The Big Brawl (1980)

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Lack of good storyline.

It is a performances centric movie

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Jackie Chan's first attempt to break through into the American market and a famous flop in any meaning of the word. I can definitely see why. And it's not Chan that's at fault here, except perhaps in that he should have picked a better movie to star in. Because, quite honestly, aside from his enjoyable presence, the rest of the film is very amateurish.The story is barely there, first and foremost of all. A Chinese (Chan) man living in Chicago gets threatened by the mob and is forced to join a fighting tournament after the boss sees his martial arts skills. A training montage, some fights, et cetera. You know exactly how it goes. Exactly. The movie is short as it is and it insist on dragging us through every tired cliché there is. If you've seen any martial arts film or even any gangster film, you've seen this film as well. It's uninspired in the worst possible way.And sure, Jackie Chan is a great martial artist and even an engaging actor, if given even halfway decent material to work with. But he cannot work miracles and that's what would have been required here.Sure, see the film if you want to say you've seen all of Chan's films. And it's not like it's offensively bad. Just boring. Just very, very, very boring. Which is sometimes an even greater crime.

Jackie Chan's first crossover into the American market was a bomb. Chan himself said that this and another prohibition era gangster film were by far his worst movies and he regretted making them. Having seen some of Chan's really low budget Hong Kong and Taiwanese films, I beg to differ.Chan's more recent American crossover attempts were far worse, like the 'Rush Hour' and 'Shanghai Noon' series.Actually 'Battle Creek Brawl' isn't nearly as bad as its made out to be. The production quality and acting is high.Much like 'The Brady Varity Show' the film has a shock effect of seeing Chan outside of his natural element, in prohibition era Chicago.It's also interesting to hear how Chan's English wasn't any worse in 1980. (or rather that it hasn't improved even in 33 years) The film gets off the a great start with Chan casually doing sit up while hanging upside down by his shoes from a bridge without any safety net! The problem is there aren't enough scenes like this. We don't get the great fight and chase scenes we've come to expect from Chan. He usually ends up fighting other martial artists. However, when he's up against Chicago gangsters there's no challenge and no thrill.In conclusion, there's nothing to hate about 'Battle Creek Brawl' but there's very little to love as well.Hopefully Chan would have learned by now that his Hong Kong action comedy style was a winning formula he should never deviate from. Then we would never have to endure the horrible 'Rush Hour' and 'Shanghai Noon' series!

for Jackie Chan's first American film this one was pretty decent,at least i thought so.it was directed by Robert Clouse who also directed the not so good movie Gymkata.but this film works pretty well.the acting is pretty good.the fighting scenes are alright as well.Jackie Chan certainly has his own style.later on in his films,his fighting scenes became hokey,but in this movie they weren't too bad.the film movies along at a good pace,so it's never boring.the story may not be original today,but back then it may have been.the basic plot is that Jerry Kwan (Chan)is forced to fight in a brutal street brawl,hence the title of the movie.for me,The Big Brawl is a 6/10

This movie is so over the top hilarious it brings a whole new dimension to action movies. Had this movie came out 10 years later I'm sure it would have been a hit with the public like most of his movies were.Jackie Chan is Jerry Kwan, an americanized Asian who learns how to fight from his uncle and Chinese tradition from his father. Chan then has to fight through mobs, mob bosses and tough guys to get on with life. Jackie Chan even goes at it with Luca Brazzi for the hell of it.The whole battle creek brawl was entertaining as it had some famous faces; Ox Baker, Jackie Chan and Hardboiled Haggerty. I do wonder how some guys can be "knocked out" from a simple right cross when it takes getting thrown through glass to knock someone else out....guess some are tougher than others. Its a great nostalgic type movie 7 out of 10