Battle Creek Brawl (aka The Big Brawl) (1980)

[Josh Baker]

46 minutes ago, SpartainX said:

I read his awful book on his life and his dissing on Jackie Chan. Saying he can't sing, he's not a real Martial Artist and he went on about him having a bodyguard on set with him.

Why did golden harvest think this was a good director to pair Jackie with? It beggars belief

[SpartainX]

Just now, Josh Baker said:

Why did golden harvest think this was a good director to pair Jackie with? It beggars belief

I ask that question even from this day on why they believed   he was the one to help break Jackie into the American market???  the man doesn't have much great flims under his belt, he made it clear he wasnt into making a Jackie Chan flim but only a James Glickenhaus flim with Jackie Chan  to turn him into a Chinese Clint Eastwood.    

[Markgway]

Golden Harvest had TERRIBLE taste and business sense outside Asia. 

They got lucky with The Cannonball Run (thanks to an in-vogue Burt Reynolds, speeding cars, and an odd line-up of guest stars) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (a smoking hot property with tremendous youth appeal). Most everything else they did was either rubbish or a giant belly flop... usually both. 

Even the Cannonball movies, as successful as they were, are piss poor, really. 

And a sure-fire franchise like Ninja Turtles was ruined by a pair of naff sequels (I like the original a lot). 

Honestly, how these guys stayed in business is a miracle... 

[Josh Baker]

3 hours ago, Markgway said:

Golden Harvest had TERRIBLE taste and business sense outside Asia. 

They got lucky with The Cannonball Run (thanks to an in-vogue Burt Reynolds, speeding cars, and an odd line-up of guest stars) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (a smoking hot property with tremendous youth appeal). Most everything else they did was either rubbish or a giant belly flop... usually both. 

Even the Cannonball movies, as successful as they were, are piss poor, really. 

And a sure-fire franchise like Ninja Turtles was ruined by a pair of naff sequels (I like the original a lot). 

Honestly, how these guys stayed in business is a miracle... 

Yeah I mean their decision making, especially in terms of promoting their domestic talent like Jackie Chan, was completely boneheaded. Whose bright idea was it to pair Jackie Chan with JAMES GLICKENHAUS for the Protector? You couldn't pick a more inappropriate director for Jackie Chan than that, what were they thinking...

[SpartainX]

On September 10. 1980.

Jackie Chan

made his Hollywood debut in his first starting role in Battle Creek Brawl 40 years  ago.

 

 

[ShawAngela]

I watched Battle creek brawl for the first time yesterday, and I loved it !

I laughed a lot at some funny moves during the fights, but it seemed to me that the movie wasn't complete with this ending ! It's even not shown how Jackie's brother finally "gets" his real fiancée !

Mako and jackie paired very well, but Mako should have had more real fights too in this movie.

[Cognoscente]

John Irvin would have been a better director for The Protector on the strength of Dogs of War and what he later did with Arnie for Raw Deal. Back to The Big Brawl, I found out how much Jackie got paid for it - US$ 1 million! You can buy a fridge magnet advertising the movie, hence the second image. The last two images are advance theatre door panels.

[drees5761]

Some behind the scenes pics.....very enjoyable film, with great soundtrack...

[DrNgor]

On 6/15/2021 at 9:56 AM, Cognoscente said:

Back to The Big Brawl, I found out how much Jackie got paid for it - US$ 1 million!

That's actually pretty astonishing, considering it was 1980 and Chan was untested in Hollywood. 

https://www.insider.com/lowest-ever-earning-roles-hollywood-actors-celebrities

[Cognoscente]

To be fair, Jackie made a lot of money in the East. Think back to why Warner Brothers were willing to bankroll Enter the Dragon in 1972 - they knew that they could easily make their money back in Asia.

[Cognoscente]

I wonder what Frankie Chan thought of the movie.

It's short-sighted that no-one over at Warner Brothers thought of filming behind-the-scenes footage like they did for Enter the Dragon. Even the Clouse remake of Game of Death got to have its own featurette.

[Josh Baker]

5 hours ago, Cognoscente said:

I wonder what Frankie Chan thought of the movie.

It's short-sighted that no-one over at Warner Brothers thought of filming behind-the-scenes footage like they did for Enter the Dragon. Even the Clouse remake of Game of Death got to have its own featurette.

Still haven't seen the GOD featurette! Do you know where I can find it?

[Josh Baker]

How good was Jackie's english by this point? I know from his bio that he was sent to America to learn English by osmosis and in a lot of the behind the scenes pics that have been shown here he seems to be communicating to American crew members.

[dionbrother]

Jackie lived in Australia in the early 70s and likely spoke it better than he pretends.  I think having limited English was a defense mechanism. 

[Cognoscente]

I've only seen the small amount of footage that was featured in The Legend.

As for Jackie, he reminds me of Bolo in that Bolo downplayed his English to avoid being pestered by Western fans.

Edited June 18, 2021 by Cognoscente

[Josh Baker]

7 hours ago, dionbrother said:

Jackie lived in Australia in the early 70s and likely spoke it better than he pretends.  I think having limited English was a defense mechanism. 

Yes I can believe that- hes just like his character from Rush Hour in that respect!

[Josh Baker]

7 hours ago, Cognoscente said:

I've only seen the small amount of footage that was featured in The Legend.

As for Jackie, he reminds me of Bolo in that Bolo downplayed his English to avoid being pestered by Western fans.

Same here, I've only seen the Legend footage. 

[Cognoscente]

5 minutes ago, Josh Baker said:

Yes I can believe that- he's just like his character from Rush Hour in that respect!

It reminds me of that scene in the original Karate Kid where Daniel pretends that Ali is Miyagi's translator for the tournament.

Playing dumb about speaking a language is an effective strategy because it allows you to eavesdrop on people who think that you can't understand what they're saying when they're talking about you or someone else.