88 Films UK Deluxe Edition Blu-ray Synopsis: It's 1930s Chicago, and a young Chinese American martial arts expert Jerry Kwan (Jackie Chan) finds himself forced to compete in a no-holds-barred toughest man tournament. Only his cantankerous uncle (Mako, Conan The Destroyer) can prepare Jerry to fight and win against the mountainous Billy Kiss (H.B. Haggerty, Paint Your Wagon). Chan brings his kung fu comedy to the jazz era,backed by a real Hollywood cast, including Oscar winner Jose Ferrer (Dune) and Lenny Montana (The Godfather), Enter The Dragon director Robert Clouse delivers a fun fight fest that has become a bona fide fan favourite! (96 Mins)

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88 Films UK Blu-ray Synopsis: Jackie Chan arrived on American soil with hopes of becoming a superstar in the West and his first ever Hollywood project as a leading man certainly provided him with a notable director in Robert Clouse, the legendary director who took Bruce Lee to the next level with Enter The Dragon (1973). With Battle Creek Brawl (1980), director Clouse achieved it, this is prime Jackie – as our man successfully takes on the mafia and romances the gorgeous Playboy cover girl Kristine DeBell. A classic bout of chop-socky on American soil, Battle Creek Brawl is ready to punch its way into your collection in this new 2K restoration. (96 Mins)

 

Hong Kong Legends UK DVD Synopsis: In his first historic feature for a Western audience, Jackie takes up the role of Jerry Kwan, a flamboyant Kung Fu expert, forced to compete in a no-holds-barred street-fighting tournament by heavy-hitting syndicate mobsters. Crafted by the director and producer that brought you the Bruce Lee classic “Enter The Dragon”, “Battle Creek Brawl” is a stunning showcase for the remarkable physical prowess of Jackie Chan. Performing some of the fastest and most powerful Wing Chun hand techniques ever recorded on film, Jackie also stops the show with a multi-point bicycle-kick performed effortlessly without the aid of a wire! Combining action, romance and Chan's remarkable physical comedy, “Battle Creek Brawl” is a dynamic martial-arts extravaganza, which is a resounding hit with fans all over the world. Now fully restored with a collection of collectable features, including a candid and revealing interview with Jackie Chan, this is one DVD that no self-respecting action-cinema devotee should be without!! (91 Mins)

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Atlantic Film Swedish DVD Synopsis: The USA in the 1920s. The time of the mafia. The time of violence. Every year in Battle Creek, Texas, an illegal superfight is held. The only rule is that there are no rules. Competitors from all over the world arrive. Wrestlers, boxers, judo experts, but also murderers and other scum. The favourite is the giant Billy Kiss, known for hugging his opponents to death in his gruesome bear grip. Every gangster boss has his own prize fighter and now Domenici has named his new candidate - Chinese kung fu expert Jerry Kwan. The problem is that Jerry has no desire to fight for the mafia. But then Jerry's future sister-in-law is kidnapped. If Jerry doesn't change his mind, she will be killed. Filled with rage, Jerry arrives in Battle Creek. In his mind, a desire burns to destroy not only all the other fighters - but the entire mafia... (92 Mins)

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Guild Home Video UK VHS Synopsis: His first three films in Hong Kong have already outgrossed those of the legendary Bruce Lee. Now Jackie Chan hits the international scene head-on in his first American film – an action spectacular set in America of the 1930's. Jackie plays a young Chinese American growing up in Chicago who reluctantly becomes the champion of a powerful gang boss who sponsors him in the notorious event that gives its name to the film. The 'Brawl' takes place in Texas and is a gigantic knock-down, drag-out street fight in which the toughest, roughest, meanest fighters gather to pound each other into the dust for a huge cash prize. (91 Mins)

 

Video Collection UK VHS Synopsis: His first three films in Hong Kong have already outgrossed those of the legendary Bruce Lee. Now Jackie Chan hits the international scene head-on in his first American film – an action spectacular set in America of the 1930's. Jackie plays a young Chinese American growing up in Chicago who reluctantly becomes the champion of a powerful gang boss who sponsors him in the notorious event that gives its name to the film. The 'Brawl' takes place in Texas and is a gigantic knock-down, drag-out street fight in which the toughest, roughest, meanest fighters gather to pound each other into the dust for a huge cash prize. (91 Mins)

