While promoting an online video game spin-off of his upcoming movie BIG SOLDIER in Beijing, action star Jackie Chan said he was not proud of all of his movies and called some of his early films a “mistake.”
Jackie Chan (center) at a press conference in Beijing on November 19. CRI
Fans might be thinking he was talking about those early Lo Wei films like NEW FIST OF FURY and THE KILLER METEORS. Nope. He has decided to turn his back on the one film that made him a superstar, one that remains a favorite among fans of Jackie Chan and kung fu movies in general.
“It was a mistake to make DRUNKEN MASTER,” said Chan. “The film was all about getting drunk to fight. It misled the audience.”
This would be the same film that Chan admits in his autobiography was his first blockbuster that made his a real celebrity.
Chan added that he “tried to correct the mistake in the 1994 sequel which tells the audience to be tolerant.”
I guess that would be the same sequel where Chan drinks industrial-grade alcohol in order to beat Ken Lo, not with skill but with drunkenness and a high tolerance for pain. Yes, Jackie, there is nothing misleading about that, is there?
Chan didn’t forget why he was at the event and proceeded to plug the video game. He probably should have looked at the game before talking about it though.
“Most of the video games available today are about fighting and killing,” Chan said. “This is not good for children. I hope by playing our game, youngsters will get a message of peace.”
Does that peace involve firing brightly colored globs of magical light at opponents to make them die… I mean, disappear? That seems to be a primary element of the COMBAT in your peaceful game Jackie.
With a tamer variation on more violent game violence, it looks to me like the game designer is planning to prep adolescents for a future of killing and violence in games, not to mention this is an online game which probably means they’re going to turn more hapless Chinese kids into MMO addicts. Jackie Chan, what have you done?!
Seriously, I think Chan has missed the point that his movies do not promote violence, at least among the majority of viewers not predisposed towards violence. No, his films, at least the good ones, like DRUNKEN MASTER, inspire people the same way that Buster Keaton’s antics inspired Jackie Chan.
Chan has said a lot of stupid things in recent years and this one nearly tops them all. There is nothing wrong with promoting peace and good virtues but why spit on your own legacy? DRUNKEN MASTER is something Chan should be proud of, even if he is at a different place in his worldview. I still respect him for all the great movies he has made but I really wish he would take the advice I received from former NFL player, Blaxploitation star and minister Rosey Grier when he wrote next to his autograph to me, “Think before you act.”
Source: China.org.cn
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