Did you know? Far out stories from Martial Arts Cinema

[kokuryuha]

I wanted to start a new topic on events that took place or was rumored to have happened in Martial Arts cinema during the past and present.Bear in mind that what is mentioned can be found on the internet from interviews or from actual books/magazines,If one is willing to do the research.If I have the source available on hand I will post it.I encourage others to join in even if it's something some of us already know because all that does is give credence to what was mentioned. 

 

Let me begin by posting one of my favorite stories that had me laughing out loud  because it was definitely true.This particular tale took place during the filming of The movie milestone,Wheels on Meals aka Spartan X (1984) Directed and Choreographed by "The Fatty Dragon" Himself Sammo Hung.It happened during the shooting of what Sammo 'til this day says "it's his best fight he ever filmed" between the daredevil supremo Jacky Chan vs Erstwhile Kickboxing Champ known the world over...Benny "The Jet" Urquidez.(To all you Jet Li fans,Benny had that name years before he stole it!)

 

Anyways,During the shoot Benny roughed Jacky up a little bit(I don't think it was intended)And Jacky felt that it was deliberate and felt like he should save face and challenged Benny to a real match.Benny undaunted merely said:"Sure thing.Better make sure you train first!" Big Brother Sammo was within earshot when this was said and privately took Jacky aside and showed him footage from Benny's heyday when he reigned supreme on the Kickboxing circuit and had a notorious "Open door challenge" to  anybody 24/7 

 

After seeing what Benny was capable of,and probably listening to some good advice from Sammo,Jacky went back and rescinded his challenge to Benny.This just goes to show you that as physically talented as Jacky was( and in his prime I might add) He realized his folly and knew that he'd get creamed by someone of Benny's pedigree.Peking Opera training does not qualify as formal combat martial art training and neither does sport wushu.But they have the excellent foundation to learn it and gives practitioners wicked timing and reflexes as well as weapons proficiency which is why we have some of the onscreen legends that we do today.

 

Jacky or Jet Li fans might argue.."But they would've given him a good fight though"..In response Let me quote Bruce Lee from Enter the Dragon:"Don't waste yourself "?

Edited October 9, 2015 by kokuryuha

[kokuryuha]

 Did you know...That when filming The way of the dragon,Bruce Lee had originally  intended for his grand finale fight at the Roman Colosseum to be with karate champ Joe Lewis before he picked Chuck Norris? Joe Lewis was an infamous karateka in his heyday and Bruce had initially picked him to duke it out with,But Joe Lewis declined saying that "Bruce was aiming to show the oriental's superiority to the caucasian by casting him as a big,strong,muscular,blue eyed, blonde haired,All american punching bag"

 

Bruce Lee himself countered that the problem was finding western martial artists capable with the speed to fight him convincingly.Furthermore,Bruce said he chose Chuck Norris in the end because he was one of the few martial artists fast enough.He also added that"He couldn't keep fighting midgets"(referencing men his height or shorter)

 

Joe Lewis obviously felt that the power of the stronger and heavier occidental martial artist would prevail over the speed of the lighter oriental martial artist and pressed his point by saying"Bruce knew he was asking me to get involved with a movie which I get my butt kicked by a little 128 pound chinese guy who had never been in the ring."Bruce Lee's Mother Grace Lee had actually confirmed that what Joe Lewis said mirrored what Bruce had said to her: "Mom I'm an oriental person therefore I must defeat all whites."

 

I pondered upon all this and wondered if it had something partially to do with how Hollywood gave Bruce the shaft with the Kung fu series which he was obviously the better choice over David Carradine or was he still trying to obliterate the stereotype of the "Sick men of Asia" towards the chinese?

Anyway,like Levar Burton used to say at the end of an episode on Reading Rainbow..."I'll see you next time!!"

Edited October 6, 2015 by kokuryuha

[DragonClaws]

That's true, Lee also got Norris to put on weight because he felt it would make him appear more intimidating. Norris was actually lighter before filming and was in much better shape than when he appeared onscreen.

