| “ | Soldier: I surrender, Sensei! Geddes: What did you just say? Did I just hear you say that you surrender? DID I?! You know what our motto is, recruit! Trained to kill, ready to die! Do you understand the meaning of those words? Soldier: It's hurting me, sir! Geddes: Oh, it's hurting you; is it? Hurting you, do you know this is the problem? Y'know, there's a rumor going around saying that I'm racist. I'm not racist. See, I don't hate you because you're colored. I HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE A COWARDLY COLORED! |
„ |
| ~ Geddes showing racism in a hypocritical manner to an African American soldier after he surrendured to Colin. |
| “ | Outstanding work! Very nice! You see this, men?! Now this is karate! Your Chinese kung-fu's only good for folding laundry. It stays where it belongs & that is the hell OFF MY BASE! Now, because of the Staff Sergeant's stupidity; all you Chinese will run an extra 30 laps today & the Staff Sergeant himself will run an extra 30 after that. Are we clear? Good. Carry on. | „ |
| ~ Geddes punishing every Chinese recruit & Hartman after Hartman lost to Colin & telling the troops to carry on with their workouts. |
| “ | No rules. You fight 'til you drop! | „ |
| ~ Geddes accepting Master Wan & Ip Man's challenges. |
Gunnery Sergeant Barton Geddes is the main antagonist of the 2019 film, Ip Man 4: The Finale, the fourth & final installment in the Ip Man film series. He is a jingoistic Gunnery Sergeant of the US Marines Corps, who serves as the commanding officer of a military base in San Francisco.
He is portrayed by Scott Adkins, who also played Weapon XI in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Hector in The Expendables 2, King Amphitryon in The Legend of Hercules, Tom Cat in Wolf Warrior, Lucian in Doctor Strange, and Killa Harkan in John Wick: Chapter 4.
Biography[]
As the Marine Corps troops are training, Geddes is seen berating an African American soldier after he surrenders to Sensei Colin Frater & he even shows racism in a very hypocrital way saying that he doesn't hate the soldier because he's coloured; he hates him because he is a cowardly coloured & kicks him in the back.
That is when Hartman Wu, Staff Sergeant in the Marines & student of Bruce Lee; arrives on the scene. He attempts to convince Geddes to incorporate Chinese martial arts into their hand-to-hand combat training by bringing a Wing Chun Dummy as Wing Chun is particularly useful in close quarters. But, he outright berates Hartman for suggesting it & decides to prove that their current Karate training is superior by asking Hartman to fight against Colin, though not without making a condition with him. He says that if Hartman can vanquish Colin, he may consider including his Chinese martial arts. Colin, however; easily bests Hartman. After that, Geddes says that because of Hartman's "stupidity", all of the base's Chinese recruits will have to run an extra 30 laps that day while Hartman himself will have to run an extra 30 after that. He then tells the recruits to carry on with training. Later, Geddes burns the dummy as all of the Chinese recruits & Hartman run their punative laps. Some time that evening, Hartman manages to convince their Commanding Officer about incoporating Kung Fu into their hand to hand combat training & is permitted to film an event happening in Chinatown for research purposes, which greatly infuriates Geddes.
Geddes interrupts a training session held by Colin & privately tells him what just happened & demands him to challenge the grandmasters at the Mid Autumn Festival. Colin does so, easily besting three grandmasters there. Suddenly, Ip Man interferes & easily defears him. Meanwhile, Chinese Benevolent Association chairman/Tai Chi Master Wan Zhonghua, who was supposed to be present at the festival, is arrested by immigration officers lead by Officer Andrew Walters. After seeing his ally in the hospital, Geddes barges into the CBA to find out where Wan is being kept & he easily bests all the masters present. He then heads to the INS where he threatens Officer Walters to release Wan into the Marines' custody before bringing Wan into the camp to fight him. Due to a tip-off by another student of Bruce Lee, the Association is left empty by the time the immigration officers raid the place. Bruce provides refuge for the Association, earning their respect.
At the camp, Master Wan & Geddes prepare to fight. Before it starts, Geddes explains that their fight has no rules & they both fight until one of them can not continue. At first, Master Wan was able to match the gunny's blows; however, Master Wan was left seriously injured & hospitalized because of the Gunny brutally besting him, even after Hartman had told Geddes that Master Wan had suffered enough. Geddes asks the recruits if he thinks he deserves a round of applause after he defeated Master Wan & they begrudgingly do so. That morning, Geddes "encourages" his recruits to not even think about bringing their "filthy cultures" to the Marine Corps again. Ip Man is then brought into the Marines' camp by Hartman, where he prepares to fight Geddes. Similar to the fight he had with Master Wan the night before, Geddes says that the fight wouldn't contain any rules & that they both fight until one of them can't continue. So, the pair fight & it goes rather well until Geddes chokeholds Ip & he is about to have his arm broken. Ip then perseveres & manages to finally beat Geddes by kicking his groin twice, breaking one of Geddes' arms & he even striking his neck. Afterwards, Geddes stumbles back, grabs his own neck with his other hand & he collapses on the floor all the while he coughs & groans because of his injuries. Afterward, Hartman instructs that Geddes is to be taken to the sick bay & two cadets named Johnson & Harris get him there; while the audience applauds Ip for defeating Geddes.
