Fist of Legend

Fist Of Legend
Hong Kong film poster for Fist of Legend
Directed by	Gordon Chan Yuen Woo Ping (Martial arts)
Written by	Gordon Chan Lan Kay Toa Kwong Kim Yip
Produced by	Chui Yin Lam Jet Li
Starring	Jet Li Chin Siu Ho Shinobu Nakayama Billy Chow Yasuaki Kurata Paul Chun
Cinematography	Derek Wan
Edited by	Chan Ki Hop
Music by	Joseph Koo (Hong Kong version) Stephen Edwards (Miramax version)
Distributed by	Eastern Productions
Release date	December 22, 1994 (Hong Kong)
Running time	103 min. (US)
Country	Template:FilmHong Kong
Languages	Cantonese Japanese English

Fist Of Legend (Chinese: 《精武英雄》; pinyin: Jīng Wǔ Yīngxióng; literally "Hero Of Jingwu") is a 1994 martial arts film starring martial artist Jet Li. It was directed by Gordon Chan and features action choreography by Yuen Woo-ping. It is a remake of Bruce Lee's 1972 film Fist of Fury. The film's setting is in Shanghai in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War as the city is occupied by Japanese forces. It is regarded as one of the best martial arts films of all time, and almost universally viewed as Jet Li's best.

The film follows Chen Zhen (Chinese: 陈真) (Jet Li) in his quest to bring to justice those responsible for the death of his master Huo Yuanjia (Chinese: 霍元甲).

Plot

The film opens with Chen Zhen attending class in Kyoto University in Japan. Some Japanese martial arts students swarm in and try to force Chen out because he is a Chinese. Mitsuko Yamada, one of Chen's female classmates who has a crush on him, along with Chen's professor and fellow students speak up for Chen. The thugs turn violent. Chen tackles and defeats them using a variety of controlled Chin Na techniques. The students' master Funakochi Fumio, who is also Mitsuko's uncle, arrives on the scene and apologises for his students' behavior, reminding them that violence never solves problems. Fumio is impressed with Chen's skill and has a conversation with him. Chen learns that his master Huo Yuanjia has been killed after a match with a Japanese martial artist. Chen is distraught upon hearing news of his master's death and leaves immediately for Shanghai. He bids Mitsuko farewell at the harbour.

Chen returns to Jingwu School in Shanghai. He sees that his master's son Huo Ting'en, who is also his childhood friend, has become the new master of the school. He is given a warm welcome by his fellow students and they mourn Huo Yuanjia's death together. The next day, Chen travels to the Dojo of Ryoichi Akutagawa, the Japanese martial artist who defeated his master. Chen demands to see Akutagawa and Akutagawa's students try to force him out but Chen defeats them. Akutagawa appears and honourably accepts Chen's challenge to a fight. Chen defeats Akutagawa easily and concludes that Akutagawa is not capable enough of defeating his master. He begins to suspect that there is something fishy behind his master's death.

Chen has his master's corpse exhumed for an autopsy against the wishes of Jingwu School. The autopsy report revealed that Huo Yuanjia was poisoned, which weakened him before the match with Akutagawa and eventually led to his death. Over the next few days, word of Chen's victory at Akutagawa's school spreads and Chen becomes a local celebrity in Shanghai. The students began to look up to Chen as their new master and asks him to instruct them. Huo Ting'en becomes jealous of Chen but remains silent about his unhappiness. He seeks comfort in a brothel and becomes romantically involved with a prostitute.

Meanwhile, Akutagawa confronts General Gō Fujita after realising that his unfair match with Huo Yuanjia was pre-meditated by Fujita. They have an argument over the code of Bushidō, in which Fujita states his stand that victory should be sought at any cost, even if it meant sacrificing one's honour. Fujita then kills Akutagawa and claims that Chen is responsible. Akutagawa's students are furious and they attack Jingwu School. The police arrives and stops the fight between the schools. Chen is placed on trial for the murder of Akutagawa. Several "witnesses" provide false and conflicting accounts of the murder while the court refuses to accept testimony from any Chinese defense witnesses on the grounds that they would be biased. Mitsuko arrives and claims that Chen is innocent as he spent the night with her. The court accepts her false testimony because she is a Japanese and Chen is exonerated. However, Chen's apparent relationship with Mitsuko ruins his reputation, as the Chinese view it as an act of treachery.

