Jet Li, who has an old image, is actually only 58 years old this year, the same age as Zhen Zidan. However, due to physical reasons, he has faded from the public eye and lived a life of seclusion.
Looking back at Jet Li's film life, there are several key figures:
First number: 17
Jet Li debuted at the age of 17, born on April 26, 1963, and was selected by director Zhang Xinyan in 1980 to star in the action movie "Shaolin Temple".
He was not yet 18 years old, and the film was released on February 1, 1982, when he was not yet 19 years old.
Second number: 37
Jet Li has starred in 37 movies so far (5 films "Lethal Weapon 4", "Mummy 3" and "Daredevil" trilogy, excluding the villain or supporting roles, 3 films "The Founding of the People's Republic", "Legend of the Fengshen Gods", "Mulan", and 1 documentary "Chinese Martial Arts").
Of these, 27 were released before 2000, and after entering the 21st century, his pace of creation has slowed down significantly.
Of course, this number is not much, and on average, it only stars in one movie a year, but most of these works are above the standard.
Third number: 379 million
Few people know that the movies starring Jet Li in Hollywood are mostly B-grade films based on violent crimes, and the more famous ones here are "Danny the Wolfhound" and "Deadly Romeo".
With a total revenue of $379 million in North American videotape and DVD revenue, it is truly the "king of B-movies."
On Douban, the ten jet Li movies with the highest word-of-mouth ratings are:
No.1."Smiling Pride Jianghu 2: Undefeated in the East", No.2."Jingwu Hero", No.3."Huang Feihong", No.4."Shaolin Temple", No.5."Huang Feihong No.3: Lion King Battle", No.6."Huang Feihong No.2: Boys Should Be Self-Reliant", No.7."Letter to Daddy", No.8."Taiji Zhang Sanfeng", No.9."Fang Shiyu", No.10."Ocean Paradise".
These reflect the audience's preference for the film.
But Pigo believes that the criteria for evaluating movies should also consider its historical significance and the importance of its significance to Jet Li himself, so Pigo also selected The "Top Ten Movies" of Jet Li in Pigo's mind, each of which has a special meaning for Jet Li.
Let's take a look at Pigo and see if there are any movies you like listed in the list -
—10—
《Letter of Submission》
2007 丨 Director: Chen Kexin, Action Director: Cheng Xiaodong
The production cost of "Submission" was as high as 40 million US dollars (257 million yuan), and the payment of Jet Li's film remuneration alone was as high as 100 million yuan, but the mainland box office was only 202 million yuan, and the global box office was only 42.88 million US dollars (276 million yuan), which made the producers doubt their lives.
Not only that, director Chen Kexin almost collapsed mentally when filming war scenes that he was not good at in the early stages of filming. It was the action director Cheng Xiaodong who gave him a lot of advice, and together with Jet Li, he took over the guide and completed the filming of the war scene.
But it is undeniable that "Submission of Names" is an excellent work. The film is adapted from the "Thorn Horse Case" of the four strange cases at the end of the Qing Dynasty, chen Kexin uses delicate lenses to portray the male protagonist Pang Qingyun as a general with great ambitions but difficulties. This is very different from the historical prototype Ma Chaoxing, but vivid enough.
Although the film did not fare well at the box office, it received a lot of awards, receiving 13 nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards and 8 awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Jet Li successfully won the Academy Award for film with this film, so it is one of the most important works in his acting career.
—9—
Huo Yuanjia
2006 丨 Director: Yu Rentai, Action Director: Yuan Heping
Jet Li was a witness during the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, and he began to re-examine his life and decided to use a movie to tell the meaning of life.
As the Beijing Olympics approached, Jet Li decided to use Huo Yuanjia's story to interpret the theme of "self-improvement", but the screenwriter obviously only considered writing the script according to his intentions.
The movie "Huo Yuanjia" does not refer to Huo Yuanjia's life historical materials, but only borrows the name of "Huo Yuanjia" and fabricates out of thin air an image of a "sinner" who was brave and fierce in the early stage, lived with repentance after experiencing setbacks, and finally died like being redeemed.
