Finally. Someone who understands fight choreography is talking about Donnie Yen. Thank you, Eric.

@Drako7077

Жыл бұрын

😬😬😬Damn you waited this long.

@GawrGurasBathTubPizza

Жыл бұрын

Not sure if he knows what his talking about, 'uncooperative" they were using those street fighting tactics for YEARS in hk, this is why aussies/uk/americans were all lining up to get into hk films even if they were stupid and small roles in idiotic films. But this guy calls it hapkido/taekwondo and all this nonsense, its just kungfu but without the fixed stance and more laid back style (NEVER seen before in asian films at that time, and bruce lee brought realism to films unlike japanese films where the blind ninja waves his sword and 10 people insta die) also the guy conveniently ignores the movie 'blade' where they INSTA kill him off the movie and even the deleted scene of him was 2-3 seconds longer. They took a real martial artist and insta killed him off with ZERO action (racist)

@billywashere6965

Жыл бұрын

@@GawrGurasBathTubPizza It was extra stupid in Blade II because Donnie Yen was the action choreographer for that film, but was completely under-utilized. Guillermo did him dirty.

@senimax

Жыл бұрын

I didnt talk. I watched

@robpelarde4734

Жыл бұрын

I totally agree, bro!

Twice the length and four times the content of the previous essay. Donnie Yen is a choreographic chameleon. He takes every martial art under the sun and any existing genre trend and makes into his own. There are so many little details mentioned here I never realized or just couldn't put into words before. Like the difference in the 80s' HK kickboxing style between Yen and Sammo. I think he's in many ways a true successor to Bruce Lee. A versatile and worldly martial artist who can take realistic action and transform it into his own unique cinematic style. And is it just me or does Donnie seem to break up Yuen Woo-Ping's more traditional staccato rhythm into a more "broken rhythm" (pioneered by Bruce) in movies where he is performing mostly under Yuen Woo-Ping's action direction?

Having studied Donnie's action style in film school and studied martial arts myself, I really appreciate the amount of details contained in your video essay. Thank you so much, Eric.

@gokublack3107

Жыл бұрын

Now but that martial do the test lol 😂

I remember Yen said he would've loved to compete in the UFC if it weren't for a reoccurring shoulder injury. Part of me wonders if it was from Mismatched Couples and wondering what could have been if that didn't happen. 9:40 In the Criterion Once upon a time in China set, Yen has an interview recounting that staff scene. He says that he and Jet Li were given the option of one heavy staff and one hollow light staff. Li picked up the lighter staff and Yen took that the heavy staff and said "okay, let's go to town". He put more effort into his swings to try and match Li's speed. 11:54 There's commentary of Yen and Bey Logan talking about the sped up kicks. Yen recounts they did 14-15 takes while shooting at 16 frames per second. I forget where I heard this exactly but Yuen Woo-Ping was telling Yen if they shot any lower he would start moving like Charlie Chaplin. 13:47 Yen did comment the sped up feeling in the dvd commentary. He admits it is too fast upon review. They shot the TV show on Betamax and when they sped it up in post, it didn't have the same effect as undercranking (shooting at frames rates below 24fps like 22fps) in film. He also joked that sometimes he had to speed up the footage if his costar/actor is moving too slow :P and he noted that if the viewers complain that the fights are too slow and they switch channels then he gets in trouble with the studio. One thing I love about Yen's action scenes with real contact. He mentions in his Fist of Fury (1995) commentary (a lot of stuff here) he would do real contact with stuntmen/actors just to get the reaction he wanted as he had very little time shooting scenes, sometimes only 3 hrs to shoot action.

LOVE that finally someone insanely qualified is doing Action / Martial Arts / Choreo Video Essays. It adds a lot of insight, less guessing, and there are so few who actually do it creating video action essays. Subscribed!

I love the way you broke down and explained Donnie Yen and his fighting style and choreography. I feel like Hollywood could learn a lot from this.