Huo Ting'en and the senior Jingwu members demand that Chen either leave Mitsuko or the school. Huo seizes the opportunity to vent his anger from jealousy and he challenges Chen to a match. Chen accepts the challenge and refrains from attacking by merely defending in the beginning of the match as he has no desire to hurt Huo. However, Huo's increasing aggressiveness forces him to retaliate and he defeats Huo eventually. Huo hands over his position of master of the school to Chen before leaving in shame. Chen refuses to accept it and says that he would not abandon Mitsuko as well. He leaves the school as well and Jingwu School is left without a master. The school eventually finds out about Huo's relationship with the prostitute and reprimand him.

Chen and Mitsuko are faced with hostility from the locals and are forced to seek shelter in an abandoned shrine near Huo Yuanjia's grave. Meanwhile, Fumio arrives from Japan, as requested by Fujita, to get rid of Chen. Fumio challenges Chen to a match which eventually turns out to be a draw as both sides fought honourably. Before his departure, Fumio warns Chen about Fujita's ill intentions and killing abilities. A few days later, Huo visits Chen to apologise for his earlier actions and attitude, telling him also that Jing Wu will accept his relationship with Mitsuko now. Huo informs Chen that Fujita has issued a challenge to Jingwu School, which they must accept to defend their school's reputation. Huo teaches Chen the Mizong Fist, which had originally been restricted to only members of the Huo family. Mitsuko leaves Chen after leaving behind a letter, which said that she will wait for him in Japan as long as there is peace and until he has finished what he has to do.

The next day, Chen and Huo Ting'en meet Fujita for the match. Fujita exposes a traitor from Jingwu School, who played a role in Huo Yuanjia's death, and kills him as an apology for pre-meditating Huo's death. Huo Ting'en fights Fujita, who appears to be incredibly strong and resilient by defeating Huo effortlessly. Fujita is about to deliver the killing blow when Chen stops him. Chen then takes over Huo and continues the fight with Fujita. Chen defeats Fujita after a long and exhausting fight and walks away with Huo. The enraged Fujita comes after them with a Katana and Chen tackles him after he injures Huo. Chen is forced to kill Fujita. After that, Japanese soldiers surround them and prepare to open fire.

The Japanese ambassador arrives and orders the soldiers to retreat. He agrees with Chen's actions as he is long aware that Fujita is psychologically ill. However, he warns them that the Japanese government will use Fujita's death as an excuse to start a war with China, unless the Chinese account for Fujita's death by executing the killer. Chen expresses his willingness to accept blame for Fujita's death and sacrifice himself to prevent a war, earning the ambassador's further admiration. Instead, the ambassador stages a fake execution and substitutes the dead Jingwu traitor's body for Chen's. Having faked his own death, Chen is forced to go into hiding. He leaves Shanghai for good and is never seen again.

Note: There are different endings depending on the various versions.

Cast

• Jet Li as Chen Zhen - a talented student of Huo Yuanjia who fights to defend the honour of the Chinese
• Chin Siu Ho as Huo Ting'en - the son of Huo Yuanjia and childhood friend of Chen Zhen who becomes the new master of Jingwu School
• Yasuaki Kurata as Fumio Funakochi - a legendary Japanese martial arts master who is respected for his philosophical achievements in martial arts
• Shinobu Nakayama as Mitsuko Yamada - Chen Zhen's former classmate and love interest
• Billy Chau as General Gō Fujita - the psychopathic leader of the Japanese forces in Shanghai who is dubbed as a "killing machine"
• Jackson Liu as Ryōichi Akutagawa - an honourable Japanese martial artist who defeats Huo Yuanjia in an unfair match
• Paul Chun as Nong Jinsun (Uncle Nong) - a senior of the Jingwu School who acts a fatherly figure for Chen Zhen and Huo Ting'en
• Toshimichi Takahashi as the Japanese ambassador - Fujita's deputy who advocates peace
• Yuen Cheung Yan as Captain Gai - the leader of the local Chinese police
• Ada Choi as So Lan - the prostitute who has an affair with Huo Ting'en
• Wong San as Uncle Gun - the cook at Jingwu School who played a role in Huo Yuanjia's death

Influence on other films

Fist Of Legend inspired the Wachowski brothers to hire choreographer Yuen Woo-ping for the fight scenes in The Matrix. The style of fighting in both films also bear some resemblance.

