Customer Reviews

Jackie Chan's Gorgeous [VHS]

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

*Gorgeous* may well mark a turning point in Jackie Chan's career. Under the guidance of his mentor, the late Leonard Ho, Chan had been confining himself to playing cops and adventurers in action-packed martial arts movies. But after Ho's death, he felt somewhat freer to explore new horizons, and decided to take risks with this uncharacteristic romantic comedy.

*Gorgeous* is the story of a naïve country-girl, Bu, interpreted by the brilliant and extraordinarily charming Shu Qi (the tomboy from Golden Harvest's video-gamish *Storm Riders*), who, after being lured to the city by a message in a bottle, falls in love with an aloof, self-made businessman, interpreted by Jackie Chan. The film also has a subplot involving Chan's rivalry with a less principled businessman, whose hired goons repeatedly attempt to beat Chan up.

Seduced by the script written by Vincent Kok, Chan infused the lead male character with his own personality, down to his obsession with cleanliness, his fondness for white clothes, his martial arts prowess and his name. The production designer even copied Chan's real-life office and used Chan's training equipment for the movie. (The only difference between his alter-ego and himself, Chan says, is "I don't understand Wall Street"!)

The result is a mixture of fairy-tale, reminiscent at times of the Spielberg productions of the eighties, romantic comedy, Hong Kong slapstick and martial arts movie- a kind of Chinese Disney film, benevolent, healthy and moral. Even the fight scenes are good-natured, preaching fair-play, non-violence, humility and camaraderie.

As Chan explains in his audio commentary, some critics seem not to have found him believable as a businessman. But that is no reflection on his acting abilities, which have improved a lot since the 1970s. On the contrary, I believe such remarks are motivated partly by the same kind of tunnel-vision that is hampering the movie careers of the great sitcom actors and actresses, and partly by the rarity of thoroughly good businessmen on screen. As far as I am concerned, Chan can play any kind of character (there's a Chinese architect in my script for *Spicemoon*; hint-hint) and I think he could have scrapped the martial arts altogether in *Gorgeous* and given us a full-fledged romantic comedy (even though we would have lost the wonderful fighting scenes with his extremely talented student, Brad Allan.)

If you are tired of the depravity of most modern movies, *Gorgeous* may be exactly the kind of alternative you are looking for. I strongly suggest watching the film in Cantonese with subtitles, and treating yourself to Chan's audio commentary (in English), a loose series of reminiscences about the making of the film that will give you a glimpse of Chan's wonderful generosity, candour and intelligence.

Up front, "Gorgeous" has an ok plot. At least we're seeing a new side of Jackie as he dons the "romantic" role. Now, to the fight scenes. These are by far some of his best ever filmed! When he takes on the four guys with the baseball bats, you'll be rewinding that for sure. But don't stop yet, as the two fight scenes with the American fighter are the ones to stick around for. The moves and speed exhibited here are amazing, and the choreography on the fight scenes are absolutely some of his best ever. The thing I really appreciated about the film was the fact that there was no bad guys in the movie. The fight scenes between Chan and the American were done with respect toward each other, and even the main villian isn't really into it to hurt Jackie. No stereotype villians here, that's for sure. A great movie!

I'll start off by saying that the movie is definetly worth watching even though i was disturbed by this release. Just know this, the film was edited. I'll explain further down.

What was i happy with? The widescreen enhanced picture quality is excellent since this movie was made so recently. Older jackie films tend to have that deteriorated hong kong film look. Sound is also very good with full 5.1 surround.

Well now for the problems. First of all, jackie isn't in the dub.. so the dub is only worth experiencing if your blind and don't understand chinese. Luckily they did include the cantonese track so you can experience the film the way it was intended. Jackies real voice just sounds right, and the girls bubble head character doesn't come through on the dub correctly. The dub voice acting is just bad. Its like dubbing meg ryans voice into chinese, you lose the certain quality that makes things work. The dub also is inaccurate as they seem to rewrite or omit information(i understand chinese). The subtitles have also been changed in this release to better match the english dub.. so they too are inaccurate. Basically you miss out on some jokes and get a slightly different impression of the film.