I could watch breakdowns like this for hours. I'd love to see how you tackle Iko Uwais and Gareth Evans, the latter especially in his output from Gangs of London onward.

SPL, Flashpoint, Kungfu Jungle, Big Brother, Enter the Fat Dragon and Raging Fire are some of the best Donnie's movies.. it's pure Donnie.

Dude, I stumbled across this in my recommendations. I'm a huge Donnie Yen fan due to IP Man series, a lot of his stuff from the late 90s, earlier 2000s. I wish I knew where to see his earlier works. I think Donnie is probably one of the best, if not the best, martial artist on films. The combination of styles to create interesting fights. The smoothness of his fights. The legit speed. And hell just how he showcases fights in his movies. I think it'll be a long time before we have someone of his caliber doing the same types. I know people praise Jackie, Jet, and Sammo, but I dunno, I feel Donnie has better fight scenes.

@GothamKnight84661

Жыл бұрын

Because they"re awesome and watch your tongue talking smack about them! They're the best of the best along side Donnie or you'll get a kick in the face.

@cyborgchicken3502

Жыл бұрын

​@@GothamKnight84661 in terms of just pure martial arts and just pure fighting, I'd go with Donnie, for me Jackie's best fights are when they were choreographed by Sammo Hung because he pushed that same pure hand to hand style choreography whereas Jackie left to his own devices I think focused more on stunts and how to make stunt based fight scenes where the environment is used extensively, which, there's nothing wrong with that and they're entertaining and impressive as hell but some of us just like that raw fisticuffs sh*t man, and Donnie delivers that really well as does Sammo and Yuen Woo Ping in their choreography

@PengyDraws

Жыл бұрын

@@cyborgchicken3502 To me Jackie Chan without the stunts is hardly Jackie Chan

This is outstanding! I consider myself a veteran of martial arts films. It is incredibly rare to find people that speak the language well. You crushed it here!

This might be the best action essay I’ve ever watched dude.

Eric, I've been watching your videos since I was like 14 (I am 23 now). They inspired me to spend lots of time practicing hook kicks, and to make silly action videos with my friends. It's great to see you still at it!

Donie Yen is a phenomenal martial artist, he's not just so proficient at traditional martial arts, but also extremely good "modern" martial arts like muay Thai, kickboxing, wrestling, judo, ... and a master of using weapons. His fight scenes are beautiful, but yet so real and effective, not too flashy, like in Special ID of Flash Point, using MMA techniques, especially in Special ID, the scenes are just like real life fighting. In IP Man, we see a completely different Donie with incredible skills of traditional martial art. I mean, i dont think there's many martial art actors can do something like that. Legend

I've been a fan of Donnie Yen since I first saw Cheetah On Fire as a teenager in the mid '90s, and this video really made me appreciate him as performer and film maker in a way I didn't think possible. Absolutely solid work sir!

This has by far been one of the best video is fight choreography/martial arts cinema academia ever. Donnie is my favorite star. Grew up on his work as a 90s kid and still look at his old stuff today. Instantly subbed. Great work.

Bro don’t make us wait too long fir another one of these! Super dope!

Flashpoint is one of the best martial art movies I've ever seen. Donnie Yen is my personal favorite. Thank you

Man I LOVE that you're sharing your insights with us! Please keep this going! This is the best action analysis on KZread bar none. Thank you Eric!!!

Don’t forget that Donnie Yen did the Action Choreography for the opening CGI Cinematic of Onimusha 3.

I just want to say, with 100% honesty, this is probably the greatest video essay about action choreography I have ever seen. Thank you

always loved Donnie but thank you for this lesson of his history, really amazing work Eric

I first started watching you for your Tekken style exhibitions and short films. I appreciate your knowledge of martial arts; you're elegant in your analysis of forms, impact, and choreography of the action scenes. I greatly enjoyed this.

