Around the World in 80 Days

[sandra]

here's the cast: Aound the World in 80 Days Cast (http://www.jackiechankids.com/files/Around_cast.htm)

some pics of the set can be found here: Photos of Jackie and Daniel from Daniel Wu's website (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danielwunewsletter/messages/1?viscount=100) ...but you'll need a yahoo account to log in.

About the Film
In this highly inventive take on Verne's enduring classic, Passepartout (Chan) must make it to China in order to restore a valuable jade Buddha that was stolen from his family1s village. He seeks refuge with an eccentric London inventor, Phileas Fogg (Coogan), who puts his reputation, fortune, and career as an inventor on the line in a daring bet to make it around the world in eighty days. Joining them is Monique (de France,) a young French artist who decides a trip around the world would be a perfect cure for her lost inspiration. After convincing them to take her along for the ride, she finds not only her artistic spirit, but also falls in love with uptight scientist Fogg. Opposing the group is Lord Kelvin (Broadbent,) who has wagered his position as head of the Royal Academy of Science against their journey's success. In order to "stop Phileas Fogg by any means necessary," Kelvin sends the bungling Detective Fix (Bremner) who plays the comic punching-bag to Passepartout1s martial arts genius.

Their adventure takes them to many colorful and exotic lands from historic London to Paris, India, China, across the Great Seas, to the burgeoning United States and more. Along the way, the group runs into an eclectic assortment of characters including Queen Victoria (Bates), Scotland Yard Sergeant (Cleese), Parisian painter (Wenders), hot air balloon engineer (Branson), Turkish Prince (Schwarzenegger), eccentric hobo (Knoxville), steamer captain (Addy), and other international star cameos.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by kasia@Jun 16 2003, 02:48 PM
some pics of the set can be found here: Daniel Wu's website (http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/danielwunewsletter/vwp?.dir=/Yahoo!+Photo+Album/80+Days&.src=gr&.dnm=photo+16.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/danielwunewsletter/lst%3f%26.dir=/Yahoo!%2bPhoto%2bAlbum/80%2bDays%26.src=gr%26.view=t) ...but you'll need a yahoo account to log in
you also have to join that yahoo group.

but there are no Maggie Q pics in there, so everybody, there's nothing to see.

[sandra]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jun 16 2003, 10:56 AM
you also have to join that yahoo group.

but there are no Maggie Q pics in there, so everybody, there's nothing to see.
it's pretty easy to join. you just have to log in with an existing yahoo sn and password.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by kasia@Jun 16 2003, 02:58 PM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jun 16 2003, 10:56 AM
you also have to join that yahoo group. 

but there are no Maggie Q pics in there, so everybody, there's nothing to see.
it's pretty easy to join. you just have to log in with an existing yahoo sn and password.
by the way, that link you gave would give an error if the person is not already in the group.

[sandra]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jun 16 2003, 11:00 AM
Originally posted by kasia@Jun 16 2003, 02:58 PM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jun 16 2003, 10:56 AM
you also have to join that yahoo group.

but there are no Maggie Q pics in there, so everybody, there's nothing to see.
it's pretty easy to join. you just have to log in with an existing yahoo sn and password.
by the way, that link you gave would give an error if the person is not already in the group.
try now. it'll bring you to his emails. on the far left, click on the link that says 'photos'. then 'album'. then '80 days'.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by kasia@Jun 16 2003, 03:03 PM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jun 16 2003, 11:00 AM
Originally posted by kasia@Jun 16 2003, 02:58 PM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@Jun 16 2003, 10:56 AM
you also have to join that yahoo group.

but there are no Maggie Q pics in there, so everybody, there's nothing to see.
it's pretty easy to join. you just have to log in with an existing yahoo sn and password.
by the way, that link you gave would give an error if the person is not already in the group.
try now. it'll bring you to his emails. on the far left, click on the link that says 'photos'. then 'album'. then '80 days'.
yeah i tweaked it already.

