Movies - Fist of Legend

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Fist of Legend

	Movies - Fist of Legend

Fist of Legend (精武英雄, lit. "Hero of Jing Wu Men") is a 1994 martial arts film from Hong Kong. It is directed by Gordon Chan, and features action choreography by Yuen Woo-ping. It is an adaptation of Bruce Lee's 1972 film Fist of Fury
(U.S. title The Chinese Connection). The film takes place in Shanghai in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War as the city is occupied by Japanese forces.

The film follows Chen Zhen (陳真), played by Jet Li, in his quest to bring the killers of his master, Huo Yuanjia, to justice.

Despite underperforming in its theatrical release, Fist of Legend is often regarded to be one of Jet Li's best films, as well as one of the best martial arts films of all time.

Changes Between Fist of Fury and Fist of Legend

At the very least, Fist of Legend has a more favorable portrayal of the Japanese. In the remake, Chen begins the film as a student studying abroad in Japan, and the opening scene features Japanese students protesting the occupation of China. When pro-war Japanese students raid Chen's classroom, Chen's classmates and instructor are quick to defend him. Chen even has a Japanese girlfriend, whose uncle (also a dojo leader) sides with Chen against the corrupt generals heading the occupation. Even the leader of the opposing Japanese clan expresses dismay and anger over the military leadership. Overall, the film makes a point of separating the Japanese military and military leaders from Japan itself, and identifying the military leadership as the true aggressors and occupation force.

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 resemblence.

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.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Fist of Legend ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Fist of Legend; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Movies - Fist of Legend

Changes Between Fist of Fury and Fist of Legend

Influence on Other Films

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay