Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted September 23, 2013 Member Share Posted September 23, 2013 Donnie suffered from the "Bruce Lee" syndrome for a large part of filmography, but like others mentioned, he has found a balance as of late, and I hope he sticks with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member MLee Posted September 23, 2013 Member Share Posted September 23, 2013 One Armed Boxer: Thanks. Glad I'm not alone on this! OpiumKungFuCracker: Well I'm pretty sure Donnie had complete control on all the fights with his team. While do I agree the endfight in Flashpoint was the best part of the movie I just think it could have been done better. I always thought of it as a fight in 2 parts for me. I liked the first part but kind of lost interest in the second part. And the other fight with Donnie vs Xing Yu was a huge disappointment. Apart from some parkour moves early on before the fight he never really got to show anything. What was the point in using him if Donnie just beat him up in a one sided fight? I think it was a wasted opportunity. TibetanWhiteCrane: I hope so too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted September 23, 2013 Member Share Posted September 23, 2013 Those are some valid points. I think we both can agree that there is an expectation high above the list, once we get to see the film. I have faith that this film will deliver and meet or mostly the majority of everybody's wish list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted September 23, 2013 Author Member Share Posted September 23, 2013 And the other fight with Donnie vs Xing Yu was a huge disappointment. Apart from some parkour moves early on before the fight he never really got to show anything. What was the point in using him if Donnie just beat him up in a one sided fight? I think it was a wasted opportunity. Donnie originally wanted to show more of Xing Yu's skills in that fight scene but they ran out of time to choreograph it the way Donnie wanted so he settled it by filming the fight from a story point-of-view. While I also think Xing Yu was wasted for sure, the overall storytelling and ideal behind the choreography is an admiration for Donnie's continuous strive for improvement as far as cohesive combination of action and dramatic depth go, something which is rare today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AbeRudder Posted September 24, 2013 Member Share Posted September 24, 2013 Donnie's problem for me with his fights is that they are weak in terms of their dramatic arc. Jackie/Sammo/LKL's best fights generally had an internal storyline that kept them interesting. Jackie for instance would always create obstacles and seemingly insurmountable situations for his character to overcome. Even though you knew his character would live the interest lied in how he could get himself out of a situation. Donnie's fights on the other hand generally don't have this. Even if Donnie gets beat up a bit, it'll show him on the floor with a bloody face, him getting up with a badass look on his face and then him decimating the bad guy for another 3 mins. The appeal of his fights is purely based on their style and innovation, like Flashpoint or the knife fight in SPL. This is a very nitpicky post i should add, i love Donnie's stuff but his fights are just that slight notch below the classic HK ones in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted September 24, 2013 Member Share Posted September 24, 2013 @AbeRudder, which is why I believe Donnie Yen is reinventing the wheel in terms of modern day action fighting in movies. The impact, the suave, the coolness of Yen putting a beat down when he fights is just something to behold. I admire Jackie Chan's old skool stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member odioustrident Posted September 24, 2013 Member Share Posted September 24, 2013 This is a very nitpicky post i should add, i love Donnie's stuff but his fights are just that slight notch below the classic HK ones in my opinion. Pretty much all of Donnie's output has been a little lacking in the creativity department. That's not to say he doesn't come up with excellent new ideas in every fight scene he handles... he just doesn't pack that many into one exchange when compared to the HK golden days. His specialty is "dramatic" impact and his post-production work has been very tight. I see this film as a continuation of the total approach taken to Flashpoint's finale. I couldn't be that much more excited... but I've stopped expecting to see new details every time I rewatch a modern fight scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted September 24, 2013 Author Member Share Posted September 24, 2013 Sammo/Jackie fights were mostly comedy-driven which allowed for all sorts of craziness between and around them and the bad guys. Situational gags fighting/complex fighting. But how many times have we seen them repeat their fight storytelling in their movies? Apart from new locations to play with, Jackie would always have the same concept in his fights. Even in some of Sammo's fights, the choreography could just solely be based on pure anger/intensity, showing techniques functioning together and aiding the "good guy will win in the end" scenario (him vs Billy Chow in Pedicab Driver comes to mind) with lack of either storytelling or dramatic tension altogether. Their usual choice of roles didn't allow them to expand their fights to new dramatic heights unless they wanted to get into something else genre-wise. And how often did you see them do this during their heyday? Very little. I agree about Donnie though. Much like Jet Li or Tony Jaa fights, Donnie opts for a "invincible fighter/intense man" screen persona where he will engage in fight scenes with pretty much anyone and is expected to win in the end with ease. However, like I said, he's starting to get away from this choreographing fight scenes correlative to the story/characters. For example, each fight scene in Ip Man (regardless of Donnie one-sidedly beating his opponents more or less) had stories in them that spoke volumes (from the sparring match to the final fight, you can tell what they're conveying). There's other fight scenes of his I can think of with great use of dramatic effect and storytelling like Ip Man 2, the horse-chase/alley fight in The Lost Bladesman and the store fights in Wu Xia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member MLee Posted September 24, 2013 Member Share Posted September 24, 2013 OpiumKungFuCracker: I agree and I hope the movie does deliver. DiP: I didn't know about Donnie running out of time so thanks for clearing that up. However after watching that scene I feel it would have been more impactful if Donnie wasn't posturing so much in front of the camera and shaking his fists. It was supposed to be a really serious moment with the little girl and it looked like he was still trying to look cool during the fight! AbeRudder: Interesting points you bring up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted September 26, 2013 Author Member Share Posted September 26, 2013 A 2:19 min long preview of the action in Special ID. Take it or leave it. 4EWgFe2mtYg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted September 26, 2013 Member Share Posted September 26, 2013 Just 2:22 that was better than most action films as a complete feature. The movie could have monkey turds for the remaining 90 mins and it still would be a better action movie than 90% of the films that came out today, ouch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted September 26, 2013 Member Share Posted September 26, 2013 A 2:19 min long preview of the action in Special ID. Take it or leave it. 4EWgFe2mtYg Holy shit, that was beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member rdenn Posted September 26, 2013 Member Share Posted September 26, 2013 a lot of hate in those punches donnnie is really making this stunteam work for their money great stuff he doesn't need to do all that posing though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member VenomsFan Posted September 27, 2013 Member Share Posted September 27, 2013 Thanks DiP. Looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted September 27, 2013 Author Member Share Posted September 27, 2013 Sources: http://movie.mtime.com/160980/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E7%89%B9%E6%AE%8A%E8%BA%AB%E4%BB%BDSpecial-ID/505319212879682?id=505319212879682&sk=photos_stream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted September 28, 2013 Author Member Share Posted September 28, 2013 New Clip of Donnie Yen’s “Special ID” Released Directed by Clarence Fok (霍耀良) and starring Donnie Yen (甄子丹), action thriller Special ID <特殊身份> recently released a two-minute long clip featuring Donnie Yen’s character, Zilong, fighting against a team of mobsters while cramped inside the kitchen hall of a Hong Kong hotpot restaurant. Special ID, which will be released in mainland China on October 18, 2013, is produced by Beijing’s Starlit Films and took two years in the making. The film will include three major action sequences, and the action seen in the previewed clip is one of them. The other two sequences will occur in a mahjong parlor and a collapsed bridge. Four new character posters were also unveiled on September 26. The posters feature Donnie, Andy On (安志傑),Jing Tian (景甜), and Zhang Hanyu (张涵予). Donnie Yen: Producing is Hard Work As Special ID’s own action choreographer, Donnie took time to create new mixed martial arts (MMA) moves for the film’s fight sequences, to add in a new touch of realism. Andy On, a martial artist himself, expressed that he was very impressed with Donnie’s creativity and “breathtaking” talent. “I carefully watched every single move Donnie choreographed on the monitor. I haven’t seen those moves in a long time. Donnie’s choreography is very realistic, but also very suitable for film. He is very meticulous. He choreographed every small detail of each fight.” Donnie hopes that he will find a new breakthrough in his MMA choreography for Special ID. “The main idea is to be very quick and aggressive,” said Donnie. “It’s straightforward and thrilling. Honestly speaking, the martial arts in this film have been taken up to another notch. I am very satisfied with it.” Also a co-producer of the film, Donnie stated that he had been working nonstop for the film, from pre-production, to production, to post-production. “In the past few months, I only had about three hours of sleep per day. I slimmed down a size after filming was done.” Donnie added with a laugh, “I have to think more carefully next time. It turns out that a producer’s work is very laborious!” Source: http://www.jaynestars.com/movies/new-clip-of-donnie-yens-special-id-released/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Monk Sante Posted September 28, 2013 Member Share Posted September 28, 2013 Is John Salvitti getting credit for putting together the fight scenes? Or is Donnie taking all of the credit? SMH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmaA0l1D0xo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted September 28, 2013 Member Share Posted September 28, 2013 Well, he's part of Donnie's team, and while it is a collaborative effort, it is Donnie who chooses what style of action to use and sets the tone. His stunt guys are all adding their weight, no doubt. But as overall action director and conceptualist, I think he gets the main credit. Same for Sammo, Jackie etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted September 28, 2013 Author Member Share Posted September 28, 2013 Salvitti is credited for his work on The Twins Effect and Flash Point so I don't see why he wouldn't get any credit for working on this movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted September 28, 2013 Member Share Posted September 28, 2013 Is John Salvitti getting credit for putting together the fight scenes? Or is Donnie taking all of the credit? SMH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmaA0l1D0xo Nah, it ain't like that bro. Well, he's part of Donnie's team, and while it is a collaborative effort, it is Donnie who chooses what style of action to use and sets the tone. His stunt guys are all adding their weight, no doubt. But as overall action director and conceptualist, I think he gets the main credit. Same for Sammo, Jackie etc. Yep. Salvitti is credited for his work on The Twins Effect and Flash Point. Yep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member mark187 Posted September 28, 2013 Member Share Posted September 28, 2013 I'm starting to doubt whether or not there's a Yen vs. Collin Chou fight in here. that article mentioned three major action sequences, and that wasn't one of them. but, we'll have to wait and see. still most anticipated of the year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted September 28, 2013 Author Member Share Posted September 28, 2013 I posted this article a while ago and it's been confirmed that Donnie will have a fight scene with Collin. And I also know for a fact that there will be more than three major action scenes, since Zhang Hanyu is also included in Yen's face-off list. It has now been officially confirmed that Donnie Yen, among other action scenes (including a big gang fight inside a nightclub), will have fight scenes with Andy On, Zhang Hanyu (playing an assassin specializing in firearms), Ken Lo AND Collin Chou. Source: http://translate.google.se/translate?hl=sv&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chinanews.com%2Fyl%2F2013%2F09-13%2F5282998.shtml (Rough translation) http://www.chinanews.com/yl/2013/09-13/5282998.shtml (Original) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Ramji Posted October 1, 2013 Member Share Posted October 1, 2013 Sorry DiP, was waiting for you to post this up. But it never came! Twitch posted this on Sunday. Don't watch if you don't want spoilers. What does everyone think?? http://twitchfilm.com/2013/09/watch-donnie-yen-kick-some-serious-ass-in-special-id-clip.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted October 1, 2013 Author Member Share Posted October 1, 2013 It has already been posted though via youtube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Ramji Posted October 1, 2013 Member Share Posted October 1, 2013 Ahh ok, my bad. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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