Summer is now here and I hope you all have time to enjoy it!
I know some of you are exams right now. Good luck! For those of you who are graduating, congratualtions! School is a very important thing. I am so thankful I finished high-school and graduated from college. I wouldn't be where I am today without the education I received. For those of you who are still in school, relax and enjoy yourselves. After seeing all my old friends I realized some of the best times I've had were in school.

yo, he's talking to high school girls in broken english. they're going to think he's right because he's a johk sing and they're going to write "i am exam right now" and then fail miserably on their english tests.

[Faithless]

http://actionadventure.about.com/library/w...2/aa102002a.htm (http://actionadventure.about.com/library/weekly/2002/aa102002a.htm)

Can't remember the original, but I wonder if this movie will just be Jackie Chan stunts, and the story content will get lost.

Chan will play Passepartout, the role played by Cantinflas in the 1956 film of Around the World. A few things will have to change to make Passepartout a Jackie Chan role, and to make the story a vehicle for Chan's action set pieces.

"First of all, not many people could fill the role of Cantinflas and outdo him. But, also, we've seen Jackie in so many scenarios in his body of work and all his great movies, but this movie gives him the chance to do what Jackie does best everywhere. In front of the Taj Mahal, at the Great Wall, in an art gallery in France with a bunch of impressionist painters. We just get to really bring it around the world. If anyone is an international star, it's Jackie and this movie, the whole mode of this movie is about travel. It's about connecting the world together and there are not many actors that unite the world. You can go anywhere in the world and people flip out when they see Jackie Chan. So, in a way he is the perfect representative to glue this movie together."

[mr. x]

whys jackie's character got a french name?

[YuheiCarreau]

Originally posted by mr. x@Jun 16 2003, 09:41 PM
whys jackie's character got a french name?
The original character in the Jules Verne story was French. I think they're just using that name in the article so everyone will know who Chan will be playing in this modern adaptation of the story.

[tvbdude]

when the hell is that movie highbinders coming out? took too long. even this one should be out in a few months

[Emperor_Mike]

This looks somewhat interesting. I've always enjoyed Verne's works and to date I haven't watched any film adaptations of AtWi80D.

[nonamerasian]

I hope they don't tweak the story too much.

The last film was entertaining.

[lethal]

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808429826

Scheduled release date, June 16, 2004.

This thread started exactly one year to the day before the release date. That's karma for you.

[Cipherous]

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808429826

Scheduled release date, June 16, 2004.

This thread started exactly one year to the day before the release date. That's karma for you.

freaky.

Maybe those karma points do stand for something.

[sandra]

6 more months...

[teaz0r]

i never read the book.
i don't think. i remember
the book cover was yellow
and had an air balloon though.

is that what it's called?
air balloon?

with the basket?

[Martino]

Steve Coogan is a British TV actor/comedian who, like Ricky Gervais, is borderline 'A' list mainly due to a single comic creation ... he has made numerous movies that have a made-for-TV feel to them, so it'll be interesting to see him ina big budget affair like this one.

What is it with Jackie Chan and British comedians? He also recently co-starred with Lee Evans in Medallion? These guys are funny, and popular here, but are they really of the same stature as Asia's number one action star?

[nonamerasian]

is that what it's called?
air balloon?

with the basket?

Yeah. A hot air balloon.

[contra_diction]

What is it with Jackie Chan and British comedians? He also recently co-starred with Lee Evans in Medallion? These guys are funny, and popular here, but are they really of the same stature as Asia's number one action star?

They seem to work as a good contrast to Jackie's characters. I like it.

