The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk (1993)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Blistering performances.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This is an astounding Martial arts film, that has lots of great comedy and jaw dropping fight scenes!. All the characters are wonderful, and the story was awesome, plus Jet Li is simply amazing in this!. The dubbing is once again, pretty good, and the final fight was simply fantastic!, plus Jet Li had a great sense of humor!. A lot of the laughs come from the scenes with Fong and his mother, they are absolutely hilarious, and the ending especially had me cracking up, plus there are lots of great serious and dramatic moments too!.The plot is really cool and the use of wires was actually incredible, plus you do get to see some of Jet's natural ability too!. The character development isn't too shabby and the costumes were pretty cool, plus Jet had awesome chemistry with both Josephine Siao and Michelle Reis!. This has to be one of the 1st Jet Li films i have seen him act sort of goofy, and i loved it!, plus some of the dialog was absolutely hilarious!. This is an astounding martial arts film, that has lots of great comedy and jaw dropping fight scenes, and i say Go see it right this instant!. The direction is wonderful!. Corey Yuen does a wonderful job here, with amazing camera work,great angles, incredible fight choreography, and keeping the film at an extremely fast pace!. The Acting is fantastic!. Jet Li is AMAZING as always, and is amazing here, he is extremely likable, had a fantastic sense of humor,was fantastic in the acting department,seemed to be enjoying himself, showed off an incredible acrobatic display as usual, and just did an amazing job overall!. (Jet Rules!!). Man Cheuk Chiu is great as the main villain, and was quite menacing, he is also a wonderful martial artist!. Josephine Siao is absolutely hilarious, the scenes with her and Jet are a scream,she was also extremely likable, and just did a fantastic job overall!, i loved her. Michelle Reis is very cute, and was very energetic and bubbly, she had great chemistry with Jet,and just did an awesome job overall!. Kong Chu is great as the Father i liked him lots. Rest of the cast do fine. Overall Go see it right this instant, it's my 2nd favorite Jet Li film next to Once Upon A Time In China!. ***** out of 5

Jet Li starred in this film shortly after making Once Upon A Time In China, and once again he kicks ass. The fight scenes are truly amazing for its time, and film is just brimming with entertainment from start to finish. The story starts off with our cheeky, smiling hero Jet Li getting into a fight with some guy over a girl, which leads to a sports competition to determine the winner, followed by some kung-fu ass whoopin. Fantastic. This film doesn't stop on the action, and although some of the humour is puzzling at times, and the soundtrack and sound effects pure hilarious, I am pleased I took the time to watch this. The story consists of Fong Sai Yuk (Jet Li) being forced into a family marriage, his romance with the girl, finding out his dad is part of some rebel movement, and protecting the whole family then on as they are on the run. Some of the choreagraphy is truly awesome, especially in one scene where Jet Li is fighting the evil govner with a small pole, wheras the govner has a huge f**k off 20 ft one. The action is superbly captured and the stunts are tremendous, and the comedy through the film is so cheesy it helps keep the film from not taking itself too seriously. There are a few stupid scenes in this, particulary one where Jet Li dresses up as a woman, and another one where Mother Fong covers her hair so people mistake her for a man (even though she has make up on and still looks like a chick). These are strange parts of the film but keeps it light hearted and I think if I had watched this film when I was a kid I would love it to bits. Kung fu enthusiasts should definately take a look at this for the action and to see Jet Li do his stuff, but it's not really one for the mainstream hollywood film lovers. Fans of Jet Li should check this out to see how how he progressed from this to classics such as Twin Warriors, Fists of Fury and the undoubtedly magnificent Hero. Mainstream film audiences should also see this so they can understand the truly aweful american martial arts films they have seen over the past decade, and appreciate some real skill and finesse from the middle east.

Joel Silver has said the Jet Li doesn't need special effects because Jet Li is a special effect. Fong Sai Yuk is one of his better films. It's typical of Hong Kong films by having some romance, drama, comedy, and action. Basically it's an Indian movie without the singing and martial arts substituted for dancing. The fight scenes are well choreographed with a moderate amount of wirework. If possible get a Hong Kong version that has subtitles rather than dubbing. The American version "The Legend" is about four minutes shorter than the original and there's a subtle joke that's missed in the American version: Sai Yuk is questioned by the authorities for fighting and afterwards tells his friends that he gave an alias. He starts out by saying the alias he gave was Wong, at this point he does a stance and the Wong Fei Hung music starts to play suggesting that he used the name Wong Fei Hung (another character he's played in films) when he completes the name Wong Jing. Now Wong Jing is a famous Hong Kong director who has directed Jet Li in a number of films. He is also called the "Madman of Hong Kong" for the outrageousness/strangeness of some of his movies. It's a little inside joke if you know Hong Kong martial arts films. Another scene they cut from the American version is Sai Yuk praying in the morning to protest to his future father-in-law his captivity. The American DVD has a better transfer than most Hong Kong DVDs and the translation is pretty good but if you want the whole film then go to Chinatown and get an original.

And I think his Hong Kong/China movies are far better than his Hollywood ones. I saw this movie literally years ago, when I was a kid, so I don't remember it as well as I want to. I do remember it being kind of sad, but nevertheless, it's one of my favourite films. Jet Li simply rules.