Your Favorite Donnie Yen Era?

[One Armed Boxer]

I was curious, having read over and over again in various articles that Donnie Yen is going through the best period of his career right now, as to exactly how many people agree with that thinking? Donnie Yen has been on the scene for 26 years since his first starring role in 'Drunken Tai Chi' back in 1984, so which period of his career is your personal favorite? If popular opinion is to be believed, most people will say the most recent period, from 2005 - 2010.

But for me personally I enjoyed his period of work between 1990 - 1994, stuff like 'Tiger Cage 2', 'Iron Monkey', 'Once Upon A Time in China 2', 'New Dragon Inn', and yes I even have a soft spot for his low budget modern day action flicks like 'Crystal Hunt' and 'Cheetah on Fire'. If anything, I wish he'd return to the modern day action genre like displayed most recently in 'Sha Po Lang' and 'Flash Point', but there seems to be nothing that fits the bill on the horizon, so for now, I will have to go with his early 90's output as my favorite. How about you?

1984 - 1989: The 80's

Drunken Tai Chi (1984)

Mismatched Couples (1985)

Tiger Cage (1988)

The Last Conflict (1988)

In The Line of Duty 4 (1989)

1990 - 1994: The Early 90's

Tiger Cage 2 (1990)

Holy Virgin Versus The Evil Dead (1990)

Crystal Hunt (1991)

Once Upon A Time in China 2 (1992)

New Dragon Inn (1992)

Cheetah on Fire (1992)

Iron Monkey (1993)

Hero Among Heroes (1993)

Butterfly & Sword (1993)

Wing Chun (1994)

The Kung-fu Master (1994 - TV)

Revenge of the Kung-fu Master (1994 - TV)

High Voltage (1994)

Circus Kid (1994)

1995 - 1999: The Late 90's

Iron Monkey 2 (1995)

Fist of Fury (1995 - TV)

Satan's Return (1996)

Legend of the Wolf (1997)

Shanghai Affairs (1998)

Ballistic Kiss (1998)

City of Darkness (1999)

2000 - 2004: Early 2000's

High Lander: End Game (2000)

Fist of Fury: The Sequel (2001 - TV)

Hero (2002)

Blade 2 (2002)

Shanghai Knights (2003)

The Twins Effect 2 (2004)

2005 - 2010: Mid 2000's - Present

Sha Po Lang / Kill Zone (2005)

Seven Swords (2005)

Dragon Tiger Gate (2006)

Flash Point (2007)

Painted Skin (2008)

Ip Man (2008)

An Empress and The Warriors (2008)

Bodyguards and Assassins (2009)

14 Blades (2010)

Ip Man 2 (2010)

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010)

The Lost Bladesman (2011)

Wu Xia (2011)

The Monkey King (2011 - coming soon)

[Iron_Leopard]

Iron Monkey and OUATIC II are both in my top ten so im going to go with the early 90s period.

[blue_skies]

I wouldn't say now is his best period as a martial-arts star just his most successful. Personally I'm not that enthralled with most of Donnie Yen's recent output barring the odd exception. Although I will say even if I don't enjoy a lot of them they are much better films. Some of his films are absolutely dreadful back in the day when he was able to perform better martial-arts sequences.

I must admit I'm torn between the late Eighties and early Nineties but I think I'm going to have to go with the early Nineties because of Iron monkey and once upon a time in China 2. Looking at that list there is a surprising number of titles I haven't seen. Though to be honest I think will be a while before I get round to watching them with funds so depleted and films I would rather see first.

[Athena]

Hello blue_skies !

For me too most definetly early 90s !

He had enough experience to come into his own at the time without being too concerned about presenting a certain image of himself as I feel he is doing now ...

At the time he had by far enough say in the movies to make the action superb !!

But he was not not "worshiped " as he is now, something that can lessen other peoples ( involved in the movie) input on the final movie..

Another MA actor I think went some of the same stages is Jimmy Wang Yu !

He did not have the same successful later stage but I felt he too got to "dedicated to a certain way of presenting him self " ...

Take care ,Athena ..♥

[daisho2004]

For me I honestly think now he is at his prime, don't get me wrong some of his earlier roles were off the Hook, ex: Iron Monkey but to me that was really the one that show cased him. Some of the other movies that are listed he was a supporting actor not the main star, while he had some excellent fighting scenes it wasn't his movie solely. ex: Once Upon A Time in China 2, Wing Chun. But now he is the Top Dawg, and his movies seem to be getting better.

[IgaNinja]

easy choice for me,Early 90's for sure.

[make believe]

this of course

K2alogRPlNo

[DiP]

2005-present. To me, that's where he finally made some big things happen acting and action directing-wise. 1995-1999 is a close second. That's where he started action directing by himself which saw some pretty interesting stuff.

