This book is a fabulous read. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. It is not a narrative, but rather a compiled series of interviews between the author(s) and Jackie Chan that have taken place over the past ten years or so. The chapters are split up into sections on his childhood, martial arts training, philosophy, health and fitness, career and film making, stunt coordinating etc. Each chapter has an introduction and then goes straight into an indepth interview with Jackie Chan himself! There is a small overview at the beginning of the book on his life (a mini "My Life in Action"!) and at the end a filmography and a chapter containing what the author considers are Jackie's ten best stunts in a short paragraph format. There is a treasure trove of pictures from Jackie's films (all black and white unfortunately), many not before seen. I consider this book belongs on the shelf with Jackie's autobiography as it is contains personal insights and comments from "The Man" himself. My respect for Jackie Chan, already high after reading "My Life in Action", has risen even higher. The man is phenomenal and makes the so-called "Hollywood Stars" shine rather pale in comparison. If the many who dismiss Jackie as "just an action actor" could only read this book, how their eyes would be opened! Highly recommended - a must read!

I loved this book. Anyone into the arts will love this book to. Its great and i personally like Jackie Chan.

This book is awesome! John Little's interview with Jackie Chan is worth the price alone. The photographs are the best, particularly the one of Jackie climbing a flag pole that looks like it has to be 50 feet off the ground! I learned so much about Jackie Chan, his martial arts training, his fitness methods and his personal philosophy. Having read all the other books on Jackie, I can easily say that this is - by far - the best! A must for everyone who loves his stunts or have been awed by his physical talent in martial art.

Reading for my 10 year old son was always a chore, never an adventure. He read the first chapter of this book and he was excited about reading. He read the first four books in this series in five days. They don't challenge a fourth grade reader, but they did excite his sense of adventure. Now he begs to go to bed early so he can read. Yippee!!!

Such a quick read. The authur really did his homework and captured this amazing man in an animated way that you would expect when dealing with such a fantastic entertainer as Jackie Chan. I highly recommend this book to every film buff out there. A real pleasure to read.

I wish I could give this book ten stars.

I'm not even a big Jackie Chan fan. I've seen a few of his new movies and enjoy them. I've been into reading biographies and since my husband is a big fan of Jackie Chan, I thought I'd give it a try. Well, it is one of the best books I've read.

My favorite aspect of the book is Jackie's relationship with Samo Hung. In the beginning, they have a bully/victim relationship. Then slowly, they gain mutual respect for each other...which eventually leads to friendship and a great working relationship. I think it's very inspiring because it shows how the people we "hate" today might be our best friends one day.

I was really surprised how their relationship turned out. I didn't expect them to become friends, I thought Jackie Chan was just venting about this annoying guy from his childhood and that the character would be dropped as soon as he left the opera school. Then when it seemed like the bully was actually staying in the book and getting a career of his own, I asked my husband if he had ever head of him. My husband said "Yeah, that's the guy from Martial Law." I was shocked!

If you're a Jackie Chan fan, you must read this book. It is an excellent account of his life, from his pre-opera days through the present. His early days in Hong Kong cinema are as fascinating as his childhood years in the opera school. And Jackie doesn't paint a perfect picture of himself - his accounts of his early success are thought-provoking. If you're not a Jackie Chan fan, go rent and watch "Supercop" and "Rumble in the Bronx" (and "Drunken Master II" if you can find it) and then read this book. You'll be a fan for life!

Rarely is a biography able to authentically capture the experiences of a man's life as well as I Am Jackie Chan is able too. From start to finish, it accurately describes Jackie's beginnings, from his youth, to his education, to his rise to fame. From his Relationships, to his gambling problems, to his fame-filled life in the end, the book is an amazing read. Along with giving the reader an insight into Jackie Chan's personality and life, it also gives an amazing look at Sammo Hung, fellow famous martial artist and director. Along with overviews of all his films, his best fights and his best stunts, this is the must-have book for Jackie Chan fans.

