Do you think Martial Art movies will make a revival in Hollywood?

007Fusion007Fusion Posts: 3,657
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I miss the movies of the 90's, with the elaborate scenes of frenetic hitting. I know the acting associated with these films weren't great but the genre itself had a place. The only film i can think of that will come close to showcasing what i would like to see, will be the Mortal Kombat film that should be coming out soon. But my question is; Can or will Martial Arts come back to mainstream Hollywood?

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  • JaiJaiJaiJai Posts: 541
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    No. You will have one off hits like The Raid and Crouching Tiger every now and again (which was mainly due to word of mouth and positive critical reception) but I think it's dead in the water.

    Mortal Kombat may well be successful and relaunch the franchise but it won't do much for other martial arts movies.

    In Hong Kong/China of course they are thriving - I mean we have this year:

    - Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster
    - The new Police Story movie from Jackie Chan
    - Armour of God 3 (poor reception however)
    - Donnie Yen in Special ID & The Monkey King which looks amazing
    - Tom Yum Goong 2 - (Tony Jaa & Jeeja Yanin team for first time ever!)
    - Ip Man: The Final Fight (Anthony Wong as Ip Man)

    2014 is looking to be the year of Donnie Yen
    Wiki has the following coming out:
    - Iceman Cometh
    - Last of the Best
    - Ip Man 3
    - Crouching Tiger 2 (although I reckon this will moved to 2015)
    - The Raid 2


    And in 2015 - SPL 2 :eek: - looks like a prequel with Donnie, Sammo and Wu Jing returning but with Tony Jaa also. Are we going to see the dream fight between Yen & Jaa - please, please, please!
  • SexSex Posts: 44,161
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    are those the ones where the sound and visuals are out of sync?
  • Shak2005Shak2005 Posts: 656
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    Hollywood sucks nowadays when it comes to martial arts fight scenes in films.

    Hollywood just cant choreograph good martial arts fighting scenes. They use shakycam and the fights are very short and dull.The Expendables movies were very disappointing when it came to the fight scenes.

    Hong Kong cinema is still the best as they have the expert choreographers like Yuen Woo Ping and Corey Yuen.
  • degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    I think Hollywood now are more interested in the quick cut action from Bourne and Taken etc.
  • big brother 9big brother 9 Posts: 18,152
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    No. There srent even many martial arts stars now
  • YuffieYuffie Posts: 9,864
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    Not too bothered if they don't come back. My Van Damme box set will keep me going.
  • BrooklynBoyBrooklynBoy Posts: 10,595
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    I still go back to Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung.
  • CitizenofPhobosCitizenofPhobos Posts: 1,677
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    .....Theres no modern day Van Damme or Seagal to push the envelope for this genre (Jason Statham is just pure lol), in Asia you have new stars like Tony Jaa but considering his English is so bad you can't really market him in the west like they did for Bruce Lee etc.

    As mentioned already though there are so many good Martial Art films coming out of Asia that you don't even need Hollywood to produce their CGI crap.
  • Johnny ClayJohnny Clay Posts: 5,315
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    It may happen if Keanu Reeves' mega-budget 3D epic 47 Ronin proves popular.

    Been in production for ages (many -ahem - difficulties, as they say), but it opens Xmas day in US.

    Expect a trailer soon.
  • Johnny ClayJohnny Clay Posts: 5,315
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    Note: Have just seen trailer.

    Scrap above post. Ta.
  • 007Fusion007Fusion Posts: 3,657
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    Note: Have just seen trailer.

    Scrap above post. Ta.

    I've seen the trailer and its looks pretty good to me. Also, he's in another film called 'The Man of Tai Chi', which is a martial arts film that looks interesting.
  • jenziejenzie Posts: 20,821
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    not strictly cinema but .....

    a STREET FIGHTER tv series, in the style of HEROES!

    there's tons of characters, back stories up the wazoo, and there doesn't have to be wall to wall fighting in it either!
  • JenzenJenzen Posts: 7,364
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    Real lack of able martial artists with an ability to channel their energy and skill onto the lens at the moment. Tony Jaa is physically fantastic but no acting in between makes his films hard to watch when the kicking stops.