This caused strong dissatisfaction among Huo Yuanjia's descendants and caused a sensational lawsuit storm throughout the country.
However, "Huo Yuanjia" is jet Li's "last kung fu movie" after all, he injected a lot of effort into it, and the action actors participating in it were also selected from all over the world.
The film also takes the extremely chicken thief's business route, and in order to get more scheduling and number of scenes, the original complete 141-minute film length is cut into a more conducive 104 minutes.
As a result, the film grossed HK$30.02 million in Hong Kong, RMB105 million in the mainland, and US$68.07 million worldwide, which was a steady figure at the time.
—8—
Heroes
2002 丨 Director: Zhang Yimou, Action Director: Cheng Xiaodong
In 2002, Jet Li, who missed the "light of Chinese cinema" "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and Zhang Yimou, who wanted to make martial arts movies, cooperated to launch "Hero".
Zhang Yimou originally wanted to adapt the novels of Jin Yong or Liang Yusheng, but both had certain difficulties, and finally decided to create the script of "Hero" based on the story of Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin.
The film cleverly uses the Rashomon-style expression method, and the characters' styling and color use are also ingenious.
However, the concept of the first hand decrees that the film story has lost suspense long ago, and in the face of the invasion of foreign enemies, the theme of choosing to give up resistance for the so-called "world" has also had a great impact on the audience, which has dragged down the reputation of the film.
Therefore, "Hero" is also quite controversial in the mainland, fortunately, European and American audiences can't understand these things about history, and the film's overseas box office is quite powerful.
With an investment of $31 million (nearly 200 million yuan), it grossed $177 million worldwide, which is a decent enough figure for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" of $214 million.
Although "Hero" itself has a controversial reputation, its impact on mainland films is extremely far-reaching, and its birth also marks that mainland films have entered the era of rapid development of blockbusters.
—7—
"Heroes of Jingwu"
1994 丨 Director: Chen Jiashang, Action Director: Yuan Heping
"Jingwu Hero" is Jet Li's comprehensive tribute to idol Bruce Lee, and it is also the last work starring Jet Li of Zhengdong Company.
Jet Li intends to make it a realistic style action movie, so the action designed by Yuan Heping also abandons those clever moves and appears more concise.
Chen Zhen was portrayed as a young man with strong martial arts skills, a cool head, and a courageous and wise study abroad, which is very different from bruce Lee's version.
The new Japanese girlfriend Mitsuko Yamada (played by Shinobu Nakayama) is beautiful and moving, which is a highlight of the movie. Qian Xiaohao, Zhou Billy, and Kurata Baozhao guaranteed the quality of the action in the movie.
"Jingwu Hero" was released on the winter solstice day on Christmas Eve in 1994, but it fell ill-fat at the box office, and it was released after only 15 days of screening, and the final box office was 14.78 million Hong Kong dollars.
But good movies have withstood the grind of time, and later their discs have been very popular when they were released in Asian countries, and now "Jingwu Hero" has become a textbook work of kung fu movies and is recognized by the world as an action movie masterpiece.
—6—
"The Demon Sect Leader of the Dragon Slayer"
1993 丨Director: Wang Jing, Action Director: Hong Jinbao
After Jet Li left Jiahe in 1993, among the several works he cooperated with Wang Jing, "The Demon Sect Leader" is the most topical one.
The film was originally going to be made into two episodes, but after the release of the film due to poor box office and canceled the sequel plan, until recently Wang Jing made a sequel, it is said that it is called "Yitian Slaughter Dragon Record of the Yin and Yang Sacred Fire Order", which has made this original work get attention.
Wang Jing is the son of TVB director Wang Tianlin, and every Jin Yong martial arts TV series launched by Wang Tianlin in that year was a classic, among which Liang Chaowei's version of "Yitian Slaughtering Dragon" had the highest degree of restoration.
Although Wang Jing likes to make ingenious pranks and historical characters, she did make great efforts when adapting "The Tale of the Dragon Slayer in the Heavens" and also retained the main story line in the novel.
Zhang Wuji was portrayed as a wise and dark young sect leader, which was very different from Jin Yong's original work.
Wang Jing, who got inspiration from the earliest serial editions, believed that people like Zhang Wuji, who had been humiliated since childhood, could not be without ambition after getting the opportunity to turn around.
This adaptation based on the original book was affirmed and supported by the audience, but unfortunately, the film only earned 11.86 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office in Hong Kong that year, far from meeting expectations, resulting in the cancellation of the sequel, leaving the audience with great regret.
—5—
Tai Chi Zhang Sanfeng
1993 丨 Director: Yuan Heping, Action Director: Yuan Heping
After jet Li founded Zhengdong Company, he launched two "Fang Shiyu" movies that were well received, and his ambitions also swelled, and he decided to take the crew back to the mainland to shoot "Taiji Zhang Sanfeng".
The director and action director are Yuan Heping, and Yang Ziqiong, Qian Xiaohao, Yuan Xiangren, Yu Hai, Sun Jiankui, these stars have joined the film.
Zhang Sanfeng is a real historical figure, but the movie is adapted from "The Dragon Slayer in the Sky".
The plot of the young Zhang Junbao escaping from the Shaolin Temple is similar to that of "Yitian Slaughtering dragons", but in the movie, Guo Xiang is replaced by Zhang Junbao's classmate Dong Tianbao, whose character and personality are completely different from Zhang Junbao, and the existence of the two itself implies the yin and yang sides of Taiji.
Jet Li himself had never learned Tai Chi, but under the guidance of Yuan Heping, he had already mastered Tai Chi in less than a few days, which made Yuan Heping praise him and always called him a "living dictionary" of Chinese kung fu.
The film only sold HK$12.54 million at the box office in Hong Kong that year, but it caused a sensation in the mainland and quickly led to a wave of Tai Chi fever.
Since then, kung fu films and television works in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland often appear as tai chi masters, which are all tributes to Jet Li.
—4—
Fang Shiyu
1993 丨 Director: Yuan Kui, Action Director: Yuan Kui
Jet Li was questioned by the Hong Kong film industry when he left Jiahe, because he was reluctant to join other companies at first, and he and Yuan Kui founded Zhengdong Company, and many people were ready to watch his jokes.
But Jet Li and Yuan Kui eventually created two "Fang Shiyu" movies, which made Zhengdong Company stand firm while achieving high box office.
Different from the serious style of the "Huang Feihong" series, "Fang Shiyu" takes the spoof and comedy route, and its adaptation of the story of "Fang Shiyu Fighting" is unprecedented.
Fang Shiyu and Lei Laohu, the pair of life and death enemies, actually formed a family, and Zheng Shaoqiu actually made a cameo appearance of Chen Jialuo at the end of the film, which brought enough surprises to the audience.
Although screenwriter Liu Zhenwei's story style is too nonsensical, he has been repeating himself over the years, but in the 90s his screenwriting and directing skills were still outstanding.
"Fang Shiyu" earned HK$30.7 million at the Hong Kong box office, and "Fang Shiyu Sequel" also grossed HK$23.01 million, making these two the most profitable martial arts films of the year.
—3—
Laughing Pride 2: Undefeated in the East
1992 丨 Director: Cheng Xiaodong, Action Director: Cheng Xiaodong
This is the sequel to Hu Jinquan's movie "Smiling Proud of the Jianghu", Xu Ke insisted on letting Lin Qingxia play Dongfang undefeated.
Because the original lead actor Xu Guanjie asked for extra remuneration, Xu Kesuo pulled Jet Li over to play Ling Huchong. But from the story point of view, dongfang undefeated is the protagonist of the movie, so this is Jet Li's most non-existent martial arts movie, and his limelight has been snatched half by Lin Qingxia.
But this is still one of Jet Li's most important films, and his performance has been affirmed by Jin Yong himself.
