The Big Brawl aka Battle Creek Brawl on VHS. Starring Jackie Chan, Kristine DeBell, José Ferrer, Mako. With Rosalind Chao, H.B. Haggerty, Ron Max, Directed by Robert Clouse. 1980.
From the box:
Chan — whose Asian films became a bigger box-office draw than Lee’s — plays Jerry Kwan, the fun-loving, Americanized son of a tradition-bound Asian family operating a restaurant in Depression era Chicago. But Chan would rather fight than cook, using the skills taught to him by his uncle and mentor (Mako). And fight he does, whether he’s setting gangland Chicago on its pin-stripped keester or battling his way through a fabulously frantic roller-skating tournament that makes professional Roller Derby look like a Sunday stroll in the park.
The hard-hitting fun intensifies when a gangland patriarch (José Ferrer) blackmails Chan into representing him at the annual Battle Creek, Texas, strongmen’s slugfest where the brawling breaks out before the national anthem ends.
One by one, Chan outwits and outfights a series of Goliaths who look mean enough to sprinkle nails on their morning cornflakes. But these behemoths are only a warm-up for the mayhem that awaits Chan when he is lured into the town’s theater — and a special seat is reserved for you to witness the no-holds-barred conclusion.
DVD Upgrade: Battle Creek Brawl
VHS Replacement: The Big Brawl [VHS]
