Simon Kook - Thailand's Next Action Star?

[Phoenix]

Thanks, I'll get that Ong Bak release, it was released on vcd as the making of Ong Bak.

Joyce-her best performance is arguably Eastern Condors, starring-wise I can think of She Shoots Straight, haven't seen Slickers Vs Killers for years.

That Burger Cop release is a crappy capture of the VCD, they could have done a much better job. Dirt cheap release, you should see what the actual disc looks like. Says remastered on the box haha.

[blue_skies]

Phoenix,I hope it's what you're after I'm now putting in to see the length of that feature.....

btw there is a single disc DVD which probably won't have this extra.I'm not too familiar with this player but seems to be 1h 16 for all 8 parts thru "play all" option

[Phoenix]

Thanks for that, at that length it sounds like the one the vcd was made from.

Was the talent reel linked earlier from the making of sections?

[One Armed Boxer]

I always thought Biao preferred more dramatic fare which was why he wasn't as popular as Chan or Sammo. Plus the end fights to some of his action/MA films just really didn't deliver like I thought they should. His fight choreography never seemed quite as good either than when he was in a film with his opera brothers with a few exceptions.

This statement pretty much hits the nail on the head for me regarding Biao. I remember when it was announced that 'Iceman Cometh' was being released by HKL, I was so excited to see Biao unleashed as the leading man in a modern day actioner, and had heard quite a lot of hype about the movie.

After watching it I was greatly disappointed, hardly any fights at all, and by the time it came to the finale with Biao versus Wah I was almost too bored to care. However look at his stuff in 'Millionaires Express', 'Dragons Forever', 'Prodigal Son', and 'Knockabout' and you're left with your jaw on the ground, the reason seems to be very simple - Sammo Hung.

I think the performer and the fight choreographer definitely hold equal importance in the world of martial arts cinema, if either is lacking then the final product usually doesn't cut it. Examples that immediately spring to mind are Wu Jing under the direction of Nicky Li in 'Legendary Assassin', or Rina Takeda under the direction of Kensuke Sonomura in 'Kunoichi'. If Simon Kook can get under the wing of Panna Rittikrai, I'm sure he could do a lot better than mere imitation.

[blue_skies]

This statement pretty much hits the nail on the head for me regarding Biao. I remember when it was announced that 'Iceman Cometh' was being released by HKL, I was so excited to see Biao unleashed as the leading man in a modern day actioner, and had heard quite a lot of hype about the movie.

After watching it I was greatly disappointed, hardly any fights at all, and by the time it came to the finale with Biao versus Wah I was almost too bored to care. However look at his stuff in 'Millionaires Express', 'Dragons Forever', 'Prodigal Son', and 'Knockabout' and you're left with your jaw on the ground, the reason seems to be very simple - Sammo Hung.

I think the performer and the fight choreographer definitely hold equal importance in the world of martial arts cinema, if either is lacking then the final product usually doesn't cut it. Examples that immediately spring to mind are Wu Jing under the direction of Nicky Li in 'Legendary Assassin', or Rina Takeda under the direction of Kensuke Sonomura in 'Kunoichi'. If Simon Kook can get under the wing of Panna Rittikrai, I'm sure he could do a lot better than mere imitation.

Got to agree OAB with all of that ( except Kunoichi which I've not seen). The choreographer is as important as the star, perhap more so as we've seen Hollywood do wonders with no onscreen talent. And Jet & Jackie fail so badly on their own.

[ShaOW!linDude]

By the way is that the same Joyce Godenza ( spelling?) that married Sammo? And is she still Mrs Sammo Hung?

what are her best films?

It is. I had to go back and edit my last post so as to correct her name: Joyce Godenzi.

As far as starring roles. SHE SHOOTS STRAIGHT and LICENSE TO STEAL rank up there for me (really good fights in both of those) but like Phoenix, I liked her in EASTERN CONDORS.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Next star? Not even close. Not with a face like that. Thats the face of a boom man, or henchman.

Try these:

OH........MY........WORD!!!!!!!

These guys are great!

The 2nd clip looks like prep work for a film. Oh, I hope it is!

Somebody....anybody........PLEASE! Get these filming.....like......NOW!!!!!!

[One Armed Boxer]

The choreographer is as important as the star, perhap more so as we've seen Hollywood do wonders with no onscreen talent. And Jet & Jackie fail so badly on their own

I think this could be the problem with Thai cinema, it only actually seems to have one prominent choreographer, the ever reliable Panna...everybody else seems to fall short.

