Who IS the greatest of them ALL 4 choices?

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

JIMMY WANG YU

BRUCE LEE

JET LI

DONNIE YEN

JAKIE CHAN

OOOPS five choices, sorry...

My vote is Jimmy Wang Yu.

GD Y-Y

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

Had Bruce lived, then.

Jimmy did it all to perfection. Can not think of any (bad) movies he made.

I, of course, luv the rest to the enth degree but Jimmy gets my vote.

After watching a rather bad print of Furious Slaughter I came to this conclusion.

These 4 are the top of the heap from my perspective. The rest of the greats follow suite in the marvels of this genre.

GD Y-Y .

[zeus]

i could never get into jimmy ..too stiff. but my favorite is jackie chan

[Space]

i could never get into jimmy ..too stiff.

Well he wasn't really much of a martial artist, which is why I don't get how he got pidgeonholed into martial arts roles.

[QueMuchita]

Personally I like Donnie but I think Jet Li has the best movie catalog.

[One Armed Boxer]

I think you need to be a little bit more specific, well, maybe a lot more, about what criteria you are looking at in deciding who's the greatest.

Obviously it goes without saying, through your choice of Jimmy Wang Yu, that martial arts ability is not a factor in your question, as to put him above Bruce Lee, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, & Jackie Chan in that department is simply ludicrous.

So are we looking at screen presence? Directing abilities? Personality? & does the fact that this is in the 'Classic Martial Arts Cinema' forum mean that we should only regard their work output up until 1985? Hence this wouldn't count movies like 'Sha Po Lang / Kill Zone', 'Flash Point', & in the case of Jet Li, pretty much his whole filmography with the exception of the first 2 'Shaolin Temple' movies.

Jimmy did it all to perfection. Can not think of any (bad) movies he made.

Just out of curiosity, you even count stuff like 'One Armed Swordsman Against Nine Killers`, 'Killer Meteors', & 'Fantasy Mission Force' as examples of perfecection!?

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

I think the OP is trying to get at who has the most impressive resume/filmography I think... I'd take Wang yu movies any day of the week..... As far as the last man standing if pitted against each other, the answer is obviously Teddy Robin Kwan from 'Gallants', lol....

[One Armed Boxer]

I think the OP is trying to get at who has the most impressive resume/filmography I think

In that case it wouldn't be worth inluding Bruce Lee, 4 & 1/2 movies is hardly an impressive filmography.

As far as the last man standing if pitted against each other, the answer is obviously Teddy Robin Kwan from 'Gallants'

No, it would still be Jimmy Wang Yu. He'd be getting a complete hammering from everyone, then someone would cut off one of his arms, and he'd suddenly destroy everyone in the space of 2 minutes. Guy always was better with one arm than two.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

No, it would still be Jimmy Wang Yu. He'd be getting a complete hammering from everyone, then someone would cut off one of his arms, and he'd suddenly destroy everyone in the space of 2 minutes. Guy always was better with one arm than two.

LOL, that is true... You can never doubt a guy with one arm holding a sword.... he's just deadly....

[MG Lerox]

Bruce Lee - Genious for martial arts and guy that made some great movies. He had great ideas and future in front of him but suddenly it all finished tragicly and he stocked with 4 movies. And probably my favorite out those 5.

Jackie Chan - Cool guy with great sense of humor and great acting, but I was always suspective about his martial art skills I would say that he is actually more skilled acrobat then martial artist. I've never took any of his movies seriusly but he is definitly great to watch!

Jimmy Wang Yu - One of the Hong Kong's first super stars. Jimmy starred in numerous classics and I can't say anything bad about him. I really liked him in One Armed-Swordsman which is probably one of the best Shaw Brothers movies ever made!

Jet Li - Never been big fan of him even if my dad's real fan. Jet made quite few movies that i really liked (Shaolin trilogy) and several modern day flicks, I think that he is ok but nothing more then that.

Donnie Yen - I have seen him several times and he seems to be ok, haven't watched enough of his movies to judge.

