Jackie Chan movies

[IllumInaTIma]

I've just finished watching Jackie Chan's "Chinese Zodiac" and pleasant memories of my childhood made me think of a question. A little necessary backstory first. I was born in Kazakhstan in 1991, but for last 4 or so years I lived and studied in Calgary, Canada. I've observed numerous little, and not so, differences between Western and Post-Soviet mentality, reasons for some of these differences I can explain, for others I can not. So, here's my question. Why aren't Jackie Chan's movies as popular here, as they are back post-Soviet space? I mean, for my generation Jackie Chan was The Hero, not The action Hero, but The Hero. We loved his simple movies where good guys wear white and bad guys wear black, where rarely someone dies, where in the end bad guy realizes his mistakes and helps hero etc. And don't think that we loved Jackie just because there were no other action movies. Almost every major American action movie, like Die Hard, Terminator, Rambo or Commando appeared on VHS with shitty Russian voiceover month or two after its release in US, and we loved them! We loved Arnold, Bruce, Van-Damme and Stallone, but we always loved Jackie more. So, once again, I ask, why do you think we, post-soviet 90s kids, love Jackie more than you, Western 90s kids?
P.S. if all my assumptions are wrong and Jackie is loved as much here as he is back at my homecountry... well, i'm glad that i'm wrong.

 

[The Night Angel]

Well, I can't speak for Westerners in general, but I have always loved Jackie Chan movies, I've seen pretty much all of them by now, but I do think I'm in a minority amongst my friends in liking his movies. (well, not liking, but adoring. I mean, most people like his movies but wouldn't go out of their way to see them.)

 

[maninahat]

Jackie Chan movies are fun because they offer us an incredibly tough yet incredibly modest protagonist. 90% of Jackie Chan movies feature him trying to run away from a fight or a situation, barely managing to escape through his ingenuity and physical prowess. The whole time he's in over his head, and utterly terrified.

For that reason, Jackie is always way more likeable and relatable a character than the stoic meat head tough guys we get all the time. Jackie is more Buster Keaton than Jason Bourne, which is something which just don't see in this day and age any more. I love Jackie Chan, but I think with action movies since the 80s/90s, the trend is towards GRR HARDCORE than happy go lucky.

 

[busterkeatonrules]

It's probably just because us Westerners have gotten used to looking solely towards Hollywood for our entertainment. Jackie's bound to slip under the radar.

I'm pretty sure I've never met anyone who doesn't like his movies, though. Personally, I think he's easily the best kung-fu hero of them all because he takes the time to include some comedy in his movies rather than just kicking ass for two hours and calling it a wrap.

Oh, and he's a huge fan of Buster Keaton! Gotta respect that.

 

[Happiness Assassin]

My roommate was taking a foreign film class and when he actually got to watch good films (not some obscure French romance) he would watch Jackie Chan movies. Apparently by accident, too. It appears Jackie Chan is in practically every Chinese action film he watched. Sometimes as a brief cameo, sometimes as a large role that wasn't heavily advertised. Some of them were actually pretty good, most were pretty awful. I remember one being about him having a psychically linked, long lost twin (and no they never explain how they are linked).

EDIT: The movie was called Twin Dragons. What a boring movie.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Hmmmm...I remember really liking Jackie Chan movies when I was younger, but not really interested nowdays. I don't want to say "he's too mainstream"..but when he does comedies with crap US comedians like Owen Wilson comedies (such as Shanghai Knights), and using CGI instead of doing his own stunts...well, he's gotten rid of what made him likeable in the first place. Mind you, he's had a good run.

 

[Longstreet]

Jackie Chan = awesome.

Some of his movies though are unbearable due to the crappy dubbing.

 

[lechat]

bunch of reasons imo.... but i still love jackie
not related but please check this out first http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-6-most-needlessly-dangerous-jackie-chan-stunts/
i remember watching #6 back when i was a kid and thinking it was impossible to fake that scene without getting hurt and damn was i right. jackie chan is fucking insane

ok back to topic

maturity level
prolly for the same reason the brits think guys in dresses are hilarious. western audiences might be turned off by the bumbling fool that jackie usually plays

budget
jackie makes some cheap ass movies and it's hard to shell out hard earned cash for anything less than a blockbuster

other actors
apart from Jenifer love hewitt and a few chinese actors the average westerner wont know, there are never any other famous actors in his movies

chinglish
jackie movies come in 3 forms. badly dubbed. subtitled or badly spoken english. most westerners just wont wear that shit

plot
not saying the average action movie will ever win best story but fuck jackie chan movies usually have a plot line barely above porn

asians
say what you want about racism but i still don't think all people are ready to accept an asian action hero

splosians
not enough explosians in his movies. it's a scientific fact (citation needed) that movie trailer + splosions = box office hit

boobs
seriously not enough sexy chinese girls getting their kit off in jackie chan movies. compare it to the average western blockbuster and you will see what i mean

 

[Scarim Coral]

The thing is, Jackie Chan in Western movies tend to suck compared to having him in his film settings in Hong Kong. Hollywood tend to have more of a health and safety issues comapared to Eastern over the top stunts.
I'm guessing the younger generations are more exposed to his newer Western films then they do with his older films like Project A, Dunken Master and Police Story.