I definitely enjoy watching Donnie Yen's movies, but I'm all about the Jaa.
I wouldn't miss any of their movies basicly, but Ong-Bak was easily one of the most awesome martial arts specticals I've ever seen.
Tony Jaa = some very good low wire action
Donnie Yen = some very good overall action movies but the action isn't quite as good. However He has alot of earlier films that are also quite as good.
Not fair becasue Tony Jaa hasn't been around long enough. But at the moment Donnie Yen is better. Tony Jaa is still awesome though. He has my #5 best action film.
-Merkonfire's top ten action/martial art movies: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur8869472/boards/profile/
forget arguing over whose better. Just imagine the amazing fights and kick ass action if the 2 were to star together in the same movie....
shareNo one *beep* with the Yen.
Donnie Yen all the way.
Tony Jaa for the badass fighting and suicidal stunts.
Donnie Yen is by far the superior director and actor though. And he has adapted his game to modern martial arts, like BJJ and MMA. There is no clear favorite for me though.
I see you eying my lemon drink.
Well, Jaa's first two movies were more about crazy stunts and acrobatics than fighting and Donnie Yen is primarily a fighter (at least on screen). It wasn't until Ong-Bak 2 that I would say Tony Jaa has, in anyway, surpassed what Donnie Yen has done. The main reason being, Donnie yen, especially recently, has been moving away from more flash (the typical american "martial arts" film) or silly (Jackie Chan) martial arts to focus more on the core and root of what it is about, namely, putting the other guy down and how the various styles effectively achieve this goal (Ip Man being one of his most interesting since it delves into the effectiveness of the other styles instead of just sticking with one style, a la, his foray into MMA with Flashpoint and SPL). However, in ONg-Bak 2, its not so much that no one has ever seen these styles before, rather, no one has ever seen the styles performed so well or in such an unadulterated state with the emphasis on the damage it does to the opponent as opposed to the style's grace or beauty. The scene where they free the slaves, for instance, it begins with one of the more brutal portrayals of drunken boxing (yet, showing the effectiveness of a limp body) and then transitions to various forms of tiger (?) kung-fu where he literally scratches a guys face (complete with scratch marks) ending with his eyes being ripped out. I can't think of any movie that actually shows such a move in that entirety in such a way. Again, the only one that comes close is Ip Man where Donnie Yen pummels a guys face in an "uninterrupted" take where you see the opponents face slowly swell and bruise in "real time" (the quotes are there becuase its a movie and DOnnie Yen did not really pummel the guys face).
Instead of a hitlist, I have a Do NOt Kill List . . . . . so far no one is on it.