laitimes

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

author:Lee Dalang Seanlee watching a movie

Love and pain, do not feel the road long.

Life adventures, side by side in the wilderness.

The fog is heavy, and the times are noisy and busy.

The fire is shining, guiding the thieves into Taihang.

- The Almighty Hotel ""

During the fifth dynasty of the Liang Dynasty, there was a Youfang monk named Qi Yan, who was called a cloth bag monk because he often carried a cloth bag on his shoulder, and the cloth bag monk wrote a "Rice Planting Poem", which reads: "Insert green rice into the field with your hand, and look down to see the water and the sky." The six pure roots are the way, and the regression turns out to be forward. ”

This "Rice Planting Poem", Jet Li has memorized since he was a child, but he can't remember the third sentence.

In 2007, Jet Li was a guest in "Lu Yu Has an Appointment", mentioned this poem again, in addition to still can't remember the third sentence, but also memorized the first sentence as "hand to plant green straw into Noda", he also laughed at himself on the program "You see you can't remember that sentence, how embarrassing", although he remembered the wrong sentence, but there is no doubt that this poem had a deep impact on Jet Li, it is certain that he deeply understood the true meaning of the poem of the cloth bag monk, and had a great enlightenment and help in his life.

(1)

In 1998, Jet Li's last Hong Kong film "The King of Killers" before going to Hollywood was released, and finally won 10.29 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office, after which Jet Li went to the United States without hesitation and started his third film "expedition" after the mainland and Hong Kong.

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

"The King of Killers"

Although Jet Li's experience in Hong Kong is not always pleasant, his best works, the peak state is really left to Hong Kong, in the past ten years in Hong Kong, he has made twenty movies, can not be said to be classics, but all with care, excellent works, at that time, his salary was second only to Jackie Chan, higher than Chow Yun-fat, Stephen Chow, Andy Lau and other Uranus superstars, he also organized his own Zhengdong Film Company, the influence not only spread across the strait and three places, but also radiated to Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and pan-Asia.

We no longer know what the real reason for Jet Li to leave Hollywood is, but the top stars in Hong Kong at that time, pay attention to top stars (not even including superstars like Andy Lau), in addition to Stephen Chow, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Zhou Yunfa all chose to go to the United States to develop, and even directors such as John Woo, Tsui Hark, Lin Lingdong and other directors have taken the footsteps of "westward march". We only know that much later, Jet Li once said with deep meaning that "the entertainment industry is a microcosm of society."

Jet Li in 1998, his extremely beautiful data performance in the Asian market, this data is reflected in resources, box office, prestige, appeal, influence and other aspects, it can be said that at that time, he and Jackie Chan stood at the top of the entire Asian action film field, basically in a lonely situation.

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

Jet Li and Jackie Chan

But on the other side of the world, it's a different story.

Jet Li once said: "Our world is the world of Asia, and only people who like Chinese movies or Hong Kong action movies know who Jet Li is." When he first arrived in the United States, no one knew that Jet Li was the "Kung Fu Emperor" who was popular all over Asia, and no one even knew him on the road.

Jet Li said: "It's basically data, it represents your value in the market, Hong Kong is like this, the United States is even more so, very cruel." ”

In 1998, Jet Li, who had no data in the US market, how should he take his first step?

(2)

After arriving in the United States, Jet Li made one thing very clear: he had to start from scratch.

Since starring in the movie "Shaolin Temple" in 1982, Jet Li has never been a supporting actor, and has never auditioned, and invited him, is the ironclad male protagonist. However, when he arrived in the United States, he knew that he was now a new Ding, everything had to start from scratch, in his own words, that is, "I have to do an audition that I have never done in my life", and he may not be used after the audition, because there are other actors who participated in the audition at the same time, he must go back and wait for the notice, at that time, many Jet Li's friends, colleagues and even fans felt that he did not need to be so wronged, and they were opposed to him doing so, but Jet Li was unmoved, he told others that it was okay, he understood himself, and gave him a chance, He will prove something once again for everyone to see.

That year, Jet Li was 35 years old.

Finally, on the recommendation of "The Matrix" director The Wachowski brothers (now the Wachowski sisters) and martial arts director Yuan Heping, he received an invitation from the famous Hollywood action series "Lethal Weapons 4".