    Donnie Yen is ok but nowhere in the league of Jackie, Sammo, Yuen, Jet or Bruce Lee. I am really hoping some new stars pop up in Hong Kong sometime soon to fill that gap. There are a few actors around who are ok at martial arts and decent actors e.g. Daniel Wu or Hiroyuki Sanada, but not quite there yet.
  • brangdonbrangdon Posts: 14,089
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    I thought it had had a revival, with Crouching Tiger, Hero, even The Matrix, and a few others. At that time they seemed to be exploiting the potential of putting the actors on wires and then erasing the wires digitally. Now we've seen had enough of that technique that it no longer seems amazing, and in fact their flagrant dismissal of physics is off-putting to a western audience. Any genre can be revived if someone comes up with a good script, but I don't think that sort of thing will be an audience draw in itself. They'd need to find a new take on it.
  • Evertonian5Evertonian5 Posts: 64
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    I'm surprised Donnie Yen hasn't broken into Hollywood, he was good in Ip Man and speaks good English as he lived in the States for a few years.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 288
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    I'm not sure who made them (probably not Hollywood) but Undisputed 2 and 3 are as good as any of the old tournament style fighting films. Especially the third one where Yuri Boyka is the main star this time. The first film is good too but it's just about boxing in that one.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 288
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    Blood and Bone's also good with Michael Jai White.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 91
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    no, martial arts films wont make a comeback in hollywood although it doesnt really matter, the best martial arts films never come from hollywood anyway
  • JaiJaiJaiJai Posts: 541
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    Jenzen wrote: »
    Real lack of able martial artists with an ability to channel their energy and skill onto the lens at the moment. Tony Jaa is physically fantastic but no acting in between makes his films hard to watch when the kicking stops.

    Donnie Yen is ok but nowhere in the league of Jackie, Sammo, Yuen, Jet or Bruce Lee. I am really hoping some new stars pop up in Hong Kong sometime soon to fill that gap. There are a few actors around who are ok at martial arts and decent actors e.g. Daniel Wu or Hiroyuki Sanada, but not quite there yet.

    Donnie Yen has paid his dues is probably only behind Andy Lau in terms of being the top star in the (HK) industry at the moment.

    In my opinion he easily can stand side by side with Bruce, Jackie, Sammo, Yuen, Jet etc.

    God knows who the next martial arts star will be - a lot are fantastic artists but lack the charm and charisma of the above to really pull in the customers.
  • JaiJaiJaiJai Posts: 541
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    Blood and Bone's also good with Michael Jai White.

    I love this movie - I can quote lines all day.

    James is probably the coolest bad guy I've seen in a long time.
  • JenzenJenzen Posts: 7,364
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    JaiJai wrote: »
    Donnie Yen has paid his dues is probably only behind Andy Lau in terms of being the top star in the (HK) industry at the moment.

    In my opinion he easily can stand side by side with Bruce, Jackie, Sammo, Yuen, Jet etc.

    God knows who the next martial arts star will be - a lot are fantastic artists but lack the charm and charisma of the above to really pull in the customers.


    Donnie is not in the same league as the others you mentioned, but is the best of the rest in terms of ability and acting, but that is also due to Jet Li opting to not do many MA films anymore. Donnie just lacks charisma and acting ability IMO. If he is the best around now, that's a bit of a depressing thought and further testiment to the state of MA films in general. I would much rather watch Jet or Jackie in a film still despite their age. I don't dislike Donnie really as I said he is good at what he does, I just really miss the glory days of HK MA cinema :(
  • degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    I think I first saw Donnie Yen in Ip Man and the role suited him as for the most part the character was reserved and understated.
  • JenzenJenzen Posts: 7,364
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    degsyhufc wrote: »
    I think I first saw Donnie Yen in Ip Man and the role suited him as for the most part the character was reserved and understated.

    Yes his best film to date I think :)

    Has anyone seen Chocolate with Jeeja Yanin? Dire movie but really impressive MA wise. I was wondering if she will have a better career than Jaa, but apparently has semi-retired from film making to focus on her family. She is the only really impressive female MA star for a long time that I can think of.
  • degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    I thought it was a very good film.

    Her next though wasn't that great
  • grimtales1grimtales1 Posts: 46,685
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    JaiJai wrote: »
    No. You will have one off hits like The Raid and Crouching Tiger every now and again (which was mainly due to word of mouth and positive critical reception) but I think it's dead in the water.

    Mortal Kombat may well be successful and relaunch the franchise but it won't do much for other martial arts movies.

    In Hong Kong/China of course they are thriving - I mean we have this year:

    - Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster
    - The new Police Story movie from Jackie Chan
    - Armour of God 3 (poor reception however)
    - Donnie Yen in Special ID & The Monkey King which looks amazing
    - Tom Yum Goong 2 - (Tony Jaa & Jeeja Yanin team for first time ever!)
    - Ip Man: The Final Fight (Anthony Wong as Ip Man)

    2014 is looking to be the year of Donnie Yen
    Wiki has the following coming out:
    - Iceman Cometh
    - Last of the Best
    - Ip Man 3
    - Crouching Tiger 2 (although I reckon this will moved to 2015)
    - The Raid 2


    And in 2015 - SPL 2 :eek: - looks like a prequel with Donnie, Sammo and Wu Jing returning but with Tony Jaa also. Are we going to see the dream fight between Yen & Jaa - please, please, please!

    Another Police Story? Didnt Jackie already make a New Police Story a few years ago? :)
    Ip Man 3 could be good - wonder if this will have someone playing Bruce in it :)
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