 

 

[kokuryuha]

That's true, Lee also got Norris to put on weight because he felt it would make him appear more intimidating. Norris was actually lighter before filming and was in much better shape than when he appeared onscreen.

 

 

Thanks,for that extra info D.C. I didn't know that part.Hope I can count on you and others with knowledge to donate to any post to add any good tidbits to the topic at hand.

[DragonClaws]

Thanks,for that extra info D.C. I didn't know that part.Hope I can count on you and others with knowledge to donate to any post to add any good tidbits to the topic at hand.

 

No problem.

 

I seem to recall reading that Urquidez had some padding under shirt and Chan didn't for their Wheels On Meal fight?. Could be a story Ive mixed up from another film so don't quote me on that one. It would be interesting to know if Benny stiffed Chan for real or hit him too hard by accident. Despite his film work he was a real fighter and must have been more used to following through. Whilst Chan had spent years perfecting his on screen fighting and the ability to throw a good punch without harming anyone. They clearly got on well enough for Chan and Co to re-hire him for Dragon Forever. Both equally talented men for different reasons. 

Edited October 7, 2015 by DragonClaws

[kokuryuha]

Did you know...Bobby Samuels was persistent in his refusal for Sammo to go ahead with the black face gags in Don't Give a Damn, but Sammo claimed he was forced to do these scenes due to Taiwanese investors  , although you have to wonder how far they would have gone with the literally black humour if Jackie was in the film (since having a very big star like him would ensure that they wouldn't need to resort to cheap commercialism). Don't forget that the American black demographic helped keep the popularity of Kung Fu movies alive. Given the commercial intentions, having Jackie in the film would have meant it would be a case of less pander (no racist jokes to cater to Taiwan) and less slander (no criticism from the politically correct).

 

Which reminds me, Don't Give a Damn was meant to have Jackie playing the role that Biao ended up playing, whereas Biao would've played the role that would eventually go to Takeshi Kaneshiro. Unfortunately, Jackie was too busy working on Rumble in the Bronx.  

 

In an ideal world, there would have been a finale where the three brothers take on three blacks  Peter Cunningham, Carl Scott and Bobby Samuels before having a three-on-one showdown with Michael Woods.  Pitting Hung against Woods was certainly a missed opportunity of heavyweight action if there ever was one.  

 

How's that for show business and politics for you????

 

 

 

[kokuryuha]

Did you know...An amusing coincidence concerning the connection between the stars of American Ninja is that Steve was was in the first film of Tom Hanks (He Knows You're Alone) in an early sequence where he and his on-screen girlfriend are questioned by a detective about a murder. Similarly, prior to doing American Ninja, Michael Dudikoff was in Bachelor Party.  

 

The relevance here being that after the success of Police Story, Jackie Chan was due to make Singapore Sling with Tom Hanks. It was going to be another action comedy but it fell through due to their various work commitments. Singapore Sling was due to be made around '87 (the same year as when Police Story played at a New York film festival and received subsequent international success).

 

Steve James had this to say about Jackie Chan...

 

“I don't like getting beat up much in films but Jackie could beat me up anytime. My first influence was Bruce Lee, then I saw Jackie afterwards and it was entirely different. When people ask me who I think is the best action star, I don't say Stallone, I don't say Schwarzenegger, I say Jackie. He's my influence, I learn from him; that's why I'm here.”  

 

R.I.P. Steve...We miss you dearly.✌?

[kokuryuha]

Did you know...Mitchell Kapner's script for Romeo Must Die had been on the studio's project shelf for nearly a decade. Originally, it was conceived to feature a Caucasian star (Sly Stallone was attached to it at one point) and the story involved an Italian mob war against members of Japan's Yakuza. The change to Chinese Triads and African-American gangsters was due to Warner's market research that indicated that Li mostly appeared to an urban audience hence his team-up with R&B sensation Aaliyah along with the insertion of hip-hop music thus creating the hip-hop/martial arts genre.

