Who is better? I have heard them compared to as the Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly of martial arts. What’s your opinion?
I have always been a Jackie Chan Fan since forever; the stunts are wonderful, his humor is fantastic and his co-stars are terrific. His movies are great fun to watch and no way would I consider them a guilty pleasure. I love
the action in Who Am I [especially the roof top fight scene and the slide down the building], SuperCop [with his wonderful female co-star] and, of course, Rush Hour with
you-know-who. Shanghai Noon [Chan as Chong Wang ha!] is not as good as my favorites although it is miles beyond better than that disaster Wild, Wild West. The wonderful part of Jackie Chan is that he does all his stunts himself without
computer graphs or supports. Unfortunately his age is showing in Shanghai Noon.
Now to Jet Li: I just saw Romeo Must Die and I thoroughly enjoyed the film. The fights was graceful as well as stunning and sometimes humorous. Aaliya [sp?] was really much better than I thought she would be. The vague reference to Shakespeare’s play was the intringue that pulled me [plus my 12 year old son’s constant harangue]. The fights were wonderful, but used smoke and mirrors [computer graphics and wires] unlike Jackie Chan. And I was putoff a bit by some of the racist name-calling that flew thru the movie.
[I must admit to a weakness for Delroy Lindo who plays Isaac O’Day in Romeo Must Die. Sigh, he continues to be so masculine, sexy, strong, a good actor who can leave his shoes under my bed anytime.]
While Jet Li is entertaining to watch, he can’t compare to Jackie Chan’s artistry and humor. If only Jackie would work with Delroy Lindo… I might never leave the movie theater.
You’ve struck upon the fundamental difference between them: Jackie Chan is funnier (Buster Keaton is one of his idols, and he loves physical comedy in general) and has an utter disregard for his own safety. Jet Li, by contrast, is more acrobatic; his martial arts moves look more impressive on screen.
Which is “better” depends on what you like: spiffy martial arts or a funny guy nearly getting himself killed. I like both, but I prefer Chan the Man.
As for Jackie’s age showing: heck, he’s about 46 or 47 years old now. It’s a miracle he can still move at all, the way he does some of those stunts. Worst injury he’s had: he was hit by a helicopter’s landing strut and fell out of a tree. So cut the guy some slack, eh? heheh…
Jackie Chan: Suicidal stunts and humor… Best films: HK:Police Story 2 and 3(SuperCop)
Jet Li: Wushu and a healthy dose of Wire-Fu Best films: HK:Black Mask and Fist Of Legend
Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges. Their styles are so different and their career paths are so different. As a matter of fact, if it weren’t for Jackie, we wouldn’t have Jet Li or Chow Yun-fat doing American movies.
Jet Li’s scary. I heard on a movie documentary-thingy that during the filming of “Lethal Weapon 4”, the cameramen had to tell him to slow down, since his moves were so fast that the camera couldn’t pick them up. Movies go at… what… 33 frames per second? That’s pretty f-ing quick.
Jackie Chan, however, is a better physical actor and makes some of the best facial expressions, t’boot.
Bruce Lee had the same problem. They filmed a lot of his fight scenes at high speed so they could slow it down and make it possible to follow the moves onscreen.
My vote between the two goes to Jackie Chan (remember when he spelled it “Jacky”?), though I take nothing from Jet Li. They are both great entertainers. Though I tip the hat to Li for resurrecting the cheesy 1950s chop socky movies with wires and superhuman tricks and modernizing them.
But if Bruce Lee were still alive, I honestly believe he would still be on the cutting edge and making the best movies out there. He would be turning 60 this year though, so I figure he’d be directing rather than acting.
My vote goes to Jackie Chan as well. I, for one, enjoyed Shanghai Noon. I didn’t much care for “Rush Hour”, but I think that’s 'cause I found Chris Tucker to be one of the most annoying humans on the planet. Jackie is always a lot of fun and he comes across as extremely charming and likable.
I do like Jet Li. The only thing I can remember seeing him in was Leathal Weapon 4 where he was the best thing in the movie.