[One Armed Boxer]

He had enough experience to come into his own at the time without being too concerned about presenting a certain image of himself as I feel he is doing now ...

At the time he had by far enough say in the movies to make the action superb !!

But he was not not "worshiped " as he is now, something that can lessen other peoples ( involved in the movie) input on the final movie..

I agree, I think to a point he became a victim to his own arrogance when he fell out with his mentor Yuen Woo Ping on the set of 'Wing Chun'.

The fact that his next 3 movies were 'High Voltage', 'Circus Kid', and 'Iron Monkey 2' pretty much say all that needs to be said in regards to what damage he did to his career.

Actually, I've never seen 'Iron Monkey 2', it's one of those curiosities I'm probably going to punish myself by sitting through one day....just to see if it really is as bad as everyone, and I mean everyone, I've never read a good word about it, says it is!

[ShaOW!linDude]

I guess I'm more of a fan of his late 80's/early 90's stuff though his films over the last 3-4 years have been knocking the ball out of the park. "Ip Man" still gives me a headrush.

I've never seen "Mismatched Couples" but I'm intrigued by the clip 'make believe' posted. Is there some good fighting in that or is it geared more towards comedy?

[Improvisation]

Of course, the movie that started my Donnie Yen phase was Iron Monkey back when it was released in theatres in 2001. However, I'm not a huge fan of a lot of the other movies he made in the early 90s, mainly because they are of significantly lower audio and video quality...

But this makes me wonder - even though Iron Monkey is one of the greatest of all time, is a lot of its enjoyability from the quality of the re-release? It hit theatres, DVD, and even Blu-Ray and therefore you could see all of Yuen Woo Ping's choreography and Donnie Yen's sick moves in total clarity. This is also why I love Donnie Yen's recent masterpieces (SPL, Flash Point, Ip man, etc) because they use modern, digital cameras to perfectly capture what he's always been capable of doing.

So I don't have a favorite "period" but rather I prefer the movies that look good and are presented well, because frankly, they make his style look even better. Maybe Quentin Tarantino should re-release every single Donnie Yen movie ever made and we'll have a new golden age.

Except the 1999-2004 period. Except for Hero, all of those movies were total crap.

[Iron_Leopard]

I agree Improv. The first time I saw Iron Monkey (my favorite martial arts film of all time) it was the 2001 release. And the quality was so good I thought it was a brand new movie. When you look at the original the picture quality was nearly unwatchable. How come movies made in the early 90s have that bad of quality? I just dont get it. I cant even imagine a Hollywood movie from 93 coming out looking like that. Its unacceptable.

[blue_skies]

I agree Improv. The first time I saw Iron Monkey (my favorite martial arts film of all time) it was the 2001 release. And the quality was so good I thought it was a brand new movie. When you look at the original the picture quality was nearly unwatchable. How come movies made in the early 90s have that bad of quality? I just dont get it. I cant even imagine a Hollywood movie from 93 coming out looking like that. Its unacceptable.

I think we all came into martial-arts and Hong Kong action cinema with poor quality picture but as companies like Hong Kong Legends and Fortune Star sort out better quality prints, cleaning them up, we eventually saw them how they should have looked. To be honest I'm always astonished how good films like Full Contact and Eastern condors look on DVD.

[One Armed Boxer]

I've never seen "Mismatched Couples" but I'm intrigued by the clip 'make believe' posted. Is there some good fighting in that or is it geared more towards comedy?

There is some good fighting, however as with every Yuen Woo Ping movie from that era, including 'Drunken Tai Chi', it is mixed in with some very broad comedy that you'll either love or hate.

But anything movie which has Dick Wei facing off against Donnie is at least worth a look.

[make believe]

I've never seen "Mismatched Couples" but I'm intrigued by the clip 'make believe' posted. Is there some good fighting in that or is it geared more towards comedy?

It is definitely geared more towards comedy; in fact %90 of it is comedy and Donnie Yen poplocking like he was in 'Breakin'. It's not a bad movie if you go in expecting a really silly comedy as opposed to an action film.

There is some good fighting, however as with every Yuen Woo Ping movie from that era, including 'Drunken Tai Chi', it is mixed in with some very broad comedy that you'll either love or hate.

But anything movie which has Dick Wei facing off against Donnie is at least worth a look.

That's pretty much the only fight in the movie and even then it's not exactly anything all that memorable. Dick Wei spends more time in the movie asking people to bite him than fighting.

[sen_pai]

Now is, with Hero, 14 Blades, and Yip Man. However, Chen Zhen sucks. Dragon Tiger Gate had a little too much talking, but somewhat enough fighting to keep me a little satisfied.

