![]() ![]() Hence bringing in the element in which to stage another grandiose end fight scene! Poor Sammo ends up getting kidnapped by a local gang, who then blackmail Jackie to release one of their criminal friends from jail. The relationship is both tender and frustrated, with Jackie playing the role of carer, brother, and surrogate father, rescuing him from various scrapes and scenarios along the way. In the same vein, Jackie plays it straight here, portraying a young policeman who forsakes his dreams of travelling the world to look after his mentally challenged brother. So much so that certain versions were sold to overseas markets with several fight scenes removed that didn’t serve the narrative, and unusually there’s not a single slapstick gag in sight. The similarities end there though, however this particular film is far more tilted towards the ‘drama’ than his other more comedic action films with Jackie. ![]() With Jackie playing the Tom Cruise role and Sammo as the Dustin Hoffman character. In this case Sammo took the basic premise of Rain Man and applied it to a Hong Kong action film. With Hollywood being the dominant blockbuster movie force on the planet, it’s always interesting to see other countries taking a premise from a recent Hollywood smash, and producing their own version. Here are 10 of the very best from the ‘Boss man’ Sammo Hung. In the 21st century, Sammo continued to make great films and choreograph some astounding action, but nothing can touch his ‘golden years’ in Hong Kong pre–CGI, and no Hollywood sheen to tarnish the madcap batshit ballistic danger of the Hong Kong action film, the likes of which we’ll probably never see again, and for a somewhat ‘portly’ man, his level of speed and intricacy of acrobatics skill are nothing short of supernatural! Around 25 years later, Sammo himself would break into the American market with the Martial Law TV series. Most westerners first caught eye of Sammo as the guy who fought Bruce Lee in the opening scene of ‘Enter The Dragon’ (sadly, the last fight scene Lee would ever shoot). This was the first of several much loved movies starring the ‘3 brothers’ Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, all of whom would go on to have careers in their own right, still kicking (and punching and flipping) to this day. Sammo was Instrumental in developing and pioneering (arguably alongside Liu Chia Liang and Yuen Woo Ping) a style of action choreography whose influence can still be seen on screens to this day with the likes of Ip Man and John Wick.Īfter his directorial debut with ‘Iron Fisted Monk’ in 1977, he went on to direct and produce an impressive array of ‘Old School’ Kung Fu movies, most, if not all, are now considered classics of the genre (4 of the films from this era top the proceeding list).īranching out from Kung Fu into modern day action in the 1980s, teaming up with his little brother Jackie Chan in ‘Winners & Sinners’, and in particular, ‘Project A’, which was an all-out smash in Hong Kong, ushering in a whole new era of 80s action films (those well versed in Sammo’s directorial style and ‘look’ can probably tell the few scenes he himself directed). It is here where Sammo began to truly come into his own, playing occasional villains but mainly acting as chief action director. Although never placed on a pedestal of the same height or as revered in popular culture as the likes of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, his influence and legacy tower at equal heights.īorn in Hong Kong to a theatrical family in 1952, from the age of 7 he studied at the gruelling Peking Opera School, alongside many of whom would become the main players in front of, and behind the camera in the heyday of the Hong Kong film industry one of which was Jackie Chan, who to this day refers to Sammo as “Dai Goh” (Big Brother).īoth Sammo and Jackie formed a highly competitive but deep brotherly bond from these formative years, that would last throughout their personal and professional lives, debuting on the Jade Screen as children, appearing together in ‘Big and Little Wong Tin Bar’ in 1962.Īfter scoring several gigs as assistant action director in such films as King Hu’s ‘Come Drink With Me’ and ‘The Fate of Lee Khan’, Hung became one of the main players at the Golden Harvest film studios in the 1970s. The living legend of martial arts cinema, Sammo Hung (Hung Kam Bo), should need no introduction.
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