Jing wu ying xiong (1994)

Director:

Gordon Chan

Writers:

Gordon Chan (screenplay)
Lan Kay Toa (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 December 1994 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

In 1937, a Chinese martial artist returns to Shanghai to find his teacher dead and his school harassed by the Japanese.

Plot Keywords:

Kung Fu | Martial Arts | Abuse | Slap In The Face | Sword

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jet Li	...	Chen Zhen
Shinobu Nakayama	...	Mitsuko Yamada
Siu-hou Chin	...	Hou Ting-An (as Chin Siu Ho)
Billy Chow	...	General Fujita (Supreme Killer) (as Billy Chau)
Yasuaki Kurata	...	Fuimo Funakoshi
Paul Chun	...	Uncle Noh (as Paul Chiang)
Ada Choi	...	Rose
Cheung-Yan Yuen	...	Captain Jie
Toshimichi Takahashi	...	Japanese Ambassador
Carol Tam	...	Wei
Jackson Liu	...	Ryuichi Akutagawa (as Lou Hsueh Hsien)
Sun Wong	...	Cook
Man Biu Lee	...	Biu
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shaun Britton	...	English Gentleman at dock
Tai Woh Dang	...	Ngai
Gary Mak	...	Lun - Jingwu Mun student
Kenji Tanigaki

Also Known As:

Fist of Legend (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title)
Cheng miu ying hung (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Fist of Legend (France) [fr]
Jet Li es el mejor luchador (Spain) (video title) [es]
Seibu eiyû (Japan) [ja]

MPAA:

Rated R for some strong martial arts violence.

Runtime:

103 min | Germany:98 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

English | Japanese | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | France:U | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Company:

Eastern Productions

Trivia:

Even the plots are different, the premise of this movie; about the 5th disciple of Master Huo Yuanjia who returns to China after the master's death to avenge him and uncover the circumstances of his murder, is also the premise for Jing wu men (1972), starring Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Chen Zen flips one of the Niguchi students while his fingers are in the student's mouth, he seems to be doing it with his right hand. But when the student falls, it seems Chen did it with his left hand, although he wipes his right hand on his clothes.

Quotes:

Fumio Funakoshi: Why don't you show me what you've learned
Chen Zhen: [Picks up rock and breaks it into pieces] It's about the energy. About focusing on a single point in time.
Fumio Funakoshi: So, it's about energy. But tell me something, does a rock have as much energy as an opponent would?
[Slices a leaf floating in air with hand]
Fumio Funakoshi: You need a more powerful stroke when you're fighting a human being.
Chen Zhen: Let's see how I can put it into action.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jackie Brown: How It Went Down (2002) (V)

One of the best martial arts movies

Up until this movie I had always been let down by Jet Li's flicks except for the "Once Upon a Time in China" series. I bought "Fist of Legend" because it was one of Jet Li's highest rated movies on the IMDb (but it was behind "Hero", which I didn't like so much). I would say I had high but not unrealistic hopes for it. But this movie *needed* to be good or I would have started to consider Jet Li over-rated.

All I can say is that "Fist of Legend" delivers! The opening fight scene was surprisingly brutal and I was instantly hooked. The action doesn't take too long a break in this movie but also found the story compelling and interesting -- something unusual in a martial arts flick. Most of the protagonists are fully developed and the viewer likes and feels for them. The villains aren't nearly so fleshed out and come off as one-dimensional but oh well. Everything else from the costumes to the acting and the settings were decent. The sum package is one of the best martial arts movies I've ever seen and I've seen more than my share. "Fist of Legend" is to Jet Li as "Drunken Master" is to Jackie Chan.

I saw the dubbed Dimension US release. Although I hate dubbing and any editing of a foreign release (are you listening Dimension?), I found the dubbing here mostly okay except for the General's insanely over-the-top "evil" voice. I also felt that some of the dialog seemed to have lost meaning in the translation but it's forgivable.