# Hidden Martial Arts in Movies



## Dan Cosgrove (Feb 7, 2010)

What's your favourite martial arts scene in a movie that you didn't expect to have martial arts to begin with?

Some I've found:

Taylor Lautner's first role in Sharkboy and Lavagirl (I have 2 daughters, shut up).






Ben Foster using Taekwondo in Alpha Dog.


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## David43515 (Feb 7, 2010)

Well, it`s sloppy by today`s standards, but more realistic than alot you`ll see. The original "The Manchurian Candidate" with Frank Sinatraa. It has the first "Karate" fight in a US made movie. If I recall, Sinatra actually broke his hand on a table filming the fight.


EDIT: I just went to the other thread about "What movie best represents your style?", and all my comments were already made by someone else. I`ll go sit down and be quiet now.
*sigh*


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## Dan Cosgrove (Feb 7, 2010)

David43515 said:


> EDIT: I just went to the other thread about "What movie best represents your style?", and all my comments were already made by someone else. I`ll go sit down and be quiet now.
> *sigh*



That was awesome.

But hey, kudos for more people knowing about that.


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## ackks10 (Feb 7, 2010)

David43515 said:


> Well, it`s sloppy by today`s standards, but more realistic than alot you`ll see. The original "The Manchurian Candidate" with Frank Sinatraa. It has the first "Karate" fight in a US made movie. If I recall, Sinatra actually broke his hand on a table filming the fight.
> 
> 
> EDIT: I just went to the other thread about "What movie best represents your style?", and all my comments were already made by someone else. I`ll go sit down and be quiet now.
> *sigh*



you beat me to it,i was going to say the same movie,, i got one for you guys
how about the three stooges, next time you watch them, check out moe when he hit the other guys,,A kick to the shins, a finger in the eye ,it looks like kenpo to me LOL, BTW i remember an old tv show called Hill Street Blues, there was this one Det, that used TKD,


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## David43515 (Feb 7, 2010)

Well I`ll have to search for some titles, but I was suprised the first time I saw an old Jimmy Cagny movie with him using Judo to toss a couple guys around. Turns out he really was a blackbelt and enjoyed the sport immensly. Just didn`t quite mesh with the image I had of him always playing gangsters.


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## zDom (Feb 8, 2010)

Cung Le in "Pandorum" (which I thought was a great film/story, poor reviews notwithstanding).

Too bad they did the panned-in-tight-paint-shaker camera work most of the time.


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## Dan Cosgrove (Feb 8, 2010)

zDom said:


> Cung Le in "Pandorum" (which I thought was a great film/story, poor reviews notwithstanding).
> 
> Too bad they did the panned-in-tight-paint-shaker camera work most of the time.



That's so weird, I actually have Pandorum on pause _right now_ so I can check my e-mail!

I'm liking the movie itself, and the girl (Nadia, played by Antje Traue) is pretty brutal, too.


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## Drac (Feb 8, 2010)

David43515 said:


> Well I`ll have to search for some titles, but I was suprised the first time I saw an old Jimmy Cagny movie with him using Judo to toss a couple guys around. Turns out he really was a blackbelt and enjoyed the sport immensly. Just didn`t quite mesh with the image I had of him always playing gangsters.


 
I believe that movie is called G'Men...He tossed Loyd Nolan around.


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## Steve (Feb 8, 2010)

Richard Gere and Louis Gossett Jr in Officer and a Gentleman.  When they beat the crap out of each other, at the time I thought that it was about the most "realistic" fight I'd seen in a movie.  What struck me was that 
A:  They couldn't magically block every punch and kick.  They got hit... a lot.  
And B:  When they did get hit or kicked, it looked like it REALLY HURT.  I mean, they were well trained, supposedly.  So, when they connected, it was brutal.  And it was.


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## Gordon Nore (Feb 8, 2010)

This fight scene from Billy Jack in some ways qualifies as hidden; although it's probably what the film is best remembered for...

This one's remastered with outtakes...

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I'm sure everyone knows the story. Tom Laughlin was reviving his Billy Jack character from an earlier film called Born Losers. He saw Grandmaster Han, Bong Soo demonstrating Hapkido and asked him to train him for the movie. Han doubled for Laughlin for most of the fight scene, which remains among the most memorable of MA movies. It's also one of only two fights in the film, the first happening a few minutes before in the ice cream store.

Edit: I keep messing up the embed thingy. Here's the link...


