Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars Jet Li, Shinobu Nakayama, Siu-hou Chin, Billy Chow, Yasuaki Kurata,
Paul Chun | Written by Gordon Chan, Lan Kay Toa, Kee-To Lam & Kwong Kim Yip
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £17.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 99 minutes | Directed by Gordon Chan
Cine Asia joins forces with The Weinstein Company's Dragon Dynasty label to bring Fist of Legend to DVD for the first time in the UK with an “ultimate” edition. With a rather oversensitive 18 certificate and a decent array of special features, this two-disc set is a nice little package that brings a martial arts classic back to the small screen.
A remake of Wei Lo's 1972 Bruce Lee vehicle Fist of Fury, Fist of Legend is an arguably superior film that improves upon pretty much all the elements of the original. Not only is it a wonderful slice of Chinese cinema, but it is also the film that launched Jet Li into the mainstream, just like The Big Boss did for Bruce Lee, and Drunken Master for Jackie Chan, with Li bringing a stellar performance to the tale and rabid intensity. Speaking of Drunken Master, its director, the amazing Woo-Ping Yuen, did the fight choreography and action direction for Fist of Legend, making every intense battle in the film that much fiercer.
The movie centres around Jet Li's character Chen Zhen, a Chinese student at a Japanese university, who returns home to his martial arts school in Shanghai after receiving word of his lifelong teacher's sudden death in a challenge match with a fighter from a rival school. Mystery surrounds the death, however, and an investigation is quickly launched, which reveals that Zhen's teacher was murdered. A battle of pride between Japan and China breaks out as the backdrop against Jet Li's thrilling and action-packed search for the killer.
The story isn't dry like in so many other martial arts movies — you're not waiting for the next hard-hitting action scene because the story has taken second place — you're engrossed in the tale, and the outstandingly choreographed fights are icing on the kung fu cake. The film's own narrative mythology is heavily inspired by Chinese history, and the way it unravels is a prime cut of storytelling. Fist of Legend is a must for any fan of “genuine” Asian martial arts movies, capped off with one of the greatest one-on-one fights I have ever seen on screen. A fantastic addition to the Dragon Dynasty collection.
EXTRAS ★★★ An audio commentary by Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan; The Man Behind the Legend: an interview with director Gordon Chan; Brothers in Arms: interview with kung fu impresario Chin Siu-hou; The Way of the Warrior: interview with Japanese action legend Yasuaki Kurata; The School of Hard Knocks: a screen fighting seminar at the Kurata action school; A Look at Fist of Legend with Brett Ratner and film critic Elvis Mitchell; five deleted scenes and both the original theatrical and promotional trailers.