@KUROSHURA

Жыл бұрын

Same here

“Come on guys WHY DONT YOU LIKE THIS MOVIE?” “Donnie just punched a guy, SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!” “Look at these shapes look at ‘em. What is that thing? It’s a fist pointed upward, what is that shape for its AWESOME.” “WHY DO THEY SHOOT LIKE THIS??” 😂👏👏👏 Brilliant vid Eric

This was awesome. The breakdown of camera angles to fight scenes; from director to action star, everything was broken down beautifully. Love Donnie Yen, still under rated!

Thank you for these excellent videos, Eric. I've been waiting years for this kind of content. I always felt the martial arts genre was so under-represented on KZread - you can find in-depth video essays on just about anything, but us action fans have been starved. Some channels have made decent attempts but these are what we've truly been waiting for. Keep them coming!

Been a fan of the Yenster since 1989. Subscribed!

That was special dude. It also made me want to rewatch his filmography again. Hope you keep doing this series.

I can't express how much I enjoyed that. The set up & flow of this whole thing was great.

Iron Monkey is the film that put me on to Donnie Yen, especially the fight scene with the evil monks. His films are top notch action IMHO. Can't wait to see Yen in John Wick 4.

Eric this was incredible!! So much is squeezed in and I could barely keep up despite being familiar with most films/names, but this is some top tier analysis. Not a single wasted second. I very much look forward to any future essays of this sort, but oh man this is like the best video analysis of action I've ever seen.

Sha Po Lang, Flashpoint, and Special ID are films in the vein of what I think Bruce Lee would’ve attempted if he was still alive. Donnie Yen I put as the only one that is the successor to Bruce Lee, being that he started off in the typical “Wuxia” type films, but as his career went on, he was able to create his own modern style of fight scenes, and boy did it really show in SPL. My favorite fight scenes ever are from the three movies I aforementioned in the beginning of this comment. I appreciate Donnie Yen’s career, especially for creating fight scenes that give as much realism as a movie can, with the MMA moves, I just get enthralled seeing them, thank you for this action essay, it was amazing

Nice to see that investigation fight from Wu Xia, my favourite Donnie flik, getting face... The use of Hung Gar (my art which I do really badly) is stunning in it.... The upward punch you point out is from Iron Wire form... Excellent essay on the only good thing left in HK cinema, such a great guy too was lucky to meet him way back in 1990

This is truly amazing. If you made more of these action essays I think pretty much any kind of creative would benefit from their existence greatly. This became one of my favourite videos ever pretty much overnight. Amazing analysis and breakdown of style. Truly a gift that this is free to watch.

The perfect person to talk about this subject!!!! Thank you!!!!

Just as Donnie's action language is, your analysis, expression, and delivery is superb.

Holy crap this was great, I didn’t even know half of this stuff and you broke it down so well, I really hope to see more of this series

What a phenomenal study of Donnie's evolution over the years, amazing work!

This video definitely earned my subscription. I love the way you approach the subject.

One of the best contemporary martial artists of all times. Donnie Yen is absolutely amazing!

FANTASTIC ESSAY and a beautiful look back at Donnic Yen's career. Excellent understanding of martial arts too. Gonna share this around. Brilliant job!

I’m loving these breakdowns!

Thanks for putting this analysis out there. I'm not a fight guy, so this helps me understand a lot more of what I'm seeing in these films and appreciate them even more.

Bro, please continue to make more videos like this, it's so good. This stuff is so fascinating as someone who's in love with good action in films. Your incredible insight and knowledge of this side of film is much needed. Looking forward to more uploads!!

This video is great. Definitly do more of these. Ive learned so much

Fantastic video. Masterclass here! Spoken like a real lover of the martial arts movies as a martial artist, fighter, and true fan! Thank You!

This is an extensive in depth analysis. In my humble opinion, this is a masterpiece documentary. Thanks.

My top three ppl that changed martial arts movies Bruce Lee, Jet Li , and Donnie Yen. I agree with you. I genuinely like all of Donnie Yen's movie's. He all ways something new in them.

I feel called out for not liking Legend of the Wolf. This video is brilliant!

Another great breakdown from the PhD of Kicks. Thanks!

