ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (Eureka Classics)

This movie keeps you on your toes and absolutely makes you want to learn Kung Fu- and practice your newly 'obtained' skills on all your friends; and your girlfriend, especially!Loved every minute of this film!

Once Upon A Time In China was one of many Chinese films to feature Wong Fei-Hunt (Jet Li) who was a symbol of Chinese nationalism against the incursion of foreigners in the 1800s. This was the first in a series of films directed by Tsui Hark. While there’s plenty of great action sequences and comedy as well it suffers from a meandering plot.Wong’s role as a protector of Chinese pride is shown in the first scene. Wong is on a Chinese navy ship watching a lion dance when French soldiers in another ship start shooting at them and kill one of the dancers. Wong jumps into action, catching the flying lion’s head and continues the routine. The host of the festivities, a Chinese general then complains about all the foreigners coming to take over China’s ports and surrounding countries. He asks Wong to continue training the Black Flag Army and prepare it for any conflagration with the outsiders.The problems with the West is emphasized throughout the film. Wong for instance goes to the authorities to complain about the foreign ships constantly shooting and mistreating the Chinese. Instead he’s told he has no authority and the government is carrying out a Westernization policy which means keeping good relations with the foreigners was paramount. That should have been the main plot but it wasn’t.Instead they throw in the side shows like Foon (Yuen Biao) who wants to be Wong’s disciple and all the trouble he causes. He provides the laughs. Wong’s 13th Aunt (Rosamund Kwan) returns from America to provide some romance. There’s also a gang that’s out to get Wong. They leads to the action. Then another Kung Fu master arrives challenging Wong which provides a rival. It turns out there is no real story other than Wong being a hero dealing with different situations that come at him.C

This movie is in Cantonese, so turn on closed captioning to get English subtitles. Excellent film about a legendary martial artist and doctor named Wong Fei Hung, who is famous for protecting the rights of Chinese people during foreign occupations of Chinese territories. He was a well respected man in his community. In this movie, he has a school that trains students in kung fu and medicine. He does not like how westerners abuse and manipulate the Chinese, such as Americans lying to people about signing and paying to go to America only to learn that it is all a lie. One Chinese man jumped off the American ship to then describe to Wong Fei Hung the horrors of Chinese tossed off the ship into the ocean if they got sick, and the lack of food and pay when they arrive to the United Staes. Wong Fei Hung tries to negotiate for Chinese rights, but also have Chinese enemies who envy his popularity and the respect he receives. Excellent fight scenes throughout the movie and great story.

This boxset was my first experience with Jet Li's older movies. For the most part, I had only seen him in the small bad guy roles in movies like "Lethal Weapon." I wanted to get to know more of his movies where he was lead actor and what had made him famous. This was a very good start. The boxset is a very good set I must say. You get to see life portrayed in distant but not ancient China. And you get to see Jet Li portray the life of Wong Fei Hong. It was funny watching "Ip man 2, where a man mentions that the kung fu teachers he is fighting are not "Wong Fei Hong." It is a good story. Good set of movies. Wong Fei Hong has his students, who have lives as vendors on the street when they are not practicing. Some of the antics are pretty funny. But everyone comes together to defend each other and, later, Chinese women who are being shipped off to America for Prostitution. So the movies have historical accuracy as well. It shows people who are dedicated to certain ideals and the practice of Kung fu. I wish I could have the life and dedication that his students have with him as a teacher. Life, kung fu, and each other. The 4th movie, "Once upon a time in China and America", has Fei Hong traveling to America to see a student that set up a store in America for the Chinese there. They meet a strange, lost American gunfighter that they befriend and who helps them fight back when the sheriff in the town says the Chinese stole some money. It is a set up of course. But everything turns out alright in the end.It is a great set of movies that I thoroughly enjoyed. The shipping estimate said around a month or so to get them. But they arrived within 15 days (have to check exactly) way sooner than was stated. They were professionally wrapped and protected, so the box is in new condition.

if your a jet fan you should watch this. You will see how much better the movies got with time. Same old story line. Good guy lets bad guys kill many many inocents before he will do anything. always takes they holier than thou attitude and never kills anyone until half the town is killed off than takes action... hard to buy into but is a staple of the asian flics

okay yes it is bluray but i have never seen it so sharp and detailed the picture fairly jumps off the screen at you on my 100 inch screen it is just pristine one of jet li.s masterpieces there are few to compare the action is fast the pace is not also this is uncut having seen this i never knew so much was left out equip yourself and strap yourself in prepare to be mesmerized by doing it right

Grabbed the boxset from Eureka and once again, looks great in Blu Ray. The boxset also includes Once Upon A Time In China And America as a bonus movie.Has a few extras like a Wong Fei Hung documentary, few interviews, commentary and more.Shame Yuen Biao wasn’t given more screen time to showcase his amazing skills, but maybe that was done to make sure he didn’t outshine the lead, Jet Li.

Set in late 19th century Canton this martial arts film depicts the stance taken by the legendary martial arts hero Wong Fei-Hung (1847-1924) against foreign forces' (English, French and American) plundering of China. When Aunt Yee arrives back from America totally westernised, Wong Fei-Hung assumes the role of her protector. This proves to be difficult when his martial arts school and local militia become involved in fierce battles with foreign and local government. As violence escalates even Aunt Yee has to question her new western ideals, but is it possible to fight guns with Kung Fu?

The Cantonese dub is in MONO only whereas the dubbed audio is 5.1I really wanted to Cantonese dub but was unaware it was MONO

Featuring some of the best action sequences ever filmed in Hong Kong action cinema, this is one of Jet Li's finest films and the best film in the Once Upon a Time in China series. I remember seeing bits of this film on television back the late 1990s on Channel 4. I wanted to see the film again but it has not been on television since. Recently I bought this from Amazon and saw the film in its entirety for the first time. I was blown away by its breathtaking fight scenes especially the climatic ladder fight scene. Yuen Biao also appears in a supporting role and gets to show his amazing acrobatic skills. I only wish he was in the film more as I felt he was underused.Fans of Jet Li's American work like Romeo Must Die and Kiss of the Dragon should see what Hong Kong action cinema can do as this is 100 times better than any of Li's american films.

Jet Li classic series.