Another thing no one seems to have noticed is the film has been cut. I've watched the original film and there are atleast 3 scenes missing. You get a glimps of one or two in the making of featurette, but they appear no where else on this release. (also notice the featurette clip subtitles are the accurate version) These missing scenes were essential for making the plot more plausible.. but were probably cut for time. I guess the studio didn't think americans have much of an attention span or stomach for subtitles.

I read one review which said that the girls decision to go to hk was odd.. Its less odd in the original cut where there are scenes of her pondering over her decision a little more.. and recieving a sign from dolphins that she should go:P

Columbia/tri-star is going in the right direction with this release. Very good picture/sound, inclusion of the foreign language track, and special features. They should have also included atleast the choice of the original subtitles, and original cut of the movie. I hope in their next release they will continue to move in the right direction :)

Judging from the title and the plot description I wasn't expecting this to be another Jackie Chan fight/stunt fest extravaganza. After all Jackie is pushing the age towards geezer-hood (but still in pretty good shape and fighting form). So you won't see any specatacular fight sequences or death-defying action scenes.

What you do get though is the side of Jackie you don't normally see. As he does get older he is resorting to his charm and humor in pleasing his audience (see Shanghai Noon). And you know what .......it works. His romantic persona is on display here and coupled with an equally appealing co-star this movie will please most.

Just not the action hungry fans who catch this for just that.

Tony Leung is surprisingly good as the gay make up artist who takes in Bu. And Shu Qi portrays the love-struck, naive Bu with attractiveness and an appeal missing from Hollywood's leading asian actresses.

For Chan fanatics this is a movie worth checking out to find that their star is indeed more multidimensional than his pugilistic repertoire he unleashes.

Jackie Chan continues to surprise! I have seen almost 20 of Jackie's movies and this is one of my favorites. It features Jackie in a totally new role than he normally plays. But the difference is delightful. It is refreshing to see him play a romantic lead. And, in typical Chan fashion he carries it off to perfection. There are also two really great fight sequences, and a great teaser ending. One of my favorite all-time Chan scenes is the very last scene in this movie. If I had one criticism, it would be that in the English dubbed version Jackie did not overdub his own voice. Still, altoghether, this is a light-hearted, fun sweetly romantic movie with a simple plot and endearing characters. If you only watch Jackie for the great stunts and power-packed fighting, this may not be the film for you. But if you also appreciate Chan's acting abilities and are a real Chan Fan, you must see this movie!

What a delightful 99 minutes! If you can come to Jackie Chan with an open mind, not expecting the same ol', same ol', then you will be see something new. Gorgeous, even.

The story revolves around an old legend of the reuniting, after their deaths, of man and woman in the deep as dolpins. The story passes on to the female lead, Shu Qi as Bu, whose name means dolphin, making her a living legend. When her dolphin friend Abu brings her a bottle with a message, she believes her destined love has sent for her. She leaves Taiwan for Hong Kong and (in that huge, giant city) finds the sender who is actually a handsome...gay man. They become fast friends.

One thing leads to another and Bu saves C.N. Chan (Jackie Chan), who is a millionaire playboy. They are charmed by and with each other. A romance begins, not by today's standards when romance means meet, have sex, maybe get to know each other, then go separate ways. Their romance is truly charming and innocent, as in bygone days. When Jackie's character shows great respect and humility at the end, the viewer knows what the outcome is.

Oh yes, the fight scenes. Apparently, martial arts fans come to this movie expecting more. The fight scenes also show restraint and respect and even laugh out loud humor. Frankly, I was reminded of the hilarious fight scenes of the first half of "Ong-Bak: Thai Warrior." How much slapstick humor could be incorporated into the sequences and for the fighting to show no blood or even breaks in skin? That is what the viewer gets here. The music behind the fighting is also different--a more playful sound, including Chinese drums.

The best fights are between Jackie and an American, both respectful and considerate of each other. This type of fighting was pleasant to watch--seeing great talent and control to best each other without that wretched drive to kill and destroy. One reviewer indicated the use of wires and speeding the recording of the fighting. Is that done here?

Even though I really enjoyed this film, I must state what I saw as a shortcoming. Jackie and his supposed school-time buddy are nowhere near the same age. Shu Qi is much too young to play his love interest. I was a bit embarrassed for him. Is Jackie, like the rest of us, having a hard time dealing with his age?

