B4Bishop

Jet and Jackie are getting old, and they won't be able to do what they do for much longer... and arguably they haven't done GREAT work, (I liked KOD and RH is o.k.) CYF is good, he hasn't completely broken into Hollywood even though he'd do better in action movies than Tom what his name. So who's next? And what could they bring to the table that the others haven't? Do top name directers need to get ahold of these guys, Steven S., James C. Ridley S. someone.?

Discuss.

Krug

I think it'll be Donnie Yuen. He'll be making an appearance in Blade II.

Yellow Hammer

Mikey Wong

B4Bishop

I don't know. I think Donnie is still too stoic. He doesn't have any charisma. Granted I haven't seen all of his films. Am I wrong? Also, what do the people that you are sugesting bring to the table? Looks? Skills? Acting ability? Charisma? What?

princessducky

I think it would be great to get Nicholas Tse in one these American movie.

I mean he is cute and he has that attitude.

constantine

Francis Ng. He may not be a master of kung fu, or move like lightning, or fire two guns at the same time while coolly smoking a cigarette, but he is one of the best actors out there right now.

Crazy Aoshi

I hope it's Cecilia Cheung...but I don't know how good her English is. I remember in Para Para Sakura, her Japanese sounded kinda bad...

Klotera

Didn't she go to school in Australia? I think I remember hearing that she did. In that case, she probably speaks decent english.

Nonetheless, as much as I'd like her to be the next breakthrough - I doubt she will be.

To be honest - if Zhang Ziyi got her english skills improved, she would easily be the number one shoe-in. After Crouching Tiger and then getting a major role in Rush Hour 2, she is a household name here.

I'd like to see Nic Tse or Daniel Wu breakthrough into American cinema. They both obviously have everything going for them: the looks, the fluent english, the acting ability, and some martial arts background (although neither is another Jet Li in the MA category). If a U.S. studio is smart enough to cast them in the right role, they could really go places... its just up to someone to do so.

sexygal910

I read somewhere that Andy Lau is breaking into the U.S. film industry. I don't know if that's true, but I'll be one of the first groupies to hang around his hotel.

Player1327

i remember a while back stephen chow was thinkin about heading to america. if miramax could save shaolin soccer (or should i saw kung fu soccer) he'd have a better chance.

i wouldn't mind seeing some more asian beauties like cecilia cheung (get well soon) in american either. btw, i heard cecilia is a quarter caucasian... anyone else hear that?

Trigger

I think Hollywood tends to take a respected and accomplished and talented artist from Hong Kong and give him or her the worst projects to work on ever. Jackie Chan paid his dues and only started getting decent films due to his perserverence... He's made several runs at Hollywood over the span of his career and it wasn't until recently that any of his films saw success... We're talking about Canonball Run and some mess with Danny Aiello. Jet Li has plenty of movies left in him and I think he'll start getting good films if he remains persistant. The One and Kiss of the Dragon were about the same caliber as some of Arnold Swartzeneggar's weakest films. I think he'll get his chance to shine. I read they are releasing Para Para Sakura in the US which might give Aaron Kwok his shot if he desires to head this way. Chow Yun Fat was given some pitiful films before he started getting good roles. I can see Andy Lau getting to where CYF is if he desires.

Look at how shabby Hollywood treats Asian directors - Tsui Hark was given nothing but bad Van Damme films to direct even though he's considered by many to be the Spielberg of Hong Kong (personally I think he's way better than Spielberg). Hollywood just doesn't respect Hong Kong cinema yet. Studios take Hong Kong films and butcher them and give them stupid names in order to turn a quick exploitative buck. Shaolin Soccer might give Stephen Chow a break, but I doubt it. I think Stephen Chow should keep doing films in Hong Kong for awhile longer. I'd hate to see his talent wasted by having him force some broken english dialogue out. I especially don't think Hollywood recognizes or values Hong Kong cinema for anything more than Kung Fu films. I doubt they even know the difference between Kung Fu and Karate.

Personally, I think Marc Dacascos has a good chance at becoming the next martial arts star given the success of Brotherhood of the Wolf. He's from Hawaii, but he can pull off Asian, Indian and even Hispanic. Plus, he's very charismatic (whether you like him or not), he's very talented at martial arts, and he's a fairly decent actor. Perhaps he's too much of a pretty boy, but otherwise he'd be a safe bet.

As for Asians, I guess I would like to see them all stay in Hong Kong making films (or Japan or Korea) because in Hollywood they would be essentially treated as 3rd string actors or directors when they're used to being treated as superstars in Hong Kong. I know what you're asking though and I guess my answer to your question would have to be Chiu Man Cheuk who starred in The Blade and Once Upon a Time in China 4 and 5. He's very raw and lacks the charisma that comes with experience and confidence, but he has alot of potential and is very talented. If The Blade came out 5 years later than it did, it might have made it over to the US to play in theaters in the same capacity that Brotherhood of the Wolf has been playing I think. I see him as a diamond in the rough. Other potential candidates would be Aaron Kwok, Sammi Cheng, Cecilia Cheung, Tony Leung, or Andy Lau. Another factor is "can they speak english?" and I'd suggest Daniel Wu (Purple Storm) or Michael Wong (Lost and Found).

jtkv

Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung can speak perfectly good English...
the question is, does Hollywood have the foresight to bring these amazing actors over?