 

In the original ending of Romeo Must Die, Jet and Aaliyah kissed rather than hugged but it was cut. It wasn't due to the controversy of it being an inter-racial kiss or in keeping in line with Jet's past screen image, but due to the awkwardness of this taking place after his father's suicide; thus it was decided that Han (Jet's character) should take it slowly with Trish (Aaliyah's character) i.e. do a hug first and maybe leading into a real relationship later (a sequel)

 

I personally think that they were afraid to go the next step both because of differences not just in their race but the considerable age difference between Jet and Aaliyah but what do I know? (The hug seemed more awkward and strained to me than anything)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[kokuryuha]

Did you know...The final fight scene between Jackie and Hwang in Snake in the Eagle's Shadow is cut. Prior to the excised segment, Hwang's character tells Jackie that he will have his teeth and jumps up in the air and hits him in the mouth. After that, the shot goes from Jackie's clothes being intact to them being torn and his body scratched before adopting the cat claw technique. There has to be an uncut Taiwanese version available because an American Kung Fu movie fan remembered seeing a much longer fight when it premiered in the U.S. back in '82.

 

Also I've been trying to locate either an original english dubbed version of Snake in the eagle's shadow either on VHS or DVD with the western composition of the music playing in the opening when Jackie is doing his Snake style form along with the uncut footage of the cat fighing with the snake where Jacky gets inspired to invent the "Cat's Claw style" and it's next to impossible!

 

[DragonClaws]

Did you know...The final fight scene between Jackie and Hwang in Snake in the Eagle's Shadow is cut. Prior to the excised segment, Hwang's character tells Jackie that he will have his teeth and jumps up in the air and hits him in the mouth. After that, the shot goes from Jackie's clothes being intact to them being torn and his body scratched before adopting the cat claw technique. There has to be an uncut Taiwanese version available because an American Kung Fu movie fan remembered seeing a much longer fight when it premiered in the U.S. back in '82.

 

Also I've been trying to locate either an original english dubbed version of Snake in the eagle's shadow either on VHS or DVD with the western composition of the music playing in the opening when Jackie is doing his Snake style form along with the uncut footage of the cat fighing with the snake where Jacky gets inspired to invent the "Cat's Claw style" and it's next to impossible!

 

You should be able to find the Uncut snake/cat fight on some DVD copy's because that scene was only reduced for U.K editions by the BBFC. I'm not sure which versions feature the other deleted scenes that were not cut by film censors.

[kokuryuha]

 

You should be able to find the Uncut snake/cat fight on some DVD copy's because that scene was only reduced for U.K editions by the BBFC. I'm not sure which versions feature the other deleted scenes that were not cut by film censors.

To find the original english dubbed language(not the re-recorded english dubbed one which is atrocious)with the scene intact with snake and cat fighting as well as the funky western remix of the music playing while Jackie demonstrates his snake form in the intro   is a hard task nowadays D.C. trust me.They're not as widespread as they were back in the 80's.And the missing footage that I mentioned in the Taiwanese cut? That's like a quest for the holy graile.

[kokuryuha]

 

Did you know...Early in his career, while filming a fight scene in 1978’s Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, a stuntman slashed Chan by using a sword with a sharpened edge instead of a blunted one. From that point on, Jackie preferred to work with stunt opponents he knew and trusted. What’s more, insurance companies—particularly in America—would not cover Jackie or his stunt opponents.

 

So Jackie formed his own stunt team, known as “Sing Gar Pan” or “Jackie Chan’s Stuntmen Association,” which pays members good rates and handles their insurance. Many of the original members had met Jackie in boarding school or in his early years in the film industry.

 

The team usually choreographs Jackie’s fight scenes and has screen credits as Action or Assistant Action Director in at least 28 of Jackie’s films. While filming, they work, train, and live together. They communicate during fight scenes with grunts.

