My Favorite Jackie Chan Fight Scenes

Jackie Chan's 2011 - Shaolin Temple

 One of my favorite (martial arts) film actor is the one and only Jackie Chan.  He is also one of the most gifted fight coreographer and cinematographer.  His techniques are mostly intutitive but his instincts are dead-on for capturing the best out of any fight scenes that he's involved with.  I am so glad that I already have most of his films either on DVDs or on softcopy in my hard disks, because as he grows old - Jackie is more and more dependent on using wire works, special effects and (gasp!) stunt doubles.  As we keep hearing that Jackie is more and more interested in dramatic roles and films (say it isn't so, Jackie!), I will always treasure the films that he has made in the past, great fighting scenes that are often humorous and almost always incredible and as a tribute to the great Jackie Chan, here is my 10 favorite Jackie Chan's Fight Scenes.

10.  Gorgeous (1999) vs Brad Allan (Bradley James Allan).

Jackie & Brad Allan - Double Body Punch


I think this fight scene is one of the most overlooked gems in Jackie Chan's illustrious career.  To be honest, the film Gorgeous itself is a slow, mushy, HK romantic film in which Jackie spends most of his time woo-ing and romancing Shu-Qi, leaving only the one fight scene where Jackie and Brad Allan goes head to head.  The fight is a long long wait for Jackie's martial arts flicks fans, but it is worth it.  Brad Allan, an Australian martial artist and stuntman - and also the first ever non-asian member of the famed Sing-Ga-Ban stunt team in Hong Kong is Jackie's opponent in this one.  Jackie sure knows how to pick 'em: Brad's martial arts pedigree includes several years of Wu Shu, Aikido, Karate, Boxing and Kickboxing, along with gymnastics.  Martial art film fans should check out this great fight scene from Gorgeous.  There's one particular double spin kick move (probably by wire-fu) that Jackie pulled off that was just amazing.  Of particular interest in this film is that it also has the right kind of martial artist spirit, getting into fights without being vicious.

9.  Dragon Lord (1982) vs Wang In Shik, Korean Hapkido Master


Wang performing a double kick on Jackie

This film is a must have for true fans of Jackie Chan.  It will make you forget all these Hollywood nonsense that Jackie is now doing and truly appreciate the genious that is uniquely Jackie's.  The basic premise is young Jackie is smitten and tries to send a love letter with a kite to the girl of his dreams.  The kite got stuck on a roof of an old warehouse and while trying to retrieve it, Jackie stumbled into a gang of thugs who are planning to steal and smuggle out Chinese ancient artifacts.  The fight with Wang In Shik is funny and entertaining, with Jackie pulling off many unexpected moves - trying to counter Wang's Hapkido mastery.  Besides the grand finale fight, you will love the wild "Chinese Rugby" tournament and the crazy "Shuttlecock Football" tournament.  This film probably is one of Jackie's finest ever made in the first half of his career - creating the fighting comedy (with incredible stunts) genre all his own.

8.  Armour of God (1987) vs Evil Monks


Jackie vs the Amazon Black Female Monks

Unfortunately this film will always be famous as the film which almost claimed Jackie Chan's life.  Jackie fell off of a tree while shooting a scene and sustained serious head injuries requiring doctors to drill a hole on the side of his head.

As it is, the film came out in 1987, the same year as Project A part II which was a period piece, as a kind of tribute of the Hollywood's Indiana Jones series (which by this time has been covered by two films - Raider of the Lost Ark in 1981 and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984).
The final fight scenes come during a rescue operation mounted by Jackie the Asian Hawk, relic hunter and thief extraordinaire - and is cut into 2 segments: a fight with about 20 male monks which subsequently followed by a fight against 4 black female fighters.

In one interview, Jackie said that the fight in Armour of God was correographed so that Jackie would constantly fight all opponents at the same time, as opposed to the traditional beat 'em up films where a gang of people fight 1. Usually there's the illogical nature of the fight scene where the protagonist will fight the opponents one by one while the others stand around off camera.  Jackie perfected his "one-man-against-the-world" fighting style in this film, battling outward in a spiral while using circular kicks to keep the cassock-wearing combatants at a distance. His final fight against the black amazons is spectacular and original.

