How Does Jet Li's 'Fist of Legend' Compare To This?
I own this one on DVD but I have neevr seen Jet Li's version. How does it compare to this one?
shareJet Li's version is far superior to this. However, they are both worth watching.
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MovieChat Forums > Jing wu men (1972) Discussion > How Does Jet Li's 'Fist of Legend' Compa...
Jet Li's version is definantly better, get the non US dubbed version
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I hope you are joking. Come on this movie is a legand. Don't even comparing this to the jet li movie.
shareThe acting in "Legend" is better(which isn't much to say, Bruce is a god in terms of MA, but acting-wise rather bad), action is sweet in both and I think the "Legend" is fairer to both sides... In "Chinese Connection" Japanese are pictured evil simply because they are Japanese, which spells the word racist over the crew responsible for this movie.
In "Legend" the Japanese have other motives, besides racism(that also appears in the movie) to be evil, not all of them are evil... and, since hate is bound to create more hate some of the chinese are racist, or atleast predujiced towards the Japanese
you can't compare Jet to Bruce. Bruce is way better as an actor and martial artist and fist of fury is better then legend.
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I dislike Jet Li.
shareJet is alright but he's no Bruce
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Wow. Talk about weird. With all unnecessary face twisting and bizarre shouts that Bruce does I think him being a better actor is questionable.
Then again the actors hired in MA movies aren't in them for the acting talent, but for their athletic talent.
Certainly Bruce's a better Martial Artist, then again his choreography is a bit boring since he always mops the floor with his opponent(s) pretty much without breaking a sweat, I find the choreographers of other movies, including the ones with his son much more entertaining because we are given a slightly more even fight. Can you imagine if Bruce had done Rapid Fire(Brandons finest hour)? We might have never learned Al Leongs great kung fu skills because Bruce would've stunned him with a roundhouse and moved on.
Jet Li is great with his wushu and, as we've witnessed in Fist of legend(were there's very little wire work) Lethal Weapon 4 and his earlier films(such as Dragon Fight), doesn't really need wires. Unfortunately the directors today seem to insist using them, which blows monkeys.
I don't think much of Jet Li's acting ability. His face is usually frozen. He runs the gamut of emotions from A to A. Bruce's facial expressions were part of his martial arts style. It was part of the process by which he prepared himself for his fights. I've seen Jet Li fight in his films, and he's often just unrealistic as Bruce was, especially when he's playing the hero. In fact, I find Lee's fights more believable. Unlike Jet Li, you see exertion and emotion. Lee was not a great actor, but he was good, and better than Li.
As for the view of the Japanese, Lee's film reflects the animosity between Japanese and Chinese at the time of the film's events. Shanghai was an "international city" and Japan and the other winners of the Boxer Rebellion ruled it. The Chinese resented the Japanese for siding with the white imperialist powers. Many Japanese considered the Chinese backward and inferior. The Japanese had defeated China in a war in 1894 and exacted cruel concessions. Don't forget, this story supposedly takes place in 1908.
Li's film makes the Japanese consul out to be a good man, which he was not in real life. In fact, almost all Japanese are portrayed as good except for the military. They even make Chen's girlfreiend a Japanese. In no version of Chen's story did he ever go to Japan to study or take up with a Japanese girl. Legend was made years after "Fist of Fury," when economic relations and trade had made Japan and China commercial partners and old animosities had died down, at least on the surface.
I don't mind Chen surviving in Legend. Some versions of the story say he did, although the most popular ones say he didn't. However, there's no way the Japanese consul would have helped him.
In "Chinese Connection" Japanese are pictured evil simply because they are Japanese, which spells the word racist over the crew responsible for this movie.
The Japanese WERE evil in the time this movie took place, which was the early 20th century when Japanese were invading Chinese territory and considered the Chinese low class people. Referring them as "Sick men of east asia" was a common phrase that was used to describe them. They were not nice at the time period this film was set in, and the Chinese getting the short end of everything. And incidentally, Fist of Fury is a favorite in Japan.
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I own both, and their a little incomparable. They both have the same basic story but take drastically paths with it. Fist of Legend is easily the better film in terms of acting and storytelling, but lacks the brutal ferocity of Fist of Fury. To anyone reading this (I doubt the OP still needs his mind made a year later), I'd say watch it and decide on you own. Personally, I like them equally.
shareFist of Legend is a very good movie. Unfortunately it has one fatal flaw... Bruce Lee isn't in it.
shareThe main difference I saw back when I saw it a few years ago was that:
1. Bruce Lee had much more intensity in the role; Jet Li was more laid back. I like Jet Li, but when you compare these performances, wow. Bruce Lee was a walking firecracker. Very, very explosive.
2. Fist of Legend looks like it had a better budget
3. Fist of Legend's racial conflict isn't as black and white. Fists of Fury made the Chinese the good guys and the Japanese bad. FoL has more gray areas.
Fist of Legend is certainly a better made film. The story is less melodramatic, the acting is better, and the production values are way higher.
That said, it lacks the intensity that made Fist of Fury appealing despite its flaws. Jet Li isn't half the fighter Lee was and the overly fancy fight choreography is not nearly as compelling as Lee's was. More than that however, Legend can't compete with the intensity of Fury.
Yes, Fury was an often silly and very clumsy movie but Lee's rage at his percecution struck a cord and I still find the film very powerful to this day. The screams, the anger, the sense of years or repression finally exploding lose remains something that moves me and Fist of Legend fails to capture this. Lee's final scream in the original before he leaps toward the camera remains one of my favorite movie moments from my childhood.
I agree that Legend has better production values. It had a bigger budget. China's current film industry dwarfs the Hong Kong studios of the 1970s. I liked the melodrama of Fury. Legend was almost dull in comparison. While the acting was generally better in Legend, Lee and Nora Miao made a far more touching, believable and loving couple than Li and his Japanese girlfriend. I don't believe Jet Li is a good actor. I think he's too stiff and stolid.
Your last paragraph is very perceptive. The Chinese at that time were made to feel like strangers in many cities of their own country, especially British- ruled Hong Kong and Japanese-dominated Shanghai. There were indeed places in China with signs that said "No Dogs or Chinese Allowed." Lee's portrayal epitomized the resentment of the Chinese people at that time.
I've seen some pics of Fist of Legend (1994). The one scene, where Jet fights Japanese school and other, where he fights Yasuaki Kurata. I think end fight is against Japanese general.
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Jet Li's movies would be better if he didn't use wires. It's a matter of personal preference, but for me, it just takes me out of the movie when people jump and look floaty.
shareFist of Legend is more politically correct and has a bit of a CSI element to it but Fist of Fury has more atmosphere and a better sense of realism in the fights.
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