In the beginning of the movie, the younger incarnation of the legendary character Fok Yun Gap (Huo Yun Jia) is played with youthful energy by Yuen Yat Chor. And the tone is light and comedic.

The character grows up, and Leung Kar Yan takes over. His portrayal of the righteous legend is both moving and powerful. He truly shines in the dramatic scenes, as well as the fight scenes.

Philip Ko Fei and Yasuaki Kurata both have some exellent and interesting roles as the stern father and the mysterious master. And with tight choreography by the Yuen clan, they come off better than ever in the training and fight scenes.

The Chinese vs. Japanese concept was hardly new at the time. But Ng See Yuen and Yuen Wo Ping managed to give it a fresh and interesting spin here.

The only flaw that I can think of are some brief comedic moments that are not really in keeping with the tone of the movie. But it's more of a minor annoyance than a flaw--and is easily overlooked, considering the overall quality of the piece.

I wholeheartedly recommend this to all kung fu film fans. Fearless? What? Who? This flick is where it's at, people!

I have never heard in this era of film the response Phillip Ko Fei gives a troublesome intruder :). I would never expect to see Fung Hak On to do...ah, I hate spoilers, watch for yourself.

Other tidbits - I seriously doubt ol' Beardie's "Not trained in real life" story. He has yet to convince me he knows nothing. It's like Michael Jordan saying he's sick then dropping 37 on the Jazz. And the odd symmetry of Yasuaki Kurata playing a teacher to Fok, then playing a teacher to his student in "Fist of Legend" was appreciated.

Lots of quality fights, comedy and good drama, ya can't miss. Also, there's no scene of his angel being re-united with some girl he hooked up with INSTEAD OF HIS WIFE AND CHILD. (I know, not fair to compare, but that bugged me)

I found this 1980s adaptation to be quite good, although from the preview that showed presumably the original version with Mandarin dialogue and English subtitles, apparently this DVD version has been edited, as there's a scene where Huo battles a Western fencer that didn't appear in the 90 minute running time.

Also, the English dubbing transliterates the characters' names into their Cantonese versions, so the "Huo Yuan Chia" is addressed in this movie as something like "Fook Yuen Giap." For simplicity, I will follow the convention of the DVD synopsis on the back and continue referring to him as "Huo Yuan Chia."

Anyway, the training scenes are really good, especially the ones involving Yasuki Kurata, who plays Chiang Ho Shan, a Japanese karate expert to travels to China in a guise of a scholar to teach young Huo literary arts.

Ho Shan's real purpose is to secretly learn the Huo family fist style. Master Huo (played by Philip Ko Fei) has the ability to use chi energy to crush an egg inside a glass without breaking the glass itself. Master Huo also thinks his youngest son Yuan Chia is a weakling, and refuses to teach him kung-fu.

Ho Shan, who pities the boy, therefore secretly teaches him martial arts, and leaves him a training manual before returning to Japan after killing to two ruffians who try to harm Yuan Chia.

It turns out Ho Shan wants to learn the family skills mainly out of a desire to integrate many different styles, and encourages Yuan Chia to do the same. To go beyond clan and family restrictions, to spread the arts far and wide and learn from others...that seems to be message of the movie, and it's a good one.

Anyway, back to the story, master and student reunite many years later after Yuan Chia defeats an arrogant Japanese fighter, and Ho Shan is ordered by the Japanese martial arts society to challenge Yuan Chia to the death and avenge national honor.

Ho Shan is reluctant to have this fight, but he obeys and returns to China. When he finally meets his former student in the fighting gym, he deliberately does everything he can to enrage an equally reluctant Yuan Chia, who ultimately defeats his master. It is a tragic ending, however it is also apparent that Ho Shan is a great admirer of Chinese culture and still has a sense of fatherly love for Yuan Chia, and knowing that Chinese are bullied as weaklings (the time period is shortly after the Boxer Rebellion), seems to willing sacrifice himself to die at Yuan Chia's hands. After all, despite knowing the Huo family style he doesn't attempt to use it against Yuan Chia.

The movie ends with Huo Yuan Chia walking out the door to cheering Chinese crowds, and though he is saddened by his master's death, he vows to spread martial arts to the masses and develop national pride and sportsmanship.