Rating: 
Summary: Parish is amazing...
Review: ...for he not only found rare photos of Jet Li and wrote about his entire career in lucid and fascinating fashion, he also had to spell all those tricky names correctly. Parish is in a class by himself when it comes to celebrity biographies. Most impressive.
Rating:
Summary: Li's Biography a Must for Film Fans
Review: As another example of Jim Parish's endless love affair with the cinema, this is an outstanding work depicting one of the most exciting of the Asian stars to break out of Hong Kong Cinema into international stardom. Li's exciting life, from a child martial arts student to one of China's leading actors to his American debut with Mel Gibson and onwards, is told with perception and insight. So much about China cinema (Hong Kong variety and otherwise)can be gleamed from this fascinating biography, which proves to be so sypathetic towards its subject that you just want to see all these films immediately. Truly, a must buy.
Rating: 
Summary: Packs A Punch
Review: For 30 years, Parish has been a film historian extraordinaire. . . and he just keeps getting better. Except for hardcore fans, Jet Li remains a martial artist about whom little is really known in this country, but Parish, as always, delivers the goods - from Li's humble beinnings to his status as a reigning and legitimate international film star. Along the way, Parish examines the infrastructure of the Hong Kong, Chinese, and Hollywood film industries, illustrating how each has impacted the ascendancy of Li, both as a star and as a man. A must read for any fan. . . and a good, informative read for anyone else.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive information on career of Jet Li
Review: I am from Hong Kong, I know the movies of Jet Li very well. This book contains accurate information. I witness the change of style of Jet Li's movies like Once upon of time in China and Fist of Legend. This book does a good job of explaining the career of Jet Li.The book will satisfy the demand of Jet Li's fans.
Rating:
Summary: Jet Li aka Li Lian-jie
Review: I found this book to be basically well written and a good overview of the career of Jet Li. While not as in-depth as a reader could wish, career highlights are covered and each of his films discussed briefly, including box office success, Jet's views on each and a run down of critical reaction. The author has a tendency to snipe in his narrative which is highly unfortunate and which is completely at odds with Jet Li's personality and philosophy as described. An example: he claims (regarding Li's turn as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4) "unlike such peers as Jackie Chan and Chow Yun Fat, Li had no qualms about playing a screen villain for the first time". Jackie has based his career in action/comedy playing "average joe types" to great success--if it ain't broke don't fix it! More mystifying is using Chow Yun Fat in this example as Chow HAS played "villains" frequently in his Hong Kong films--as often playing a triad gangster or hitman as he does a cop or straightforward, stereoptypical hero. That his "villains" are not stereotypical, but are complex and conflicted makes this breezy comparison odd and seems to reveal the ignorance of the author about any other HK stars than his current subject. They are also jarring and not particularly relevant. Jet Li, a gracious, spiritual man would certainly not approve of this type of cheap shot. Likewise Parish's insistence that Chan and Chow are somehow Li's "rivals" is strange. Chan has long since carved out his unique comedy niche, Jet Li is forming his own as a martial artist ... action star--and Chow Yun-Fat (who will cheerfully tell you he is NOT a martial artist, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon notwithstanding,) holds the distinction of being the first Asian star who has broken into Hollywood on the strength of his acting alone. Different strengths, different men, none better than the other. While this may seem a minor point and isn't belabored by the text, it creates a subliminally contentious picture that can only serve to mislead the casual reader. Otherwise this is a slick volume which can serve to introduce the casual fan to the life of a fascinating and talented man. Hopefully it will inspire neophytes to Asian cinema to explore more of the literature devoted to HK cinema in general, and its crossover stars in particular. Once so directed, they can then form their own opinions about all the parties in question.