Jet Li's later films have also been influenced by Fist Of Legend. Hitman also has a scene involving him using a belt as a weapon as seen previously. The more realistic and less wire-driven fight choreography seen in Kiss of the Dragon was a result of fan criticism to Corey Yuen's choreography in Romeo Must Die and preference for the style seen in Fist Of Legend.

Inaccuracies

• Huo Yuanjia's death is depicted in the film to be around pre-WWII circa 1937, but in reality his death was recorded to be around 1910. This, of course, is a pretty major inaccuracy and may have been made deliberately for the purpose of a more dramatic setting.
• During some scenes, the Japanese troops are seen armed with Lee-Enfield rifles instead of Arisaka rifles.
• Throughout the movie, the Japanese are dressed in what appears to be a green variation of the Mao suit, similar to those worn by the early Chinese Communist PLA.

Box office

Though Fist Of Legend is widely considered one of Li's best films, its HK $14,785,382 box office gross was considered a disappointment. By comparison, Li's Fong Sai Yuk grossed over HK $30 million, and Fong Sai Yuk 2 grossed HK $23 million.

Different Versions

Miramax

The English-dubbed U.S. release by Miramax and Buena Vista Distribution contains four specific mistranslations that drastically alter the meaning of the film as a whole.

1. Before Chen leaves Japan, Mitsuko asks him if he hates the Japanese. In the U.S. version he replies, "I don't hate." In the Hong Kong version he replies, "I don't know."
2. In the U.S. version of the scene where Chen fights Fumio, Fumio asks him what the most effective way to defeat an enemy is. Chen replies that the most effective way is to focus one's energy and strike, and Fumio agrees with him. In the Hong Kong version, they begin by discussing their match. Chen says that the purpose of martial arts is to defeat an enemy. Fumio says, "No, you're wrong. The best way to defeat your enemy is to use a gun. Martial arts is about personal development."
3. Prior to the final fight sequence in the U.S. version, Chen and Huo face Fujita who holds up a sign reading Dong Ya Bing Fu (東亞病夫) and he tells them that the sign says, "Jing Wu is closed". The Chinese characters are commonly translated to "Sick men of the East" and is used as a famous reference to Fist of Fury. The subtitles in the Hong Kong version translate the sign correctly.
4. At the end in the U.S. version, Chen's driver asks him if he will go to be with Mitsuko. Chen responds, "If I no longer have a country, at least I can still be with the woman I love." His response in the Hong Kong version is, "Which area is most affected by Japanese invasion?" The driver says, "Tungshan" and he says, "We'll go to Tungshan then."

With regards to footage, this version deletes the final moments of students training and contains a brand new set of opening (animated) and closing credits in English, abandoning the previous ones completely.

Taiwanese

Compared to the Hong Kong version, the 106 minute Mandarin-dubbed Taiwanese version contains the following footage:

1. An extension to the scene where Fujita gives a harsh lecture to several, prior to his order to spy on certain Japanese individuals.
2. An extension of the scene with Chen after bowing to his master's shrine where Liu Zhensheng then hands over a suitcase to Chen and the latter proceeds to leave. Prior to following him, Mitsuko also respectfully bows.
3. An entire scene where Hill Hung is looking for Huo Ting'en at a brothel, only to find him smoking opium with a prostitute.
4. An entire scene where Hill Hung brings tea to Huo Ting'en, the night prior to the final match.
5. An extension of Fumio talking with the ambassador, prior to the former winning the Chess game.
6. After the final fight ends, a very small extension sees the Japanese soldiers pause for a moment prior to entering the Dojo.

In the Mandarin soundtracks of the film, there is background music when Chen fights Huo. However, in the Cantonese soundtrack, the music only plays after Chen performs a Capoeira-style kick later on in the fight.

