From: burdickd@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Dakin Burdick)
Subject: Re: Kung Fu TV series
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 01:50:53 GMT

RE:  CARRADINE, M.A. HERO OR M.A. PARASITE:	

In article <1992Oct8.173557.20700@unislc.uucp> das@unislc.uucp (David Shorten) writes:
>Hmm, well not having read the earlier interview I took the book at 
>face value.  But I don't really care what Carradine's feelings about
>the philosophies in the series were.  I think he did a good job of
>making it look like his character sincerely believed in those philosophies.
>That I think is the most important part of making a movie enjoyable,
>good acting.

Well, Kung-fu was certainly a lot of fun for its time, but I have to
repeat that it would have been better with Bruce Lee in the part.
If you'll remember, Lee was originally cast as Caine, but the
networks felt that the U.S. was not ready for an oriental hero
(although Lee had already made Kato more popular than the Green
Hornet).
>: 
>: >  And the actual ability of the star
>: >doesn't seem to be as important as the ability of the fight choreographer
>: >in an MA-related film (assuming a reasonable level of fitness, flexibility,
>: >and ability to learn physical skills in the performers).
>: 
>: I would strongly disagree.  If ability doesn't matter, then why
>: haven't we had another Bruce Lee?  There are plenty of body-builders
>: out there, and lots who would have loved to fill his shoes.  And there
>: are certainly enough choreographers out there, including the famous
>: Benny Urquidez, who's been in the movie biz since "Force Five" way
>: back when.  Chuck Norris has lots of training, and certainly knows
>: the moves, but he is not a great actor.  Steven Seagal has all the
>: makings of a star (skill, acting ability, etc.) but he never listens
>: to the folks in the business.  Jean Claude Van Damme is probably the
>: closest to your "puppet" theory of stardom, but we all know as 
>: martial artists that he is not very innovative on the screen (good
>: bod, good smile, but not clever like Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee).
>: 
>: Dakin
>: burdickd@silver.ucs.indiana.edu
>: 
>(My girlfriend would kick me for saying this..) Why do we want another
>Bruce Lee?  Certainly his fight scenes were usually exciting, but
>his acting was atrocious.  If all it took to sell a movie was lots
>of great fight scenes why didn't any of his movies become
>blockbusters?

I guess you don't realize that "Enter the Dragon" has grossed over
$100 million and was one of the top moneymakers of all time.

>I think both Chuckie and Steven have turned out higher quality (and
>more enjoyable to me) movies than Bruce ever did.  Admittedly they had
>bigger budgets to work with, but (IMHO) he didn't have the acting skills
>to create a believable character outside the arena.

Chuck?  Are you kidding?  Well, even if you're not, realize that
all of Lee's big movies (Fists of Fury, Chinese Connection, Enter
the Dragon, Way of the Dragon, etc.) were all filmed in 1971-1973,
while Chuck has been starring in movies since "Breaker, Breaker" in
1976.  I hazard to say that Lee after another 20 years would have 
been better than Chuck after the same amount of time.  As for Steven
"Black is Beautiful" Seagal, I agree that he does have talen, but
other than "Above the Law", his movies are pretty awful (gory, boring,
and VERY similar to each other).

>Van Damme is the furthest from my ideal MA "star", because of his
>lack of what I thought was understood as the most important facet of
>_any_ actor, the ability to ACT!  And his lack of innovation on screen
>is not necessarily his fault, but the fault of his choreographer 
>(which might very well be himself, I don't know).

Sounds like what they used to say about Arnold Schwartzenegger
(who is Jean Claude's hero, by the way).

>For me to enjoy a movie fully I require most of all believability in
>the characters, the fight scenes, the environment etc.  Thus good acting,
>a reasonable plot, and good choreography are the most important parts (IMHO)
>of a good martial-arts movie (or TV program).

Well, Steven plays the same character all the time, but I guess he's 
getting good at it.  Jean-Claude is slowly getting better.  Chuck,
Jackie, and Cynthia concentrate on their choreography.  As for plot,
there are few martial arts movies that have a "reasonable" one.  
If your Chuck's girlfriend, you are going to die.  If you are 
Steven's family, you are going to die.  If you are Jean Claude's
girl friend, you get plenty of beefcake.  If Bruce had lived three
more years, he would have shown up all these guys.  Jackie Chan
is the only one who could give him a run for his money.

Dakin
burdickd@silver.ucs.indiana.edu
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts