“His Leg Shot Out, and the Guy Went Flying!”: An Expert’s Honest Opinion on Bruce Lee Movies Once Made Jackie Chan Realize the Cause of His Film’s Failure

Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee are the two legends of the martial arts world. They were also one of the pioneer representatives of the Asian community in Hollywood.

While Bruce Lee was considered the Father of Martial Arts in Hollywood, Chan was known for his comic timing and slapstick acrobatic fighting style. Since his debut in 1960, Chan has been a part of more than 150 movies.

The reason behind Jackie’s initial failure in Hollywood

By the time Jackie Chan decided to test the waters of Hollywood, he was already a household name in Asia. According to Andrew Willis, a film scholar, he was probably the “most recognized film star in the world” at one point in his decorated career.

However, during his initial days in Hollywood, Chan found it arduous to break through to the US market. His films, like The Big Brawl and The Protector, were massive commercial failures. The Asian icon was unable to figure out the cause of his failure. It wasn’t until he sought help from a few experts who pointed out the reason for him. In his book “Never Grow Up,” Chan mentioned the time he was told about the reason behind his film’s failure in Hollywood.

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He was told that it was because the Americans didn’t believe that his kicks and punches in the movies carried any force. He shared that one of the experts told him, “You were fighting with the same guy for 10 minutes. You kicked him eight or nine times and he is still standing. In Bruce Lee movies, his leg shot out, and the guy went flying!” Constructively taking the criticism, Chan worked on his style, and the rest, as we say, is history.

The deep contrast between the Asian media and western media for Jackie Chan

In his book, Jackie also wrote about the contract between Asian and Western reception and how it has affected him. Jackie relaid the story of his first encounter with the American media. He wrote, “My colleagues had warned me that you needed to be psychologically prepared to face American reporters, but I thought they were making a big deal out of nothing.” He further added, “After everything I’d suffered when I was younger, and everything I’d been through, how bad could a press conference be?”

However, no amount of preparation could have prepared Chan to answer questions like what his name was or if he was a disciple of Bruce Lee. The incident shook Chan to the core and made him question his decisions. He wrote in his book, “I was famous all over Asia, and people treated me with respect. But here, I was supposed to be a performing monkey?”

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Gradually, Chan shifted his focus back to the Asian market. However, after a few years, he made his comeback to the US market. And this time around, he came back to stay for good.