film though because it's been a while. If you want me to break down which scenes I though could be better and how then I wouldn't mind getting back to you. Although we can just agree to disagree.
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Masamune,
You may be right in alot of respects but I haven't seen the film in a while either. I will have to rewatch the flick and see if I can spot what you are saying. You may be right. I still think that the movie was well done. Anyway, we can also agree to disagree.
I think I know what masamune is talking about. I remember hating the movie because of this the first time round. In the scene when Jet is fighting his training brother for the ownership of the school, he decides to skip around like Lee, this just looked really awckward as it did not fit any of the wushu stuff he was doing with it.
As for Jason Scoot Lee, first time I watched Dragon I thought wow, but then I had not started martial arts then. The next time I watched it some years later I thought how bloody sh1t. The dude knows sh1t about fighting. I have not seen TC2 never even heared of it actually, but my expectations are'nt that high.
So the choices you guys have so far is Jason Lee aka crap looking MA or Jet Li unrealistic but pretty MA. Surely there are better candidates out there.
I only went with Jet Li and Jason Scott Lee because it was mentioned above. I think a few good actors that could play the role are Russel Wong (Vanishing Son & Romeo Must Die), Mark Dacascos (Only the Strong & Cradle to the Grave), Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey & Shangai Knights) and.... Can't think of anyone else.
Oh yeah, let's bring Sho Kosugi (Enter the Ninja & Prey for Death) out of retirement. Kato can be a cool ass Ninja. :D j/k
What made Kato cool in the Green Hornet serial was here was this little guy not taking crap from the bigger guy.
It was all theatrics, and really cool to see a Bruce Lee pound on a big guy like Gene LeBelle on TV.
It was escapisim at it's best.
I think Jet Li would make a good Kato on one end of the spectrum, namely his boyish face and small size adds more contrast against the typical bad guy.
Jason Scott Lee is a really all round nice guy, I got to meet him during the shooting of Time Cop 2 when I went down to visit Jerry Poteet.
Jason is such a good all round actor he made alot of people believe he WAS Bruce Lee on screen for a few moments, but I doubt casting people will see past that and he will continue to get B movie parts and straight to video deals.
Jason has the potential to be academy award material one day (Map of the Human Heart, Rappanui) given the chance he had the right roles, but he would definitely set himself back by repeating the Bruce Lee role. So what could be a sweet role could also type cast him.
In any case I think Ernie Reyes Jr may be a good choice or Mark Descacos?, he was good in 'Brotherhood of the Wolf'.
Droog
This message has been edited by Andrew_leBlanc on Apr 6, 2004 6:55 PM This message has been edited by Andrew_leBlanc on Apr 6, 2004 6:11 PM
I think Jason Scott Lee has real potential. He has done some pretty good films and his acting has always been top notch.
The funny thing about Jason is that he's so versatile in the roles he has played. When the movie "Soldier" came out with Kurt Russel I hadn't even noticed that Jason Scott Lee played the soldier that fought him. He was really bulked up for the part. I found out later and had to rewatch the film to make sure it was him. Also, I remember when I bought the "Back 2 the Future" trilogy on DVD and was amazed to see him in a bit part playing one of Biff's grandson's henchmen on the hoverboard scene in the second film.
Aside from those two bit parts he also played Mogli in the Jungle Book very well. He gave an outside performance in Dragon the Bruce Lee story, although his MA skills were a bit stiff. Time Cop 2 was not a very good show case of what Jason Scott Lee can do on film. I do hope to see him in other films in the future and I hope some of those will have a bigger budget, more experienced choreographer (no offense to Mr. Poteet) and a much better director.
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As far as Ernie Reyes Jr. I considered him to play Kato but I don't think the studio execs would go for it. The last film I remember him doing was "Surf Ninjas" and that movie was a big dissapointment.
This message has been edited by ElMastero on Apr 6, 2004 7:44 PM
I think Lamar M. Davis should make a movie.
About Jeet kune do. Don´t you think? Seriously. People(I am) are getting tired about those theatrical moves performed in most movies.
This message has been edited by waski on Apr 8, 2004 6:49 PM
"Enter the Alabama Dragon" starring Sifu Lamar M. Davis II.
Synopsis:
This Alabama production was shot entirely in Alabama by Alabama director Sifu Lamar M. Davis. Sifu Davis stars as an Alabama agent sent to infiltrate the Functional Jeet Kune Do empire of bloodthirsty Mixed Martial Art dude Matt Thornton (himself) through his annual No Holds Barred competition. Sifu Davis spends his days taking on FJKD, MMA, JKDC and PFS combatants and nights breaking into the heavily guarded straight blast gym, trapping, punching and kicking the living tar out of anyone who stands in his way. The pure OJKD fighting (choreographed by Sifu Davis) and Frank Dux intrigue (the plot has more than a passing resemblance to Blood Sport) is pulpy by any standard, but the low budget and talented cast of world-class martial artists puts this film in a category well above Davis' former primitive Alabama productions. Unfortunately he's off the screen for large chunks of time as OJKD competitors (and champion martial artists) Todd Lambert and John M. Drake take center stage, but once the fighting starts Sifu Davis takes over. The competitions setting provides an ample display of martial arts mastery of many JKD styles and climaxes with a huge free-for-all, but the highlight is Sifu Davis' brutal one-on-one with the BJJ/MMA pseudo JKDer Matt Thornton in the dynamic hall-of-mirrors battle, filmed at a local funhouse. This film will set standards that MA films will have to live up to for generations to come.
You want people to take this movie seriously right? I think instead of Matt Thorton, you should have the evil Jiyasa playing the lead bad guy. After seeing that video clip of him sparring, there is no doubt in my mind that Lamar would have his hands full against the TDK destroyer from The Land Down Under himself. LOL LOL LOL
You guys talk like them mimicking some of the things in Dragon for time cop 2 was a bad thing? I loved Dragon and was like a little kid in a candy shop for time cop 2. Heck I even like time cop 1. I think there are few movie out there that can really inspire a MA'ist like the movie Dragon did.
Hi everyone, well, Curt you seem like the only familiar face.
i've just logged on to say that i've stopped training to be the best, can anyone answer me, what is the point of training to be the best at fighting?
if oyu are the best, you won't enjoy it because it won't be hard, and also it seems that a lot of peooople who like martial arts are either very insecure and want to prove themselves, like ron prather, or social outcasts who want to fit in, or people who just like the whole action of it all.
im not one of those people, and i see no reason to do martial arts, instead i will pursue a career as a scriptwriter/film director, in a hope of expressing my visions that way. i was gonna be a writer, but thats too limiting and indirect. i really want someone to give me a good reason to do martial arts, but i believe thee isn't one for me. i've enjoyed this part of my life speaking to all of you, and learning how to defend myself, thanks for all of your time, and remember, really do treasure every moment of life, bad or good, as it'll be gone in the blink of an eye, and i know this wont affect you much, its hard to convey emotion, but when something emotive happens to you, you'll understand.
i feel this passion inside me that can't be expressed by martial arts, maybe even not by a human being, it's consuming, and i hope some of you can understand that. i will still come on here now and again to see if theres any good threads or to ask a specific question, and i really do appreciate the time ive spend with all of you more than you can probably know.
thank you,
Jowan.