Jin Yong even believes that Jet Li is the best Ling Huchong in his mind, thanks to Jet Li's swordplay that has won the national championship, and his innate easy-going personality, which is very suitable for The image of Ling Huchong.
In the film, Lin Qingxia changed the weak image of the previous Qiong Yao actress, and successfully created a generation of gentle and domineering oriental undefeated. Her flattering smile is deeply rooted in the hearts of the audience and leaves an indelible mark.
"Undefeated in the East" won 34.46 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office, opening the craze of martial arts in the 90s, and Lin Qingxia also ushered in the second spring of her career.
—2—
"Huang Feihong"
1991 丨 Director: Xu Ke, Action Director: Liu Jiarong, Yuan Xinren, Yuan Xiangren
When filming this film, Liu Jialiang was reluctant to serve as the action director of "Huang Feihong", because Huang Feihong was the master of the Southern Shaolin Hongquan Sect, but Xu Ke found Jet Li from the Northern Sect to play.
At the same time, Xu Ke hoped to see more flowing and freehand movements, so the shooting of the action scene was twisted and turned, and three action directors were changed, and Jet Li also broke his calf.
Fortunately, Jet Li found his good friend Xiong Xinxin to join and complete the rest of the play as a stand-in for him.
At the end of the film, the bamboo ladder battle, all the fight scenes are completed by the stand-in, Jet Li is only responsible for the upper body shots, posing a frame, making a show.
This is somewhat regrettable, but the success of "Huang Feihong" lies in the story carefully crafted by Xu Ke.
Xu Ke put Huang Feihong, a martial arts master familiar to Hong Kong people, in the context of the turbulent era of the late Qing Dynasty, he was no longer a pure city master, but a young man with aspirations who worried about the country and the people and had the ambition to save the country.
Coupled with aunt thirteen, who represents progressive ideas, the couple's organization produces an excellent chemistry.
"Wong Fei Hung" eventually grossed HK$29.67 million in Hong Kong, the 8th highest grossing film of the year and also sold well in Taiwan, thus opening a series.
The subsequent "Huang Feihong NO. 2: Boys As Self-Reliant" is the best box office work in the series, and "Huang Feihong" is also the best classic role that Jet Li has ever portrayed.
—1—
Shaolin Temple
1982 丨 Director: Zhang Xinyan
As a movie star, the luckiest thing is that I have come across the best movies when I first debuted.
"Debut is the peak", Liang Jiahui is like this, jet Li is also like this.
Although Jet Li, who has just turned 18, is still very ordinary in acting, but that kind of cleverness and cuteness have been shown, and there are many action stars who have been promoted in the film circle, but not everyone can do it.
Therefore, jet Li's success is not only due to the objective factors of a strong protagonist lineup, a good movie story, and a grand scene, but also his own efforts.
If you change to someone else, you may not be able to achieve the kind of effect he deduced, so it is no accident that Jet Li was able to stand out among many mainland kung fu stars in the 80s.
There are rumors on the Internet that "Shaolin Temple" got a box office of 160 million yuan at that time, although there is no basis, but the film also has a high box office in Hong Kong, selling 16.16 million Hong Kong dollars, ranking fourth in the annual box office.
The film sold 3.6 billion yen in Japan and nearly 280,000 viewers in Seoul, South Korea, which are very impressive results.
Since Jet Li was a former mainland star (now a Singaporean), we mainland audiences have more sense of identification with him. Therefore, compared with Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Zhen Zidan, Jet Li's films have a higher spread rate and popularity in the mainland, although a large part of them have not been released in the mainland, they have become classic films in the hearts of mainland audiences.
In addition to what Pi Ge mentioned above, Jet Li's "Letter to Daddy", "Huang Feihong's Iron Chicken Fighting Centipede", "Huang Feihong's Western Lion", "Adventure King" and other films are also very classic.
Jet Li, 58, is already in a semi-reclusive state and cannot return to his peak, which makes his previous films even more precious.
Text/Pippi Film Editorial Department: Bloody Dan Heart
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