Rating: 
Summary: Good overview marred by sniping at other HK stars
Review: I found this book to be basically well written and a good overview of the career of Jet Li. While not as in-depth as a reader could wish, career highlights are covered and each of his films discussed briefly, including box office success, Jet's views on each and a run down of critical reaction. The author has a tendency to snipe in his narrative which is highly unfortunate and which is completely at odds with Jet Li's personality and philosophy as described. An example: he claims (regarding Li's turn as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4) "unlike such peers as Jackie Chan and Chow Yun Fat, Li had no qualms about playing a screen villain for the first time". Jackie has based his career in action/comedy playing "average joe types" to great success--if it ain't broke don't fix it! More mystifying is using Chow Yun Fat in this example as Chow HAS played "villains" frequently in his Hong Kong films--as often playing a triad gangster or hitman as he does a cop or straightforward, stereoptypical hero. That his "villains" are not stereotypical, but are complex and conflicted makes this breezy comparison odd and seems to reveal the ignorance of the author about any other HK stars than his current subject. They are also jarring and not particularly relevant. Jet Li, a gracious, spiritual man would certainly not approve of this type of cheap shot. Likewise Parish's insistence that Chan and Chow are somehow Li's "rivals" is strange. Chan has long since carved out his unique comedy niche, Jet Li is forming his own as a martial artist ... action star--and Chow Yun-Fat (who will cheerfully tell you he is NOT a martial artist, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon notwithstanding,) holds the distinction of being the first Asian star who has broken into Hollywood on the strength of his acting alone. Different strengths, different men, none better than the other. While this may seem a minor point and isn't belabored by the text, it creates a subliminally contentious picture that can only serve to mislead the casual reader. Otherwise this is a slick volume which can serve to introduce the casual fan to the life of a fascinating and talented man. Hopefully it will inspire neophytes to Asian cinema to explore more of the literature devoted to HK cinema in general, and its crossover stars in particular. Once so directed, they can then form their own opinions about all the parties in question.
Rating:
Summary: New Li bio has something for everyone
Review: In typical Parish fashion, a well researched bio of film star Jet Li. The narrative traces the young Li from his humble childhood that was focused on wushu training, through the emerging Hong Kong martial arts film industry, and ending with the international star status Li has attained. The book also provides keen insight into the growth of the martial arts film genre and Li's personal and professional growth as an actor. A good read for anyone interested in Jet Li's career, or the history of the martial arts film in general.
Rating:
Summary: For novices and martial arts experts
Review: James Parish gently takes all of us into the world of intense dedication by Jet Li and other Wushu artists with this book. In an age where wanna be's can be discovered being a DJ at a party and cast in a starring film role, Jet Li's life story reconfirms the ideals that hard-work, discipline and talent will be rewarded. After reading this book, I have an entirely new appreciation of Jet Li and his accomplishments. Yes, the camera loves him but he delivers action film thrills by way of art. I hope that Mr. Li reads it to see how a talented author has honored him.
Rating:
Summary: Jet Li bio scores
Review: James Robert Parish's Jet Li, A Biography is well-researched and engrossing. I always liked Jet Li, but never knew about him, and this book fills in a lot of blanks. For example, his devotion to his craft, his upbringing, the work he did before he came to Hollywood, and even the little-known facts about his recent films (e.g. that he was offered a major role in The Matrix but turned it down). I also liked the photos and filmography at the end. I highly recommend this book, not only to Jet Li fans, but anyone with an interest in martial arts movies and Asian culture.
Rating: 
Summary: Ok for People that absolutely do not know about Jet Li
Review: Oh, man. How can this book get such good reviews? If you are already a Jet Li fan and have been going on his websites and checking out bios on the internet from his official site and the Jet Lee Homepage, then this book will mean absolutely nothing to you. The main focus of the book is one review of his movies after another. And it always has to give away all the plot twists and endings of the movies, leaving the movies dreadfully boring to watch, except for the fight scenes which no one can ignore. Good thing I watched all his movies before reading this book. If you watched maybe one of his movies and you like him, then you could get this book to decide which of his movies to watch next, but the info on JET LI in this book could be condensed to about 5 pages.
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