The Return Of Fist Of Legend
If you ask fans of the genre to name the top 10 martial arts films of all time, there are a couple of titles that are pretty much givens. Enter The Dragon. Drunken Master. Police Story. And Jet Li’s Fist Of Legend.
I hate to say it, but I think Fist Of Legend sort of ruined Jet Li’s movies for me. It was the very first Li film I saw (my review), and nothing the man has done, either before or since, has come close to rivalling that film. Hero, Fong Sai-Yuk, and The Tai Chi Master are great films, but they’re not in Fist Of Legend‘s league. Simply put, Fist Of Legend is Jet Li at the very pinnacle of his career.
Which makes it all the more frustrating that a decent version of the film is almost impossible to find. I personally own both the Taiseng VHS release and the Ritek DVD release. However, both releases are lacking. The Taiseng version isn’t uncut and the Ritek release has a substandard Mandarin dubjob and unremovable English subtitles. And of course, both releases are now out of print, as is the Dimension Home Video release (but that one, with its edited content and English-only soundtrack, doesn’t count in my book).
However, that’s all going to change this year. Dragon Dynasty, the Asian-focused branch of The Weinstein Company, will be releasing a two-disc “Ultimate Edition” of Fist Of Legend in December. Which is very exciting news if you’re like me and have been waiting a long time for a definitive DVD release of the movie. If this release is truly “ultimate”—which hopefully means that it’s uncut, features both a decent subtitling job and soundtrack, and a decent set of extras—it might just redeem the Weinsteins in the eyes of Asian film fans.
The Fist Of Legend is actually just one in a series of exciting—and long-awaited—releases from Dragon Dynasty. Others include two-disc “ultimate” editions of John Woo’s classic Hard Boiled and the aforementioned The Tai Chi Master, as well as a “collector’s” edition of The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin. Those lovely Twitch fellows have the full list of upcoming Dragon Dynasty releases.
Comments
Mr eel
March 31, 2007 7:10pmI agree with you. This is absolutely Jet Li‘s best film. I remember seeing this about six years ago and basically having my mind blown. Up to that point my contact with martial arts films had been far too many b-grade van damme and chuck norris films. I blame my older brother for that :)
This is excellent news! I’ve also been looking for a copy of this movie for a very long time. I’ve long been tempted to even buy the VHS release second hand —if I could find it — but held out for a DVD.
kellys
April 4, 2007 11:37amGreat news about Dragon Dynasty! I also couldn’t agree more – Fist of Legend may be the ultimate martial arts movie. This was also the first Li film I’d seen – a Tai Seng video tape from Blockbuster – and it not only ruined all of Li’s subsequent films for me, but all martial arts films in general.