7.  Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978) vs Hwang Jang Lee


Jackie Chan vs Hwang Jang Lee in
(1978) Snake in the Eagle's Shadow

This film was directed by Yuen Woo Ping and was one of the films (along with Drunken Master which came out later but in the same calendar year) which catapulted Jackie Chan into prominence in the HK film industry.

Like Drunken Master, the final fight scene in "Snake" was also between Jackie Chan and Hwang Jang Lee.  I rated the Drunken Master fight higher than "Snake's" because the fight in "Snake" is highly stylized in the classical sense - Jackie doing the snake style (for most of the film), while Lee is doing the eagle claw style.  I prefer something different from the other highly stylized period martial arts films or even modern.  Here, Lee is forced to suppress his original art and it shows - there were a few brilliant Tae Kwan Do moves which he pulls off but then he has to go back to the eagle claw nonsense.

The two martial artists/actors pulled off a very dynamic and entertaining fight with 24 year old Jackie's athleticism pairing well with 34 year old Hwang Jang Lee's incredible skills.  At this point of his life, Hwang Jang Lee already achieved 7th Dan in Tae Kwan Do and was the martial arts instructor for the Korean Army and the South Vietnamese Army in the mid to late 60s.

6.  Dragons Forever (1988) vs Benny Urquidez

Jackie Tackles Benny The Jet yet again in Dragons Forever

Dragons Forever had a thrilling 'rematch' fight between Jackie Chan and Benny The Jet Urquidez.  The two had tangled 4 years earlier in the film Spartan X (aka Wheels on Meals) and created cinematic magic with that classic fight.

Dragons Forever reunited the two actors to create another classic cinema fight scene - as well as being the final film (to this date) where the famous Three Brothers (Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao) appeared together in the same film.   Sammo Hung directed Dragons Forever and the way the fight between Jackie and the Jet was coreographed was also beautiful.  The combatants began slowly, sizing up each other while they take off their shirts and circle warily, and then building tremendous momentum into a whirlwind of kicks and punches. Great fight.

5.  The Young Master (1980) vs Wang In Shik, Korean Hapkido Master


Jackie tangled with Master Wang Inn Sik in the Young Master

In this epic, extended battle, Jackie fights hapkido expert Wang In Shik. Master Inn Sik was very impressive with his martial arts, and was determined to show the audience the power and beauty of this Korean fighting style. As a result, Jackie shot the entire scene at a wide angle with relatively few cuts.

To finally defeat the master, Jackie throws out all of his traditional techniques, and just goes at him like a madman, flailing his arms and smashing into him with his head, his fists, and every other part of his body after taking a sip of the water from an opium bong!  He does win in the end, but at a price: the last scene of the movie shows him in a complete body cast, waving goodbye with his fingers.  Do catch this fight scene, it is awesome and hilarious at the same time.

4.  Drunken Master (1978) vs Hwang Jang Lee, Korean Tae Kwan Do master

Jackie (with rice wine) vs Hwang Jang Lee

My first Jackie Chan film was this gem, the Drunken Master, which I watched in a cinema in Semarang in the late 70s with my father and after that - I was hooked on Jackie Chan's films and never failed to catch a new one coming out in the cinemas.  Thank God my father was also a HK film junkie.  In the 70s and early 80s we always go to either Glodok Plaza or Hayam Wuruk Plaza to catch a HK flick.

The final fight is between Jackie and Hwang Jang Lee and I prefer this fight scene over the more highly stylized fight of The Snake in the Eagle's Shadow because Jackie Chan perfected the inebriated fisticuffs here - which sparked a trend in the HK film industry and many copycats and wannabes started doing the Zui Quan (drunken fist style) after this film.  Hwang Jang Lee kept his incredible Tae Kwan Do skills and style mostly intact in this fight, which serves to add a lot more realism to the fight.  Lee eventually became a Tae Kwan Do grandmaster later on in life, but here he is already a 7th Dan and due to his incredible performance in this film, the name of his character sticks - and he is also known as Thunderfoot in real life.