[AngryABCGirl]

Isn't Daniel Wu supposed to be in this? hmm yum

[TB4000]

The trailer is finally out. About time, cause this thing is supposed to be released in a few months.

http://mp3content01.bcst.yahoo.com/proot2/PubShare08/yahoomovies/15/5723653.mov

[mr. x]

i wonder why more people dont have sexual fantasies about doin it in a hot air balloon.

im so being serious, its always on a boat or in the back seat of a car or even in a plane's bathroom

[Martino]

i wonder why more people dont have sexual fantasies about doin it in a hot air balloon.

im so being serious, its always on a boat or in the back seat of a car or even in a plane's bathroom

They're terribly cramped ... and if you start thrashing around, it might end up being a case of "Yes! Yes! Yes! Y--- oh, where did he go?"

[Martino]

I must say, Steve Coogan's performance looks pretty good in that trailer. Looks like the sort of film I could take a guy on a date to see ... a nice French restaurant afterwards ... some vin rouge ...

Has Dr Terribles House of Horrible aired in North America at all?

[bluemonq]

I hope they don't tweak the story too much.

The last film was entertaining.
well, considering they changed the detective from being a case of mistaken identity to actually going after chan, and instead of rescuing the princess in india to the lady just being an artist who goes along...id say the story's fairly tweaked... :mad:

[nameless]

Disney, eh? Well, I guess this means less racial humor, but it also probably means less action. =( Then again, if action directing isn't ass (didn't seem like it in the trailer, but who knows), then I think the Chan vs. Asian warrior fights could be pretty impressive.

Err, wait...did I see some wire work? :frown:

[kitty]

http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/aroundtheworldin80days.html

another trailer!

from the site:

Watch the exclusive trailer for 'Around the World in 80 Days,' starring Jackie Chan as Chinese theif seeking refuge as the traveling companion of an eccentric London inventor ('24 Hour Party People' star Steve Coogan) who has taken on a wager that he can make it around the globe in a mere 80 days.

The trailer makes it look like Coogan's the star. Oy.

[TB4000]

http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/aroundtheworldin80days.html

another trailer!

from the site:



The trailer makes it look like Coogan's the star. Oy.
Hey, ya found a quicktime version...the best there is, best there was, best there ever will be. Yeah, they do kind of do that, though technically in the story he's the main character and Jackie is playing the assistant role, more or less. But Jackie will have top billing when it comes out though, of course. The only Jackie Chan flick I'm waiting for them to make is the live action version of his cartoon series. That is the funniest show ever, man.

[TB4000]

Man, doesn't look like Mr. Chaw cares for this flick too much.
----------------
I've spent all the bile and disappointment I'm going to spend on Jackie Chan and what's become of possibly the biggest star on the planet since his relocation to Hollywood. The rumour that this iteration of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days is to be Chan's American swan song fuels the suspicion that even folks unfamiliar with the stuff that once earned Chan comparisons to Buster Keaton have begun to wish, like any majority culture member towards any outcast in any community, that they would stop taking the abuse and just go home. There must be a breaking point for Centurion scourers when pity (revulsion?) overtakes zeal for punishment, and the lengths to which Chan has voluntarily subjugated himself in the role of sidekick, comic relief, and yellow Stepin Fetchit have progressed beyond paternalistic bemusement into the raw area of salt into an open wound. The old Jackie Chan would have done this film and taken the role of Phileas Fogg--new Jackie Chan is content to be Kato. (Burt Kwouk's, not Bruce Lee's.) I was one of three Asians in a large high school in the middle of one of the whitest, most conservative states in the Union, where Chan bootlegs provided by one of South Federal's Vietnamese groceries were among my few lifelines to a positive Chinese media role model amidst all the Long Duck Dongs, Short Rounds, and Ancient Chinese Secret launderers. For me now to feel more apathy than outrage at Chan selling out--dancing, singing, and acting the fool for the charity of the dominant culture--represents a death of a lot of things essential about me. It happens this way: the tide of ignorance wins out not with a bang but with a whimper.