After Ip Man's death & legacy, Chinese martial artists are subsequently invited to come into the Marine Corps so they can teach in their hand-to-hand combat training program, starting from 2001. As a result, Geddes' karate only scheme had obviously backfired. It's also currently unknown what happened to Geddes afterwards, but it can be safely assumed that he was stripped of all of his honors & dishonorably discharged for his racist actions against the Chinese community.
Personality[]
| “ | Racist asshole! Look around you: we are the culture. Your supremacy is pure hatred & bigotry. This... this is Master Ip Man. He defeated Colin last night, & he's here to kick... your... ass! | „ |
| ~ Hartman to Geddes. |
Geddes is extremely patriotic, but this is overshadowed by his bigotry & racist attitude toward anyone who isn't white. He encourages white supremacy & is generally disrespectful & is racist toward Chinese-Americans, cruelly taunting & humiliating them at every chance he gets, even towards children.
When it comes to martial arts, Geddes is often intensely proud, overconfident, cocky, & aggressive in his proficiency in karate, but this often turns into into self-righteous arrogance & even downright ignorance. A man who doesn't want to corrected upfront, he is completely convinced that karate is the only supreme form of martial arts that he will go through any and all lengths to prove that his views are good & that any other alternatives are bad.
However, his egotistical attitude was his huge downfall, since he thought that he was the best & never admitted his mistakes, eventually being defeated in his duel against Ip Man, which led to everyone (including his own recruits & coworkers) losing whatever amount of respect they had for him since the beginning.
Powers and Abilities[]
Karate mastery: Geddes is very strong & proficient in karate. His combat skills are so advanced and powerful that he is able to easily defeat all the masters in the CBA (excluding Master Wan) with a single blow, whether it be a punch, elbow strike, or a kick.
Pain Tolerance: Similar to Twister from the second film, Geddes is able to withstand many attacks without being injured once. This is shown when Wan couldn't manage to injure him the slightest & is the reason why Ip strikes him in the eye & in the groin after withstanding many punches, strikes, & kicks.
Quotes[]
| “ | ZERO! Alright Staff Sergeant Hartman, I'm gonna allow you to prove those words! If you can defeat Colin in a fair fight, then I'll consider....maybe... allowing your "wooden girlfriend" to stay on the base, is that understood?! | „ |
| ~ Geddes challenging Hartman to fight Colin |
| “ | Let me ask you something. Did you fall out of your crib this morning & bang your dirty head? Where the hell do you think you are? Does this look like a museum for preserving your ancient Chinese heritage?! | „ |
| ~ Gunnery Sergeant Barton Geddes berating Staff Sergeant Hartman for trying to include kung-fu into their combat training. |
| “ | So this kung-fu bullshit is gonna allow us to kill our enemies. Is that what you're trying to say? Outstanding, Staff Sergeant! You're a goddamn genius! Get this thing off my base now. | „ |
| ~ Geddes brusquely dismissing Hartman's ideas of incorporating Chinese martial arts into his training. |
| “ | If you're lucky enough to come to America, set foot on our soil, then you ought to learn everything about my culture. Consider yourselves incredibly honored to be here. Incredibly honored! 'Cause America is the greatest & most powerful country on earth. Land of supremacy, & that is an undisputable fact. So don't even think about bringing your filthy cultures to my Marine Corps again! Is that understood?!? | „ |
| ~ Barton Geddes encouraging patrionism to his recruits |
| “ | You know what I just realized? You & your daughter look a hell of a lot alike....when you beg. | „ |
| ~ Geddes to Wan before besting him. |
| “ | Is that it? Huh?! Is that all you've got? YOU SEE THIS?! You're nothing but another little yellow c***k! COME ON! LET'S GO! THAT'S IT! | „ |
| ~ Geddes' eventual last words before being defeated by Ip Man. |
Trivia[]
- He is considered the American counterpart to General Miura (the main antagonist of first Ip Man), due to the fact that he wants to prove that Karate is superior to Chinese Martial Arts (same goal as Miura in the first film). He is also proved to be much more powerful & aggresive than Miura.
- The main difference between Miura and Geddes is that Miura, despite being General of the Imperial Japanese Army & committing war crimes that are unthinkable, still has an honor & respect for Ip Man. Barton Geddes, in addition to being a corrupt Gunnery Sergeant, proved to be more cruel than Miura (reaching the point of almost killing one of Ip Man's friends, the Tai Chi master/Chinese Benevolent Association chairman Wan Zong-hua).
- Although Barton Geddes is an American, the actor who plays him, Scott Adkins, is British.
- He is Ip Man's final foe.
- What's ironic about Geddes is that before his fights with both Master Wan & Ip Man, he says "No rules. You fight 'til you drop." "You fight 'til you drop" is pretty much a rule.
- Geddes has multiple similarities with Twister, the main antagonist of Ip Man 2, due to the two of them being openly racist towards the Chinese, & wanting to prove that their mastery of their fighting styles & skills are better than Chinese Kung Fu (for Twister, western style boxing & once again for Geddes, karate). They put up a fight against a rival-turned-friend of Ip Man whom they successfully best in battle (Master Wan for Geddes & Master Hung for Twister) & while they also put up a fight against Ip Man himself; they are eventually defeated by him.
- Coincidentally, their actors are British (although, the actor who played Twister is dead & the actor who plays Geddes is still alive).
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