A lot of folks seem to think that this is one of the greatest kung fu movies of all time. Those folks know what they are talking about. This ball of thunder laced lightning hits rougher and heavier than a Kimbo Slice uppercut. We all know the deal and we all know who's in it. The real eternal question is: which match-up is sicker? Jet vs. Yasuaki Kurata, or Jet vs. Billy Chow? There's a stumper for you. They both rock so hard that if you bring up this question among your friends who are into fu flicks it will usually spark a pretty wild debate. I personally lean slightly toward the Jet/Yasuaki showdown. Something about wind and blindfolds--it just gets me going, dude.

"Fist Of Legend" is possibly the closest thing to perfect fight choreography around (perfect is relative, but honestly it might be perfect) and incorporates many martial art styles, such as Longfist, Ditang Chuan, Tong Bei, Chin Na, Aikido, Karate, boxing, Judo, Jujitsu, and quite a few more that I am probably forgetting. I know some cats say that the general was using Muay Thai. They have either poor eyesight or just improper schooling. Billy's just busting out with hardcore Karate.

This movie is the dope shit and every last one of you know it. If you haven't seen it, you better head for the hills, son, because we will hunt you down and staple you to something so we can force you to see this awesome piece of kung fu cinema history. You'll probably thank us afterwords and maybe even offer us a beer. And we'll accept. 'Cause we like beer. Keep kicking for the stars, folks. I'll be around.

This was an odd entry at the time, since Jet Li was turning out one crazy wire fu movie after another. Then, in 1994, this thing comes along. The fight choreography is good, but most of it doesn't have enough flair and intricate choreography, since it's a remake of a Bruce Lee film.

The power and skill of Jet Li is evident and it is one of his better flicks, but I enjoyed Jet's work in "Shaolin Temple 3" and "Once Upon a Time in China 2" better.

I can't give it a better rating since it comes down to the choreography, which becomes lackluster, especially during the final fight scene. I'm sure I'll get a lot of people disagreeing with this, but forget the hype and give it an honest look.

Everyone wanted this to be the greatest Jet Li film. I feel unsatisfied after viewing it in the same way that I'm unsatisfied with "Fearless". There's something about the camera angles and the staging of fights that I can't get over.

And in truth, FIST OF LEGEND doesn't have much to do with FIST OF FURY, other than than the basic plot (a martial artist avenging his master's murder) and the Chinese vs Japanese element, so no, I don't consider this a remake of FIST OF FURY, but even if you do, I promise you FIST OF LEGEND is by far the better film.

The movie begins in 1937, during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. Chen Zhen (Jet Li) is attending college in Japan when he learns that his master, or as Chinese call them, Sifu, was killed in a match with the Sensei of Shanghai's Japanese school. Though Chen Zhen does not hate the Japanese (his girlfriend Mitsuko, played by the lovely Nakayama Shinobu, is Japanese), he returns to Shanghai, and challenges the Sensei who beat his Sifu to a match. Chen Zhen easily wins, and therefore deduces that since he won, his Sifu should have as well. Chen Zhen has an autopsy performed which reveals that shortly before the match, his Sifu was poisoned.

The poisoning is the work of the evil Japanese Genral Fujita, who wants to lead Japan into conquering China. Fujita had the Sifu poisoned because he was the leader of a Chinese resistance movement against the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. Now Chen Zhen is out for one thing: revenge.

Yes, vengence is a typical, almost traditional element of kung fu movies, but FIST OF LEGEND also focuses on the romance between Chen Zhen and Mitsuko, such as the disapproval of Chen Zhen's fellow Chinese towards him romancing a Japanese. When she arrives in Shanghai, she is immediately cast out as being an evil, almost less than human, person simply for her nationality. But Chean Zhen comes to her defense.The message appears to be racial tolerance must always prevail, even in times where one race mistreats another.

But martial arts action is still what audiences are looking for here, and those not wanting wire-fu will be pleased. Two drawn-out confrontations stand out in this film. One is a match between Chen Zhen and Funokoshi Fumio, Mitsuko's uncle. The other is the final battle between Chen Zhen and Fujita, in which you can almost literally feel it as both men punch and kick the hell out of each other.

So the next time your in the mood for a real action-packed kung fu film, FIST OF LEGEND should come to mind.