Fogg (Steve Coogan) is a Victorian-era inventor who makes a wager with the Snidely Whiplash head of the Royal Academy of Science Lord Kelvin (Jim Broadbent) that he can accomplish the titular feat. With loyal valet (which is apparently the term for "Asian Pickaninny") Passport 2 (Chan) and French tart Monique (Cécile De France) at his side, Fogg proceeds to use Passport 2 as a crash test dummy and rickshaw driver. Described as "honourable," he's given to saying things like "thousand pardon"--he's Brain to Fogg's Inspector Gadget: a loyal dog with a secret life. A dog who has to look away coy with a wink and a nudge when the Brit and his French girlfriend, for God's sake, smooch; Jackie Chan, the reaction shot--you got any shirts need pressing? Along the way they meet Turkish Prince Hapi (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who was apparently the model for Rodin's "The Thinker" (I didn't know Rodin had a sense of humour), and various other fading luminaries in cameos of degrees of sad inexplicability (Rob Schneider, Sammo Hung, John Cleese, Macy Gray, Owen and Luke Wilson, Richard Branson). Oh yeah, Kathy Bates plays Queen Victoria.

With charges of racism complicated by Chan's own complicity in this mess (he's listed as a producer), looking at Around the World in 80 Days as just an inept film free of interest for all but the extremely young and the mentally impaired inspires almost as lengthy, if not as fruitful, a discussion. Just the disturbing violence of the piece, something forgiven by most as "cartoonish" or, even stranger, "just for children," should give pause, especially considering that an entire set-piece is centered around an old woman believing herself to have been robbed before falling, heavily, off a wall and onto her face. Ewen Bremner as a hapless Scotland Yard bobby on the heroes' trail receives the bulk of the frightening abuse, however, suffering crotch shots, falls from trains and buildings, and any number of appalling injuries in the name of comic relief. There's a marked difference between "The Three Stooges"-type abuse and this picture's bizarre affection for first doing harm. It almost goes without saying that the picture is never funny on purpose.

Around the World in 80 Days plays like a suicide note, full of references to past glories (Hung appears as Wong Fei Hung, the folk hero Chan played in Drunken Master II), past fight scenes played at half-speed, and an implacable patina of an obliterating self-pity. Chan's hopeful "I can also sing" is a variety of servile that should set teeth on edge, while a whole sequence set in India in which colonialist Britons "hut hut" around while a train-car of Indian waifs offer Hindu homilies about the nature of legend and the preciousness of malapropisms is genuinely disturbing. "Enough of your ridiculous stories, Passport 2!" commands Fogg, and the obedient valet offers up his apologies. After Monique wonders if there is anywhere in the world not controlled by the British, Passport 2 offers up his sole defiant riposte, "Not China, not yet"--right, the British only incited a pair of Opium Wars in the 19th century, engineering the Taiping Rebellion along the way that claimed somewhere in the neighbourhood of 100 million Chinese lives. Facts that don't really matter all that much in the context of the film, of course, but they do serve to propel Chan's hollow chest-pounding square into the lip-service spotlight. He's not wrong for saying it, but his pride has no place outside of exactly the kind of populist, condescending flimflammery of this kind of self-congratulatory Disneyfied horseshit, as clear a headwater and bellows as any for the kind of condescending, marginalized invisibility of Asians in American cinema. So long as the most powerful among us is content to be a clown (Richard Pryor bought for a rich white kid's fun in The Toy), there's only so much wriggle-room the rest of us have for our outrage.-Walter Chaw

[SunWuKong]

Man, doesn't look like Mr. Chaw cares for this flick too much.

man, what an idiot. as always, judging an Asian star/person with American, or in this case, Asian American standards and sensibilities. it doesn't work. if he's not ready to see Jackie Chan act like a nitwit, then he shouldn't be watching any Jackie Chan movies at all. if he wants to see something that addresses a social issue, he should be watching some low-budget independent films that some unknown Asian American filmmaker made. Jackie Chan doesn't owe us anything as to make socially conscious movies. he makes his own movies as he sees fit and his characters are always someone to laugh at. furthermore, it's not like he knows shit about race relations in the US concerning Asian Americans.