J.T.

B4Bishop

I think that if Hollywood would to a high budget remake of, dare I say, Enter the Dragon, with Jet as the star and then incorporate other Asian stars and because you'd have ROPER, John Saxon, role role to fill they can give that to the token, pretty, none kung fu fighting, white actor like Keanu to satisfy the going public. And in the Jim Kelly role you can have a black actor like Snipes. But a film like this would get a lot of press and people would actually go see it! Here you have Drama, Kung Fu, and the token white actor so red necks will see the flick. You could even subtitle some of it. This would satify all parties and give some other Asian stars a shot


Cecilia Cheung = the agent that Jet meets on the isle.
Sonny Chiba = Head of the isle.
Steven Seagal = O'Hara
Zhang Ziyi = Jet's sister who is murdered by O'Hara (Could be a good fight sequence here)
Van Damme = Roper?
Wesley Snipes = Jim Kelley's character.

Can't think of other roles as yet but you get the idea. I do think that James Camron should direct with maybe Tsui Hark co direct and both produce. Something like that!

ipkevin

"Sean" Lau Ching Wan (Big Bullet, La Brassiere, Full Alert). As noted in Variety, he has "the look". Moreover, he has genuine acting talent and screen presence unlike some of HK's manufactured pretty boys.

He even made an English-language movie with Krycek from the X-Files. No idea if he was any good in it, though!

But as someone else mentioned, I almost wish they would stay in Hong Kong as that's where they're best.

B4Bishop

Staying in Hong Kong? I see what you guys are saying. But the only problem that I have with HK movies, Action ones anyway, is that they don't have Hollywood dollars or the Hollywood editing skills. Don't yell at me and no, not all hollywood movies have great editing. But I think that HK movies need that extra cash boost for SPX and overall cinematography. IMHO.

Trigger

It's not the cash that they lack - true they don't spend as much money on a film, but that's only cuz Hollywood bloats the budget with lunches and trailers and overpaid actors and just basic greasy pocketing of the funds. Films shouldn't even cost over 100 million bucks to make no matter what it is. Hong Kong films don't spend money like rockstars, they just spend what is necessary. Hong Kong films may be lacking in the time department as they don't spend quite as much time making pictures there as they do in Hollywood. I'm sure that if their film industry was bringing in bigger box office takes, they would probably still only spend about 1 - 20 million on a film rather than 20 - 200 Million. They can really stretch a dollar over there when it comes to this stuff. That's the charm really. There's already a place that makes big budget hollywood movies - it's called Hollywood.

B4Bishop

O.k. Trigger good points, but what about the cinematography, or the overall look of the film? What about the editing? Can you recommend an HK action movie that blends SFX and editing veryu well. I have on order Full Time Killer and thinking about Avenging Fist.

gabegarwick

You may want to take a look at either of these reviews if you're looking for SFX...

Legend of Zu
The Storm Riders

Cheers,
Gabe

B4Bishop

Agree. I have both films in my library. The SFX are very good, but by no means, as far as I know, the norm. I just think production wise, hollywood has'em beat and would like to see a high caliber directer get a hold of some of these great asian actors and a great script and make a great movie. Not this VanDamn, Romeo must die stuff. Give me a Radiers of the Lost Ark caliber movie, or a Star Wars, or a anything but the standard "Hey here's a asian guy that acan kick real high" stuff.

Trigger

Sorry I never came back to this thread... Just noticed it. Not really a special effects film, but The Blade directed by Tsui Hark has some really slick editing and camerawork. You can pick it up on VCD rather cheap. Wong Kar Wai films also have a very distinct style as far as editing and cinematography are concerned. Typically they are semi-confusing sweeping arthouse dramas with various backdrops, but most people seem to either love Wong Kar Wai or hate him. I'm in neither category, I just kinda like his stuff. Fulltime Killer is a decent flick. I really enjoyed Time and Tide (Tsui Hark) and I think that's got some of what you might be looking for. Tokyo Raiders is also rather enjoyable and has a very slick look. There's films like Born Wild that have excellent editing and teriffic cinematograhpy, but may not be your taste. I mean - they are good at editing a film in HK, it's just that they have their own ways of doing it. I personally like they way they do it and I don't think that they do it wrong because they do it differently than they do in hollywood, but I think they are just as skilled. Korean cinema has Hong Kong style movies with Hollywood style special effects, scope, and editing. Give Shiri a try or Bichunmoo... I can suggest a bunch of really good Korean dramas if you like.

nemein

I think you are thinking about Lunch w/ Charles http://us.imdb.com/Title?0267694 However, I can't confirm that it is Krycek w/ him. It kind of looks like him and both of the other male actors in the credits on IMDB have been in X-Files eps before. However, it seems the actor who plays Krycek is unlisted on the guest star page (atleast I couldn't find him). Anyway, LwC was a decent movie, not one of my favorites from LCW. Overall I agree though, he's a very talented and versitile actor, and I'd love to see him "break into" HW.

B4Bishop

Do get me wrong, I don't think that all movies should look like Hollywood, believe me, Hollywood puts out 90% crap! However, a B grade movie has a certain look.