FIST OF LEGEND

FIST OF LEGEND: The impact Bruce Lee had on the Hong Kong film industry can’t be overstated. Films like Fist of Fury drew so much international attention producers milked the tragic death of their star for years by splicing together stock footage and casting stand-ins just to keep the money train rolling. And although that sort of charisma will never be matched, Jet Li is the heir apparent to Lee’s legacy, even starring in the 1994 remake of the seminal Fist of Fury, retitled Fist of Legend, telling the same story of a Chinese student’s two-fisted rebellion against the occupying Japanese army. Vacillating between angry bad-ass and wide-eyed romantic, the Chen Zehn of Fist of Legend is a contradiction of sorts. Director Gordon Chan isn’t quite willing to give up the genre’s often slapstick elements which were nowhere to be found in the original. But fight choreographer Yuen Wo-Ping matches the best action scenes in Lee’s film, staging the “one-man-against-an-entire-dojo” sequence – by now a kung fu cliché – with such innovative energy the audience is left gasping for air. Li himself gives every scene a physical urgency that lets you know he’s treading on holy ground here...and paying it the proper respect. The Dragon Dynasty 2-Disc Ultimate Edition is digitally remastered and includes a commentary, several interviews, deleted scenes and a screen fighting seminar at the Kurata Action School so you can try this stuff at home!