When most people think about karate movies they think about action and fighting, people flying through the air and chops and kicks. What they may not think about immediately is comedy, yet over the past few decades these two genres have actually gone hand in hand many times.
Comedy and action have really worked well together ever since those first silent movies. Many of the stars at that time were very physical and that physical comedy lent itself well to action sequences. These influences can be seen in many movies, no more so than those that star Jackie Chan, a self-confessed fan of many stars of the silent era.
Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1954 and started training at the China Opera School when he was just 6. He began to break into movies in the 1970's playing small parts, and even had moments with Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury and Enter The Dragon. After Lee died, many people tried to fill his shoes, but rather than copy him, Jackie Chan began to develop his own style. By 1978 he had appeared in a number of movies but it was that year's Drunken Master that started his rise to stardom.
Jackie loved the comedy of those silent greats like Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd and he started to combine martial arts with this comedic-style. When he directed The Young Master in 1980, it started a trend in Hong Kong as the two genres blended seamlessly.
Despite his Asian success, Jackie Chan struggled to break into the American market. His first attempt in 1980 with the Big Brawl was disappointing, as was the chance he got in Cannonball Run a year or so later. Jackie was cast as a Japanese driver and barely got to show a martial arts skill.
During all this time, his faithful and talented friend, Sammo Hung, was at his side. They had attended the Chinese Opera School together, broke into movies together, and both were becoming established Asian stars. Like Jackie, Sammo enjoyed adding comedy to karate movies, and directed or choreographed many of Jackie's movies. He also starred in many of them, and also enjoyed a short stint on US network TV, playing the lead role in a cop show called Martial Law.
Rumble in the Bronx in 1995 finally fared well with American audiences and soon Jackie Chan was starring in a number of big Hollywood comedy action movies like the Rush Hour series, Shanghai Noon and its sequel Shanghai Knights, The Tuxedo and Around the World in 80 Days.
There is no doubt that Stephen Chow was inspired by Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. An actor for many years, he appeared in many TV shows and karate movies in Hong Kong before finally breaking through in the nineties in a few self-directed movies. It was his film Shaolin Soccer that brought him to the attention of Hollywood and his next film, Kung Fu Hustle, was the biggest grossing movie ever in Hong Kong. It also had the biggest cinematic release of a foreign film ever in the USA. While Chow directed most of the film, there were a few scenes directed by his hero Sammo Hung.
Comedy and action have really worked well together ever since those first silent movies. Many of the stars at that time were very physical and that physical comedy lent itself well to action sequences. These influences can be seen in many movies, no more so than those that star Jackie Chan, a self-confessed fan of many stars of the silent era.
Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1954 and started training at the China Opera School when he was just 6. He began to break into movies in the 1970's playing small parts, and even had moments with Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury and Enter The Dragon. After Lee died, many people tried to fill his shoes, but rather than copy him, Jackie Chan began to develop his own style. By 1978 he had appeared in a number of movies but it was that year's Drunken Master that started his rise to stardom.
Jackie loved the comedy of those silent greats like Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd and he started to combine martial arts with this comedic-style. When he directed The Young Master in 1980, it started a trend in Hong Kong as the two genres blended seamlessly.
Despite his Asian success, Jackie Chan struggled to break into the American market. His first attempt in 1980 with the Big Brawl was disappointing, as was the chance he got in Cannonball Run a year or so later. Jackie was cast as a Japanese driver and barely got to show a martial arts skill.
During all this time, his faithful and talented friend, Sammo Hung, was at his side. They had attended the Chinese Opera School together, broke into movies together, and both were becoming established Asian stars. Like Jackie, Sammo enjoyed adding comedy to karate movies, and directed or choreographed many of Jackie's movies. He also starred in many of them, and also enjoyed a short stint on US network TV, playing the lead role in a cop show called Martial Law.
Rumble in the Bronx in 1995 finally fared well with American audiences and soon Jackie Chan was starring in a number of big Hollywood comedy action movies like the Rush Hour series, Shanghai Noon and its sequel Shanghai Knights, The Tuxedo and Around the World in 80 Days.
There is no doubt that Stephen Chow was inspired by Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. An actor for many years, he appeared in many TV shows and karate movies in Hong Kong before finally breaking through in the nineties in a few self-directed movies. It was his film Shaolin Soccer that brought him to the attention of Hollywood and his next film, Kung Fu Hustle, was the biggest grossing movie ever in Hong Kong. It also had the biggest cinematic release of a foreign film ever in the USA. While Chow directed most of the film, there were a few scenes directed by his hero Sammo Hung.
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