Jet Li to retire from Action movies
12-06-05, 11:24 PM
#1
Jet Li to retire from Action movies
Source
Jet Li Says 'Fearless' Is His Last Martial Arts Film
SHANGHAI, China (Dec. 6) - Jet Li says the upcoming movie "Fearless," the story of Chinese martial arts pioneer Huo Yuanjia, will be his last martial arts film.
The 42-year-old actor told students at Fudan University that he wants to make more philosophical, family oriented movies, the Youth Daily newspaper reported Monday.
Li said he started taking a greater interest in spiritual matters in his mid-30s, when he realized "it wasn't enough to have a strong body, you had to have a strong soul."
A practicing Buddhist, Li said he now divides his time between charity work and show business.
He said future projects could include another collaboration with French filmmaker Luc Besson, who wrote Li's 2001 hit, "Kiss of the Dragon."
However, Li added, he has been in talks with more than 20 Hollywood productions and will "shoot whichever one comes to fruition first."
Li's screen credits also include roles in "Lethal Weapon 4," "Romeo Must Die" and "Cradle 2 the Grave."
12/06/05 10:59 EST
Jet Li Says 'Fearless' Is His Last Martial Arts Film
SHANGHAI, China (Dec. 6) - Jet Li says the upcoming movie "Fearless," the story of Chinese martial arts pioneer Huo Yuanjia, will be his last martial arts film.
The 42-year-old actor told students at Fudan University that he wants to make more philosophical, family oriented movies, the Youth Daily newspaper reported Monday.
Li said he started taking a greater interest in spiritual matters in his mid-30s, when he realized "it wasn't enough to have a strong body, you had to have a strong soul."
A practicing Buddhist, Li said he now divides his time between charity work and show business.
He said future projects could include another collaboration with French filmmaker Luc Besson, who wrote Li's 2001 hit, "Kiss of the Dragon."
However, Li added, he has been in talks with more than 20 Hollywood productions and will "shoot whichever one comes to fruition first."
Li's screen credits also include roles in "Lethal Weapon 4," "Romeo Must Die" and "Cradle 2 the Grave."
12/06/05 10:59 EST
12-06-05, 11:52 PM
#2
Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: SF, CA
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Interesting. My dad doesn't really like the style Li and Chan do martial arts. He's a Bruce Lee fan. But he's happy that there has been a bunch of king fu movies lately so he doesn't have to go to SF's chinatown to see it.
12-07-05, 12:42 AM
#3
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Does he really have the acting chops to handle a non-action movie? I still haven't seen Unleashed so I'm not sure how he was in that movie, but I just can't picture him being a big draw outside the Kung Fu genre.
12-07-05, 02:08 AM
#5
Banned
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: UNITED STATES!
Posts: 2,533
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Lame-O. he'll be lucky to find any projects in Hollywood in the future if this is the case. Why the heck would anyone want to work with Jet Li on non-action movies? He's in his young 40's and probably has a good 4-6 years of action movies left in him. He should do them while he can. If he's concerned about limiting himself then he should pursue more diverse projects ON TOP of action movies, not instead of them. It's like saying Jackie Chan retires from action comedies or Arnold stops making action movies. Puhlease.
12-07-05, 08:57 AM
#6
Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Toronto, ON Canada
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Jet Li had actually clarified this somewhat recently. What he meant to say is that this will be the last martial art combat film he makes that focuses strictly on fighting; he *WILL* continue doing action and wuxia films.
12-07-05, 09:05 AM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Illinois
Posts: 783
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
After trying to watch HERO, I'm glad he came to that conclusion. That movie was so boring I only watched the first half. Unleashed was just ok. He was good in LW 4, but that really wasn't a very big role. The One is still my favorite of his movies.
12-07-05, 11:25 AM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 499
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
He's in his young 40's and probably has a good 4-6 years of action movies left in him. He should do them while he can.
12-07-05, 05:02 PM
#9
Originally Posted by lmwong1977
Interesting. My dad doesn't really like the style Li and Chan do martial arts. He's a Bruce Lee fan. But he's happy that there has been a bunch of king fu movies lately so he doesn't have to go to SF's chinatown to see it.
What does your dad think of Tony Jaa's films? Not since Bruce Lee have I really, really liked a martial arts film. Has he seen Tom Yum Goong yet? I picked up the VCD in SF chinatown last week. It was awesome.
As for Jet quitting---I seriously doubt.
12-11-05, 06:17 PM
#12
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: The Archives, Indiana
Posts: 1,758
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Dumbest shit in the world. I know I want to run out and see Jet Li in a lighthearted comedy or taking a dramatic role Tom Hanks turns down.....not.
12-13-05, 12:55 PM
#14
DVD Talk Legend
Between this and Jackie Chan wanting to do non-action dramatic roles I don't know what the world is coming too. Oh well, at least we have that little guy from Ong Bak.
12-13-05, 09:57 PM
#16
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Somewhere out there... YES THERE!!!
Posts: 7,936
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I mean really, Jackie Chan is a much better actor and speaks better english yet he still has to do fighting in his movies. He can't run from it, he won't get roles unless he does fighting
02-04-06, 10:42 AM
#18
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by glassdragon
I mean really, Jackie Chan is a much better actor and speaks better english yet he still has to do fighting in his movies. He can't run from it, he won't get roles unless he does fighting
The trailer for Fearless (which looks great, btw) has the comments "The final martial arts epic from Jet Li" in it's opening. I guess it just means no more Once Upon a Time in China or Fearless type movies and more shitfests like Cradle 2 the Grave and Romeo Must Die. I was never a big Li fan, but OUaTiC, Hero, and a few others were quite good.
It is a shame though, if Sammo Hung can still put himself out there and do some pretty good stunt/Martial arts work (SPL (2005, Hung was like 250lbs and 53 years old)) then so can Li.
Last edited by RichC2; 02-04-06 at 10:44 AM.
02-04-06, 12:35 PM
#19
DVD Talk Legend
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: NYC
Posts: 17,015
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by RichC2
I was never a big Li fan, but OUaTiC, Hero, and a few others were quite good.
The R1 DVD doesn't even compare.
02-04-06, 09:52 PM
#20
DVD Talk Hero
It's not that he's quiting action films. It's more that he wants to do films that, although featuring action, deal with more than him kicking ass. I believe Hero and Danny The Dog (Unleashed) are good examples of what he's going for. At least that's what I understood when I first read about this in his website.
02-06-06, 01:38 PM
#21
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Originally Posted by Cancer Man
Nobody gets genuinely old until they hit the age of 58 or 65. Jet Li is only 42 and he looks fit enough to do action roles well into his 60s. Pierce Brosnan was in his early 50s when he did Die Another Day, plus Klint Eastwood and Sean Connery could still do action roles when they hit old age.
02-06-06, 03:28 PM
#22
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Originally Posted by Cancer Man
Nobody gets genuinely old until they hit the age of 58 or 65. Jet Li is only 42 and he looks fit enough to do action roles well into his 60s. Pierce Brosnan was in his early 50s when he did Die Another Day, plus Klint Eastwood and Sean Connery could still do action roles when they hit old age.
