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Fist of Legend

Fist of Legend

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: English Dub Takes Away From Overall Effect.
Review: This is one of my all time favorite movies. I have been waiting for this movie to come out on DVD for a long time and when I saw that it was coming out I freaked! It's great that you can jump to any scene. It's great that the picture quality is pristine... BUT the English Dub and the rewrite of the script to fit the lips of the actors really takes away from the overall feel of the movie. If this movie had the English Dub AND the original audio, I'd be happy as a clam. I would have given this review a 5 star rating but I cannot. Disney/Buena Vista... please re-release this DVD with the ORIGINAL AUDIO!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good news/Bad news (specific to DVD)
Review: Well, this review is mainly written for those who are already familiar with the movie and have yet to see this DVD version of it. First the good news. The picture quality is better than I have ever seen it on video, which is to be expected from the transfer. The colors are vivid and the lines are sharp, and overall the picture is cleaned up considerably. Also the sound is much clearer and in stereo, although there are moments where it seems the foley and looping are a little bit off (I'm hoping it's not the notorious DVD lip-synch problem, although since this movie is dubbed it's difficult to tell). That's about all for the good.

Now the bad. First off, as I mentioned, this version is dubbed (and no there isn't an original language option), and quite badly at that. This is regrettable considering that one thing that made the original so great was that it was multi-lingual, where Japanese spoke Japanese, Chinese spoke Cantonese and the Westerners spoke English. Here everything is dubbed into English, so the character differentiation is lost. Plus the voiceovers are wooden and unnaturally stilted, and the gist of the dialogue often strays from what is written in the subtitled version, which sometimes causes key thematic material to be lost (ie. Chen's lecture to the other students concerning the importance of a powerful attack). This, of course, is a common problem concerning dubbing.

Secondly, that great title music has been wiped out and replaced with something more typical, more "dramatic" in terms of Hollywood thinking, I suppose.

Finally, and I think this is the most unforgivable thing, the ending has been truncated and the dialogue overtly distorted to completely change the context. I won't say what it is, but I'll just say the original ending had much more resonance than the new one. Also, the new ending cuts out the segment that shows what becomes of the Jing Woo school. I have no idea why they chose to cut that part out--it doesn't even detract from the new ending, so what's the point?

Still, the fight scenes, which are among the best ever filmed, are in their entirety, and they look better than ever, and I guess that's most important. It's just too bad that they felt the need to tinker with the movie, making it overall not as strong as the original.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You must buy this movie!
Review: This remake of the Bruce Lee classic is perhaps Jet Li's greatest screen contribution. Fist of legend combines great martial arts with a great story. You don't need to be a HK action fan to enjoy this film, it could appeal to the mainstream audience as well. Unlike most other HK films where you need a Phd in chinese history & culture to figure out what is going on, this film is more like a US style hollywood release. Jet Li does some of his best work in multiple action scenes, saving the best for last. Throw in a cute japanese girlfriend & you've got a recipe for good viewing. Highly recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bruce Lee can now comfortably rest in piece.
Review: Jet Li has succeeded in picking up the legacy Bruce Lee left behind. WOW... I saw this movie, expecting another "Black Mask" type movie and was floored. The story, the music, the acting, most of all, the fight scenes...superb. Bruce Lee would be proud.

P.S. For those this may concern...I was intrigued by the slow, fluted music played throughout the movie and would love to know if it is obtainable. Please let me know.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bruce Lee can now comfortably rest in piece.
Review: Jet Li has succeeded in picking up the legacy Bruce Lee left behind. WOW... I saw this movie, expecting another "Black Mask" type movie and was floored. The story, the music, the acting...superb. Bruce Lee would be proud.

P.S. For those this may concern...I am intrigued by the slow, fluted music played throughout the movie and would love to know if it is obtainable. Please let me know.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bruce Lee's got nothin' on the Boss
Review: Jet Li, affectionately called Boss Li in Hong Kong, stars in this remake of Bruce Lee's Chinese Connection (a.k.a. Fists of Fury in China). The difference is this one's better. You don't agree? I'll do my best to convert ya. Li stars as Chen Zhen, a student in 1930's Japanese occupied China. He returns home upon receiving news of his master's death, who was supposedly beaten by a Japanese master in a challenge. Li smells a rat and challenges the Japanese master in return, to find the master's fighting ability's terribly inadequate to have defeated his old master. Li has the body exhumed and tested for poison, and we find that the old master was indeed murdered after all. And Li wants revenge. This is a truly amazing flick. The fights, performed with minimal wire work as found in other period martial arts pieces, are a showcase for the stupifyingly amazing martial abilities of it's star, and standout moments include the opening fight between Li and a slew of Japanese fighters and the duel between Li and his japanese girlfriend's uncle, an older, wiser fighter who, before the duel, insists that older fellas need a minute or two to warm up. Unlike the Bruce Lee film the Japanese are not presented as monsters, and this film goes out of it's way to prove it, whereas the Lee film goes out of it's way to show how heinous they are. Jet Li is a true phenomenon, and to quote the Hong Kong movie oriented book,...'Nuff said.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Jet Li meets high quality video
Review: To begin with, I am only a luke warm fan of modern Hong Kong action. That clarified, I must say that I was amazed when I watched FIST OF LEGEND (VHS). The quality of the film was astounding! Sharply focused visuals, superb action shots, great color, good transitions, almost no distracting jumps and zooms, etc., etc. I cannot add anything to other's comments about Jet Li, he is remarkable. However, this video places him in a fantastic new (for me) context where he looks even better. Few were the rough spots, obvious speedups, obscure references, and strictly regional idioms that I find so distracting or confusing. There were only a couple abrupt transitions and most of the story flowed smoothly through realistic sets and backgrounds. Truely, this was the genre at its visual very best.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Jet Li at his best
Review: This remake of Fist of Fury is done with such incredible detail and loaded with the best martial arts seqences since the Bruce Lee movies. Bruce Lee paved the way, but with Fist of Legend, Jet Li adds another dimension of depth and meaning to the martial arts scenes. The story is incredible and realistic, the action is justified and the politics of the movie remind me of Citizen Kane, Glory, Apocalypse Now, Last Emperor, and other films throughout the decades that deconstructed the politics of the times now and past. A must see for any film lover of any genre.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best martial arts movie ever!
Review: My favorite martial arts movie of all time! This is a remake of Bruce Lee's Chinese Connection and the choreography, action, dialogue is unbelievable.

I promise you won't be disappointed!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Probably Jet Li's most accessable HK movie
Review: For those of you who saw Lethal Weapon 4 and want to see more of Jet Li, or are merely newcomers to the Hong Kong movie genre, this movie is probably one of the better introductions to Hong Kong action cinema. Low on sometimes puzzling HK humor, campiness, and cantonese-specific puns and idiosyncrasies, subtle with its wire-work, and generally soft on the culture shock, this movie is a straight out, simple, serious action flick featuring some of the best hand-to-hand fighting ever caught on film.


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