Kenji or anyone else living in Japan or Asia...

Is Steven Seagal big in Asia? He keeps making movies, but they go straight to video here.

This weekend John and I saw a movie he made in 2004 called Into the Sun. About 70% of it was in Japanese and it had no English subtitles! LOL

It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Obviously it was made for the Japanese market. So I'm curious, is he popular in Japan?

Susan

Kenji or anyone else living in Japan or Asia...

Is Steven Seagal big in Asia? He keeps making movies, but they go straight to video here.

This weekend John and I saw a movie he made in 2004 called Into the Sun. About 70% of it was in Japanese and it had no English subtitles! LOL

It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Obviously it was made for the Japanese market. So I'm curious, is he popular in Japan?

Susan

I can't speak for now but when I lived in Japan in 1999-2000 he wasn't popular there.

So in the movie you saw was he still doing the old "wear a really baggy shirt and no one will figure out I am fat and out of shape" thing?

He cracks me up, one day he is an Eastern philosophy follower, the next a Good old boy with a heart of gold looking out for the unfortunate hillbillies, then a tree hugger gone mad fighting evil corporations, or a Wise Guy turned good fighting the good fight....If he didn't try to convince you he was all these things in real life it wouldn't be so bad but he seems to let whatever movie he is doing dictate what type of person he is...or maybe its the other way around.

I can't speak for now but when I lived in Japan in 1999-2000 he wasn't popular there.

So in the movie you saw was he still doing the old "wear a really baggy shirt and no one will figure out I am fat and out of shape" thing?

He cracks me up, one day he is an Eastern philosophy follower, the next a Good old boy with a heart of gold looking out for the unfortunate hillbillies, then a tree hugger gone mad fighting evil corporations, or a Wise Guy turned good fighting the good fight....If he didn't try to convince you he was all these things in real life it wouldn't be so bad but he seems to let whatever movie he is doing dictate what type of person he is...or maybe its the other way around.

His latest movies are most amusing. He wears long coats and baggy shirts and there's always a guy working in a bonzai garden that bites the dust at some point and of course there's a Buddhist monk, because he's SO spiritual. Plus there are a lot of younger martial artists doing most of the fight scenes. But, I have to admit, when he does fight, Seagal still does a good job. He's a great martial artist. I have to hand him that.

Susan

I have heard that Seagal is a really nice guy and good person, just a horrible actor (kinda like Chuck Norris). If that is true, its too bad. Still, I'd much rather watch one of his movies than JCVD - I can't stand that guy.

His latest movies are most amusing. He wears long coats and baggy shirts and there's always a guy working in a bonzai garden that bites the dust at some point and of course there's a Buddhist monk, because he's SO spiritual. Plus there are a lot of younger martial artists doing most of the fight scenes. But, I have to admit, when he does fight, Seagal still does a good job. He's a great martial artist. I have to hand him that.

Susan

I agree with his martial arts ability. He is a practical martial artists, what he does is stuff that would be effective in real life unlike the person Jimbow pointed out (JCVD) that pretty crap he does is well....too pretty. I am sure there would be times in a real life situation though were doing the splits would save you...yeah, sure I do.

I agree with his martial arts ability. He is a practical martial artists, what he does is stuff that would be effective in real life unlike the person Jimbow pointed out (JCVD) that pretty crap he does is well....too pretty. I am sure there would be times in a real life situation though were doing the splits would save you...yeah, sure I do.

Yeah, JCVD sucks ass! It reminds me of a story with JCVD and Mickey Rourke. Apparently JCVD was talking shit and got in a fight with someone. The guy started beating the crap out of JCVD until Rourke came along and wiped the floor with him.

Like you said, Seagal is more practical. He could kick your ass but it won't look as "pretty" on the big screen.

Yeah, JCVD sucks ass! It reminds me of a story with JCVD and Mickey Rourke. Apparently JCVD was talking shit and got in a fight with someone. The guy started beating the crap out of JCVD until Rourke came along and wiped the floor with him.

Like you said, Seagal is more practical. He could kick your ass but it won't look as "pretty" on the big screen.

I heard JCVD got his @$$ handed to him by Chuck Zito. I'm pretty sure that's =NOT= the guy Mickey Rourke beat up. Former Hell's Angel, black belt in about 400 types of karate, hugely muscled guy (he was on Oz). And Zito's the type of guy who'll punch your light's out and then have a drink with you to talk the situation through. That's like when my mother would spank me and hug me after. You wanna yell and tell her to leave you alone, but that would get you more of the same.

....doing the splits would save you...yeah, sure I do.

But oh, those splits were PRETTY!

Kenji or anyone else living in Japan or Asia...

Is Steven Seagal big in Asia? He keeps making movies, but they go straight to video here.

This weekend John and I saw a movie he made in 2004 called Into the Sun. About 70% of it was in Japanese and it had no English subtitles! LOL

It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Obviously it was made for the Japanese market. So I'm curious, is he popular in Japan?

Susan

Susan,

He is well-known actor in Japan, but he is NOT popular. LOL

His first movie in Japan, it was Under Seige. I liked that movie. Because, I am Tommy Lee Jones fan, not Steven Segal. Under Seige's Japanese title was "Chinmoku no senkan". Chinmoku is meaning of "Silence". (For example, Silence of the Lambs, this Japanese title was "Hitsujitachi no chinmoku") Perhaps, cause is he's not much speak among fighting. After that movie, Japanese market always added "Chinmoku" to Japanese title. We call it "Chinmoku series".

In Japan, his movies were always released in theater. Even if those movies were low budget movies. I don't know that reason.....he is not popular anymore.

By the way, my favorite his movie is Executive Decision.

I heard JCVD got his @$$ handed to him by Chuck Zito. I'm pretty sure that's =NOT= the guy Mickey Rourke beat up. Former Hell's Angel, black belt in about 400 types of karate, hugely muscled guy (he was on Oz). And Zito's the type of guy who'll punch your light's out and then have a drink with you to talk the situation through. That's like when my mother would spank me and hug me after. You wanna yell and tell her to leave you alone, but that would get you more of the same.

I heard the same story and what I heard was that Zito used to bodyguard for Mickey Rourke, as you said JCVD was drinking and talking smack and Zito beat the hell out of him, JCVD was on the ground in the fetal position crying (this from an eye witness on the radio that I heard..) when Rourke came over and talked Zito down and saved JCVD more humiliation and pain. Wonder if it would have helped if he would have done the splits?