I'm sure that you will agree with me when I say that some people just love to have a fight. Boxers. Martial Artists. Mothers. Politicians. Angry People. Office Workers. And that ugly looking sod with a dog that lives at the end of my street. Though there are other people that don't like a wham-bam-bam either. Such as Director: Robert Clouse; and Actors: Jackie Chan, Kristine DeBell, Mako, and José Ferrer. Especially for 95-minute in 1990.Battle Creek Brawl
THE STORY:
Arranging street brawls in the 1930's wasn't a very easy thing to do you
know. Take crime-boss, Dominici (José Ferrer), for instance.
All he needs is the right man to kick the living cr*p out of his rivals brutal
fighter, Killer Kiss (H.B. Haggerty), and everything would be right in his world. But
no. Most his men are right schmucks, because they can't even defend themselves
from a Chinese man called Jerry Kwan (Jackie Chan).
Hey! Wait a minute! That's an idea! Why
doesn't Dominici get Jerry to help him out? Jerry's masochistic Uncle, Herbert
(Mako), has trained him very well in the martial arts. Plus he and his
girlfriend, Nancy (Kristine DeBell), do win a roller-skating competition
together by default.
However, how will Dominici enlist Jerry's
services, huh? By getting his henchmen to attempt to kill him on numerous
occasions? Or what about attacking one of Jerry's skating pals and then leaving
him for dead by the side of the street?
Yeah. They're all worth a stab I suppose. Not that it does
Dominici any good. Heck, the only way he manages to persuade Jerry to come to
his aide, is by kidnapping his brothers soon to be girlfriend and making a
bargain with him in the process...
'If you win the up and
coming Battle
Creek Texas
Well, that's most probably why what next transpires all
comes into play when Jerry and his Uncle do a spot of night flipping. As crooks
alight - fighters fight - opponents dis - and the last man standing gives the last
man sitting a very special kiss.
THE REVIEW:
Now before I give you my spiel on 'Battle
Creek Brawl', please take note of the following filmic facts, OK? (1) This
picture was Jackie Chan's American film debut. (2) One of the producers on this
flick, Raymond Chow, was the same man that produced most of Bruce Lee's movies
[click on link for his section]. (3) Jackie learnt most of his dialogue on this
project by sound alone. He didn't know what he was saying most of the time. (4)
'The Brawl' premiered on the 29th
of August, 1980 , and it grossed $8,527,743 US dollars. (5) Jackie Chan previously worked with the director, Robert Clouse,
on the action-adventure 'Enter the Dragon' [click here for the review]. (7)
Because this film was deemed a financial failure within the Western film
market, Jackie himself was then subjected to star in a number of minor filmic
roles in America -- like in 'Cannonball Run' for example [click on link for
review]. (8) In an interview, Jackie once said that one of the main reasons
why this film failed was because he wasn't given a chance to direct the action
scenes in the way he wanted to.
Well, if you have read all of that, then
I'm pretty sure you've got a good idea of how I generally feel about this film.
Listen, I'm not trying to imply that I hate 'Battle Creek Brawl'. Far from it.
In fact I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. However, if you have
taken note of Jackie's comments up above, I have to state for the record that I
agree with him. His fighting in this piece isn't as it is normally depicted.
It's less powerful. More cartoon-ish. Slightly flimflam in places. Plus the
only thing I can compare it to is Jackie's brief fight scene in 'Cannonball
Run' -- just with a bit more edge to it.
Also, another thing that I wasn't too keen
on was the inconsistent style of this movie either. It's supposed to be 1930's
in tone, yet here and there you can see the modern world creeping into shot
within the attire and in the background. Moreover, within the confines of
certain scenes you can tell where the editor got a bit carried away with
himself concerning the flow of a fight -- mainly Jackie's fights.
Don't fret though; there's quite a few
thing's in this flick that I really did like. For a start, this was the first
time I saw a car utilized in such a brash way during an organised street
battle. Next, I have to mention how hilarious and shocking the 'lead-in brawl'
to the 'main event' really was. Honestly, it really did take me out of my seat.
In a good way ofz course. Plus let's not forget Mako, huh? He was a real
surprise to me I can tell you. In every scene he was in he added humor and
character to his role that I really did get a big kick out of.
Overall 'Battle Creek Brawl' is a fairly
decent film. Not as spectacular as some of Jackie's other works. Agreed.
But I still think that it is well worth a watch if you would like see an
amalgamation of 'Any Which Way You Can', 'Way of the Dragon', and 'No Retreat
No Surrender. Plus a little bit of Jackie thrown in for good measure. What do
you say about that Mister Chan?
Wow! What a great guy. And he has such nice hair too.
THE RATING: A