Fist of Legend (1994)

In 1937, a Chinese martial artist returns to Shanghai to find his teacher dead and his school harassed by the Japanese.

Director:

Gordon Chan

Writers:

Gordon Chan (screenplay), Kwong Kim Yip (screenplay) (as Ip Kwong Kim)

Stars:

Jet Li, Shinobu Nakayama, Siu-Ho Chin

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jet Li	...	Chen Zhen
Shinobu Nakayama	...	Mitsuko Yamada
Siu-Ho Chin	...	Hou Ting-En
Billy Chow	...	General Fujita (Supreme Killer) (as Billy Chau)
Yasuaki Kurata	...	Fuimo Funakoshi
Paul Chun	...	Uncle Noh (as Paul Chiang)
Ada Choi	...	Rose
Cheung-Yan Yuen	...	Captain Jie
Toshimichi Takahashi	...	Japanese Ambassador
Suk-Mui Tam	...	Wei
Jackson Lou	...	Ryuichi Akutagawa (as Lou Hsueh Hsien)
Sun Wong	...	Cook
Man Biu Lee	...	Biu
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
E.E. Bell	...	(voice)
Shaun Britton	...	English Gentleman at Dock

Storyline

Chen Zhen, a Chinese engineering student in Kyoto, who braves the insults and abuse of his Japanse fellow students for his local love Mitsuko Yamada, daughter of the director, returns in 1937 to his native Shangai, under Japanse protectorate -in fact military occupation- after reading about the death of his kung-fu master Huo Yuan Jia in a fight against the Japanese champion Ryuichi Akutagawa. While overcoming suspicion and ambition within the kungfu school, Chen exhumes his master to prove Hou's defeat was the result of poisoning. Both nationalities make the case a test of honor, so Chinese and Japanese pride are at stake when it culminates in Chen's final epic duel against the ruthless, undefeated Japanese general Fujita.

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Plot Keywords:

imperial japan | japanese flag | katana sword | katana | japanese army | 

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Taglines:

To avenge his masters death, He'll fight like never before!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong martial arts violence

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin Japanese English

Release Date:

22 December 1994 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Fist of Legend

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eastern Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The U.S Version made by Miramax for its release on video in 2000 immediately caused an uproar with the Hong Kong Cinema fan community because it contained only a new English dub/score with alterations to the original dialogue and no original Cantonese option - a process many of their Hong Kong-acquired titles suffered (not to mention the edits).

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Goofs

When Akutagawa and the Japanese Ambassador are talking after playing a game of Go!, the pieces disappear and re-appear a number of times.

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Quotes

Fumio Funakoshi: What fist is this?
Chen Zhen: Don't ask, it's a good fist if it wins.

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Alternate Versions

The Dimension version changes the original's dialogue substantially. Changes include: in the original, Chen Zhen says when he leaves the country, he will be with his girl, whereas in the dimension version, he says, "If I can no longer have my country, at least I can be with the woman I love."

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Connections

Referenced in Asian Cop: High Voltage (1994)

User Reviews

Excellent martial arts movie

This movie has excellent choreography and is fairly well put together. The story is simple, classic, and well known since it is based on a Bruce Lee movie. The girl is also quite attractive.

One thing to note is all the different versions floating out there. A lot of the critical reviews here are based on edited and badly dubbed versions. I believe someone even mentioned that there was also 2 endings (not sure how different) depending on the version.

I would have to recommend that no one watches the dubbed version. It is absolutely horrendous.

The uncut subbed version deserves a 8.5/10