HK Cinema: Once Upon a Time in China 1 - 1991 - Jet Li

I just found that the Jet Li films ( Part I, II, III, and VI) are all on my Netflix and wanted to make a homage thread for these films from my childhood.

This was a memorable film series for me growing up; it was an enjoyable family visit to watch the series with my Chinese relatives. I also learned a lot of family and Chinese history from it (the films inspired me to read up on the history from that time period - the fall of the Qing Dynasty up to the Republic Era etc.).

For those who don’t know of this iconic series:

“The films and the series recount fictional exploits and adventures of real-life Chinese martial arts master and folk hero of Cantonese ethnicity Wong Fei-hung, who is portrayed by Jet Li” in the early films.

Wiki Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik…ime_in_China_(film_series)

Wong Fei-Hong was a real person is the important bit. Wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Fei-hung

But for me, this was the film that first introduced me to Jet Li, one of my fav. martial-action Asian actors. If you are a Jet Li fan, this series is among his greatest films and what made him famous in Asia.

Original HK Trailer with English subs:

If you have seen the films, which was your favorite? Discussions welcome but not any haters - not here for that.

Quote from selfmate

great films all of them

haven't watched them in a long time so my memory is cloudy but I'm sure I watched most of Jet Li's films

my wife has a hard drive with a folder dedicated to Jet Li films lol

Your wife has taste! I did the same and bought the digital version of these films on iTunes a while back. My family still loves to rewatch Jet Li films when it randomly comes on TV too.

Quote from Alex_Murphy

It's a close call between OUATIC 1 and 2. I think I like 2 better, if only for the shorter runtime. The original is really long, especially for a HK film.

Then OUATIC 3 no doubt. The lion dance scenes are amazing and Club Foot is a great new character.

Then we enter the not-so-great territory.

I'd go with OUATIC 5 which saw the return of Tsui Hark as director. It's not a great movie but it's entertaining.

The final spots are a toss between 5 and 6. I think OUATIC 6 is too much a departure from the main story and themes, the plot (Wong Fei Hung suffering an amnesy) is really dumb but at least it tries something new. On the other hand, OUATIC 5 feels like a unimaginative remake of 2 (same story about an extremist religious cult) only with subpar fight choreographies relying too much on wire work.

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If my memory serves me correctly, there really was an extremist religious cult in history that was trying to gain power and $ during the political turmoil during that time too. But I agree with your points. While rewatching part 1 last night, I thought oh this is much longer than I remembered lol. Donnie Yen is my second fav. Asian kungfu actor.

Edit: Alex_Murphy - there was another religious cult/uprising before the Boxers too. It was the Taiping Rebellion and Hong Xiuquan - of the Hakka, proclaimed himself a brother of Jesus and tried to set up a Heavenly Kingdom. It was super fascinating to read and something I remembered well from my Chinese history class. Jonathan Spence wrote a good book on it called God’s Chinese Son.

Quote from KAMlTRUTH

Never thought I'd see a OUATIC thread on this forum. Jet Li's portrayal of Wong Fei Hung is truly unparalleled in the realm of HK action cinema. I would say the sequel is superior simply because there's Donnie Yen and Jet Li wasn't injured.

Fun fact: Jet Li broke his leg/ankle in first film after jumping off that restaurant balcony. You can visibly see his stunt double Hung Yan Yan performing most of Li's scenes in the final fight. Hung Yan Yan would return to play the white lotus cult leader in the sequel and later as Clubfoot in the third installment.

Highly recommend the remastered blu ray trilogy boxset version.

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Equally, I'm super happy to find fellow fans of this series and Jet Li here. Thanks for the tidbits. The restaurant fight scene with the hat, sunglasses, and umbrella was ICONIC.

OMG I've never seen it in ENGLISH DUBBED before hahahahhahah. I've always watched it in original Cantonese or Thai DUB, which is far superior to ENG. I'm not sure how to deal with this hahahha

Quote from Alex_Murphy

There's only people of taste in this thread.

