Chan is the man. Bruce Lee would and should be the greatest, but he was unfortunately cut off in his prime; he did only a handful of notable films compared to the others (FIST OF FURY, ENTER THE DRAGON, THE BIG BOSS) and though he was an unparalleled pioneer, lots of others artists since then did fairly similar work (he never really had a chance to innovate and be creative). Chan, on the other hand, did a great deal of martial arts films that were not only inventive and acrobatic (DRUNKEN MASTER, PROJECT A, WHO AM I?, THE TUXEDO), but were incredibly physical (the stunts he performed in his films are legendary). He was a member of the Seven Little Fortunes martial arts troupe, and considered to be one of their best - that reputation was well earned, even among his contemporaries like Hung.
Chan is less of a martial artist, and more of a stunt dancer. I suspect Bruce Lee will win this poll.
It's Bruce Lee he the only one that used The Nun-Chuck as a deadly weapon,and he also can defeat Chuck Norris.
Bruce Lee...but I'd change the title to The WORLD's Greatest Cinematic Martial Artist. Not exclusively to Asia. The man was born in San Francisco, after all.
Not gonna' lie, I've only see films with three of those guys (Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Tony Jaa). Out of those three, I want to say Jackie Chan, but Tony Jaa has blown him out of the water recently. I know, I know, I need to get on seeing a Bruce Lee film ASAP, and I'm trying to.
Guys, just watch Ip Man. Donnie Yen practices wing chun. He fought Jackie Chan in Shanghai Knights and would have won if not for the script. Also, he has to slow his chain gun punch in order for it to be seen on film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upwyWKzozII&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Bruce Lee. The thing about Jackie Chan is that he's more of a performer than an actual martial artist. But Bruce Lee could really fight.
But in this context, cinema, Jackie Chan is probably better. Bruce Lee was a martial artist without peer; one in a million. Oddly enough he's impressive enough to watch in training style videos but kinda dull in a movie. My vote for a cinematic martial arts performer goes to Jackie Chan. My vote as a martial artist in total goes, as always, to Master Lee.
Jackie Chan (and Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao), especially young Jackie Chan, blended acrobatics with traditional martial arts in a performance that was as endearing as it was spectacular, as funny as it was impressive. Sonny Chiba created a wide range of action films, showing that the same skills could make a literal universe of characters, across a wide range of settings and themes. Donnie Yen and Gordon Liu have kept the tradition alive, bringing it into new mediums while still showing how it can shine in an age of computer imagery. Jet Li successfully made the jump from tournaments to film, and then from the asian cinema to hollywood. He is a vanguard of what martial arts can be, movements with a true application rather than just a cinematic one. Tony Jaa has blended handfuls of styles into an art that, onscreen, is unpredictable and a celebration of martial prowess, at a level of multi-mastery I don't think we've ever seen in the same way before. But Bruce Lee. My god, Bruce Lee. We had never seen anything like him before, and despite the credits of those mentioned above, I do not think we have seen anything quite like him since. His acting was cocky, inspiring, enticing, and wildly engaging. His philosophy was deep, accessible, and applicable to daily life. And his movements, his MOVEMENTS, they bordered on superhuman. His self-made style, his intensity, his SPEED! He was the vanguard of what we have today, an icon for a generation of cinema, and I truly wish we had seen more from him, before his untimely end.
MST3K Jet Jaguar song! - YouTube oh yes, how could i forget that awesome guy? okay, my vote is now him!
Bruce Lee win this poll hands down. Other than that, it's a 2-way tie between Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
I've seen way too much of Jackie Chan Adventures on Kids WB and Rush Hour a while back to not vote for him. I admit it was just a cartoon but I haven't seen a Bruce Lee movie.