 

 

In 2012, Guinness awarded Jackie the record for the most film credits in one movie. In his filmChinese Zodiac, he wore 15 hats as writer, director, lead actor, producer, executive producer, cinematographer, art director, unit production manager, stunt coordinator, prop man, gaffer, stuntman, composer, theme song vocalist, and even catering coordinator.

 

He was also awarded the record for the most career stunts by any living stuntman. No one—including Guinness—seemed to have counted his number of stunts, but with more than 100 films and easily a dozen stunts in each film, the number is probably nearly 1,000.

 

+The Eye-Popping 21-Story Slide

 

 

Jackie was once asked which of his stunts terrified him the most. Jackie responded: “Actually, every stunt, I’m terrified.” One stunt, however, turned his blood cold—it took two weeks for him to work up the nerve to do it.

 

In the climax of the otherwise forgettable movie Who Am I?, Jackie has a fight scene atop the Willemswerf Building in Rotterdam, Holland. The front facade of the Willemswerf building features a slanted profile that travels from the roof to the fourth or fifth floor at a 45-degree angle.

 

Jackie slides down a total of 21 stories. Not satisfied with sliding just on his posterior, he tumbles and even stands up and walks down it before falling forward and sliding head-first. This scene makes nearly every list for the most insane—and best—stunt ever filmed.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2015 by kokuryuha

[DragonClaws]

It was Hwang Jang Lee's student and part time actor Roy Horan who accidentally slashed Jackies arm with the sword. He plays the part of the priest in Snake In The Eagles Shadow.

 

Chan had a fear of horses which he had to over come when he made High Noon. He's mentioned in interviews about how it took a long time to overcome his phobia.

[kokuryuha]

Did you know...Despite Jet Li's legendary mastery of the martial arts, he was criticized because of his historically inaccurate cinematic fighting. An issue of Hong Kong Film Connection mentioned this:

"Jet Li had now played three of the most prominent characters in Kung Fu history - Wong Fei-Hung, Hung Hsi-Kwan and Fong Sai-Yuk. All three were Hung Gar stylists. Not once has Jet Li used Hung Gar in any of his performances. Hung Hsi Kwan was famous for his skill with the staff. In The New Legend of Shaolin, Jet Li's take on Hung Hsi Kwan, he fights with a spear. Hung Gar is famous for low stances, iron forearms and the Tiger & Crane fists. Jet Li used high kicks, no animal forms and the "no shadow kick" which was a true movement but was instead performed as a stunt using wires to carry him. Completely inappropriate and totally inaccurate.”  

 

Did you know...Sonny Chiba was initially meant to play Whang Inn-Sik's role in The Way of the Dragon but Sonny didn't want to be Bruce's punching bag (likewise with Joe Lewis in correlation to the role played by Chuck Norris). However, Sonny still wanted to make films with Bruce and the latter agreed that the film wouldn't be enough for Sonny to shine. Also, Bruce figured that the film wouldn't fare too well in Japan if Bruce had beat one of their idols. In retrospect, Sonny actually wrote an article where he was very forthcoming in regretting passing up the chance to work with Bruce.

 

Hope these revelations were as good for you as they were for me.Especially about Sonny and Bruce.Sonny Chiba was the Pit Bull to Bruce Lee's Alley Cat. What a fight that would've been...(Sigh)?

 

[DragonClaws]

Did you know...Despite Jet Li's legendary mastery of the martial arts, he was criticized because of his historically inaccurate cinematic fighting. An issue of Hong Kong Film Connection mentioned this:

"Jet Li had now played three of the most prominent characters in Kung Fu history - Wong Fei-Hung, Hung Hsi-Kwan and Fong Sai-Yuk. All three were Hung Gar stylists. Not once has Jet Li used Hung Gar in any of his performances. Hung Hsi Kwan was famous for his skill with the staff. In The New Legend of Shaolin, Jet Li's take on Hung Hsi Kwan, he fights with a spear. Hung Gar is famous for low stances, iron forearms and the Tiger & Crane fists. Jet Li used high kicks, no animal forms and the "no shadow kick" which was a true movement but was instead performed as a stunt using wires to carry him. Completely inappropriate and totally inaccurate.”  

