Jackie is best known as a stunt performer and fight choreographer, and that's pretty much the entire point of going to see any of his movies — watching dumbfounded as he does all sorts of insane tricks and stunts in jaw-dropping fight scenes. He has developed a distinctive fighting style which incorporates elements from Norther and Southern Shaolin Kung Fu, Wing Chun, Wushu, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Judo, Boxing, Taekwondo and Karate among other styles, quite comedic and usually making extensive use of props, even those at first sight most unsuited to fighting.
Jackie has said that he loves action, but hates violence, so rather than setting out to make bone-crunching kung fu, he takes heavy inspiration from the physical comedy of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Being that those were silent films, he was able to watch them without having to worry about the language barrier, and once his Hollywood work understood that connection, his popularity exploded.
Traditionally, Jackie does all his own stunts, and in his days of producing low-budget Hong Kong chop-socky, that was the only way it was ever done. So, if you see his character fall through three awnings onto the street below? Really him. If you see him roll artfully over a running circular saw? Yup, actually him.note Though the outtakes show that the saw wasn't running when he rolled over it. But worry not — Jackie always OK.
And in case you don't believe it, there's usually a montage of outtakes over the end credits showing things going wrong while filming, often involving ambulances.
Jackie’s closest brush with death came from a comparatively "safe" stunt in Armour of God when he fell from a tree, fracturing his skull and permanently rupturing one of his eardrums. This being a man who has run along the edges of skyscrapers and crashed through electrical wires, it was a reminder that he can't be casual about anything he does. Among his injuries, he has dislocated his pelvis, broken his fingers, toes, nose, both cheekbones, hips, sternum, neck, ankle and ribs on numerous occasions.
Somewhere in Hollywood, a group of executives and Brett Ratner decided that Jackie and Chris Tucker should make a movie together. The results were... actually quite good! The series centers on a pair of police detectives - one a Chinese police inspector, the other an LAPD detective - as they go on a series of misadventures often involving corrupt crime figures. The film incorporates elements of martial arts, urban humor, and the buddy cop sub-genre. Was it successful? Two follow up movies point to yes.