Van Damme does movie with Chung Le

[Validus]

I dont know who the hell Chung LE is but if it has Van Damme in it im all over it

[JCE3000GT]

Why do all I think about is "Chun-Li" when I saw this topic?   

[Pennywise]

It's Cung Le, he was a San Sho guy who made his living beating up overmatched competition. Made the move to MMA and got famous by snapping Frank Shamrock's arm with kicks. Just this past December he got his face rearranged by the knees of a washed-up Wanderlei Silva.

My personal opinion is that the action movies of today suck and rely too heavily on computer effects, poor direction, sloppy editing, fast cuts and the list goes on. I am much more interested in rediscovering the action movies from my past than watching this new crap. Starting soon, Chuck Norris movies are going to be released in High Definition. There'll never be another Chuck Norris.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Why do all I think about is "Chun-Li" when I saw this topic?   

Fret not, for I too thought as thee.

[Jorpho]

I thought JVC JCVD had rather wandered into retirement after, well, JVC JCVD.

My personal opinion is that the action movies of today suck and rely too heavily on computer effects, poor direction, sloppy editing, fast cuts and the list goes on. I am much more interested in rediscovering the action movies from my past than watching this new crap.

I hear Tony Jaa's still got it.

[Pennywise]

Ong-Bak was pretty good actually. Saw one of the sequels though and felt the opposite of it.

Donnie Yen's probably the best new action star though. He's been around for a while now, but Ip Man 1 and 2 kick all kinds of ass.

[MathOnNapkins]

There'll never be another Chuck Norris.

For obvious reasons, you will never need another Chuck Norris.

[KaioShin]

Ong-Bak was pretty good actually. Saw one of the sequels though and felt the opposite of it.

Donnie Yen's probably the best new action star though. He's been around for a while now, but Ip Man 1 and 2 kick all kinds of ass.

This post is full of win and truth. Donnie Yen is the man. I was hugely impressed by Tony Jaa's "The Protector", but then Ong-Bak 2... just wow. Though compared to the travesty that he did with OB3 even that was still amazing. I absolutely can't fathom how he could fuck up OB3 that hard. And it's really his responsibility alone since he also directed that move and he disappeared into the jungle for 2 months to meditate after managing the movie rised over his head... given that the result isn't that surprising. He will make awesome movies again if he focuses on the acting and lets someone else take over as director.

Martial Arts movies that aren't from Asia are 100% worthless right now. Because Hollywood directors can't choreograph for shit and the actors (Van Damme LULZ!) have absolutely no athleticism whatsoever. So what they have to do to attempt and make fighting look interesting is making a cut every 0.25 seconds and placing the scenes in random order and filming them from retarded angles. That way you can have two lame granny actors take a swing at the air and make it look frantic. Only it looks shitty as hell and no one I ever spoke to about it likes that kind of shit editing. Martial Arts movies are about seeing the actors perform impossible stunts and choreographies - which means the camera needs to give them the space so you can take it all in and enjoy it.

[Auryn]

Wasn't Van Dam training for a big fight as come back?? I saw something on TV last year I think but didn't follow it.

[BRPXQZME]

me, i’m still waiting for the 80s/90s action stars to unretire and finally do that movie about baroque composers

[DankPanties]

I know it's standard protocol to make fun of "washed up" old actors, but JCVD was actually really damn good.  Where his martial arts may have atrophied his acting has strengthened.

[Jorpho]

Oh crap I wrote JVC instead of JCVD.  How embarrassing.

If nothing else, 'twas a fitting coda, that film.  It seemed like an attempt to go out on a vaguely high note.

[Validus]

It's Cung Le, he was a San Sho guy who made his living beating up overmatched competition. Made the move to MMA and got famous by snapping Frank Shamrock's arm with kicks. Just this past December he got his face rearranged by the knees of a washed-up Wanderlei Silva.

wow thats awesome that hes a real fighter (van damme was too prior to his acting career, and was damn good at it too 20-1 or something with 17 KOs within the first 3 rounds).

no one will ever be as good as Bruce Lee, Van Damme & Jackie Chan when it comes to martial arts movies (Tony Jaa has only 2 urban martial arts epics).