My advice to Donnie Yen and those that work with him, make movies like Hero, 14 Blades, and Yip man. Make loads of fighting with simple story. 14 Blades' story wasn't really that simple, but there was so much fighting that I didn't even care. I know Donnie may want to be known as an actor, but seriously...you're not! You're a fighter, so fight! If he wants to truly act, then he needs to act in a movie that is not a martial arts movie, advertise as so, and do it. For example, I heard that Jet Li played a single father in a drama...that's cool. To do otherwise is like Jim Carrey cracking a joke once in a while.

[One Armed Boxer]

I know Donnie may want to be known as an actor, but seriously...you're not! You're a fighter, so fight! If he wants to truly act, then he needs to act in a movie that is not a martial arts movie, advertise as so, and do it.

I actually wholeheartedly agree with this statement. I appreciate Yen wants people to appreciate his improved acting as well, however when there is more `acting` than fighting in a martial arts movie, that`s a big problem for me.

Cases in point being the likes of `Sha Po Lang`, `Flash Point`, and although I haven`t seen them so far, `Dragon Tiger Gate` & `Legend of Chen Zhen` also seem to fall foul of this problem.

Yes what fighting is there is some outstanding stuff, there simply isn`t enough of it. Yen`s movies have become like the equivalent of Hollywood action movies....have a few scenes of action scattered throughout the movie, then just crank it up for the final scene.

This is probably one of the reasons most followers of HK cinema became fans in the first place...the martial arts movies of old would be loaded with fight scenes from start to finish, not just book ending a movie, and it`s this consistant flow of action that is missing from todays movies, and is the exact reason most movies that go into my DVD player are normally from the 80`s period.

[AlbertV]

In terms of action, I would go with the early 90's. I feel it was here that he did some of his best work when it came to his kicking skills, notably when taking on real-life buddies Michael Woods and John Salvitti. He truly showcased his wushu skills during this era.

Acting, I would go with 2005-present. Aside from the whole MMA-angle in his fight choreography, he really showcased himself as an actor with his recent fare. While Ip Man helped define his dramatic skills, he began to show signs of it with both SPL and Flash Point IMO.

And Donnie did a few non-action roles: "Love on the Rocks" (2004) and "The Founding of a Republic" in 2009 are a few examples.

[dyenboy]

i'm a big donnie yen fan and I actually like most of his movies and even though some are not that great, I am a fan of donnie yen's fighting and choreography style.

I know alot of people have hate seven swords but I liked it, yea some of the choreography was a little cheesy but I love the way he experiments..The alley wall scene was brilliant..

[Blood Sword]

I cannot choose era.I have seen few films from here and there and I like all except Dragon Tiger Gate which I think is horrible and disappointing because I like comic.

But I think Donnie appears bit cooler in modern day actioners than traditional kungfus.

[make believe]

Dragon Tiger Gate was downright awful. I can't believe I managed to sit through all of it. I've only seen clips of Legend of the Wolf but that looks like it could be just as bad too, at least action wise due to all the horrific undercranking I've seen.

[dyenboy]

Dragon Tiger Gate was downright awful. I can't believe I managed to sit through all of it. I've only seen clips of Legend of the Wolf but that looks like it could be just as bad too, at least action wise due to all the horrific undercranking I've seen.

even though I think DTG was a bad movie, I still like it because the style of the movie and I know some have said the cheography was ok but I like it. It's Donnie Yens' style and I like his style.

Same with LOTW, not a great movie but also not a bad movie but have very good fighting. The fight between the claw in the forest was just amazing.

I have seen worst undercranking, I think Donnie found a good medium..

[Space]

The current era I guess. His movies are still hit or miss, but he's always good in them.

He was just too awkward for my taste back in period flicks like Drunken Tai Chi (though his fighting in that was great) or Iron Monkey. Tiger Cage was kind of foreshadowing what he really should have been doing all along.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Tiger Cage was kind of foreshadowing what he really should have been doing all along.

I would agree with that very astute statement. I think by and large his modern setting pictures are preferable to his period pieces though there are a couple of exceptions.

And, personally, I kind of liked DTG. (Could have lived without the over-exaggerated angst though.)

[DiP]

He was just too awkward for my taste back in period flicks like Drunken Tai Chi (though his fighting in that was great) or Iron Monkey. Tiger Cage was kind of foreshadowing what he really should have been doing all along.

Personally, I think it's good that he went on to do different roles instead of typecasting himself in the same kind of movies. I agree that he fits best in contemporary action movies but I'm all about versatility in acting as well as creativity and refreshment in every kind of MA choreography which I think Yen has successfully shown throughout his whole career. That itself also clearly reflects what he is overall: an all-round martial artist with the style to do everything.

As for Legend of the Wolf and DTG, I think the former is Yen's early masterpiece imo and latter a flawed but very enjoyable movie but also containing very creative and highly satisfying action choreography. Like dyenboy, I'm a big fan of Yen's choreography and the way he comes up with ideas for action choreography is just astonishing.