 

Views: With the recent 88 Films re-release of Battle Creek Brawl (this time in a glorious deluxe edition) complete with a new restoration and 80 page booklet, I thought it was time to revisit this early Jackie Chan film one more time. I used to really enjoy The Big Brawl (as it was more commonly know in the UK) in my younger days. I remember finding it in a video store in Belfast City Centre back in the early 90s right next to Dragon Lord, but being 14 years of age at the time, wasn't allowed to buy it as the film was rated 15. I rushed home on the bus and begged for my nan to come into town with me the next day to buy them both for me, which she did with much anger. I was just kicking off my insane obsession for collecting kung fu movies, and more importantly, any and all Jackie Chan movies! A number of years later, I purchased the great Hong Kong Legends DVD release of the same movie which was a fun upgrade, but the Blu-ray releases from 88 Films have to be the best so far. Saying that, while both of the 2K restorations of Battle Creek Brawl are indeed pretty stunning, I can't deny just how dated the film itself looks, even cleaned up with such perfection. A lot of the scenes are very brown, dusty and void of colour (due to the production and its American mid-west setting), and along with some very poor sound production, helps make for a lot of uninteresting screen time...

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Shot in Texas, Battle Creek Brawl is set in 1930s Chicago, and sees Chan's character single-handedly take on the mafia who have been harassing his family. This leads to his participation in the big brawl in Battle Creek, which pits him up against a host of burly American fighters and wrestlers, with the mafia holding his family hostage in a bid to make Jackie forfeit the win. It's pretty simple stuff that helps make Battle Creek Brawl a product of its time, and one that, in many respects, hasn't aged too well unlike many other Jackie Chan classics from this era. It's fair to say that, given the restraints put on him, Jackie still impresses in his role as Jerry – from both an acting point of view and that of his acrobatic skills. And although he was the star of the show, co-producer Fred Weintraub made sure he had a strong supporting cast bringing in established actors such as Academy Award Winner Jose Ferrer from Cynrano de Bergerac, Dune, and Natural Enemies, Lenny Montana from The Godfather, popular Japanese-American actor Mako, and Playboy model and actress, Kristine DeBell, among others and over 1,000 extras.

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After a messy break-up from director Lo Wei during the production of Fearless Hyena 2, Jackie was left fearing triad threats for breaking his contract with the renowned director. With that, the young star made a self-imposed exile to the west with Golden Harvest seeing this as a chance to promote their newest action hero to the American audience! Along with the fun Cannonball Run 1 & 2, Raymond Chow produced Battle Creek Brawl with the hope of making it as successful as Bruce Lee's Enter The Dragon – the Warner Brothers kung fu classic that was made 7 years earlier. Chow even went as far as hiring director Robert Clouse and producer Fred Weintraub, along with composer Lalo Schifrin, to bring the project to the screen – a move that, in my eyes, became one of the main reasons that Battle Creek Brawl failed to make Jackie the star he should have been. Compared to what Jackie had put out before this project, such as Snake In The Eagles Shadow, Drunken Master, Fearless Hyena, and The Young Master and obviously with what followed, it seems an odd that Raymond Chow allowed Chan's talents to be dampened by the decisions of these American film-makers. Clouse had initially met Bruce Lee while directing an episode of Ironside that featured the young dragon as a martial arts instructor and, after the success of Enter The Dragon, would find solace in directing American made martial arts movies with a similar flavour. These included Jim Kelly's Black Belt Jones and Golden Needles before he would join forces with producer Raymond Chow to direct The Amsterdam Kill, and finish Bruce Lee's Game Of Death respectively, eventually leading to Battle Creek Brawl. Over the years, Clouse would stick with the genre by following up with the exciting martial arts adventures Force: Five and Gymkata, before joining forces with Chow once again in 1990 with China O'Brien 1 & 2 – two projects that were created to promote Cynthia Rothrock to the western audiences. But, as expected, that pretty much did the same thing for her as this did for Jackie, so it's obvious that Raymond Chow never learned from his first mistake!

