As Americans we are trained to think of ourselves as "The Best." It is indoctrinated into us from kindergarten on that we must be number one, the head of the class. We have the temerity to define our sports events as "World Baseball Series" and "The Super Bowl." The desire to one up each other is, therefore, built right in to our culture. Even in negative events. We try to "have the worst day" or be the "most hungry." No different for filmmaking. In Hollywood this has translated not only into a competition of who can write/direct/act the best but also "how many stars can we cram" and "how much money can we spend" as well. In no other genre is this more apparent than "Action."

The desire to see people fighting and exciting things happening has been around forever. One oft-quoted ancient example would be the Roman coliseum; another would be Mexican bull fighting. In modern times though we get to stage exciting Action movies and avoid actual physical harm while heightening and one-upping our ancestors with these staged acts. Along with that came the ability to watch said acts over and over necessitating the act now of one-upping the stunts themselves. Action movies have played one-upmanship with each other for years now and, due to the aforementioned American psyche, we "must" spend over $100 million dollars just on effects alone or filmmakers will fear the audience becoming disinterested. I have news for you, in Hong Kong not only have they got the American filmmakers beat on all levels and manage to innovate constantly and those audience members are anything but disinterested, plus they do it on shoestring budgets.

"Why then," you ask "haven't I heard of that many HK films?" The answer is unfortunate, American audiences equate cost with quality very easily and very frequently. Lack of care for film stock in HK means that prints shown in America look "cheap" and therefore must be "low quality." Plus there was a torrent of poor quality films around 1970, which marked the last "Kung-Fu" boom in America. That boom haunts and taints the name "Kung-Fu" to this very day. Don't forget the "Star Power" factor as well, Jackie Chan may have been the most popular star in the world but in America he didn't really advertise enough. Result? "That old guy who does his old stunts, yeah he is cool." How frustrating. Tak-Hing Kwan has starred as "Huang Fei-hung" in over 76 movies, single handedly saving the struggling movie industry of China throughout the 50's and 60's. I dare you to tell me you know his name or who he is. Yet someone like James Dean, who made about 16 appearances in film, less than half of those as a credited actor, is known by name throughout the United States. Again, it is that "U.S. number one!" mentality keeping us from even perusing what other countries have to offer.

Let me take a moment here to say this though, I am not anti-America. As the son of a card carrying, 3 Purple Heart bearing, Marine Corps drill sergeant I cannot help but be a patriot. I just want to get over the point that one might need to drop some prejudices in order to get really started in HK action and foreign cinema in general. Foreign cinema has different pacing, different standards for quality of visuals, different ideas of what is right and wrong in general. This is why you must start at certain points and why I wrote this article. To let you know that people were flying around on wires long before Chow Yun-Fat. That people were destroying their bodies for the fans before Jackie Chan. And that Bruce Lee may have been the greatest martial artist we've yet seen yet a "fatty" like 250lbs Sammo Hung can show him a thing or two whilst Starring, Writing and Directing.

This is getting a bit long for a primer to a primer so I will cut to the chase. You needn't watch every Kung-Fu movie out there in chronological order to get a handle on Chinese action. In fact I would recommend against it. Indeed, pick out some of those well-known Star's movies you may have heard about. If you enjoy Schwarzenegger like action sequence with guns, car chases and hostage scenes try Chow Yun-Fat. I suggest "Bullet in the Head" or "Hard-Boiled" with the latter being easier to find at Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. Looking for something more face to face? Something more like "Rocky" or "Above the Law?" Jet Li and Jackie Chan are your best bets here with Jet Li being more mystical and Jackie Chan more "reality-based." For Jet Li try the "Once Upon a Time in China" series or "Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk" series known simply as "The Legend" in America. Jackie Chan on the other hand is more difficult to pin point what to grab first. Jackie's tertiary American theatrical debut "Rumble in the Bronx" is a decent starting point. I do not suggest his original U.S. debut film "Battle Creek Brawl" or secondary debut attempt "The Protector" as neither are really HK Jackie films. Perhaps the easier to find "Legend of the Drunken Master" would be best as it is perhaps his finest film, definitely his finest job as the lone action Star of a movie.