Between action essay and art of action, please don't stop. Ever!

This the kinda shit that KZread was made for. Just amazing videos that anyone could make so long as they had an idea, and were willing to work on it.

This was inspiring. I watched thos on the cross trainer and didn't feel a second of it. Educating and entertaining. Could ask more. Keep 'em coming.

Incredible video - thank you for this. Donnie would be proud.

You worded everything I couldn't about why I like Donnie Yen's movies so much. And also gave me a list of movies I should check out.

dude hell yeah, these Action Essays are awesome

A few years back, one of China's CCTV channels had a short Donnie Yen documentary where Donnie stated he stopped getting as many phone calls and roles (around mid 90s ) because the action movie climate changed. It didn't change until he did SPL and later IP man really shot him back to the spot light. But he persevered and remained true to his identity during the slow years.

Wow 👌 Your understanding of fight choreography and ability to articulate that knowledge is astounding!!!

These are fantastic videos. Your insight and ability to actually break down and articulate how they approach action and fight choreo is amazing.

I had no idea I wanted this type of breakdown content. Thanks for making this.

Great Essay Eric! Really well presented and makes me want to go back and watch younger Donnie!

Excellent analysis of Donnie Yen’s action movies and martial arts movies.

Wonderful breakdown you got me wanting more Donnie movies.

this video has some crazy heavy extensive research... wow just wow i love it....

This vid is epic! So much info I never knew about Donnie Yen's story! Thanks for this @Eric Jacobus. I can imagine this took so long to put together! But it was well worth it!

I can watch you talk about HK Martial Arts Cinema all day, thank you!

You gotta do more of these, Eric. That was really cool.

Oh and I am a big fan of your work Eric.

These essays are awesome. Subscribed!

What a great in depth video! Donnie Yen is a legend!

Another day, Another rewatch of this spectacular video

Wasn't expecting this video to be as good as it is. Liked + subscribed

That was absolutely amazing! Thank you for your insight Eric.

Amazing series! looking forward to part 3!

Absolutely cracking video essay! Time breezed by watching it. Thanks!

amazing and complete analysis of Donnie Yen career. Thanks

Great breakdown. And good showcase of Donnie's career.

I'm only 47 seconds in and I'm already satisfied.

@Nytmaer

Жыл бұрын

You had me at Legend of the Wolf

Dude, This was an incredible video! Thank you!

I don't normally write comments but I have to say...that was AWESOME!! Great choice using the Tiger Cage music in the intro and just like you, I also absolutely love 'Legend of the Wolf', particularlythe forest fight scene, used to watch it over and over as a teenager. Am sure Donnie himself would be very pleased with this video. Well done Eric.

A lot of people say that John Wick franchise is the peak of modern day action choreography, I think Killzone and Flashpoint are still on top.

Awesome essay Eric! Keep 'em comin'!

Great Essay, I always loved your work

This was amazing!🙌🙇‍♀️

Almost an hour, and I watched the whole bit..great video assey..keep up the good work..

This was phenomenal. Thank you for making it.

This is awesome!! Thank you for sharing your insight, I really hope you continue to make more essays like this.

Wonderful tour of film styles! I really enjoyed your great, GREAT work! I've heard of choreography of course, but never movement grammar; looking forward to learning more!

Another master piece

didn't even know people COULD dislike legend of the wolf. I LOVED IT FIRST TIME

Just found you, and man, what an amazing way to find you! Superb essay on Donnie Yen! Thank you for a great video.

Holy shit, this analysis was very interesting to watch! you are not only a good martial artist but also a talented video maker. Thank you for your work!

Amazing analysis. Very in-depth.

Epic Jacobus! Great essay!

love this series of videos, thanks for your insights. Martial arts movies alwayse pumps me up.

This is excellent brother. Thanks for making this.

Really great. Just really great. Awesome job dude.

Excellent video, I really enjoyed this piece.

Really enjoy this, great video.

Dude, that was excellent. Thank you.

Donnie Yen fan so definitely here for this. 👍