 

Did you know...Sonny Chiba was initially meant to play Whang Inn-Sik's role in The Way of the Dragon but Sonny didn't want to be Bruce's punching bag (likewise with Joe Lewis in correlation to the role played by Chuck Norris). However, Sonny still wanted to make films with Bruce and the latter agreed that the film wouldn't be enough for Sonny to shine. Also, Bruce figured that the film wouldn't fare too well in Japan if Bruce had beat one of their idols. In retrospect, Sonny actually wrote an article where he was very forthcoming in regretting passing up the chance to work with Bruce.

 

Hope these revelations were as good for you as they were for me.Especially about Sonny and Bruce.Sonny Chiba was the Pit Bull to Bruce Lee's Alley Cat. What a fight that would've been...(Sigh)?

 

I did hear that Chiba actually planned to work with Lee on a film project, but Lee's passing stopped this happening. Before his death the HK press announced that Lee was developing another project called The Golden Needles Of Ecstasy, with George Lazenby and Sonny Chiba in the cast. This film had no connection to G.O.D and was to be part of Lazenby's deal with Golden Harvest to make multiple pictures with them. You have to remember there was a lot stuff planned at that time. Lee also had time reserved for a Shaws project after G.O.D. How things would have panned out after the box office success of ETD who knows. All these ideas came about before his international fame.

 

 

[AlbertV]

That movie that Lee, Chiba, and Lazenby were supposed to have worked on together would eventually be the film Stoner, with Lazenby and Angela Mao. Then of course, Golden Harvest did make Golden Needles with Joe Don Baker and Jim Kelly.

 

Edited October 12, 2015 by AlbertV

[DragonClaws]

That movie that Lee, Chiba, and Lazenby were supposed to have worked on together would eventually be the film Stoner, with Lazenby and Angela Mao. Then of course, Golden Harvest did make Golden Needles with Joe Don Baker and Jim Kelly.

 

I think WB were actually going to co-produce this one originally? or it might have been The Man From Hong Kong. It was one of the films Lazenby ended up appearing in anyway. Sonny Chiba & WB's both pulled out of the project after Lee's death, causing Golden Harvest to reduce the films budget by a large amount. Imagine what the film would have looked like with the original cast and a larger budget.

[kokuryuha]

Did you know..Jeff Pruitt (the action director of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) had some interesting things to say concerning the production of Operation Condor...

 

“On Armour of God 2, one of my stunt guys was fighting with Jackie. He said that when Jackie's stunt double fell off the chain and got hurt, they took the guy away and Jackie laid down and rubbed dirt on his face. Then the ever present behind-the-scenes camera moved in and shot Jackie pretending to be hurt. I sat in Stanley Tong's office and talked for hours with him one day on that very subject matter. This is why Stanley Tong did the jump between the buildings himself in Rumble in the Bronx and had Jackie stick his face out, and wave at the cameras after the stunt. It's not Jackie doesn't do stunts. It's just that the show would have to shut down if he was seriously injured and it's become too expensive for that. So this is how most of the dangerous stunts are done.”  

Jeff also had this to say concerning the sequel...

 

"On Armour of God 2, one of my buddies (Ken Goodman in a fake beard) is fighting Jackie in the underground set. When Jackie's stunt double falls from the chain and gets hurt (which you see in the end credits) he said they scooped him up and took him to the doctor and then replaced him with Jackie himself on the ground. Jackie rubbed dirt on his face and then the behind-the-scenes film camera moved in to record him being "tended to" by worried crew guys.”  