3.  Who Am I? (1998) vs David Leung and Ron Smoorenburg

Jackie vs Kwan Yung & Ron Smoorenburg

Who Am I? is one of the last true Jackie Chan film in his unique genre.  The 2001's Accidental Spy I feel is the absolutely last of Jackie's films which is still "true" to the genre he has created.

As he is getting on in age, Jackie has to relent and increasingly rely on special effects and stunt doubles more and more - as the case with his Hollywood films. 

Who Am I? pits Jackie with 2 very able martial artists/actors: David Leung (an up and coming young HK actor who is also a very able martial artist) and Ron Smoorenburg, a 23 year old Dutch martial artist getting his first big break in films.  At this point in his life, Ron is a 4th degree black belt in the art of Freefight and  holds several records including highest kick (at 11 feet). 

The fight began with the 2 opponents taking turns fighting Jackie then after Jackie successfully countered each of them, they ganged up on Jackie - turning the fight into a whirling battle where Jackie's ingenuity and skills finally overcame the 2 opponents.  Jackie is already 44 at this point and so fans should really enjoy this fight as Jackie's body is progressively catching up with his shenanigans and injuries of his younger days. 

2.  Drunken Master II (1994) vs Ken Lo


Jackie's (on wire) flying kick vs Ken Lo

Jackie takes on his real life body guard Ken Lo. This scene took 2 months to film and has the Jackie Chan stamp of choreography, stuntwork and directing all over it. Jackie ends up drinking industrial alcohol (at a Steel Furnace), breathing fire balls, being set on fire twice and falling over hot coals - all during the fight - it also boasts a sensational example of how 'wire' Kung Fu is at its best when used to enhance rather than dominate the action.

Ken Lo is originally from South East Asia (born in Laos and living in Cambodia and Thailand until 1980 where he moved to HK).  He is a student of both Muay Thai and Tae Kwan Do and legend has it that he won a freestyle championships 7 times.  He met Jackie in a HK Disco where he worked as head of security and Jackie ends up hiring him as his bodyguard.  Believe it or not, Lo was not supposed to be Jackie's opponent in Drunken Master II - he stepped in when another actor was injured.

Ken Lo looks superb as a flash kicking bad guy and (on screen) is nearly, nearly, nearly as good as Jackie's foe in the original, Hwang Jang Lee.  In terms of realism, this fight scene perhaps fall a little short to some other in Jackie's career, but it is truly awesome in terms of choreography, tasteful use of wires, speed, intensity and filming.  The one thing that unites them all is that they display actors of great talent, grace and martial art skill and are all expertly performed.  I usually don't like wire-fu, but this fight shows how wires should be used to augment a fight scene rather than dominating it (Note to the Wachowski brothers!).

1.  Wheels on Meals (1984) vs Benny Urquidez

Jackie vs The Jet in Spartan X (aka Wheels on Meals)

This is one of the best fight scenes ever filmed.  For me personally, I enjoyed this fight scene better than even the Way of the Dragon's final fight at the Colloseum between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.

In terms of realism and athleticism, this fight is clearly better.  The energy, choreography, precision of execution and the speed of the performance (without the usual HK camera speed trick nonsense, wire-fu, stunt doubles, etc) is as close to a real stand-up fight as can be.  Heck, there was even also a brief ground fighting/grappling work here.

This was Jackie's first face-off with American champion kickboxer Benny Urquidez - The Jet.  Benny is a great fighter and tested Jackie’s skills to the limit. In fact, throughout the filming of this scene, Jackie teased him that they should fight a real match, not just a movie brawl.  Benny's formal kickboxing record is at 49 wins (35 by KOs) with only 1 loss and 1 draw (2 were declared no contests - but Benny was winning) - and these fights are under many different sanctioning bodies/organizations in various countries.  On top of that, Benny is said to have fought 11 undocumented fights (street fights) - winning 10 and drawing 1.  Jackie, you are good but Benny's the real thing.
At one point in the final battle between the pair, a spin-kick performed by Urquidez is so quick that the resulting airflow extinguishes a row of candles. This is shown onscreen, with no cuts or trick photography.

Well, those are my 10 favorite Jackie Chan Fight Scenes - what do you think? let me know...