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Having now gained a lot of input from hearing Jackie talk of his time on the production, reading his books and such, you can see how much he wanted to break out in true Jackie Chan style – almost bored from frustration on the restrictions of his physicality. The fights, although passable with a couple of standout moments, are often slow and overly staged; reminiscent of lesser budgeted early 70's kung fu cinema. And this is down to a few different factors – the first being that the fights were choreographed by Pat Johnson, an actor and choreographer that had worked with Clouse on Black Belt Jones, Golden Needles and The Ultimate Warrior, following Battle Creek Brawl with Force: Five and also working on titles such as Jim Kelly's Hot Potato, The Karate Kid movies, Mortal Kombat 1 & 2, Showdown In Little Tokyo, and the Golden Harvest produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trilogy. With such great titles behind him, you would have expected more from the action seen here, but then again Robert Clouse wasn't actually a great director overall sticking to the statement that American audiences wouldn't like Jackie's faster style of fighting and action. To top things off, it's only fair to say that Jackie hardly had one proper opponent to go up against during the whole movie. From daft monologuing mafia types to overly fat wrestlers in ridiculous outfits, Jackie really only gets to come close to some Hong Kong inspired fighting when he takes on the brothers using a bench and some fun choreography. Its almost a crime that he didn't get to do more given that he had just came from the epic Young Master with great success.

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So after 40 years, is there still much to love about Battle Creek Brawl? Well, apart from Jackie's charm and physical attributes, there's the very catchy score by Lalo Schifrin – a highly memorable tune that you'll be whistling for some time after watching. Jackie and Mako's shared time on-screen is often quite enjoyable to watch, especially that of their training and infiltration of the mafia household. The Chinese-American cast who play Jackie's family are highly enjoyable and then there's the relationship between his character and that of Kristine DeBell's – a connection of two races that's wonderfully captured and unquestioned which was a rare subject matter for this period of American cinema. I guess it's also a bonus in knowing that this would actually be the first time audiences would get to hear Jackie's real voice on-screen; his first movie shot in sync sound, not to mention his first full English language production which is quite often forgotten by many who review his filmography. But compared to Enter The Dragon, Battle Creek Brawl is messy and often cartoonish in its execution – and it's easy to see why it didn't highlight Jackie as the martial arts powerhouse and star he was back in Hong Kong. While fans get to enjoy a diluted version of his energy and skills throughout the movie, it's quite clear that this Jackie Chan is not the same one from the aforementioned kung fu classics, something that we would see repeated only five years later in The Protector for James Glickenhaus, and even in the first Rush Hour movie to some degree – with the restrictions of Hollywood health and safety holding him back from doing what he really wanted to do. While his film journey may have given us a completely different filmography had Battle Creek Brawl or The Protector made Jackie a household name in the west, its clear that his failed attempts in Hollywood somewhat inspired him to be a better film-maker and bigger star when he returned to Hong Kong – something we can all thank Hollywood for in some respects!

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Overall: Terribly dated, Battle Creek Brawl shows how boring American action cinema was at a time when Hong Kong was wowing the world. At this stage of the game, for Chan completists only!

 

88 Films Deluxe Edition Blu-ray Extras: New 2K Restoration, Audio Commentary with Kim Newman & Barry Forshaw, Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng & F.J. DeSanto, Archival Interview with Jackie Chan, Archival Interview with Raymond Chow, Ricky Baker on Jackie Chan, David West on Jackie Chan, Original Trailer, US Trailer for The Big Brawl, Stills Gallery

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88 Films Blu-ray Extras: 2K Restoration, Archival Interview with Jackie Chan, Archival Interview with Raymond Chow, Ricky Baker on Jackie Chan, David West on Jackie Chan, Original Trailer, Stills Gallery

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Hong Kong Legends DVD Extras: Interview with Jackie Chan, Biography, Stills Gallery, Trailers

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Get your copy HERE

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Watch my unboxing video for the 88 Films Blu-ray release HERE