I would have to say Jet Li (against all the other opinions)
I believe if you are comparing only the movies which are released in Hollywood, there would be a certain degree of bias. Try watching all the other HK movies that Jet Li has done. You’ll find him unbelievably humourous too, very versatile, and an extremely talented actor. He has a more honest and down to earth personality as well. Keeping a low profile is also one of the reasons why he hasn’t had any negative news…compared to…hehe…not that I am “that” gullible to news…but u never know…
But I agree…maybe I myself is too biased as well…
oh well…
I love Jackie Chan, but I think Jet Li will be a bigger star in the U.S. He has an aura of danger, a better command of english, and is better looking. He’s got ‘action star’ written all over him.
It’s gotta be Jet. The one thing advantage most of you give Jackie is his humor- but look at Jet! He hardly speaks english! You notice, in Romeo Must Die, all the really emotional scenes are in cantonese. Jet can act, and, as (^(oo)^) said, he’s funny in them. Plus, in terms of actual Kung Fu, he could beat Jackie any day of the week (more importantly, he could beat a 30 year old Jackie.)
And, for all those Jet fans out there, he’s gonna be in Matrix 2!!!
I have never seen any Jet Li films, though this thread has convinced me that I must. However, I do think that Jackie Chan’s appeal is that he’s charming. Bruce Lee was good in martial arts, but he wasn’t very likable. I’d far rather watch Jackie Chan.
Given that spectrum in likability between Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, where does Jet Li fall?
He’s much closer to Jackie, though for different reasons.
Watch The Black Mask for a good example of Jet Li in action. He’s a bit more sophisticated and understated in his humor and likeability, but still a lot more fun than Bruce Lee was. Also he can actually act reasonably well.
It’s very hard to compare the two. Once you get past the “They’re both movie stars from Hong Kong,” there are major differences…
Jackie Chan’s training goes back to serious Chinese opera (don’t think “Placido Domingo” – think "Chinese acrobats like the ones that get on Cirque De Soleil) and he is a very accomplished martial arts master. Jackie has worked hard to break out of the Bruce Lee mold, and he’s done it through humor, being the funny guy.
Jet Li, on the other hand, is known as a “wire fu” guy. “Wire fu” is kung fu with HEAVY use of invisible wires that gives the illusion of pulling, yanking, flying, soaring, leaping, etc. so it’s much more “special effects” whereas Jackie’s fights are real (albeit highly choreographed). His fight at the end of Drunken_Master_II is a good example of long shots of him performing incredible martial arts stunts on his own, without the benefit of wires or film cuts.
Having said that, keep in mind that Jet Li is a full 11 years younger than Jackie Chan. Jackie himself has admitted he’s getting old, and doesn’t want to keep doing the really hard-action movies that take a lot out of him. He’s starting to work with a partner (think Rush Hour, Shanghai Noon) so he doesn’t have to do all the action. Jet Li on the other hand, is just starting to test his waters in the US and is still in his 30s. If anything, Jet Li will be able to walk down a path that was made for him by other Asian stars such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, who paved the way for Asian males to be able to see their names on the marquee.
As an Asian female, I have to admit it’s really refreshing seeing such men like Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Chow Yun Fat “make it” in Hollywood.
To me, the distinction between Jet and Jackie would be:
Jet is really talented in martial arts. What he can do in movies is really limited and doesn’t show his full talent (as someone else mentioned about the frames etc), although i’m sure we’ll all be able to see his true talents if he is given more opportunities and freedom in his movies.
Jacky, i’d say he is not as “professional” as Jet in martial arts, but he is a wonder-man. He’d do any stunt, anyday, anywhere, irregardless of the dangers involved. That is why he has had so many injuries in all his years of making movies - which somehow do not seem to deter him from being more careful to his physical body.
So, the difference is: we’re watching someone perform professional martial arts as opposed to watching someone perform incredible + dangerous stunts.
And since we’re talking about HK actors, i’d like to comment about Baglady’s point: you said you found it really refreshing to see such men like Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Chow Yun Fat “make it” in Hollywood. What do you think about these actors:
Tony Leung: just got his best actor at Cannes
Andy Lau: supposedly under negotiations to enter Hollywood.
Stephen Chow: already in the process of making movies / producing in Hollywood.
Maggie Cheung: has had several opportunites to work in Hollywood.
These are all “big” stars in hk, but do you think they’ll eventually reach up to Jackie’s, Jet’s, or Chow’s status?
Jackie is old, but Jet Li is no baby himself. He turned 39 this year. Which sucks, because I figured he was in his early 30s and was looking forward to many more years of watching him in “action”.