[rice cracker]

I dunno, I saw the trailer for this and all I could think of was imbecile colored man who saves the white guy, then gives the white guy sage advice. Sound familier? Yeah, it's just about every film with a colored sidekick.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

I dunno, I saw the trailer for this and all I could think of was imbecile colored man who saves the white guy, then gives the white guy sage advice. Sound familiar?

Gender specifications aside, are you referring to our MSN conversations? :tongue:

[rice cracker]

Gender specifications aside, are you referring to our MSN conversations? :tongue:

I don't recall receiving any sage advice from you. *raises eyebrow* Are you holding out on me?

[mr. x]

I don't recall receiving any sage advice from you. *raises eyebrow* Are you holding out on me?
she gave it to me though :biggrin:

[rice cracker]

she gave it to me though :biggrin:

Whoa, Gumby is a girl?! You think you know who you're cybering with...

[mr. x]

Whoa, Gumby is a girl?! You think you know who you're cybering with...
whoops i mistook the word "receiving" for giving

and i mistook the word "sage advice" for "oral sex" :tongue:

[SunWuKong]

finally watched this movie and now i think Walter Chaw is even more of an imbecile. that rod up his ass must have a rod up its ass. just as i expected, Jackie basically plays the same character that he plays in all his other movies. why should he change that just because now he has co-stars that are white?

anyway, aside from some of the Chinese people speaking English to each other, i really liked this movie. i like the nod to Wong Fei Hung, and the fact that the characters explore different cultures around the world. although obviously the cultural portrayal is not 100% accurate because this movie, like all other Jackie Chan movies, is essentially action-comedy and nothing more.

[mr. x]

^---who's walter chaw?

[SunWuKong]

^---who's walter chaw?


scroll up a bit to that long post that TB4000 made.

[mr. x]

scroll up a bit to that long post that TB4000 made.
ah i c

well theres always gonna be those people who complain about chan and even jet li for doing what they do

[AngryABCGirl]

So, does Daniel Wu run around shirtless?

[SunWuKong]

So, does Daniel Wu run around shirtless?

no. thank god.

[AngryABCGirl]

no. thank god.

There went my only motivation to watch the movie.

[SunWuKong]

There went my only motivation to watch the movie.

what about the cute French chick with the cute French accent???

[Shuriken]

I finally saw Around the World in 80 Days, and I didn't like it. To me, the Jules Verne story and Jackie Chan weren't a very good fit from the beginning. There's also a matter of the forced emotionalism and the "gee, we all learned a valuable lesson" sentiment that probably won't even appeal to the kids.

But even though I didn't like the film, it represents something very important. This is the only time I know of where a well-known (reasonably lead) white character from world literature was rewritten as Asian in an adaptation for a primarily Western audience: the erstwhile French character of Passpartou is really a Chinese man named Lao Xiong. Furthermore, Chan gets top billing in the film. About 10 or 15 years ago, this idea of "Jackie Chan as Passpartou" wouldn't have even been given the time of day in Hollywood because Chan isn't a Westerner.

Can anyone think of another example, maybe going back to the prime of Sessue Hayakawa or Anna May Wong?

Anyway, this represents a refreshing change from when the Broadway show Miss Saigon labeled its ostensibly Vietnamese male lead "Eurasian" just to accommodate a white actor or when the film The Art of War changed its Chinese American lead character to black.

Black people have been playing literary characters who were originally written as white at least since Wesley Snipes in 1993's Rising Sun (though, in my opinion, Snipes was cast just so the filmmakers could shield themselves from charges of racism), and the tradition now continues with Denzel Washington in the upcoming remake of The Manchurian Candidate (based on a novel by Richard Condon) and Halle Berry in Catwoman. It looks like Asians are finally being admitted to the club.

By the way, did everyone recognize Karen Mok of Fallen Angels, Black Mask, and So Close as the villainous General Chang in the film? She was working under her Western name of Karen Joy Morris.

[kitty]

next step: casting a person of colour for a character that has no racial/ethnic descriptors.

