I Am Jackie Chan - Jackie Chan

I am not a die hard Jackie Chan fan but being of Cantonese origin and having always been familiar with his films (I've seen most of them and now own quite a few on DVD) I grew up in the belief that his was a household name. Today, I am wiser to the fact that not everyone has seen a Jackie Chan film or even heard of him. In the far east of Asia, however, he is the biggest action superstar and has been for at least 25 years. It is no secret that he was born into poverty, his parents signing a contract with the Peking Opera School, partly because of their financial difficulty and partly because he seemed to lack discipline. This is where he stayed from the age ...  Read the complete review

Jackie Chan’s ‘My Life in action’ is a fantastic book describing the changes in his life from being a very humble stuntman to becoming Asia’s best known superstar, and one of the World’s best known stars. He is a Kung fu expert with a lot of experience. About a third of his book is about his days in the Chinese Academy School in Hong Kong. The conditions were kept very strict from his master and he faced regular beatings from his nemesis, Yuen Lung, later to be called Samo Hung, who soon became one of his greatest friends in his business. Jackie (at the time called Chan Kong Sang, which means born in Hong Kong) grew up in a mansion ...  Read the complete review

From his humble beginings as the son of a cook and a cleaner all the way to his current 'superstar' status - with everything between. This is an honest and often moving account of Jackie Chan's life; detailing his harsh upbringing, his struggle to reach the top, his joys and his regrets. This book has given me a new insight on a man I have admired since my early childhood. "I am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action" also includes Jackie's comments about every film he has made, lists of his favourite stunts and fights and details of the injuries he has sustained as the result of his unique "The more terrified my friends and family are, the more ...  Read the complete review

If you pick up this book you can be sure that it will not leave you bored, in fact get asked to put the book down and make a cup of tea and you may be trying your hand at Karate chopping the table. I have been on a spell of reading Auto Biography's and this one really keeps you going. Starting with Jackies youth you come to understand the hardship that he endured without feeling that he is complaining. Jackie started in the Chinese Opera with hard master who trained them for many hours a day. He is not the best, by his own admissions, but trained through the years to be the best he could be. As the story moves onto Jackies teens ...  Read the complete review

I am Jackie Chan gives us a detailed look into Jackie' Chan's interesting life. It tells us of all the happy times but doesn't hesitate to speak of when times weren't going so well for the martial arts legend. It shows how he ended up taking a more comedic side as opposed to his earlier films and also says a lot on the people around him in each era of his life. His family is spoken of in fair detail as is each of his movies. There is also a section at the back of the book where his films are listed with the years and a little info. The main segment of the book concentrates on his schooling which is far from manstream and the rest is mainly life on the set with some ...  Read the complete review