Battle Creek Brawl
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.86 You Save: $0.12 (1%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Battle Creek Brawl
Movie Review: Jackie's first American Venture
Summary: 3 Stars
Jackie Chan's first American venture was the result of Golden Harvest keeping Jackie out of harm's way and to try to push Jackie internationally. When Chan broke contract with Lo Wei for Golden Harvest and five million HK dollars, Lo wanted to do everything he could to get Jackie back (or punish him) even deal with the Triad group Sun Yi On to do this. Jimmy Wang Yu, whom Jackie worked with in The Killer Meteors and had Triad influence, offered to broker a deal between the three parties. He would later require a few favors such as Jackie to appear in Island of Fire and Fantasy Mission Force. Jimmy was quite successful in his talks with the three parties early in Jackie's foreign journey, but Jackie would have to appear in two American films: star in The Big Brawl and have a small part in the horrific Cannonball Run while running the emotional gamut known as the American Press.
Battle Creek Brawl aka The Big Brawl is a mediocre attempt at trying to showcase Jackie's skills. While it is not as bad as the American version of his second attempt - The Protector - it was still only an OK film. It was directed by Robert Clouse (Enter the Dragon and the craptacular Game of Death) but he was relegated to B-movie fare at this point in his career though he would later direct Gymkata. Clouse's static style conflicted with the dynamic nature of Jackie. Though there were several other areas of annoyance for Chan including his working with a language that he did not understand at the time and a stunt coordinator who did not understand his style.
Jackie stars as Jerry Kwan, a prodigal martial art student studying under his uncle Herbert Kwan (played by the prolific Japanese actor Mako) in the late 20's or early 30's Chicago. Herbert is a chiropractor when he is not torturing Jackie or going after large women. He is a disappointment to his father, even when he breaks up extortionists of his father's restaurant, who wants him to be more like his brother Robert, the Doctor. Jerry's fighting ability gets the attention of Dominichi (Jose Ferrer) a local gangster and obtains the ire of his nephew David Leggetti. Dominichi needs a fighter to be able to beat his nemesis, Mr. Morgan, who has control of a beast of a man Billy Kiss who kisses his opponents, sometimes a bit long, after he wins (played by H.B. Haggerty who looks like a 19th century circus strong man.)
For Dominichi to control Jerry he kidnaps his brother's soon-to-be fiancé from China named Mae (Rosalind Chao who is forever known by Trekkers as Keiko O'Brien.) He then enters Jerry in a fighting contest called the Battle Creek Brawl which takes place in Texas. The purse is 15,000 dollars (which seems ridiculously low now.) The biggest problem with this contest is that all the fighters resemble professional wrestlers (yes the great Gene Le Bell is amongst them) and not fighters. This is especially evident in the beginning brawl-for-all where there is a camel clutch, body slams and plenty of large men in tights. The fighters are incredibly slow compared to Jackie, but they do add certain campyness to the film (or do the capes and tights make this point already evident.)
One of the more interesting scenes took place earlier in the film when Jackie is part of a relay roller derby contest. He would also use this new found skill of roller skating in an awesome stunt sequence in Winners and Sinners. But the rest of the film never quite captures my interest the way that scene does. The romance between Jerry and Nancy was handled in an interesting nonchalant manner though. I also did like some of the fight scenes, but not as much as most of Jackie's Hong Kong fight scenes. I am glad that he was able to add humor to several parts of the film. I would not recommend this film to most people, because there are so many better "Jackie" films to watch. I did find this a nice diversion and not as bad as many of the American fight films of that era. NOTES: stunt coordinator Pat E. Johnson has his name on the fighter's tournament chalk board. Some versions (especially early Hong Kong prints) of this film take out the relationship scenes between Nancy and Jerry.
Movie Review: No wonder it took him so long to break into North America
Summary: 2 Stars
Battlecreek Brawl, released in 1980, was Jackie Chan's first (and last, for many years) starring role in a North American film. While the sound and video has been restored, everything else about the movie leaves a lot to be desired. Chan's physical, linguistic and acting abilities are on par with more recent releases, but he just doesn't get the support he needs to make this movie great. This is most noticable in the fighting scenes, as he he seems to be mainly paired up with WWE-style wrestlers who can't actually fight worth a damn. As a result, Chan is best when on his own, and the movie ends up being a much better showcase of his acrobatic training than kung fu. Nor is Jackie the fight/stunt coordinator for this film -- that honor going to a rookie who later did the same for the Ninja Turtle and Karate Kid movies. So that should give you some kind of idea of the calibre of fighting going on here.
I think the other way this movie went awry was in the decision to make it a period piece, without the financial resources to do so. Anachronism abounds, most notably in a weird (and way too long) underground no-holds-barred roller-skate race where the contestants wear very 1970s satin tracksuits. Oy. When it comes time for the brawl, most of the spectators have feathered early 1980s hair and completely inappropriate clothing and eyeglasses, and many of the sets are lacking as well. It's just distracting. The decision to pit Chan's kung fu fighting successfully against prohibition-era gangsters requires the creation of some of the wimpiest gangsters ever seen, who perpetually forget that they have guns on them. The racist mobster grandmother also seems to be the only character whose social sensitivities seem accurate to the era, as I guffawed at the idea of a worked-up crowd of spectators in 1930s Texas cheering wildly as a Chinese man kissed his caucasian girlfriend.
Take home message - this movie required more suspension of disbelief than I had to offer, without any kind of payoff for the effort. I love Jackie Chan, but this was a regrettable purchase. Who Am I?, The Acccidental Spy, Police Story, or Legend of the Drunken Master are much better choices.
Movie Review: no good fight scenes, so yeah it sucks and deserves a 2/5.
Summary: 2 Stars
Robert clouse is certainly one fo the worst directors of all-time, I mean it only took jackie like 17 years to be in an american movie again. I have to admit that jackie himself is very enjoyable in this movie, and so is the great mako. But the direction he is under fails completely. The only scenes that I enjoyed were the nonfighting action scenes like jackie roller skating, or looking at the white girl showing some nice skin. But this is not why I picked this up, it said that it was gonna be a big brawl and it sounded like it was gonna be a tournament, but once again robert clouse can't even make a better movie than china obrien.Movie Review: Jackie's first american movie
Summary: 2 Stars
Jackie's first attempt to break into the American market, his english is not the best in this movie. The action is horrid- very slow and choppy- not the typical action you'd expect from Jackie. Clearly, the American director and stunt choreographers were not familiar with Jackie's abilities and style, and the film suffers because of it. Well, that and the fact that the plot is really flat and stupid. It is fun to watch Jackie on roller skates, though, and if you are a huge fan this movie is worth at least one viewing.Movie Review: One of Jackie's Least Favorite Films and Mine Too
Summary: 1 Stars
Ever wonder why someone as amazing as Jackie Chan didn't catch on sooner in America? "Battle Creek Brawl" is a big reason why.
This train wreck occurred when the producers of the classic "Enter The Dragon" were teamed with Jackie Chan. The big difference? Bruce Lee had control over his movie and no qualms about voicing his opinion. Jackie on the other hand, had no control or influence over this film. The result is a convoluted mess with the worst Jackie Chan fight scenes you will ever see, but what can you expect when he is fighting untrained actors instead of martial artists? My recommendation would be to avoid this movie unless you want to see what happens when the 1930s meet roller derbies, mid-century automobiles and really bad professional wrestling.