李连杰
2002-6
Thunder's Mouth Press
James Robert Parish
Jet Li is part of a crew of new Asian stars taking Hollywood by storm. Along with Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Jackie Chan, and Maggie Cheung, Jet Li has kicked and punched his way out of the cult-film underground and into mainstream superstardom. With his performance in The One, Li becomes the first to prove his power as the top-billed draw. Jet Li, the first book published in English about the thirty-eight year-old "Gene Kelly of the action film," follows him from his days in Hong Kong as an extraordinarily successful actor in classics like Once Upon a Time in China and his overlooked work as a director and producer. Special attention is given to his Hollywood debut alongside Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 4; his recent star turns in the gangland fable Romeo Must Die and the sci-fi blockbuster The One. Jet Li looks at the actor’s fiercely protected private life and explains the broad appeal of Hollywood’s new Bruce Lee to fans of all ages—from Hong Kong chop-socky cultists to Blockbuster families, to the new Hollywood that has eagerly embraced him. A complete filmography of Jet Li's screen work in Hollywood and Asia as well as 30 never before published lack-and-white photographs are included.
From Publishers Weekly Once a fledgling Hong Kong actor and now a martial arts Hollywood superstar, Jet Li has been called the new Bruce Lee. Parish (Gus Van Sant) delves into the 39-year-old's life and career in this biography, analyzing his films from the little-known The Shaolin Temple to blockbusters like Lethal Weapon 4 and Romeo Must Die. Li was born in Beijing with the birth name Li Lian-jie. He began studying wushu (martial arts) at age eight and still adheres closely to traditional Chinese customs, which dictate complete respect for the martial arts school and its master. The book includes dozens of b&w photos.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal What Bruce Lee was to kung fu, Jet Li is to wu shu. The star of Romeo Must Die and The One was born into humble surroundings as Li Lian-jie. Small for his age, he had a gift for martial arts and stayed the course in the brutal Beijing Sports and Exercise School. He was already winning major competitions by the age of 12 and by 17 would emerge as Jet Li, Action Hero, in Chinese film. But he did not become widely known to Western audiences until he starred opposite Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon IV. Parish, the author of several books on Hollywood, does a good job of chronicling Li's early career but does not reveal much about his private life. Yet as with books on Bruce Lee, there is a big audience for this type of well-illustrated title (it includes 30 color and black-and-white photographs, never before published), especially among YAs.Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Free Libs., Salinas, CACopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Following the trail Jackie Chan blazed, Jet Li is poised to become the next Chinese action star to achieve American success. At 17 Li, a martial-arts child prodigy, starred in his first film, Shaolin Temple (1982). In more than two-dozen subsequent Hong Kong features, especially the Once upon a Time in China series about nineteenth-century folk hero Wong Fei Hung, he became an Asian superstar and a cult star elsewhere, even before his U.S. debut as the villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). Unfortunately, his Hollywood films since have been genre potboilers, lacking the sense of fun and the extended fight sequences that distinguish his Hong Kong movies; and, despite similarly remarkable physical abilities, Li lacks the personality and humor that made Chan a global superstar. Parrish cobbled this book together from 70-odd other published sources, and while it is sloppy, it affectionately informs Li's newer fans about his earlier career. Longtime Li aficionados, however, may find it as lacking as Li's Hollywood flickers have been. Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Review "It affectionately inform's Li's newer fans about his earlier career." -- Gordon Flagg, Booklist, August, 1, 2002"Parish is knowledgeable about martial-arts films and does a good job of depicting Li's rise from obscurity." -- Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2002