What are your other favorite wu xia pian/martial arts movies?

Also starring Jet Li, I like very much Fong Sai Yuk (方世玉), another character from the Chinese folklore that Jet Li tackled after OUATIC. It's more comedy oriented, but there's a great cast of characters. Fong Sai Yuk's mother especially, played by Josephine Siao Fong-Fong (蕭芳芳), is amazing.

What I find incredible in this film is how they managed to include a deeply moving and splendidly acted scene in a mostly light and goofy scene. Mixing tones like that is something you don't see a lot in Western cinema but it's commonplace in HK movies.

eng sub

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Another classic: Swordsman II (笑傲江湖II東方不敗) with Jet Li, again. It's a sequel to the first Swordsman, with the same characters but a new cast. What really elevates this film though is the presence of Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia (林青霞) as Asia the Invincible/Dong Fang Bu Bai (東方不敗), a warrior who enhanced his martial arts tremendously thanks to a secret technique at the cost of his manhood.

chinese sub

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It's funny how all these movies, including the OUATIC, released in a very short timeframe (around 1993). It was the last golden age of HK cinema before all major filmmakers and actors fled to the US in fear of the Handover of Hong Kong back to China a few years later (1997).

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I also loved FSY with Jet Li but haven't seen in in a long long while. I'm gonna have to rewatch it now over the holidays. I do remember that I enjoyed it and it made me tear up and my Chinese friend made fun of me hahah.

Quote from Alex_Murphy

Yes, I think the White Lotus Cult in OUATIC2 references the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists which conducted the Boxer Rebellion in 1899-1901.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_Rebellion

The interesting thing with the OUATIC movies is that Tsui Hark dodged the B&W narrative that "all foreigners are evil". Sure Wong Fei-Hung fights against the unfair treatment that Western powers exert upon the Chinese population but he has no issues befriending good-willed foreigners (like the Christian priest in OUATIC1). Most of all, his own aunt and love interest is westernized in many ways, and even though Wong struggles with it a bit, she's a positive character who helps him grow and expands his views. Also, the story includes Chinese evil men, like thugs and slavers who prey upon the weak, which show that good and evil is not about ethnicity.

Yes, I agree that the film did very well to portray the complexity of the times. Growing up, I never thought of the Westerners as the only villains and among our own discussions, we always noted the Chinese who sold out their own countries for $ and power and also how badly the Qing officials were managing the country by then.

Aside the Ip Man series and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I think the only other Asian martial arts film that really impacted me was The Assassin (2015) by Hou Hsiao-hsien frow Taiwan. Finally, a female lead, the cinematography, the tension!!! It was great.

Oh I still watch those Dectective Dee films lol - the novels were good mysteries but the movies are just easy, fun films to enjoy. They aren't the best but def not the worst.

It really goes to show you that the messages film convey is important and can be done well as you've cited these two films did; there is really no excuses for sloppy stereo-typing in films but alas...it still happens.

I am now doing a marathon - one film per day - on to Part 2.

Re Part 2 - Donnie didn’t really get to shine much and gah I forgot how he died - ouch! Also didn’t remember the Taiwan storyline lol. I think part 3 may actually be my fav but let me rewatch tomorrow to confirm.

Ok am re-watching Part III and I think this one is actually my favorite. The Lion dance fight and fight scenes with the hooliganism/gangs were so good and overall the story was tight (no unnecessary side stuff) too. This one also had more re characters development with the Wong Senior + wedding jokes, Clubfoot switching sides, and made fun of its own story/genre.

Ahh A Better Tomorrow 1 is a timeless classic. I don’t remember part 2 at all but CYF is also another great HK actor. My family has a joke because my father looks kind like him - so they all joke that he is channeling his CYF lol. His series The Bund (a la Shanghai mobsters) was the first that I remember seeing when young because my Chinese grandma was a huge fan.

The holy HK actor trinity for me: Tony Leung, Jet Li, and CYF.