Assuming you watched one film from each choice of actors you will find that each is excellent and almost completely different from the other. Chow Yun-Fat's movies are more similar in tone to Frank Miller's "Sin City" line of comic books. More heavy hearted than Arnold fans may be interested in. I know my Father isn't. The Jet Li films mentioned are referred to a "period piece" films. The fighting style, costumes, time line and scenery are good examples of this. They are also wirework films. Wirework refers to the use of thin metal wires, which allow actors to leap, float and fly through the air like Jet Li. Yes almost all HK action cinema features wirework but the extensive use in Jet Li films earns them the moniker. Jackie Chan's "Rumble in the Bronx" is entry 20 something in Jackie's almost completely self-created genre of "Martial-Arts Comedy Action Movies" that have their own genre name in HK. The genre type is truly an innovation and "Project A", the father of them all, should be watched itself to be appreciated. "Legend of Drunken Master", which is actually "Drunken Master II" in HK, is a period piece like the aforementioned Jet Li films. Jackie and Jet share many talents, they are both excellent comedians with Jackie leading by a "Big Nose" and Jet excelling in his athleticism and "pretty boy" handsome good looks. Their films branch on these talents with Jackie filling the between action scenes with clever sight gags and puns and Jet doing more romantic and "angst ridden soul" filler.

With these titles under your belt you can go back and pick through the action section with a more discerning eye. Did you like the period pieces? Try going a bit farther back in time then, grab some of those "cheesy" chop sockey films to see if you got the stomach for them. Enjoyed the grit and grime of Chow Yun-Fat's roles? Stick to the more recent Hong Kong releases. Keep an eye open for films directed by John Woo especially.

If the Jackie and Jet Li films tickled your fancy then look for films starring Jackie's two brothers. Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao are every bit as entertaining as Jackie with Sammo being a personal favorite (Sammo Hung fan club member 1144) of mine. Perhaps you wonder where the women are at though. Are their any funny ladies fighting women out there in Hong Kong? Oh Yes! Cynthia Rothrock could be called the female action star equivalent of Sammo Hung. Michelle Yeoh is on par with Jet Li in all regards, fighting, acting, comedy you name it. Anita Mui is one of the best all around actresses in Hong Kong cinema and a wickedly funny comedian to boot. A word of warning though, you may find it hard to find these people at the local video chain store, so be sure to visit the more independent shops in you neighborhood. If you have a "China-Town" in your city definitely keep it in mind.

You probably have heard a lot of these names before, and for good reason. That does not mean that everything they make is gold though. Be especially leery of Jackie Chan movies that feature low budget cover art. Crazy titles like "Master with Cracked Fingers" or "Fantasy Mission Force" are almost sure-fire stinkers, especially for the uninitiated. Keep away from Hong Kong comedies until you have quite a few movies under your belt, they are riddled with self-referential material that will fly so far over your head you'll think they were on wires. Watch a few Shaw Brothers films to see if you enjoy their more visceral style, if not try more off brand kung fu films. A good rule of thumb is to see if a film has a sequel then rent the ORIGINAL. If you see a title like "Return of the Five Deadly Venoms" try to find "The Five Deadly Venoms" and rent that instead. If you see "Fearless Hyena II" instead grab "Fearless Hyena."

Finally, keep in mind that in Hong Kong they did not realize the importance of good film stock and film stock maintenance. Many films will feature subtitles of an extremely difficult to read nature i.e.: White subtitles on white backgrounds or run on sentences that leave the edges of your TV! Half the fun of watching HK films in America is that "diamond in the rough" feeling you get when you find a quality print or an overlooked classic. There have been days though when I've taken home six hot prospects and found myself wanting to turn every one of them off in the first half hour. On the other hand I once took home "Project A", "Project A 2" as well "Drunken Master 2" without any idea of the 6 hours of pure joy I was about to watch, back to back no less. Learn to read directors names as well as actors. Rent a Lo Wei made Jackie Chan film to see what a horrible director can do to a terrific actor. (Note: This does not apply to "Drunken Master 1" or "Snake in Eagles Shadow" where Lo Wei's name is really on there as producer only.) If you can, take the time and money to rent the same title twice but be sure that one is sub-titled and one is dubbed. Most people find the "pain" of reading sub-titles a welcome trade off against the "pain" of dubbing. Note also that during the extended fighting there is little to read.

My parting tip: Find a watching buddy to share the fees as you begin the process of feeling out Hong Kong Cinema. You can have fun ridiculing the bad ones together and share the job evangelizing the greats. Hopefully I will return to lead you further down the path in a future article.