Once Upon a Time in China

Original title: Wong Fei Hung

19911991
RR
2h 14min

Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Trailer for Once Upon A Time In China

Play trailer2:01

Action Adventure History

Late 1800s Foshan, Guangdong: Wong Fei Hung/Jet Li trains men in martial arts to help defend against foreign powers already holding Hong Kong and Macau. He looks after cute 13th Aunt, who's ... Read allLate 1800s Foshan, Guangdong: Wong Fei Hung/Jet Li trains men in martial arts to help defend against foreign powers already holding Hong Kong and Macau. He looks after cute 13th Aunt, who's just returned from England. Lots of fight scenes.Late 1800s Foshan, Guangdong: Wong Fei Hung/Jet Li trains men in martial arts to help defend against foreign powers already holding Hong Kong and Macau. He looks after cute 13th Aunt, who's just returned from England. Lots of fight scenes.

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Awards
- 5 wins & 4 nominations

Videos1

Once Upon A Time In China

Once Upon A Time In China

Jet Li in Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Jet Li in Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Jet Li in Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Cheung-Yan Yuen in Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Kent Cheng in Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Jet Li and Rosamund Kwan in Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Set in late 19th century Canton this martial arts film depicts the stance taken by the legendary martial arts hero Wong Fei-Hung (1847-1924) against foreign forces' (English, French and American) plundering of China. When Aunt Yee arrives back from America totally westernised, Wong Fei-Hung assumes the role of her protector. This proves to be difficult when his martial arts school and local militia become involved in fierce battles with foreign and local government. As violence escalates even Aunt Yee has to question her new western ideals, but is it possible to fight guns with Kung Fu? —Michele Wilkinson, University of Cambridge Language Centre, <mw125@cus.cam.ac.uk>

Taglines
- Never was a Hero needed more...
Genres
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated R for violence
Parents guide

Trivia
Wong Fei-hung was a famous practitioner of hung gar kung fu, although the techniques Jet Li uses are mostly of the long fist method and tai chi.

Goofs
(at around 39 mins) When Aunt Yee is fitting Fei-hung for a suit, she sees his shadow on the wall. Standing a few inches behind him, she traces his silhouette with her finger, obviously without touching him. However, when she touches his shadow ear, it flickers, meaning she actually touched his real ear.

Quotes
Yim: No matter how good our kung-fu is, it will never defeat guns.

Alternate versions
A version distributed by 'Made in Hong Kong' UK has a running time of 140 mins. with a extra 10 minutes previously unreleased on video.

Connections
Featured in The Art of Action: Martial Arts in Motion Picture (2002)

Top review

8/10

Stand-out

Brilliantly made martial-arts film about legendary Chinaman Wong Fei-hung. One of the only movies in it's genre to really create a cast of meaningful characters that do not merely lay by the way side of the best martial artist (obviously Jet Li).

It is excellently shot and acted with a sensible balance of action and drama - although it does have a tendency to lay things on quite thick, what with excessively dramatic music and over-signified sequences.

Overall it is a very original film, and is set among the interesting clash of the British and Chinese cultures. Slightly "magical" kung-fu sequences may turn Chan fans off, but otherwise it is mostly engaging.

helpful•9

1

Guardia
Dec 15, 2004

What are the differences between the old US-version and the uncut version?

Release date
- August 15, 1991 (Hong Kong)
Country of origin
- Hong Kong
Languages
Also known as
- Wong Fei Hung
Production companies
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Gross worldwide
- $3,826,459

See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

Runtime
- 2h 14min
Color
- Color
Sound mix
- Mono
- Dolby Digital
Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1

Criterion Collection Adds ‘One Night In Miami,’ ‘The Learning Tree’ & ‘The Red Shoes’ In December

Criterion Collection Adds ‘One Night In Miami,’ ‘The Learning Tree’ & ‘The Red Shoes’ In December

Sep 15The Playlist

Criterion Releasing First Batch Of 4K Discs & ‘Once Upon A Time In China’ Box Set In November

Criterion Releasing First Batch Of 4K Discs & ‘Once Upon A Time In China’ Box Set In November

Aug 17The Playlist

Wong Fei Hung (1991)

Top Gap

By what name was Wong Fei Hung (1991) officially released in Canada in English?

More to explore

View list

25 Most Anticipated Netflix Releases

See the full list

Image caption not available

What to Watch in October

Watch the video

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.