Regarding your comment about Jackie & Jet...as far as I'm aware Jet has only choreographed himself once, in his one and only self-directed movie 'Born to Defence', after which I guess he realized that the directing and choreography game is a lot harder than it looks!

I wouldn't say that Jackie fails on his own though, some of his self-choreographed movies are absolute classics - 'The Young Master', 'Dragon Lord', 'Police Story', 'Project A', 'Who Am I?'...all some of my favorite martial arts movies and all choregoraphed by Jackie.

[Megadautilus]

He reminds me a lot of Bruce Li.

[ShaOW!linDude]

I think this could be the problem with Thai cinema, it only actually seems to have one prominent choreographer, the ever reliable Panna...everybody else seems to fall short.

Regarding your comment about Jackie & Jet...as far as I'm aware Jet has only choreographed himself once, in his one and only self-directed movie 'Born to Defence', after which I guess he realized that the directing and choreography game is a lot harder than it looks!

I wouldn't say that Jackie fails on his own though, some of his self-choreographed movies are absolute classics - 'The Young Master', 'Dragon Lord', 'Police Story', 'Project A', 'Who Am I?'...all some of my favorite martial arts movies and all choregoraphed by Jackie.

1st statement: Very true. Surely there is some unknown talent lurking in Thailand that has yet to be tapped though.

2nd statement: I liked the choreography in BTD. It's one of my favorite Jet Li films. The lighting wasn't the best though.

3rd statement: JC is an excellent choreographer, too. I love his stuff. It's always very intricate and energetic. And I think he choreographs the best free-for-alls (I'm thinking Project A and Miracles). But I think even he defers to Sammo.

[blue_skies]

I think this could be the problem with Thai cinema, it only actually seems to have one prominent choreographer, the ever reliable Panna...everybody else seems to fall short.

Regarding your comment about Jackie & Jet...as far as I'm aware Jet has only choreographed himself once, in his one and only self-directed movie 'Born to Defence', after which I guess he realized that the directing and choreography game is a lot harder than it looks!

I wouldn't say that Jackie fails on his own though, some of his self-choreographed movies are absolute classics - 'The Young Master', 'Dragon Lord', 'Police Story', 'Project A', 'Who Am I?'...all some of my favorite martial arts movies and all choregoraphed by Jackie.

I do agree Jackie back in the day was fantastic. However when I said on their own I didn't mean literally their own choreography. I just meant that their US productions clearly didn't have the same level of choreography. Given the high standards Jackie set himself and as Shaolin dude pointed out Sammo also had a big role in Jackie Chan's success. Everything that I've heard about his Hong Kong films is how a perfectionist he was. Making sure everything was just so. You have to ask why his movies are such a disappointment over the last decade or so?

[One Armed Boxer]

I just meant that their US productions clearly didn't have the same level of choreography. Given the high standards Jackie set himself and as Shaolin dude pointed out Sammo also had a big role in Jackie Chan's success. Everything that I've heard about his Hong Kong films is how a perfectionist he was. Making sure everything was just so. You have to ask why his movies are such a disappointment over the last decade or so?

I think the answer to your question can actually be found earlier in the same paragraph - the US! In Hong Kong Jackie had complete control, and yes he was a perfectionist, the one shot from the fight scene with the fan in `The Young Master` where he throws it around his opponents body like a boomerang took over 100 takes alone!

Hollywood simply doesn`t have that type of timeframe. A movie starts shooting, it has 2 weeks to a month if they`re lucky to get the whole shoot filmed and wrapped. The time & care it takes to choreograph an amazing fight scene, to get the rhythm, the intricacy of the movement, the timing...it simply won`t be there.

I remember reading somewhere that the final hospital shootout from `Hard Boiled` took a whole month to film, in Hollywood that`s the length of time to shoot a whole movie, often more than enough! So in terms of action quality, it`s always going to be lacking...hence why Hollywood action tends to rely on setpieces like explosions or CGI.

Another aspect of the decrease in quality of Jackie`s US prodcutions is the insurance factor. The safety element of every action scene has to be weighed up so that the actors can be insured, needless to say none of Jackie`s Hong Kong movies could ever be made in Hollywood, the action has to be dumbed down for safety purposes.

It was a mere 7 years ago when Jackie made `New Police Story` and look at the difference in quality! The bus scene, the rooftop bicycle scene, the mall fight...the guy still had it.