Hong Kong

The Hong Kong version in return, has the following footage:

1. A reaction shot of Uncle Gun in the kitchen (followed by a shot from Huo Yuanjia's shrine) after Uncle Nong dispatches students to search for Huo Ting'en.
2. A few seconds of Chen Zhen feigning death to Fujita.
3. After the credits finish, we see the crew waving to the camera.

Both Hong Kong and Taiwanese version have slightly different end credits.

Media

File:Fistoflegenddvdcover.jpg

Artwork for the Taiwanese DVD by Ritek

DVD releases have inevitably appeared over the years for one of the genre's best-loved films. Each one had a particular merit, but until recently, none of them were favourable to English-speakers because they lacked an option of having the correct Cantonese version with English subtitles. Having any other version than the Cantonese soundtrack would not depict the language barrier highlighted between the characters, as everyone would be dubbed into the one language.

In 1997, the first DVD was released by Ritek in Taiwan, which fans later reported to be an "uncut" version. This has been a wide-misconception - whilst this version does carry some more footage (as a 'Taiwanese' version), it is in turn missing a few moments that the Hong Kong version has.

Miramax

On February 15, 2000, Miramax issued a DVD of this film in the US (later in the UK too by Hollywood Pictures on VHS first, then DVD later on March 29, 2002). Whilst it had better visual quality than any other release (even to this day, despite being non-anamorphic and softer), it 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).

HKVideo

On March 20, 2002, the first official DVD of the Hong Kong version with a Cantonese soundtrack was issued by HKVideo in France. However, it contained no English subtitles. One notable difference to other versions carrying a Chinese/Taiwanese version is that it doesn't contain the ending text describing the aftermath of Jing Wu Men, but is otherwise the same and uncut.

Maxam

A lesser-known DVD was issued on March 25, 2005 by Japanese distributor Maxam which contains the Hong Kong version (and its ending text) in complete form, but no English subtitles.

Dragon Dynasty

After years of speculation and waiting, a new R1 2-DVD "Ultimate Edition" was finally released on September 9, 2008 from The Weinstein Company's Dragon Dynasty label in America, which features many extras and most importantly, the original Cantonese soundtrack with English subtitles - the latter specification marks the first official DVD release to do so.

However, this is still considered the previous US version with the Cantonese soundtrack edited to fit its visuals. Matters are worsened when the subtitles revert to dubtitles towards the end - relying on the previous incorrectly transcribed "Sick Men Of Asia" sign and story-changing ending (see above) from Miramax's English dub.

New Age 21/HMH

German-issued DVDs from distributor 'New Age 21' (released November 12, 2008) and 'HMH' (released November 20, 2008) were released in an uncut state and contain a Cantonese soundtrack with English subtitles.

Other Releases

Other uncut English-subtitled releases of the Hong Kong Cantonese-language versions (now OOP) include the US 'Tai Seng' VHS (released October 20, 2000), the Australian 'Chinatown Video' VHS, the UK 'Made In Hong Kong' VHS (released October 1, 1999), the Mei Ah VCD, VHS and LD.

The Malaysian 'Speedy' VCD also contains the Hong Kong version, but enforces cuts to some scenes for violence:

1. General Fujita kneeing Ryōichi Akutagawa's back.
2. Huo Ting'en hitting his head on a window during the finale.
3. Chen Zhen hitting his head on a window during the finale.

The Spanish 'Manga Films' DVD entitled "El Mejor Luchador" (released October 24, 2001) and a slightly edited Indian 'Diskovery' VCD entitled "The Hitter: Fist Of The Legend" contain an English-dubbed version intended for export to English-speaking territories. It was made a number of years before Miramax acquired the film and produced their own version. Strangely, this export version has aired occasionally on US TV with a Miramax ident, instead of their own produced version.

External links

• Fist Of Legend at IMDb
• Fist Of Legend at AllMovie
• Fist Of Legend at Rotten Tomatoes
• Dragon Dynasty's Fist Of Legend page
• A further examination between the differences of Fist Of Fury and Fist Of Legend
• A DVD image comparison between Dimension, Dragon Dynasty and HKVideo
• Kung Fu Cinema's review
• Kung Fu Cinema's review of the Dragon Dynasty DVD
• DVD comparison list
• Pictured differences between the Hong Kong and Taiwanese versions (in German)
• Fist of Legend Movie Synopsis