A study of martial arts in the movies is a subject that may too short for a 2 hour television special. The result however ends up as an insightful look at many martial art films that may not have yet been enjoyed by the North American majority. Hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, this special aired 9pm EST on SpikeTV, the “Television for Men” channel.
I caught the show a few minutes into the program, while they were doing the segment on Bruce Lee’s impact for martial arts in films. The topic moved towards David Carradine’s contribution via his television series Kung Fu. The profile shifts to the prolific trio of Samo Hung, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao as they revive Hong Kong action cinema to its glory. Jet Li was discussed, as were women’s contribution to action cinema such as Cynthia Rothrock and Michelle Yeoh.
The real surprise of this special was its attention to the directors. Many legendary directors were interviewed and profiled. The roster includes Tsui Hark, John Woo, Ang Lee, Cory Yuen. There were specific film studies too, using Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as the muse. Contrasting John Woo’s gun slinging action to those of traditional martial arts was something I also enjoyed.
The pace of the special was fast, but I appreciated the fact that some parts were dealt with more in depth, such as the tribute to Bruce Lee. I very much appreciate the director profiles and feel that the Western world really needs to see these talented directors’ early works. I would recommend Tsui Hark’s A Better Tomorrow, A Better Tomorrow 2. John Woo’s The Killer and Hardboiled. Also see the prolific trio perform in Meals on Wheels.
Some topics were obviously absent from the program. Whether it’s good or bad really depends on your perspective. I loved the fact that they did not include The Karate Kid, which by the way did re-invigorate the martial arts industry. I also liked that they did not talk about over-rated stars like Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Billy Blanks and any other walking commercial martial art ‘diva’ as I like to call them. My reason for not wanting to see them is the fact that they approached martial arts through the perspective of the almighty dollar. Whereas the many people interviewed and profiled on this show geniunely loved their craft. However, it is noted that Steven Segal did appear in one of the interviews.
I did wish to that there should have been a profile on Brandon Lee, even if his tragic career was short-lived. His image appeared in the David Carradine segment through his various appearances on ‘Kung Fu. I wonder how many fans recognized Brandon and yearn for the next segment to be about him like I did. I was very happy though that they made several comparisons on the Western influence on asian martial arts films and vice versa. Where else can you see James Cagney do judo throws and Frank Sinatra busting through tables. This special was very creative in terms of content. I’ve seen many martial arts documentary and this special was quite apart from the rest in its delivery and choice of material.
A few thing would have made the show better. For one, I don’t think Samuel L. Jackson did a good job with the hosting. I agree with the choice, but not his performance. He should not have done that rendition of the word “Wu Xia” towards the end of the show. It just looked silly and only shows that he doesn’t know how the word is truly used.
The video montage flashed through many films that the special did not show up. It was a nice political way to pay homage to those films. You see Van Damme, Ralph Machio and Seagal and other American movies. This was a simple attempt to squeeze in as much as possible. I wonder how all those Xyience commercials, targetted at mixed martial arts enthusiasts, will pan out. There is a gap between MMA fans and traditional martial arts fans. Besides the special was decidedly pro-Asian, as many perspectives and films were picked out from the asian film markets. This is where I feel SpikeTV was gutsy in doing what they wanted to do, and not necessary based on what’s popular in the mainstream. Kudos for that!
In closing, 2 hours was simply too short. SpikeTV, make this concept into a season of profiles like A&E’s Biography or the Ken Burns Jazz series. I would love to watch and buy something like that!
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