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## Gordon Nore (Feb 8, 2010)

stevebjj said:


> Richard Gere and Louis Gossett Jr in Officer and a Gentleman.  When they beat the crap out of each other, at the time I thought that it was about the most "realistic" fight I'd seen in a movie.  What struck me was that
> A:  They couldn't magically block every punch and kick.  They got hit... a lot.
> And B:  When they did get hit or kicked, it looked like it REALLY HURT.  I mean, they were well trained, supposedly.  So, when they connected, it was brutal.  And it was.



I liked that fight scene when the movie came out, and I still do. However, I was watching movie from the start a few months ago and saw the earlier fight scene between Gere's character and some townies. He very deliberately goes into a formal stance, tightens up, busts up the townies, then returns to a back stance and exhales. Looked kinda corny.


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## Steve (Feb 8, 2010)

Gordon, I remember that fight too.  IIRC, it was to emphasize that he was very well trained.   Gossett had established this earlier in the fol
 during a training sequence but Gere's character hadn't.  

Story wise it also hinted at a depth of character that we hadn't yet seen.  I mean, to that point Gere was a selfish, shallow loser.  But shallow, selfish losers don't typically train in a formal MA.  Or at least that's the Hollywood shorthand.  

I watched Billy Jack as a kid and loved it but found it to be unbearably preachy and heavyhanded when I watched it not too long ago.  

Sort of hidden was the almost legit BJJ in lethal weapon.


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## Gordon Nore (Feb 8, 2010)

stevebjj said:


> I watched Billy Jack as a kid and loved it but found it to be unbearably preachy and heavyhanded when I watched it not too long ago.



Billy Jack is excruciating to watch. Every time I hear One Tin Soldier, I cringe. Laughlin's films were terrible. His website is really creepy -- very self aggrandizing, with Laughlin expounding on this and that. They've even got a remastered DVD of the unreleased Billy Jack Goes to Washington, which they tout as the film powerful men did not want us to see. :BSmeter:

That fight scene though is a gem IMHO.



> Sort of hidden was the almost legit BJJ in lethal weapon.



A great fight scene between Gary Busey and Mel Gibson. What surprised my was that a ground fight could work well as a fight in a Hollywood action flick. Ground work is very technical not as easy to follow as a punch up. That was a very nice piece of choreography.


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## Dan Cosgrove (Feb 8, 2010)

Gordon Nore said:


> A great fight scene between Gary Busey and Mel Gibson. What surprised my was that a ground fight could work well as a fight in a Hollywood action flick. Ground work is very technical not as easy to follow as a punch up. That was a very nice piece of choreography.



I thought it was cool to think of including jiu-jitsu, since that was before the Gracies blew up and it became crazy popular. Most flicks at the time would just have someone getting kicked in the head.


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## Steve (Feb 9, 2010)

Dan Cosgrove said:


> I thought it was cool to think of including jiu-jitsu, since that was before the Gracies blew up and it became crazy popular. Most flicks at the time would just have someone getting kicked in the head.


Not commonly known, but Rorian Gracie was a consultant on the set of Lethal Weapon. Pretty cool, I think. 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0333488/

Another hidden Gracie connection (sort of) is in the opening sequence of The Incredible Hulk.  Rickson Gracie is teaching Bruce Banner to control his aggression.  He's credited as being an "Aikido Instructor" although anyone in BJJ or Aikido can see that it's not Aikido.


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## Drac (Feb 9, 2010)

Gordon Nore said:


> .Every time I hear One Tin Soldier, I cringe.


 
You aint alone Bro...I remember a time when that song was being played on all the local radio stations at least 10 times a night....




Gordon Nore said:


> .They've even got a remastered DVD of the unreleased Billy Jack Goes to Washington, which they tout as the film powerful men did not want us to see. :BSmeter:


 
I heard that too...


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## Dan Cosgrove (Feb 9, 2010)

stevebjj said:


> Not commonly known, but Rorian Gracie was a consultant on the set of Lethal Weapon. Pretty cool, I think.
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0333488/



Awesome! Thanks for that. I knew about Hulk, but didn't know he consulted on Lethal Weapon.

Having worked in 6 video stores and loving martial arts, hearing something I haven't caught wind of genuinely impresses me.


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## Steve (Feb 9, 2010)

I'm an impressive dude.  Remember that! 

But back to being serious, Rorian consulted on Lethal Weapon.  Rickson was in the Hulk.  They're brothers along with Relson.


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