Stanley TongBirth Place: Heritage: Chinese Contact Stanley Tong |
|
Rumble in the Bronx Background: Starting out as a stunt man, Hong Kong filmmaker Stanley Tong has enjoyed success as the director of Jackie Chan’s popular vehicles “Police Story 3: Supercop” (1992), “Rumble in the Bronx” (1995), which became Chan's American breakthrough movie, “Police Story 4: First Strike” (1996) and “The Myth” (2005). He won the Golden Horse Award, a Chinese equivalent of the Academy Award, for “Police Story 4: First Strike.” Tong made his feature directorial debut with “Stone Age Warriors” (1991) and had his first English language film with “Mr. Magoo” (1997). On the small screen, he executive produced and directed episodes of the CBS series “Martial Law” (1998-2000).
Childhood and Family: Stanley Tong was born Tong Kwai-Lai in Hong Kong in 1960. He began studying different kinds of martial arts at age 12 and moved to Canada five years later. In Canada, he got a job as a martial arts instructor while attending the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. During the same period, he also developed an interest in fast cars and precision driving. Tong moved back to Hong Kong in 1979 to help with the family business. Tong's brother-in-law was renowned kung fu star Lieh Lo, who died in 2002.
Career: After teaching martial arts in Canada, Stanley Tong returned to his home country of Hong Kong in 1979 and began his career in show business the following year. Thanks to the help of his brother-in-law, veteran actor Lo Lich, he was able to find work as a part time stuntman at Shaw Brothers Studios. Over the next three years, he did hundreds of stunts and frequently doubled for Leslie Cheung, Brandon Lee, Maggie Cheung and Michelle Khan. The exciting work, however, was not without cost and he suffered multiple injuries during this time, including a broken shoulder, cracked ribs, a cracked skull, a broken leg, damaged knees, and back injuries. Considering the risk, he decided to leave the stunt world and turn to directing. In 1983, Tong took a job as an assistant director with the hope of learning filmmaking. In 1987, he served as assistant stunt coordinator, a position he held on six films. He also branched out into production managing and screenwriting while making his return in front of the camera as a stunt driver. He eventually began his own film production company called Golden Gate in 1989. After co-directing the popular action film “Angel 3” (1989), with Teresa Woo, Tong made his debut as a filmmaker with “Stone Age Warriors” (“Mo yu fei long,” 1991) which he directed, wrote, produced and coordinated the stunts. Starring Nina Li Chi, Elaine Lui and Siu-Wong Fan, the million dollar budgeted film was promoted as the first commercial movie ever to be shot amid the aboriginal head hunters in New Guinea and eventually brought Tong to the attention of Golden Harvest producer Leonard Ho. It was not long before Tong was given the job to direct Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung in the action film “Police Story 3: Supercop” (“Ging chat goo si 3: Chiu kup ging chat,” 1992). The film was a huge financial success in Asia and won Golden Horse Awards for Best Actor (Chan) and Best Editing. It was also nominated for Hong Kong Films for Best Actor (Chan) and Best Action Choreography, which Tong, who also served as martial arts choreographer on the film, shared with Tang Tak Wing, Ailen Sit, Man-Ching Chan and Ming-Sing Wong. Also in 1992, Tong co-directed “Swordsman II,” with Siu-Tung Ching. The film starred Jet Li, Brigitte Lin and Michelle Reis. In 1993, Tong teamed up again with Michelle Yeoh for the sequel “Police Story 3: Supercop 2” (“Chao ji ji hua”), where Chan also made a very brief cameo appearance. Two years later, he was reunited with Jackie Chan on “Rumble in the Bronx” (“Hung fan kui”). Released in Hong Kong on January 21, 1995, the film went on to become the most successful film of the year. The film was released in America in 1996 and enjoyed box office success. It debuted at No. 1 with a nearly $10 million opening gross and went on to collect over $32 million. The success of “Rumble in the Bronx” brought Chan into the American mainstream. Also an action choreographer, he shared a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography for his work on the film. In 1996, Tong co-wrote and directed “Police Story 4: First Strike” (“Ging chaat goo si 4: Ji gaan daan yam mo,”) another reunion with star Jackie Chan. It scored huge commercial success in Hong Kong and received theatrical release in North America in January 1997. Unlike “Rumble in the Bronx,” the film was not well received by critics. For his work on “Police Story 4: First Strike,” Tong won a Golden Horse Award for Best Action Direction at the 1996 Golden Horse Film Festival and a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography. Tong had his first English language movie with “Mr. Magoo” (1997), a live action comedy adapted from the original cartoon of the same name. Starring Leslie Nielsen, the film was met with generally negative reviews but performed well at the box office. Tong branched out to television when he executive produced and directed episodes of “Martial Law,” an action series that appeared on CBS from September 1998 to May 2000 and starred Sammo Hung. Returning to feature films, Tong directed and produced the Hong Kong film “China Strike Force” (2000), which starred Aaron Kwok, Norika Fujiwara, Leehom Wang, Ruby Lin, Coolio, Mark Dacascos and Paul Chun. He was nominated for a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography for his work on the film. Two years later, he produced and helmed Gigi Lai, Cheung Tat-ming, Grace Lam, Yip Sai wing, Wayne Lai, Patrick Keung, Jenny Yam and Joyce Han in the horror film “A Wicked Ghost III: The Possession” (“Liáo zhai zhì yì zhi niè yù gu gui”). Tong next produced the 2003 TV series “Boy & Girl,” the Hong Kong animated film “DragonBlade” (2005, directed by Antony Szeto) and the horror flick “Home Sweet Home” (“Gwai muk,” 2005), which starred Qi Shu, Kar Yan Lam and Alex Fong. He then returned to the director's chair for the martial arts movie “The Myth,” starring Jackie Chan, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Kim Hee-sun and Mallika Sherawat. Released in Hong Kong on September 23, 2005, the film was a strong financial success upon its release and became the third highest grossing domestic release in Hong Kong that year. The movie brought Tong a Hong Kong Film nomination for Best Action Choreography and a Hundred Flowers nomination for Best Director. In 2007, Tong produced the romantic film “Love in the City,” for director Jingle Ma. A television version of “The Myth” was released in China in 2010 with Tong credited as creative director and Jackie Chan as producer of the series.
|
|
