The Myth
Short description
The Myth follows Jack, an archaeologist whose recurring dreams place him in the role of General Meng Yi, a commander in the Qin dynasty. When a fellow researcher, William, pulls him into the search for the mausoleum of China's first emperor, Jack finds that the visions and the present begin to overlap. A journey driven by dreams and a colleague's request draws him toward the tomb and its legendary secret.
The film is directed by Stanley Tong, who also wrote the screenplay with Wang Huiling and Li Haishu, and it sits between Mr. Magoo and Kung Fu Yoga in the list of his directed features. Jackie Chan plays both General Meng Yi and Dr. Jack Chan, with Kim Hee-seon as Princess Ok Soo, Tony Leung Ka-fai as William, Mallika Sherawat as Samantha, Sun Zhou as Professor Koo and Shao Bing as General Nangong Yan, among 41 credited cast members.
The Myth was released in 2005 and runs 118 minutes, mixing action, adventure, comedy, drama and fantasy. Made for about 15 million US dollars, it returned roughly 7 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.1 from 17,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.4 from 433 votes, while a small pool of critics rated it considerably lower at 3.1 from five reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- Jingle Ma was originally slated to direct the film before Stanley Tong.
- Aishwarya Rai was initially selected for the role of the Indian princess, but due to her busy schedule, she was forced to decline participation in the film.
- The film is based on Korean legends.
- The famous 43-year-old Sathyanarayan – a Kalarippayattu martial arts master from Kerala – starred free of charge in the fight scenes. The scene with him, lasting 5 minutes on screen, took a whole week to film in China.
- The most serious injury during filming turned out to be not to an actor, but to a member of the crew. During the shooting of a battle scene in Beijing, one of the horses got out of control and bolted. It rushed towards the extras in military uniforms. Everyone scattered, but the camera assistant didn't have time to get away, and the horse collapsed on his leg. The fracture turned out to be open.
- The scene of the jump into the bay was filmed in Hong Kong at a temperature of only +8 degrees Celsius. Stanley Tong himself tested the stunt to make sure Jackie was capable of doing it in one take. After that, Jackie, wearing special equipment, jumped on his own.
- The final battle scene in the film is the largest and most complex. About three hundred people from the film crew, as well as over a thousand soldiers of the Chinese army portraying the powerful army of the Qin Dynasty, and horses, took part in its staging. The battle was filmed in the Yellow River Stone Forest near Jiangsu Province and the Jinxi Plain in Beijing.
- It took 3 days to film the scene with the helicopter.
- The scenes in the cave were filmed in a freezer chamber, where the temperature reached -24 degrees Celsius.
- During filming, Jackie Chan injured his back, fell off a horse and injured his leg, and while filming another action scene, he pierced his palm with a bayonet.
- Filming began on May 24, but after working for only a few days, Jackie Chan was forced to take a break until the end of June. The break was due to the promotion of 'Around the World in 80 Days' and the holding of the 'Jackie Chan Cup' rally in Shanghai.
- While in India filming 'The Myth,' local aborigines taught Jackie Chan the ancient martial art of Kalaripayattu.
- The Department of Museums and Archaeology of India suspended filming of 'The Myth' at the Virupaksha Temple because it was unauthorized. The Virupakeshwara Temple is under the jurisdiction of the department, but its permission for filming had not been obtained, and although permits from central and local authorities had been received, the department itself had to give the filming approval. The reason for the filming ban was that some of the equipment was dangerous to the temple interiors. All scenes that were not finished filming in the temple were reshot in other interiors.
- In the scene where Jack calls, hovering before the commission, William, you can see that the list of people who worked on “The Myth,” including Stanley Tong's name, is displayed on Jack's mobile phone screen.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
