Long time in coming.
December 1, 2008
Wow. What a great dvd set. Years of waiting for a decent dvd of one of the most influential Hong Kong movies for the 90's, Dragon Dynasty does not disappoint. Once again, the informative Bey Logan gives so much information on the film, you feel the film should be longer because he has so much information to give.
The second disc has interviews with Kurata Yasuaki, Chin Siu Ho, Gordan Chan, and a plethora of other tidbits. If you are a fan of this movie, then you must get it. Dragon Dynasty is one of the best labels for Hong Kong films.
Here's hoping they will do the same kind of dvd treatment for Drunken Master 2.
Bruce Lee would be proud
November 14, 2008
While this IS a re-make, and Jet-Li is not Bruce Lee, it is still an amazing film. Even though the movie has been around since the early 90s, I only just saw it in its entirety recently. I'm ashamed I missed out on this for so many years! Much has already been said here concerning the plot, action, and pretty much everything else. Without being redundant, I agree with these great reviews. I think that Jet would have made Bruce Lee proud.
Fist of Legend is an awsome movie!
November 2, 2008
Fist of Legend (1994) is awsome! This is Jet Li's Best Martial Arts movie! It is a remake of Buce Lee's Fist of Fury film. I recommend it because the fight scenes are worth watching. If you don't understand Madarine or Cantonese then you can swith the voices and subtitles to English. I recommed it for all Martial arts fans. It is a great Jet Li movie! A
Long-Awaited Chinese Language Version of a Kung Fu Classic
November 1, 2008
I've been waiting years for this release. The Dimension, English-dubbed only version was a tragic distortion of all the subtle Chinese dialogue elements that make this recent release, beyond the excellently choreographed fight scenes, a true classic of its genre. It corresponds to my longtime reference, the Mei Ah VCD version (with embedded, and sometimes hard to read subtitles--bit still better, I think than the Dragon Dynasty version).
The transfer, I concede, was dark in some places and fluttery in others, as another reviewer notes. The digital remaster of another great Jet Li film, The Tai Chi Master, suffered the same shortcomings which, in this day and age, I find difficult to justify. I, too, would have liked a DD5.1 Cantonese sound track, which is why--coupled with the somewhat disappointing video transfer--I deducted one star from an otherwise solidly 5-star offering.
For Jet Li subscribers, this one is worth getting! : )
Jet Li's finest hour
October 18, 2008
FIST OF LEGEND is not a mere remake of the Bruce Lee film FIST OF FURY (called THE CHINESE CONNECTION in the U.S.) I don't think there was one Bruce Lee movie I didn't like, but FIST OF LEGEND is not, in my opinion, a straight remake of Bruce's film.
And in truth, FIST OF LEGEND doesn't have much to do with FIST OF FURY, other than than the basic plot (a martial artist avenging his master's murder) and the Chinese vs Japanese element, so no, I don't consider this a remake of FIST OF FURY. In fact, I'd classify it more as an Asian martial arts version of ROMEO AND JULIET (two people from warring factions fall in love, with the Romeo seeking revenge for the death of a loved one.) But even if you do consider this a remake, you'll probably agree that FIST OF LEGEND is the better film.
The movie begins in 1937, during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. Chen Zhen (Jet Li) is attending college in Japan when he learns that his master, or as Chinese call them, Sifu, was killed in a match with the Sensei of Shanghai's Japanese school. Though Chen Zhen does not hate the Japanese (his girlfriend Mitsuko, played by the lovely Nakayama Shinobu, is Japanese), he returns to Shanghai, and challenges the Sensei who beat his Sifu to a match. Chen Zhen easily wins, and therefore deduces that since he won, his Sifu should have as well. Chen Zhen has an autopsy performed which reveals that shortly before the match, his Sifu was poisoned.
The poisoning is the work of the evil Japanese Genral Fujita, who wants to lead Japan into conquering China. Fujita had the Sifu poisoned because he was the leader of a Chinese resistance movement against the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. Now Chen Zhen is out for one thing: revenge.
Yes, vengence is a typical, almost traditional element of kung fu movies, but FIST OF LEGEND also focuses on the romance between Chen Zhen and Mitsuko, such as the disapproval of Chen Zhen's fellow Chinese towards him romancing a Japanese. When she arrives in Shanghai, she is immediately cast out as being an evil, almost less than human, person simply for her nationality. But Chean Zhen comes to her defense.The message appears to be racial tolerance must always prevail, even in times where one race mistreats another.
But martial arts action is still what audiences are looking for here, and those not wanting wire-fu will be pleased. Two drawn-out confrontations stand out in this film. One is a match between Chen Zhen and Funokoshi Fumio, Mitsuko's uncle. The other is the final battle between Chen Zhen and Fujita, in which you can almost literally feel it as both men punch and kick the hell out of each other.
So the next time your in the mood for a real action-packed kung fu film, FIST OF LEGEND should come to mind.