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

Lethal Weapons 4

Jet Li successfully passed the audition, but the role given to him by the film is not only not the male protagonist, but also not even a supporting actor, he has to play a villain (in later movie posters, he is the last of the six main roles), and the role is limited.

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

Lethal Weapon 4 poster

Jet Li thought about it and agreed.

The next thing was told by Jet Li himself.

When talking about salary, the film side of "Lethal Weapons 4" initially offered 1 million US dollars, Jet Li was paid 16 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong at that time, about 2.4 million US dollars, it is impossible for the film side not to know the value of Jet Li, the price of 1 million US dollars is obviously lowering the price, Jet Li was a little hesitant, thought for a long time, and finally agreed. But the other party immediately reduced the salary to $750,000, Jet Li was very angry, originally planned to leave, but after thinking about it, he still agreed, a game of back and forth, and finally Jet Li's first Hollywood salary was reduced to $500,000.

In the United States, the $500,000 salary also includes Jet Li's legal fees, agent commissions, publicity company publicity fees and personal taxes.

In the TV series "Daming Dynasty 1566", Lv Fang said a very classic line: "Civil officials say that to be an official, you should think twice: think about danger, think about retreat, and think about change." ”

Lao Tzu once said: "If you enter the road, you will retreat." ”

Jet Li may not have seen "Daming Dynasty 1566", but Lao Tzu's words, he must know.

(3)

In "Lethal Weapons 4", the gangster leader Gu Huaxing played by Jet Li only has about 20 minutes of scenes in the 127-minute movie.

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

Jet Li plays Gu Huaxing

On July 10, 1998, "Lethal Weapons 4" was released in the United States, at that time, major film companies in the United States had professional questionnaires, which would count a movie's points of interest, star performance, recommendation value, etc. On the evening of July 10, the statistics have come out, and on July 11, the boss of the film company immediately called Jet Li over, and Jet Li later vividly imitated what the film company boss said to him: "Hey, the next film is the protagonist, how much is it, how about it, is it okay to start filming immediately?" ”

In fact, in this movie with American actors as the protagonists, Jet Li's sharp skills do not have many opportunities to perform, whether it is scene scheduling or camera editing, they are far from the excellent action classics he shot in Hong Kong, and some of the scenes he shot were later cut out, and the action shots saved in the feature film did not exceed 10 minutes.

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

There are not many action scenes in Jet Li

However, even in such harsh conditions of "dancing in shackles", Jet Li still contributed the professionalism of a top action actor that stunned the American audience, and he was nominated for a best villain in the United States for this performance.

Mick Rogers, director of Team 2 of "Lethal Weapons 4" (and double-in coordinator and stand-in), once said: "Jet Li seems to be active in a different space, he punches 14 punches in a row, we don't see it, so we have to learn how to shoot (Jet Li) so that our audience can understand (him)." And Mel Gibson, the protagonist who fought against Jet Li, once "complained" on the set: "It's good to use slow motion, when he (Jet Li) uses full speed, I am miserable." What Mel Gibson didn't know was that when making those fights much slower than normal movements, Jet Li needed to pay more precise force control and more difficult interval pauses, but Jet Li still cooperated as much as possible according to the requirements of the photo party and made all the movements they needed.

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

Jet Li and Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson spoke of Jet Li again during the recording of the Lethal Weapons series Blu-ray Footage in 2010, saying: "We have to ask him (Jet Li) to slow down, I have to remember his movements and do them as quickly as possible because I don't know when it will come again." Actor Renee Russell, who plays Lorna Cole, had a scene where she was kicked unconscious by Jet Li, and later she lamented: "I have to come out of the door, Jet Li has to kick me in the face, it's just so far from my nose, I thought, well, I know this guy is a master, but, oh my God." And actor Chris Rock, who plays a black police detective, said: "You know action movies take a long time, but every time Jet Li does anything, everyone looks at him as if it's an NBA basketball game or something, and come face to face with him because it's great." ”

Director Richard Downer said bluntly: "The fourth episode has Jet Li involved, Jet Li, that guy is amazing!" ”

It is said that when the old beauties watched "Lethal Weapons 4" in the theater, whenever Jet Li showed his kung fu in the movie and swept it with his own strength, his amazing technique immediately shocked the four seats, and the screams in the theater greatly exceeded the starring Mel Gibson. It can be said that Jet Li was the biggest surprise.

