Fist of Legend (1994) on Netflix
Chen Zhen studies engineering in Kyoto, harassed by Japanese ultranationalists. His master Huo Yuanjia's death after a match with the fighter Ryuichi Akutagawa sends him home to Shanghai.
- Netflix4.0/5
- IMDb7.5/1027,046 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Chen Zhen is a Chinese engineering student at Kyoto University, where Japanese ultranationalists harass him and the karate master Fumio Funakoshi comes to respect him. He is involved with Mitsuko Yamada, a Japanese woman. Word arrives that his teacher, Huo Yuanjia, died after a match with the Japanese fighter Ryuichi Akutagawa, so Chen returns to Shanghai. The ship he sails on carries Japanese troops toward Tsingtao as World War I begins. In Shanghai he suspects foul play and challenges Akutagawa.
Cast
- Man Biu Leeas Biu
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Fist of Legend (1994)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Fist of Legend inspired the Wachowskis to hire Yuen Woo-ping, the film's fight choreographer, for the fight scenes in The Matrix (1999); the fighting styles of the two films bear some resemblance.
- Miramax's 2000 U.S. DVD of Fist of Legend caused an uproar among Hong Kong cinema fans because it carried only a new English dub and score with altered dialogue and no original Cantonese track.
- Later films were influenced too: Hitman has a scene where the main character uses a belt as a weapon as seen in Fist of Legend, and fan preference for Fist of Legend's style over Corey Yuen's work in Romeo Must Die shaped the choreography of Kiss of the Dragon.
