5.8/10
1,699
28 user 8 critic

Born to Defense (1986)

Zhong hua ying xiong (original title)
R | | Action, War | 16 February 1986 (Hong Kong)
Born to Defense Poster
Jet, a young soldier at the end of the second World War must overcome some abusive Americans who are bullying him as well as the Chinese people.

Director:

Jet Li

Writers:

Jia Er-Ge, Jack Maeby (english adaptation) (as J. Maeby) | 1 more credit »

Stars:

Jet Li, Keith Anthony, Kaiming Chen | See full cast & crew »
Reviews

Watch Now

From $1.99 (SD) on Prime Video

ON DISC

Photos

See all 13 photos »
Learn more

More Like This 













◄ Prev 6 Next 6 ►

Next »
Shao Lin xiao zi (1984)
Action | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

Romance blossoms between two rival families practicing Shaolin and Wudang kungfu respectively. despite familial opposition - until they overcome a gang of scheming bandits together.

Director: Hsin-Yen Chang
Stars: Jet Li, Lan Ding, Qiuyan Huang
Next »
Long hang tian xia (1992)
Action | Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.8/10 X  

Uncle Tak, the old martial-arts master and medicine in normal life has severe problems with his former student Jonny, who wants nothing more than to kill his old master to show everyone who... See full summary »

Director: Hark Tsui
Stars: Jet Li, Wah Yuen, Crystal Kwok
Next »
Long zai tian ya (1989)
Action | Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

Two martial artist friends from China are performing a show in the States. Trouble starts when one of them decides to defect and stay in America.

Director: Hin Sing 'Billy' Tang
Stars: Jet Li, Dick Wei, Nina Li Chi
Next »
Shao Lin si (1982)
Action | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A young man, hounded by a psychopathic general, learns martial arts at the Shaolin temple to avenge his father's death. To achieve this he forgoes a budding romance with his kungfu master's daughter, a shepherdess.

Director: Hsin-Yen Chang
Stars: Jet Li, Hai Yu, Chenghui Yu
Next »
Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986)
Action | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

Jet Li weasels out of the north Shaolin temple to assassinate a despotic ruler at the ruler's extravagant public birthday celebration. Two other men from the south Shaolin temple also set ... See full summary »

Director: Chia-Liang Liu
Stars: Jet Li, Jianqiang Hu, Qiuyan Huang
Next »
The New Legend of Shaolin (1994)
Action | Adventure | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

A young father and his infant son are beset by forces of evil and corruption. They wander China, upholding their sense of honor and protecting the weak. When they are forced into combat, ... See full summary »

Directors: Jing Wong, Corey Yuen
Stars: Jet Li, Chingmy Yau, Deannie Ip
Next »
The Legend II (1993)
Action | Adventure | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

The Cantonese hero Fong Sai Yuk becomes involved in the secret brotherhood "The Red Flower", who are trying to overthrow the Manchurian emperor and re-establishing the Ming dynasty. The ... See full summary »

Director: Corey Yuen
Stars: Jet Li, Josephine Siao, Adam Cheng
Next »
The Bodyguard from Beijing (1994)
Action | Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

A corrupt businessman commits a murder and the only witness is the girlfriend of another businessman with close connections to the Chinese government, so a bodyguard from Beijing is ... See full summary »

Director: Corey Yuen
Stars: Jet Li, Christy Chung, Kent Cheng
Next »
The Legend (1993)
Action | Comedy | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

This Hong Kong martial-arts extravaganza tells of evil emperors and true love. The secret Red Lotus Flower Society is committed to the overthrow of the evil Manchu Emperor and his minions. ... See full summary »

Director: Corey Yuen
Stars: Jet Li, Josephine Siao, Michelle Reis
Next »
Last Hero in China (1993)
Action | Comedy | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

Jet Li stars in this comic spectacle as a Chinese "Robin Hood" who stumbles upon a kidnapping scheme after unwittingly opening a martial arts school next to a brothel!

Directors: Jing Wong, Woo-Ping Yuen
Stars: Jet Li, Man Cheung, Dicky Cheung
Next »
My Father is a Hero (1995)
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

An undercover cop struggling to provide for his son and ailing wife, must infiltrate a ruthless gang. But things turn sour when another cop blows his cover and he quickly finds himself battling for his life and the lives of his family.

Director: Corey Yuen
Stars: Jet Li, Anita Mui, Mo Tse
Next »
Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997)
Action | Adventure | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

The story is set in both Hong Kong and the U.S. So goes to the U.S. to open a martial arts school. Around this time, many Chinese people were sold off to U.S. railroad companies, and were ... See full summary »

Director: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung
Stars: Jet Li, Rosamund Kwan, Xin Xin Xiong
Edit

Cast

Credited cast:
Jet Li ... Jet
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Keith Anthony Keith Anthony ... (voice)
Kaiming Chen Kaiming Chen
Wing Cho
Cam Clarke ... (voice)
John DeMita ... Jet (voice)
Peter Doyle Peter Doyle ... (voice)
Dongyu Fan Dongyu Fan
Zhanghe Gao Zhanghe Gao
Jessica Gee-George ... (voice) (as Jessica Gee)
Yin Geng Yin Geng
Grant George ... (voice)
Kerry Gutierrez Kerry Gutierrez ... (voice)
Dean Harrington Dean Harrington ... US Marine
Mark King Mark King ... GI Blue
See full cast »
Edit

Storyline

Jet, a young soldier at the end of the second World War must overcome some abusive Americans who are bullying him as well as the Chinese people. Written by Tom MacNeill

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

victory | opening action scene | gun fu | bolt action rifle | infantry | See All (82) »

Taglines:

Once Upon A Time In China A New Hero Emerged...

Genres:

Action | War

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and some language | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
Edit

Details

Country:

Hong Kong | China

Language:

English | Cantonese

Release Date:

16 February 1986 (Hong Kong) See more »

Also Known As:

Born to Defense See more »

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sil-Metropole Organisation See more »
Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (USA) (dubbed)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jet Li broke his nose after being hit in one of the boxing scenes. On every movie after this one you can see a small scar on his nose. See more »

Connections

Featured in Films of Fury: The Kung Fu Movie Movie (2011) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What are the differences between the US Version and Uncensored Version?
See more »

User Reviews

 
Good Western Martial arts movie from Jet Li with good stunts
13 August 2000 | by richardokagbue – See all my reviews

This film has good martial arts fights for western kickboxing. It is also Jet Li's fourth movie. Since this was his fourth movie and his directing debut, the film is unpolished and the acting (except for Jet Li's) is quite bad. Jet Li choreographed and directed the fights and stunts which were actually very good, although he gets beaten up badly in two fight sequences. However, the film was a good start for a director.

In the film, Jet really shows off a lot of his acrobatic skills but not much Kung Fu as he mainly gets involved in kickboxing. The war sequence at the start of the film was also well directed. I give this film an 8 out of ten for its acrobatics and martial arts. I will recommend it for Jet Li fans and for action fans, but do not expect a really good movie in this one.
7 of 11 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 28 user reviews »
Getting Started | Contributor Zone »

Contribute to This Page

Stream Popular Action and Adventure Titles With Prime Video

Explore popular action and adventure titles available to stream with Prime Video.

Start your free trial


Clear your history

Recently Viewed