Inside the Dragon serves as a great introduction to the world of Jackie Chan. He is an insipring actor and director and Gentry covers many of his important films, though the information is very outdated. This book was written when Chinese films were prevalent on laserdisc and VCD, but not on DVD. Gentry does make some claims that I feel to be unbeleivable at times. He states that Chan did not perform many of his movie stunts. Now, any real Chan fan knows by simple oberservation that Chan uses a stunt double quite often (if you don't believe me see Thunderbolt, Dragons Forever, the Protector, etc.) but that's besides the point. What I didn't find was sufficient evidence supporting some of Gentry's claims, though you can judge for yourself. I recommend the book because of its moderate price tag, otherwise read Chan's auto biography I am Jacie Chan: My Life in Action.

To date this is the absolute best book devoted to the movies of Jackie Chan. The only negative is that the book is already out of date, a second revised edition is over due. "Inside The Dragon" was published just before "Mr. Nice Guy" was released. There is a mention of a few possible future projects which included "Rush Hour", which at this point was intended to team Chan with Martin Lawrence. A chapter devoted to Jackie Chan finally breaking through, in a big way with "Rush Hour", in America would have to be added. There are a few books devoted to Jackie Chan, however none of them are as satifying as this one. "Inside The Dragon" covers the vast majority of his films and is complimented by tons of stills from his movies as well as various movie posters. The author offers insight into most of Jackie Chan's major films. There are also sidebars devoted to a few of Jackie Chan's frequent costars such as Ken Lo and Dick Wei. Each chapter is devoted to different aspects of Jackie Chan's career, from his early Lo Wei "chop socky" films to his later collaborations with director Stanley Tong. Two great in depth chapters are devoted to Jackie Chan's ten best fight scenes and his seven "best" movies. I beleive that this book is essential to any fan of Jackie Chan. After four years I still refer to this book repeatedly.

Wow! This book gives you real insights into Jackie Chan. I want a book like this on Bruce Lee, and I want it yesterday!

Definately one of the more imformative books out there on Hong Kong Cinema from the late 60's to the present. Provides solid information on the HK film industry, which is a relief from what one often finds when seeking knowledge on what really goes on behind the facade put up by film companies. My only complaint is that it's just a little too opinionated and the lame attempts at humor and the blanket statements made by the author are tiresome and presumptious. People can decide for themelves what they think are the "best" marital arts scenes of all time.

Well, after the original publisher going under and a new one taking up the slack, the long-promised book is finally out with the full story from China, Hong Kong, Japan, and America. As promised, the new book takes the tale full circle, from its auspicious Wong Fei Hong beginnings to the worldwide triumph of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Not just one actor, one director, and one era, but a whirlwind tour of them all, through the Venoms, Master Killer, and women warriors to Sammo, Jet, Yuen, and all the rest. There's even a color photo section with some incredibly rare images. Perfect? Well, no. I wish there had been more from the HK independant producers, the lesser known Shaw Brothers directors, an index, and a "worst of" list (to go along with the "best of" one). But considering what the book went through on the long road to publication, it held up remarkably well. Enjoy!

I am a fan of Shaw Brothers Kung Fu films from the 70's and early 80's, and after reading through such books as "Hollywood East" among others, I was beginning to believe I would never find a reference book that would help me find out more about the movies and actors I personally love. All the books I found seemed to focus on the glitzy wirework films in the 90's and only briefly mentioned raw, realistic kung fu flicks that came from the era I was most interested in.I found out about "Great Martial Arts Movies" when I purchased a DVD (Shaolin Drunken Monk) that featured audio commentary by this book's author, Richard Meyers. I was incredibly impressed with the immense knowledge he displayed in the course of the commentary, and since he mentioned this book, I decided to take a chance. Lo and behold, upon receiving it, I flipped it open and came right upon a picture of one of my all time favorite Shaw films "Five Masters of Death", flipped a few pages and saw something else that made my heart stop, huge, detailed photos from all of my favorite Venoms films, and photos of Wang Yu, Ti Lung, Chen Kuan Tai, David Chiang... but it doesn't stop at pictures. The majority of this book is filled with the author's insights & opinions on all these films. My only real complaint about this book is that the Venoms/Shaw Brothers section is mainly just opinion and gives no real information about the stars. For example, I was a bit disappointed that heralded actors such as Chi Kuan Chun and Meng Fei received only the slightest mention (ie: Chi Kuan Chun is described as having a "ferret face" and Meng Fei is called "a cute looking fellow" and that is the extent of their mention). Also I noticed some of the information that WAS given is a bit off. However, I must clarify that this was ONLY in the Venoms/Shaw section, as the rest of the book is filled with extensive, personal, in-depth descriptions, facts and trivia. This author's passion goes far beyond just casual movie-watching, he has truly absorbed the nuances and details of these wonderful films and the people that make them work both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.

