Trivia for
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) More at IMDbPro »

• Based on the Chinese epic story 'Journey to the West', one of the four great classic novels of Chinese Literature. The novel is a fictionalized account of the legends around the Buddhist monk Tang Sanzhuang's pilgrimage to India during the Tang dynasty in order to obtain Buddhist scriptures. Many programs have been based on this tale, such as television show "Saiyûki" (1978), and anime series "Dragon Ball Z" (1989/I) holds a few loose facts from the same story.
  
  
• The characters are mostly taken from Chinese mythology and adventure pulps. Lu Yan is a famous Taoist Saint (He's better known as Iron-crutch Li, one of the Eight Immortals). The Jade Emperor is the ruler of the Heavens in Chinese myth. The Monkey King is from a 16th Century fantasy epic by Wu Cheng En. Golden Sparrow was the name of the character played by Cheng Pei Pei in a number of Shaw Bros films like Da zui xia (1966). The White Haired Demoness is the anti-heroine of a pulp novel by Liang Yusheng (filmed twice) with the same title.
  
  
• This movie marks the very first collaboration between martial arts masters Jet Li and Jackie Chan.
  
  
• This movie went through five script re-writes before it was completed, many of which were done in the middle of filming.
  
  
• Jason Tripitikas' last name is derived from Tripitaka, the monk whom Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, accompanied in "Journey To The West".
  
  
• Just before Sparrow throws the dart at the Jade Warlord, she says "Come Drink with Me" which is the English title of the old Cheng Pei Pei movie where she played a character named Golden Sparrow.
  
  
• In addition to Bruce Lee, the opening credits also features photographs of famous martial arts actors from the famous Shaw Brothers film studio during the 1970's and 1980's. Among the actors shown are Kara Hui Ying-Hung, Ti Lung, David Chiang, Lau Kar-Leung, Gordon Liu (Lau Ka-Fai), Kuan Tai Chen and The Venom Mob.
  
  
• The artwork and style of the film's opening credits resembles the style and artwork of opening credits from many Shaw Brothers' films in the 1980's.
  
  
• The filmmakers intentionally used the traditional Chinese phrase "Gung Fu" in the movie. This created problems for Jackie Chan, who was used to saying the Anglisized "Kung Fu."
  
  
• When Jason wakes from his dream of King Monkey, the television set in the background is showing "Xi you ji", also known as "Monkey Goes West" produced by the famous Shaw Brothers.
  
  
• Early in the film, the character Jason finds the DVD Guangdong shi hu xing yi wu xi (1980) in Hop's pawn shop. 'The Ten Tigers of Kwangtung' (English title) is often regarded by martial arts film experts as the ultimate Shaw Brothers martial arts film, because it features a star-studded cast of legendary martial arts actors including 'Ti Lung', 'Alexander Fu Sheng' and major and supporting actors from The Venom Mob (which includes all six principle actors from The Five Venoms). The film also featured a younger generation of Shaw Brothers actors and was meant as a way to "pass the torch" from then-veteran Shaw Brothers actors to the new generation of actors. Shaw Brothers films rarely featured so many star actors in one film, and 'The Ten Tigers of Kwangtung' was one of the few films to do so.
  
  

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