Los Angeles: Action star Jack Chan says it’s difficult to make a good movie in Hollywood at present as everything revolves around business rather than quality.
Chan, whose credits include notable roles in projects such as The Fearless Hyena (1979), Who Am I? (1998), and Police Story (1985), attended the Locarno Film Festival Saturday, where he was bestowed with the career achievement honour.
The actor also participated in the master class, where he spoke about the challenges of making a good movie.
According to the entertainment news outlet Variety, the 71-year-old actor said old films are much better than the current ones.
“I think the old movies are better than today… Right now, a lot of big studios, they’re not filmmakers, they’re business guys. They invest 40 million and think, ‘How can I get it back?’ And you can’t go over. It’s very difficult to make a good movie now,” he said, according to the entertainment news outlet Variety.
Chan is known for performing daring stunts on his own in films. The actor has also explored direction and worked as a stunt coordinator, producer, and writer.
He quipped that in Asian cinema, there are only two people with a similar skill sets, he and actor-martial artist Sammo Kam-Bo Hung.
“In all of Asia, only two directors can do everything: the writing, directing, acting, stunt coordinating, stunt fighting, and editing. Only two. One is Sammo Hung, the second one is Jackie Chan,” he said.
He joked he can’t be doing stunts wherever he goes and is now mastering the art of singing.
“I cannot do this forever (stunts). It’s just so dangerous. Whatever station I would go to, they would ask me how to punch and kick. I thought, What should I do? I should learn how to sing. Then I started trying to learn how to sing.”
The Locarno Film Festival commenced August 6 and will conclude Saturday.
