This may be controversial, being a remake of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury (aka. The Chinese Connection) however, for my money Fist of Legend has much better fight scenes. Sure Lee's version is a better film and far more iconic but Jet Li's collaboration with Yuen Wo Ping makes for some insanely good fight scenes. The director intentionally made the sets with low ceilings to restrict the amount of wire work that Yuen Wo Ping could use, forcing him to choreograph more grounded scenes and you know what, we are all the better for it. You see, we've seen Yuen Wo Ping's amazing wire work. It has made its way onto this list twice already. Fist of Legend is one of the rare opportunities to see Yuen Wo Ping in his prime basing his work on his actors and stunt men, not his wire rigs. The results are mind blowing. You are grabbed from the get go as Jet Li breaks arms, legs and even faces when fighting some Japanese karate bullies and the film doesn't let you go until Jet Li faces his ultimate test; Billy Chow in uniform. There is a reason Billy Chow was the go to bad guy throughout the 90s, the guy is a power house. His style is based on karate but the power and brutality he brings to the fight are more akin to Muay Thai. Jet Li's Chen Zhen however has adopted a modernised fighting style, influenced by western boxing and Japanese karate as well as traditional kung fu. So between Li hopping about like a light weight and Chow kicking trees in half and throwing his considerable size advantage around, we get an epic scrap. Yes there are a few moments of fantasy; a Liu Kang style wheel kick that turn into a backflip kick for example. Still, much of the action is just based on the skills the actors have brought to the table. For me, it is Jet Li's phenominal speed that impresses me the most. His hands become a blur as he deffends and counters the heavy blows from Chow. The fight ends with an awesome belt vs katana showdown that takes tradition rope dart techniques and actually finds a practical use for them. Well done Yuen Wo Ping, well done.