KAIO SHIN, you want some bad ass fight choreography? Check out this clip from a little known Martial Arts CLASSIC from 1986.  SICK FIGHTS NO CUTS  american made movie (written directed and produced by 2 chineese brothers, this was their only good movie ever), fight choreography by an asian as well. But Van Damme did all the fight choreography in the classic movie KICKBOXER.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubAHww4b_ac

[DarkSol]

no one will ever be as good as Bruce Lee, Van Damme & Jackie Chan when it comes to martial arts movies (Tony Jaa has only 2 urban martial arts epics).

Really?

You'd put JCVD up on the same level as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, but not include Jet Li?

Jean-Claude Van Damme has a decent run of 80s movies, but by the time the 90s hit, he was washed up and doing way crappy films. (I'll admit though that I secretly enjoy Timecop.) And his 00s movies have been even worse.

[DankPanties]

Jet Li has that same scary as hell look in his eyes that Bruce Lee had.  You can see the psychosis in him.  Jackie is a way more entertaining actor than them, but I think of him more like a trapeze artist than a badass.  JCVD was technically impressive, but he came off as more of a ballet dancer than a true kick boxer (not saying he wasn't-just saying he was too "clean" in his execution).  That said, I guarantee that Mas Oyama could crush all of them simultaneously.  He was too busy punching bulls to death and meditating under freezing water falls to be a movie star though.

[Validus]

Jean-Claude Van Damme has a decent run of 80s movies, but by the time the 90s hit, he was washed up and doing way crappy films. (I'll admit though that I secretly enjoy Timecop.) And his 00s movies have been even worse.

Thats because he got addicted to cocaine and threw his life of Martial Arts away to become a full time Hollywood actor. Failed miserably . But he was a fantastic person before he did drugs and I just pay attention to the good he has done.

[Pennywise]

I got one for you all.

Anyone ever hear of Jeff Speakman, star of 1991's The Perfect Weapon? He's a terrible actor, but the fight scenes were pretty good and that's all that really matters. I can even connect him to Van Damme as he had a bit part in Lionheart, an underrated classic.

[KaioShin]

Jet Li had some terrific movies (Fearless is an absolute masterpiece, not just as a martial arts movie but also a historical drama) but by now he is also pretty used up. If you want to lose all respect you ever had for him watch his latest movie The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. God so horrible. And it was directed by no other than Tsui Hark even. I can't imagine what possessed both of them to do that movie.

To be honest I never understood the hype about Bruce Lee. He only did 3 movies and after rewatching them recently I don't see how they stand out. Maybe I'm comparing then to 80s HK movies and not other early 70s ones, that might be it. It's hard to get a feeling for the time context if you weren't there.

And I'm glad Jackie isn't another generic pumped up badass. He is who he is and I'm thankful for all the countless hours of entertainment he brought us. He'll leave a huge hole, I don't see another actor filling the more light-hearted niche. Might be a sign of the times, kids these days won't bother showing up at the cinema unless it's all super cool and badass. Laughing is for weak whimps or something.

By the way, if you want to see a light-hearted throwback to 80s Kung Fu cinema, you owe it to yourself to watch Gallants. My favorite MA movie of 2011. Immensely enjoyable and nostalgic. If the ending doesn't leave a huge smile on your face then you have no soul whatsoever and you're better off watching the atrocious Transformers movies in an endless loop.

[Kyrael Seraphine]

I've never really liked Jet Li, partially because doesn't do martial arts anymore, and partially because when he did, it was mostly wuxia, which I'm not a fan of. He was an amazing martial artist, though, champion at the age of 18 or so.

People don't remember the good western martial artists, just the famous ones. They remember the Steven Seagulls, the JCVD's, the Carradines. They don't remember the Urquidez', the Norton's, the Allen's. Hell, who even remembers Dolph Lundgren? My god, what a polymath that man is.

And Kaio, I think it was just that Bruce was a) the first to really become famous outside china, and b) a pioneer of the more visceral combat that the eighties and nineties had, rather than mostly wuxia beforehand. Not that wuxia disappeared. He was also tremendously charismatic. Both on and off-screen. Also 4 films, plus two made with footage shot before his death, to differing degrees of success. Mostly no success, though. Game of Death was better than the sequel, but both shuddered with the ineptness of handling the stand ins.

[DankPanties]

To be honest I never understood the hype about Bruce Lee.

Try doing some unbiased research into his accomplishments outside of cinema.  His self discipline alone was legendary.