This book is full of information of Jackie's life as a kid and adult. It has twenty-or-so black and white pictures. This book has lots of information on most of his movies. It includes all of bad things that have happened, bones that he has broken and other ways he has hurt himself over the years. I am a big Jackie Chan fan and found this book very interesting and imformitive.

Its not Faulkner or Shakespeare, but its a great little book about Jackie Chan. If you are a Jackie fan you will never get bored with this book. Its got great information, reviews, profiles, and pictures. If you love Jackie get this book.

I read Day of the Dragon and it is very good. In the beginning, Jackie Chan and his niece Jade eat pie to find a talisman. A talisman is a small eight-sided stone with magic powers. They bring it to Uncle's shop so he can study it. The talisman breaks and creates two Jackie!
My favorite part is when the J-team defeats Shendu, a 15-foot tall red-eyed green monster with big claws and teeth. One part that has alot of action is when the Dark Hand tries to steal the talismans for Shendu because he promised that they could have some of his lost treasure.
I would recommend this book to someone who likes action-packed books.

I just dont get the appeal of this book, I'm sorry. For the most part, all it contains is a bunch of detailed plot information (yes Virginia, including key plot twists and endings) and very little information as to if the movies were any good! Yes, he has some special lists ("movies that rip"), but just not enough. I wanted this book as a reference to all of the HK movies out there, so I could see what was good before plunking down my cash on them - after reading about a few movies, I felt I no longer needed to buy them because I had already seen them. There are much better options.

This book is only helpful for those with little knowledge of Hong Kong films. It's more playful than artistic, yet there are some helpful film reviews included. Some of the information is outdated: Web sites, where to buy HK films, etc..., but if your new to HK films and are interested in the pop culture gems that come out of Hong Kong, then check this book out. For those interested in a more in-depth look at Hong Kong films, I recommend City on Fire, by Lisa Stokes and Micheal Hoover.

Memo to the reader from Denver: did you read the same book I did? Yeah, I'll admit that I wish the authors hadn't gone into quite so much detail about the plots, but how can you say they didn't review any of the films? The authors' enthusiasm for this exhilarating subsection of filmdom permeates every sentence herein; everything they write is filtered through their opinions, which are mostly positive, because, as they explain in the intro, they put the spotlight on the films they loved the most. With the exception of the informative sidebars, there's nothing BUT reviews here.

I love this book. It's not meant to be an HK film encyclopedia, just a feet-wetting introduction to an unjustly overlooked body of work. As that, it's nearly perfect.

This is a good, quick-and-dirty reference to the works of Jackie Chan with some interesting facts and trivia, but there's very little information on his life and training before the movies, which was what I was hoping to get from a book titled "The Life and Films of Jackie Chan." The information is completely lifted from other publications (interviews, fan newsletters, etc.) and it appears that the author did no further interviewing or research for the book. It reads like a term-paper on Jackie Chan, rather than a textbook.

This book is not so much about Jackie Chan's life, but his life in films. This book is delightful in it's details. Jackie Chan has managed to make a name for himself and kick his way out from under the shadow of Bruce Lee and this book plots his path. There are great behind the scenes facts, anecdotes from Jackie, and informative facts about all of Chan's films. This is a great book for someone looking to dive into Jackie Chan's filmography.

Dying For Action is a delightful introduction to Jackie's life and movies. Like Jackie, Renee Witterstaetter's book is fun-loving, funny, and at times, a heartwarming look at Jackie's life and growing popularity around the world over the years. The detailed section on every one of Jackie's movies, along with the Renee's well formed thoughts and opinions, is an excellent introduction to each film. One which will easily enable fans to determine which movies to watch fist, before going back to watch them all. Aimed at the potential and new fan market, "Dying For Action" more than adequately fulfills its purpose! Highly recommended, especially to those with little or no real knowledge of Jackie Chan's life, career and movies from across the years! I loved it, and I am sure that so too will most of you as well! Congratulations Renee, for a beautiful tribute to the life and times of our greatest hero, Jackie Chan!