5. Wong Fei Hung Vs Iron Robe Yim (Once Upon a Time in China)
Both Jet Li and Yuen Wo Ping have given the world many and more great fight scenes that utilise wire work. What makes this scene so spectacular is how high-concept it is visually. Rather than defy the laws of gravity for the sake of it, the stakes are raised and so are a ton of bamboo ladders. Don't get me wrong, gravity and physics certainly have little place in Tsui Hark's turn of the century epic but when two guys are facing off while jumping about on ladders you soon forget about such insignificant trivialities as up being up and down being down. Wong Fei Hung was the role that defined Jet Li's career and it is a shadow that took him years to step out of. You will see him play similar roles in other films such as Fearless, Fong Sai Yuk (The Legend in some countries) and the fantastic Fist of Legend, but no character was quite such a good fit for the Beijing born Wu Shu legend. Jet Li's poise and acrobatic abilities lend his films a unique and beautiful grace but credit must in fact be mainly given to Xin Xin Xiong, Jet Li's stunt double. You see, Jet Li actually broke his leg earlier in the shooting and sadly in Hong Kong the show will go on with or without the star. As a result, most of the fights were filmed with Xin Xin doubling for Li and if you pay close attention you can quite clearly see that it isn't Jet Li. Still, that is really insignificant as the performance is still amazing and while it would be great if Jet Li had done his own fighting, he couldn't. That break nearly ended his career and it was only the huge success of the movie that persuaded him not to kick it in.......pun somewhat intended. Back to the fight. The tense and somewhat sad confrontation between Wong Fei Hung and Master Yim works well dramatically as well as kick asserly. Master Yim is poor and the only way to get students would be to beat the best. In this case, the best is Wong Fei Hung. Sadly, Master Yim isn't even close and gets a royal smackdown. Even tricksy hair blades can't stop Wong Fei Hung when he is trying to save his distantly related Aunt who he is in love with..............it's not actually incest, they aren't blood relatives. The choreography is a good balance of real world kung fu (such as Wong Fei Hung's famous Hung Gar style) and fantasy martial arts. Fei Hung's legendary shadowless kick for example has evolved from a simple kick (whilst distracting with a hand technique) to around 12 consecutive kicks in mid air. While spinning. Still, as far as movie making spectacle is concerned it has no equal.