[Guest Markgway]

Jimmy did it all to perfection. Can not think of any (bad) movies he made.

Wang Yu made some good/great movies early in his career, but once he settled in Taiwan the nonsense crept in. Movies aside, Wang was the least charismatic, least capable (by far) of all five martial actors you list. He'd rank bottom for me.

[The Silver Fox]

John Liu

Phillip Ko

Hwang Jang Lee

Chen Kuan Tai

Venoms -any of them , they're all amazing

Yes there are many more successful/popular stars but these are tops in my books.

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

Yes, for pure overall GENRE impact and so many AWESOME movies I have to go with Jimmy Wang Yu. Of course we are limiting ourselves to these FIVE, who are the true (male) superstars of Kung Fu Cinema. I don't care who was a martial artist or who was not. Jimmy's basher and period movies are par none and look at all the TALENT he always has working with him

Also I must say I am partial to movies without CARS & GUNS in my Kung Fu Movie curriculum.

GD Y-Y

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

Wang Yu made some good/great movies early in his career, but once he settled in Taiwan the nonsense crept in. Movies aside, Wang was the least charismatic, least capable (by far) of all five martial actors you list. He'd rank bottom for me.

You make a good point but I cannot be swayed.

I like his Taiwanese era for the most part.

Consider really how many greats he made in this period I can think of 8 at least.

GD Y-Y

P.S. But the thing is if Bruce had continued, its beyond imagination.

[ChineseSausage]

Bruce Lee. He has influenced too many on the genre and outside. To me is the #1 contender for the greatest.

Jackie Chan is good, but a very different martial artist/actor. Different concept. Has influenced less people, but his work is admirable.

[David Rees]

Jimmy Wang Yu?!!?....that's ludicrous...i haven't laughed so much in ages.

He has made some good films but also a lot of crap, his martial arts are very poor and his acting one-dimensional.

Jackie Chan gets my vote, followed by Bruce Lee , only because he made so few films...compare Jimmy Wang Yu's films he made around the same time as Bruce and there is no comparison.

[One Armed Boxer]

Obviously it goes without saying, through your choice of Jimmy Wang Yu, that martial arts ability is not a factor in your question, as to put him above Bruce Lee, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, & Jackie Chan in that department is simply ludicrous.

Jimmy Wang Yu?!!?....that's ludicrous...i haven't laughed so much in ages.

Ha ha....I think this is the first time I`ve seen the word `ludicrous` twice in one thread.

Also I must say I am partial to movies without CARS & GUNS in my Kung Fu Movie curriculum.

I understand your point of view, but surely you can make an exception for the finale of `Knight Errant`...I mean what would that be without the car!?

[Kwok Choi]

JIMMY WANG YU

BRUCE LEE

JET LI

DONNIE YEN

JAKIE CHAN

OOOPS five choices, sorry...

My vote is Jimmy Wang Yu.

GD Y-Y

Golden Dragon this is so unfair man! you see Wang Yu helped greatly in shaping the future of the " kung fu movie " not forgetting his (chivalrous swordsman) outings.

Bruce lee came and gave us " la realite " with phenominal impact.

Jackie Chan added another dimension of beautiful choreography, complex and dangerous stunts with a douse of comedy.

Jet Lee made us marvel at Wushu on screen.He really brought Wong Fei Hung to life and has done some badass international fare.

Donnie Yen had too much competition at the time but is now seemingly ruling the roost.Honestly I really respect this guy as an overall performer.Hope his legendary ego - according to some - has waned.This guy would have been at his best had he been around during the heydeys of Shaws and Golden Harvest given the right roles.So how do you expect me to choose? they are all very significant and some how linked.

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

Dear Kwok Choi,

It is a conundrum,,,, I mean to say in the elements of cosmic kung fu analogy Jimmy is the first and thus threw my .....how shall we say .....kung fu leanings ......of this group.... Jimmy is the greatest in impact ....because he was the first kung fu movie (international) kung fu movie super star! And he had more PERFECT movies in numbers with this/ competition.

I like Ur over-view but will go this route>

GD Y-Y