 

What is almost unknown about the project are the injuries that occurred on the set. Chan kept these elements quiet, going so far as to fake injuries (such as the aforementioned fall from the chain in the outtakes). Sadly, one of the stuntmen lost his life while filming the elaborate car chase (the stuntman holding the hose in the warehouse).  

 

So even though Jackie has done the Lion's share of his own stunts,this is proof that even a daredevil of Jackie's calibre needed a stunt double even at his physical pique.He shouldn't have taken credit for someone else's stunt where they where injured though.?

 

[kokuryuha]

Did you know...You will not find too much in the way of love scenes in the Venoms films because the Venoms fan base was full of women as they were seen to be matinee/pin-up poster idols as much as heroic/action figure icons. Much like how Jackie had dealt with two suicidal female fans (when hearing about his marriage to Brigitte Lin Chin-hsia's sister Joan Lin Feng-jiao), there were stories about women killing themselves out of infatuation with the Venoms.

 

For example, in Two Champions of Shaolin, Lo Mang has a love interest in the form of Yeung Jing-Jing, so taking the suicides into consideration, another woman in the form of Candy Wen Xue-Er was brought in - her character is bad and is hired to assassinate Mang's wife on their wedding day. Yeung was the only woman to marry a Venom on screen. So just as how Jackie has a procedure about not mentioning his love life in interviews, the Venoms also had to abide by a strict policy put forth by the Shaws.

 

Talk about fatal attraction huh? ?

 

 

[Hei Meigui]

Did you know...Mitchell Kapner's script for Romeo Must Die had been on the studio's project shelf for nearly a decade. Originally, it was conceived to feature a Caucasian star (Sly Stallone was attached to it at one point) and the story involved an Italian mob war against members of Japan's Yakuza. The change to Chinese Triads and African-American gangsters was due to Warner's market research that indicated that Li mostly appeared to an urban audience hence his team-up with R&B sensation Aaliyah along with the insertion of hip-hop music thus creating the hip-hop/martial arts genre.

 

In the original ending of Romeo Must Die, Jet and Aaliyah kissed rather than hugged but it was cut. It wasn't due to the controversy of it being an inter-racial kiss or in keeping in line with Jet's past screen image, but due to the awkwardness of this taking place after his father's suicide; thus it was decided that Han (Jet's character) should take it slowly with Trish (Aaliyah's character) i.e. do a hug first and maybe leading into a real relationship later (a sequel)

 

I personally think that they were afraid to go the next step both because of differences not just in their race but the considerable age difference between Jet and Aaliyah but what do I know? (The hug seemed more awkward and strained to me than anything)

 

I had always heard and read about the Race issue being the main factor. Especially at that time in LA especially there were openly hostile relations between the African American communities and the various Asian Communities living in the area. This was not long after there had been major instances of violent encounters with Blacks and Asians so I can see why this didn't test well.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR2007052402573.html

 

[kokuryuha]

I had always heard and read about the Race issue being the main factor. Especially at that time in LA especially there were openly hostile relations between the African American communities and the various Asian Communities living in the area. This was not long after there had been major instances of violent encounters with Blacks and Asians so I can see why this didn't test well.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR2007052402573.html

 

No offense Hei,but I still think that for them to use strained racial relations between blacks and asians whether in L.A. or any part of the United States is a poor excuse not to show an interaction of an Asian man and a Black woman in a romance that involved a kissing scene.If it was that messed among them then why show the movie at all?

 

The movie itself depicted violence amongst blacks and asians so that actually sounds worse than a romance because the violent content encourages violence amongst the two races.That screening that supposedly didn't test well was just a way to sugarcoat what they really felt like.

 

What's the point of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr leading the movement against that way of thinking and dying for that same cause if that mentality still prevails to this day.If more integration amongst different races isn't promoted more on screen,then that barrier will never be crossed and we as people can't say that "We have come a long way" If we revert to that segregated way of thinking again.

