Who was the greatest Hong Kong stuntman?

[Brucemee]

So I got Eureka!'s three Sammo Hung movie collection the other day, watched Eastern Condors this morning (it's never looked better, thanks Eureka!) & was, of course, impressed by some of the amazing action. The stunt that stood out the most for me was the one where Sammo's character jumps off a cliff, drops 30 or 40 feet or so & lands in the back of a moving truck, all, basically in one wide shot. In his commentary Frank Djeng credited Chin Kar Lok with doing that stunt, that got me thinking about all the insanely dangerous stunts I've seen in classic Hong Kong movies & the gutsy guys who did them. But which of those many stuntmen would deserve to be called the best? Here's my top five (have to admit I don't know enough about these guys including their names to come up with even a proper top 10 list!) list:

#5 Jackie Chan; from the start I' m not sure where guys should rank. Jackie made Hong Kong stunts famous world wide & , of course, has done some mind boggling stunts himself (probably the stuff he did in the first 2 Police Story movies alone earns him a high ranking for me) but, honestly, he loses points a little for me because he hasn't always given his own stunt guys the credit they deserve for doubling for him (partially, I think, because New Line Cinema promoted him [very successfully, I might add] as the movie star who "does all his own stunts", how would he admit otherwise without coming off as somehow fake?).

#4 Ridley Tsui; I probably haven't seen enough of his work to rank him this high, but I remember Ridley from a movie called Final Run & the documentary Red Trousers. The clips of him falling off a bridge, barely landing on top of a truck, bouncing off onto another vehicle, then to the ground, & the insane shot of him on a motorcycle getting plowed into by a fast moving car earn him a place in my book.

#3 Yuen Biao; because he basically doubled every star who ever worked for Golden Harvest, right? Initially I wondered if he should be thought of, perhaps, as more of an acrobatic double than as an all purpose stuntman but then I remember his amazing flip off a burning two story building down to the ground in one wide shot in Millionaires'Express & I had to change my mind (I was also impressed with a couple stunts in Eastern Condors, including one where he & few other people are thrown from an overturning cart being pulled by a runaway water buffalo, in slo mo, & , again, a wide, take a good look, kind of shot).

#2 Mars; he's done so many crazy things it's hard to remember them all, but his fall (falls?) from the clock tower in Project A & his fall in the final fight scene in Dragon Lord from the loft onto the barn floor immediately come to mind for me. Also, guys like him, Jackie, Yuen Biao,  & Yuen Wah deserve points for the longevity of their stunt careers in Hong: those guys where doing stunts in Enter The Dragon with Bruce Lee & 20 plus years later they were still throwing theirselves around on screen!

#1 Chin Kar Lok; there were reasons Sammo Hung & Jackie Chan employed him so often: Chin Kar Lok could & would do anything! It's certainly debatable whether he should rank above someone like Mars but, in my view, Chin Kar Lok was awesome not only at taking falls, or doing insane stunts like the aforementioned one in Eastern Condors, but he was great at all kinds of martial arts moves, too (doubling for Jackie for that awesome twisting aerial kick in Dragons Forever's climatic fight with Benny Urquidez, for instance), whereas as Mars didn't appear to be as talented a martial artist, from what I've seen.

 

And a couple honorary mentions: Stanley Tong; he did that amazing jump between buildings, off the roof, down a floor, onto the balcony in Rumble In The Bronx, that alone earns him some kind of place here for me. And how about Conan Lee? Sure, he never reached the heights he had the potential for in Hong Kong Movies, but that one stunt gone wrong in, what was it, Tiger On Beat 2, where he jumped off the bridge, grabbed for the lamp post, didn't quite get a solid grip, spun off & fell a couple storys to the pavement where he landed on his back (& yes, all in one wide, uncut shot) earns him some points just for guts alone! I suppose it was typical Hong Kong fashion to have taken zero safety precautions!

Please share your own favorites, I'm sure I'm missing some guys who deserve to be  remembered with much respect. If you don't mind please mention at least one of their stunts that impressed you the most & the title of the movie it was in so those who aren't familiar with it can look it up, thanks!

[One Armed Boxer]

Great post! While not as prolific as any of the guys you mention, I have to throw Tsui Siu-Ming's name into the mix. He's an all-round talent (acting, directing, writing, choreographing, producing - you name it!), however the movie that singularly warrants his name being in this discussion is 1987's 'Mirage'. He pulls off at least a handful of insane stunts in this one, but the showstopper sees him behind the wheel of an open top jeep, which he proceeds to drive off the top of a cliff (not just any cliff, the truly epic massive type of cliff) at full speed having lost control of the brakes, only to be yanked out of it mid-air by a rope tied around his waist and left dangling on the sheer rock face. It's one of those scenes which I just never get bored of watching, and no matter how many times I see it, my jaw is left on the floor every time.

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

48 minutes ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Great post! While not as prolific as any of the guys you mention, I have to throw Tsui Siu-Ming's name into the mix. He's an all-round talent (acting, directing, writing, choreographing, producing - you name it!), however the movie that singularly warrants his name being in this discussion is 1987's 'Mirage'. He pulls off at least a handful of insane stunts in this one, but the showstopper sees him behind the wheel of an open top jeep, which he proceeds to drive off the top of a cliff (not just any cliff, the truly epic massive type of cliff) at full speed having lost control of the brakes, only to be yanked out of it mid-air by a rope tied around his waist and left dangling on the sheer face. It's one of those scenes which I just never get bored of watching, and no matter how many times I see it, my jaw is left on the floor every time.

Yep, that is insane stuff, plus the fire stunt which seems to go on for way too long.

Personally, I gotta go with Chin Kar Lok. As mentioned, does crazy falls, hard hits, fire stuff, dangerous vehicular feats, great fight reactions and subs in for tricky kicks. A classic all-rounder.

[Brucemee]

On 3/26/2023 at 9:54 PM, One Armed Boxer said:

Great post! While not as prolific as any of the guys you mention, I have to throw Tsui Siu-Ming's name into the mix. He's an all-round talent (acting, directing, writing, choreographing, producing - you name it!), however the movie that singularly warrants his name being in this discussion is 1987's 'Mirage'. He pulls off at least a handful of insane stunts in this one, but the showstopper sees him behind the wheel of an open top jeep, which he proceeds to drive off the top of a cliff (not just any cliff, the truly epic massive type of cliff) at full speed having lost control of the brakes, only to be yanked out of it mid-air by a rope tied around his waist and left dangling on the sheer rock face. It's one of those scenes which I just never get bored of watching, and no matter how many times I see it, my jaw is left on the floor every time.

Thanks, I'd never heard of Mirage before but I've found a watchable copy of it (minus subtitles) on Youtube, I'll definitely check it out.