[Martino]

Black people have been playing literary characters who were originally written as white at least since Wesley Snipes in 1993's Rising Sun (though, in my opinion, Snipes was cast just so the filmmakers could shield themselves from charges of racism)


The earliest instance I can recall was ten years before Sun, with Bernie Casey playing CIA agent Felix Leiter in the rogue James Bond movie Never Say Never Again (1983). Maybe Felix Leiter doesn't count as a true literary character, since the Bond book characters don't resemble their film counterparts anyway, but all the other incarnations of Felix were played by an array of B list white actors (starting with Jack Lord in Dr No and ending with David 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea' Hedison in 1989's Licence to Kill).

Just goes to show that even when a precedent is set, it doesn't always result in a trend.

[Shuriken]

The earliest instance I can recall was ten years before Sun, with Bernie Casey playing CIA agent Felix Leiter in the rogue James Bond movie Never Say Never Again (1983).


But Felix Leiter was very much a supporting character, while the roles I was talking about were leads or co-starring parts. I should have been clearer about that. Sorry.

Another thing I should mention: The new Around the World in 80 Days changes the female love interest from an Indian woman to a Frenchwoman. Shirley MacLaine played her (in brownface) in the Oscar-winning 1956 film, while Persis Khambata played her in the 1980s TV movie. Given the preponderance of WM/AF in contrast to its opposite, this is a welcome change as well.

And the name of Karen Mok's character in the film is actually General Fang, not Chang, as I said. I must have had food on my mind.

[kitty]

General Fang

Hey... maybe we're related.

*rolls eyes*

I get that all the time at work.

[TB4000]

Hey... maybe we're related.

*rolls eyes*

I get that all the time at work.

Or they coulda been talking about Lei Fang of classic fighting game Dead or Alive fame.... :rolleyes: Or was that one a little too over the top?
http://membres.lycos.fr/satethirtysix/images/maj0155/doa08.jpg

[KATANA]

I finally saw Around the World in 80 Days, and I didn't like it. To me, the Jules Verne story and Jackie Chan weren't a very good fit from the beginning. There's also a matter of the forced emotionalism and the "gee, we all learned a valuable lesson" sentiment that probably won't even appeal to the kids.

But even though I didn't like the film, it represents something very important. This is the only time I know of where a well-known (reasonably lead) white character from world literature was rewritten as Asian in an adaptation for a primarily Western audience: the erstwhile French character of Passpartou is really a Chinese man named Lao Xiong. Furthermore, Chan gets top billing in the film. About 10 or 15 years ago, this idea of "Jackie Chan as Passpartou" wouldn't have even been given the time of day in Hollywood because Chan isn't a Westerner.

Can anyone think of another example, maybe going back to the prime of Sessue Hayakawa or Anna May Wong?

Anyway, this represents a refreshing change from when the Broadway show Miss Saigon labeled its ostensibly Vietnamese male lead "Eurasian" just to accommodate a white actor or when the film The Art of War changed its Chinese American lead character to black.

Black people have been playing literary characters who were originally written as white at least since Wesley Snipes in 1993's Rising Sun (though, in my opinion, Snipes was cast just so the filmmakers could shield themselves from charges of racism), and the tradition now continues with Denzel Washington in the upcoming remake of The Manchurian Candidate (based on a novel by Richard Condon) and Halle Berry in Catwoman. It looks like Asians are finally being admitted to the club.

By the way, did everyone recognize Karen Mok of Fallen Angels, Black Mask, and So Close as the villainous General Chang in the film? She was working under her Western name of Karen Joy Morris.

Who was supposed to play the lead in the Art Of War?

[Shuriken]

Who was supposed to play the lead in the Art Of War?

Jet Li's name was floated for a while (even though he's not American), but the script was rewritten for Wesley Snipes -- and changing the female love interest from white to Asian -- before this came to anything.

So, can no one name another Occidental movie, based on a well-known book, where the lead or co-starring white character was changed to Asian?