 

It was because of movies like the milestone "Guess Who's coming to Dinner"(1967) That paved the wall for breaking down those barriers and it was shown during a time when interracial relationships between blacks and whites were a taboo subject and segregation was still fresh in people's minds despite the efforts of people like Martin Luther King.Yet if a daring move to show that romance is universal thing where race shouldn't be an issue wasn't taken then we wouldn't have the free reign we have now to explore the reality of love between different cultures,races,etc.

It's just a shame that in fear of not making the money one desires,the race card is played to cater to ignorance in order to accrue the financial benefits instead of utilizing the freedom to portray romance between the east and the west(of a darker shade) 

 

Yet it's funny how they don't have a problem showing a white guy and an asian chick get it on though.Check out Christopher Lambert and Joan Chen in The Hunted(1995)

And Then check out another one of my favorite movies of all time One night stand(1997) With Wesley Snipes and Ming Na Wen. That's how it should be done!

 

 

 

[Hei Meigui]

No offense Hei,but I still think that for them to use strained racial relations between blacks and asians whether in L.A. or any part of the United States is a poor excuse not to show an interaction of an Asian man and a Black woman in a romance that involved a kissing scene.If it was that messed among them then why show the movie at all?

 

The movie itself depicted violence amongst blacks and asians so that actually sounds worse than a romance because the violent content encourages violence amongst the two races.That screening that supposedly didn't test well was just a way to sugarcoat what they really felt like.

 

What's the point of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr leading the movement against that way of thinking and dying for that same cause if that mentality still prevails to this day.If more integration amongst different races isn't promoted more on screen,then that barrier will never be crossed and we as people can't say that "We have come a long way" If we revert to that segregated way of thinking again.

 

It was because of movies like the milestone "Guess Who's coming to Dinner"(1967) That paved the wall for breaking down those barriers and it was shown during a time when interracial relationships between blacks and whites were a taboo subject and segregation was still fresh in people's minds despite the efforts of people like Martin Luther King.Yet if a daring move to show that romance is universal thing where race shouldn't be an issue wasn't taken then we wouldn't have the free reign we have now to explore the reality of love between different cultures,races,etc.

It's just a shame that in fear of not making the money one desires,the race card is played to cater to ignorance in order to accrue the financial benefits instead of utilizing the freedom to portray romance between the east and the west(of a darker shade) 

 

Yet it's funny how they don't have a problem showing a white guy and an asian chick get it on though.Check out Christopher Lambert and Joan Chen in The Hunted(1995)

And Then check out another one of my favorite movies of all time One night stand(1997) With Wesley Snipes and Ming Na Wen. That's how it should be done!

 

 

 

 

I had written a response to this that got accidentally deleted which is probably a good thing because the issue of race is still a hot button topic.It has always been okay to portray inter racial violence, but taboo to show positive interracial relationships unless they are between the dominant culture and a minority culture but that is still and issue with Hollywood. This is all except for situations where black women are concerned. It is still extremely rare to see depictions of Black women with any other race and there is usually a high level of backlash especially from the Black community. There is a strong double standard from Black men dating women of other races and Black women being "traitors" to their race. I can tell you that in the Black community us black women get more backlash in interracial relationships than black men do, and this is even from black men. It is especially downplayed the instances where there are prominent people in the media who are White with Black women as spouses. It's not really shown much that people like George Lucas, Chris Noth, Bill DiBlasio, Robert DiNiro, and Roger Ebert have Black wives. It is also not necessarily talked about the type of racial backlash they get.

I'm going to not go into this further as this is not the place for me to teach my Institutional Racism Class!!

You can see in my thread about how Asian Stars are treated how race plays a part of their portrayal or lack thereof.