Even so, the film has its gorgeous points: Bu's purity and self-confidence, the honesty of the fights, Jackie's change of heart, the wardrobes of the gay men, and, of course, the beauty of the dolphins and the legend surrounding them.

If you want UNCUT ORIGINAL version, ALWAYS look for ORIGINAL LICENSED Production. NOT US Release. Its a foreign film, it should not be US version to begin with~! HELLO!!!?? Why settle for LESS with US Version where they edit and cut so many excellent scenes especially with Jackie's Fighting Scenes. And US Release ruins the speed and sound as well. I have been collecting Jackie Chan's movies both HK and US Release Version for quite some time now. I found HK Version to be MUCH MORE in enjoyable, and HIGHER in Quality. American Market always like to "Americanize" and "Control". Regional Code Regulation thing is one of the example to CONTROL the Market. Why not let everyone enjoy the same HK Original Release move the same way ENTIRE WORLD enjoys it ?? No one makes Hollywood American movies to "French version" or "Chinese Version" ~! This what Americans are doing~! Well, enjoy the cheap "American version" then~! LOL

Gorgeous is a modern fairy-tale that blends traditional romance-comedy themes with Jackie Chan's trademark sense of action. A teenage country girl finds a romantic message in a bottle and travels to Hong Kong to find its sender. Though that doesn't exactly work out like planned, she does meet Chan's character, a millionarie industrialist. As the two get to know each other, a business rival plots to humiliate Chan by pitting him against an American fighter.

This love story works quite well, thanks to the strengths of its leads. Shu Qi's cuteness, spunky personality and exaggerated facial expressions set the movie's tone, while it's nice to see the always-loveable Jackie Chan play a different role (though really, Jackie Chan plays Jackie Chan in all the movies he does). It's not a revolutionary plot, and a few scenes could have been better executed (the obligatory 'break-up' before the happy ending is rather weak), but on the whole the mushy side of me ate it up. Jackie Chan does romance quite well.

There are also some fight sequences sprinkled here and there; two are classic Jackie Chan where he uses the environment against his opponents, and the other two are showcase-quality fights against Bradley James Allan, a member of Jackie's own stunt team. These fights, well-executed that they are, feel tacked-on to the movie. It's like someone was afraid fans wouldn't respond well to a Jackie Chan movie without fights, and so contrived a few for the heck of it. In keeping with the movie's lighthearted tone, the bad guys arent really evil, and the fights are either cartoonish or done in a manner where the combatants show respect to each other. It's a nice variation.

Gorgeous really won me over. The dvd loses a star for not including the uncut version, though it includes a Jackie Chan commentary that the Hong Kong version doesn't. Great date movie that has something for guys and girls, and worth seeing for anyone curious about a 'Jackie Chan romance'.

This DVD looses a star for the incredibly bad dub job for Jackie on the English track. To hear the "real" Jackie, view the Cantonese track with English subtitles - so much better. Or, alternatively, get the Asian release, which even has extra scenes, deleted from the American release. Contrary to some of the "dah - action only" reviewers, this movie is terrific! Jackie is trying something new, and it works for those with enough sense to realise it isn't MEANT to be an action flick. Jackie has thrown in a few martial arts/fight sequences (I don't think he can help himself!) and these work very well. The last fight scene between him and Australian stuntman Brad Allan is something to be seen to be believed. Great choreography! The movie has a bit of everything - it is a romance, a drama, a comedy and a fairy-tale with a happy ending. Jackie plays a suave, playboy-type millionaire who meets Bu, a girl from a small island off Taiwan, who comes to Hong Kong in search of "true love" (a la a message in a bottle). What she finds is Tony Leung, in a great performance as the gay friend. She then meets Jackie, falls in love and the story revolves around her attempts to get him to reciprocate. Give this movie a go, just approach it as a romance/drama/comedy NOT an action film and you will enjoy it immensely!

This is a different story, it's not focused in the stunts and the martial arts, here Jackie Chan explores dangerous waters (to fall in love with a very young girl) but from the Fairy Tale point of view. It's very funny to see him fighting against that Jean Claude Van Dame look alike. A nice movie to watch with the entire family.