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

Stills from "Lethal Weapons 4"

Some people even commented that when Jet Li shot after Mel Gibson and others, the master-level action show directly formed a "dimensionality reduction blow" to Mel Gibson, and in front of Jet Li, other people's fights were as childish and ridiculous as kindergarten children's fights.

(4)

Jet Li later said: "Regression turned out to be forward, people said how did you regress, but in fact, you look this way, where did you regress?" In fact, people have to put their hearts big. ”

"Lethal Weapons 4" can be regarded as Jet Li's test of the waters in Hollywood, but in order to make a good work, Jet Li not only received a poor villain with few roles for the first time in his life, but also learned English little by little, memorized lines, even in the toilet, not only memorized his own lines, but also memorized the other party's lines, even if he didn't know what the meaning was, but in short, he memorized it first.

The United States on the other side of the ocean is cold, but at the same time it is also very particular about the rules of the game and respects all kinds of powerful experts.

With just a few minutes of playing, Jet Li, who is in the "year of fighting", actually made the aura of a villain far beyond the protagonist with his clean skills and clean acting skills. You know, Jet Li at that time, whether it was image or technology, was second to none among action stars.

Jet Li, who retreated, eventually conquered Hollywood.

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

After "Lethal Weapons 4", Jet Li became famous

After "Lethal Weapons 4", Jet Li became famous, and the events after that proved his judgment, and the "price" he paid before was duly "rewarded".

Since then, Jet Li has officially stepped into the Hollywood film circle, and has been starring in a series of movies as the quasi-No. 1 male protagonist.

Even many Chinese audiences bought the video of "Lethal Weapons 4" from various channels back then, just because there was Jet Li in it.

(5)

Two years later, Warner Bros. Pictures once again invited Jet Li to shoot his first Hollywood leading actor movie "Deadly Romeo", at the premiere, Warner specially arranged to Chinese subtitles first, and then English subtitles, giving Jet Li face. "Deadly Romeo" eventually grossed more than 91 million worldwide. Since then, Jet Li has been able to gain a foothold in Hollywood and break through the sky with his first-class skills.

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

"Deadly Romeo"

After that, he starred in the movies "Dragon's Kiss", "Cosmic Hunt", "Deadly Cradle", "Danny the Wolf Dog", "Ranger", "The King of Kung Fu" and other Hollywood action films, during which Jet Li also starred in "Hero" directed by Zhang Yimou, "Huo Yuanjia" directed by Yu Rentai and "Casting Names" directed by Chen Kexin, these three Chinese-language masterpieces are a nirvana-style reshaping of Jet Li's previous Chinese action movie mode, not only the action scenes are more fierce and powerful, but the acting skills are more sophisticated and old, at this stage, Jet Li has truly reached the highest level of his acting career.

These ten films together constitute the third echelon of Jet Li's action movies, although these films cannot be compared with Jet Li's "Shaolin Temple" trilogy and the era of Hong Kong action films in terms of film quality, but in terms of their influence, they undoubtedly have more far-reaching significance, which marks that Jet Li finally transcends the limitations of the Chinese circle and begins to gain greater voice and stronger dominance in a wider world. Compared to Jet Li's Chinese-language action films, his work in Hollywood is more wild, brutal and bloody, and almost every film has some B-grade pedigree, in which Jet Li generally appears as a cold, silent image, almost a specimen action star who perfectly shows Chinese kung fu.

Someone once asked Jet Li inexplicably, why do you make so many violent movies in Hollywood? Jet Li replied that if I don't shoot, there will be others who shoot, but if I don't shoot, I won't be able to introduce our kung fu concepts and promote our Chinese martial arts in front of so many foreign media.

"Lethal Weapon 4": Jet Li, who went on an expedition to Hollywood, retreated as an advance and won the first battle

All from 1998's Lethal Weapons 4

And the beginning of everything came from the 1998 "Lethal Weapon 4".

Read on