Did you know...You will not find too much in the way of love scenes in the Venoms films because the Venoms fan base was full of women as they were seen to be matinee/pin-up poster idols as much as heroic/action figure icons. Much like how Jackie had dealt with two suicidal female fans (when hearing about his marriage to Brigitte Lin Chin-hsia's sister Joan Lin Feng-jiao), there were stories about women killing themselves out of infatuation with the Venoms.

 

For example, in Two Champions of Shaolin, Lo Mang has a love interest in the form of Yeung Jing-Jing, so taking the suicides into consideration, another woman in the form of Candy Wen Xue-Er was brought in - her character is bad and is hired to assassinate Mang's wife on their wedding day. Yeung was the only woman to marry a Venom on screen. So just as how Jackie has a procedure about not mentioning his love life in interviews, the Venoms also had to abide by a strict policy put forth by the Shaws.

 

Talk about fatal attraction huh? ?

 

 

There is also some additional information about Chang Cheh and his love of brotherhood and honer almost men and being heroes!

http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/chang/#5

I know that I have also read that he also wanted to stay away from some of the romance and comedy that was taking over in the films at the time.

 

It is crazy the phenomenon about having to hide the fact that they are married. I know this has been a big thing even in modern Asian cinema and how the actors have had to apologize for hiding it when the fans find out!!

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Regional/2014/10/12/Why-stars-hide-their-marriage-Asian-stars-do-it-to-maintain-appeal-but-Singapore-celebrities-buck-th/

 

 

So this leads to another did you know (but about a modern Asian Cinema star)!!

 

Andy Lau had a fan become obsessed with him, she forced her parents to sell everything to have her meet him and after she met him she was angry he didn't give her enough attention. Her father was so upset he wrote Andy a letter about it and then killed himself. Andy had to have therapy for this and has still had lasting effects even though this happened in 2007

http://www.jaynestars.com/news/andy-laus-crazy-fan-yang-lijuan-regrets-fathers-death/

Here is the long story of it

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20070416_1.htm

 

 

Edited October 15, 2015 by Hei Meigui

[kokuryuha]

Did you know..There was a project that was being developed for both Jackie Chan and Wesley Snipes. It was titled Confucius Brown. They were to play long-lost brothers, but it never came into fruition as Jackie had problems with the script. Jackie's schedule and Wesley's ended up getting crossed up, so it never happened. Wesley jokes that it was reborn as Rush Hour. Despite the unofficial resurrection of the project, it was heard by Jackie that Confucius Brown would be back on track with Michelle Yeoh playing the role of Wesley's sister.  

I don't know about y'all but I'm looking forward to seeing that collaboration!?

 

 

 

[kokuryuha]

Did you know..Lau Kar-Leung worked as technical advisor on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3. Along with Bruce Le and David Lai (who was the director of Operation Scorpio and associate producer of The Transporter). Also, Ho Sung-Pak (2nd main villain of Drunken Master 2) was a turtles double - playing Raphael.  When Lau first came on the set, none of the Western crew members had any clue as to who he was and were fairly dismissive as to his overall importance to the project until he gave an impressive display of swordplay.

 

Good ole'"Pops" had to show those young'uns that there were no flies on him nor were there any martial artist alive that could ever question his significance or cramp his style.A kowtow to you Sifu Lau Kar Leung...Miss you dearly??

Edited October 23, 2015 by kokuryuha

[kokuryuha]

Did you know...In regards to Rush Hour, Eddie Murphy was offered Chris Tucker's role but Murphy didn't want to be Chan's "sidekick".Murphy instead opted to make Holy Man, which was a huge disappointment at the box office. He had stated that it was a decision he does not regret, citing the bigger paycheck from Holy Man.  

 

However, he seems to have shown much resentment in the fact that Chan's film was bigger since Bowfinger contained contempt towards Jackie (as well as containing a finale which the director was said to have been inspired by the ninja movies of Godfrey Ho).

It makes you wonder about the price of ego in comparison to the price of the payoff for casting for it aside for the  greater good.I'm still glad things turned out the way they did.