Search - Jet Fighter Collection: Jet Li on DVD

Not all are by Jet Li

classicalmusicfan | usa | 12/23/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This collection has four movies, fists of legends 2 is not by Jet Li,he is called Jet Le,looks taller. I am sure his face does not look like Jet Li. The picture quality is so so."

JET FIGHTER, half a fighter

H. Bala | Carson - hey, we have an IKEA store! - CA USA | 06/28/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD collection is a little shady. JET FIGHTER is credited as being a "Jet Li 4 Film Set" except that, really, it's a "Jet Li 2 Film Set." Jet Li stars in BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING and in LAST HERO IN CHINA, but JET LI: THE KUNG FU YEARS is a kung fu documentary with Jet Li barely in it, and FISTS OF LEGENDS: IRON BODYGUARDS 2 features some bloke named Jet Le (who looks even tinier than Jet Li). Dubiousness further creeps in when you learn that there's only one disc, and it applies both sides to show all four films. Quality is just about what you'd expect.

Start with the positive and that's LAST HERO IN CHINA (1993) and BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING (1994). LAST HERO IN CHINA is inspired by and also sort of parodies Jet Li's classic ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series. Here, Jet again reprises the role of doctor and martial arts teacher Master Wong Fei-Hung. There's a lot going on in this movie, starting with Wong Fei-Hung's relocation of his school to a more spacious venue. This makes him feel warm and fuzzy until he learns that he's moved right next door to a brothel. Tons of low brow levity are mined from this scenario, mostly thru the moronic schemings of two of Wong Fei-Hung's students, one of whom is this ratty-looking buck-toothed dude. In the face of such undignified carousing, Jet Li's character assumes a highly affronted demeanor, and this does make the comedy a bit funnier.

Thankfully, it's not all silly giggles as rather more hazardous plot elements eventually ensnare Wong Fei-Hung. In short order he's neck deep in depraved temple monks who deal in slave trading, and facing off against a corrupt local police chief who can't stop cackling (and who secretly belongs to the Boxer Association), and "medicine" being doled out by foreigners to Chinese children but which causes deafness. There's also a kung fu-fighting father-daughter tandem lurking about, tracking a missing family member.

LAST HERO IN CHINA boasts fantastically choreographed fight scenes, never mind that they're sped up. Jet Li is in fabulous form, and his quiet swagger is such that, in one scene, he doesn't even bother getting up off his chair as he takes on a crazed convict. He dabbles in drunken boxing, and he even sells the sequence in which he's dressed up as a fighting rooster. Jet even gets into it with the legendary Gordon Liu (who plays the evil boss monk). Min Chang, well-versed in martial arts and so easy on the eyes, also graces the screen. Her skirmish in the market square is just terrific.

There's even a very cool montage demonstrating how deafness can be cured thru the judicious use of acupuncture, and when I say "very cool montage," what I really mean is "rather silly." Another uh-oh element is that the sub-titles are sometimes hard to make out because they fade into the background. Still LAST HERO IN CHINA is very much worth watching. Be sure to stick around for the outtakes during the closing credits.

BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING (a.k.a. THE DEFENDER) is another good one. Set in contemporary Hong Kong, Hui Ching-Yang (Jet Li) is an austere government bodyguard assigned to protecting the surviving witness to a gruesome murder. Ching-Yang is forced to work with the inept local constabulary, and it doesn't make things easier that the witness happens to be this beautiful, independent-minded girl who deeply resents being holed up at home.

This one showcases Jet Li in a more melodramatic story. He even gets a crack at romance. In BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING Jet indulges more in gun play than in kung fu, but the action sequences are still highly charged. Check out the unbelievable mall segment as assassins come out of the woodwork to take out the girl witness. Bullets fly so fast and furious that, somewhere, Chow Yun Fat surely must've been wallowing in envy. Also riveting is Jet's climactic one-on-one with the head assassin. Jet even makes use of window blinds to befuddle his opponent. Good stuff, even with the bittersweet ending.

Only two things bother me. I didn't really care for the girl's annoying kid nephew. And, unless I missed something, there's an unresolved plot point, the one involving the traitor inside the bodyguard's protective unit.

JET LI: THE KUNG FU YEARS is an 85-minute-long documentary which demonstrates the various styles of kung fu, and some of the performers here will dazzle you. But if you're looking for heavy onscreen time for Jet Li, nuh-uh. He's only briefly here (about a minute, 20 seconds) as an 8-year-old boy practicing the sword, come around the 17-minute mark. This documentary looks pretty dated, but it's fun. It's just that the film title is very misleading. But there are some gems in here. There's even a demo of drunken boxing vs. monkey boxing and an amazing sequence with one old dude splitting rocks with his finger and later on enthusiastically shattering bricks over his children's skulls (they seem to take this well). This documentary also covers the more esoteric, more obscure kung fu styles (at least to western audiences) such as the eight diagram style and duck boxing.

We finally get around to FISTS OF LEGENDS: IRON BODYGUARDS 2, which is utter donkey phiss. This isn't at all a sequel to the original FIST OF LEGEND which did star the one and only, unimitate-able Jet Li. Unlike the other films, this one is dubbed in English, and dubbed atrociously. What we get here is a splice job as three quarters of the film belong to some forgotten picture shot in the '70s, with new footage (probably shot in the 1990s) jobbed in and featuring an unimpressive lead styling himself "Jet Le."

The incoherent story involves a bunch of folks attempting to overthrow the Manchu government early in the 20th century, a regime so dastardly it's fallen in cahoots with the Japanese. In the "So Awful It's Interesting" department, you note the contrast of the more dynamically staged fight scenes that were shot in the 1990s versus the stiffer styles of the '70s. The kooky thing is that the archived 1970s stuff probably would've been serviceable as its own film. It's the inserted newer stuff which provides such a jarring element. Bolo Yeung and his pecs are here, and are you at all startled that he plays a goon? It's fun watching him try to do a kip. Meanwhile, our main man "Jet Le" ends up getting ambushed by ninjas dressed up as coconuts, and I am not kidding! Paging Mystery Science Theatre 3000...

So strange it's almost cool that we almost get a Jet Li--Jean-Claude Van Damme face-off. You already know that "Jet Le" is a ripoff of the real deal, but then there's a muscly white Russian here whose character is named "Letov" except that - swear to god - it's pronounced as "Jerkov" (which, of course, sounds like something else). This dude is played by Todd Senofonte, Van Damme's body & stunt double. Senofonte captures some of Van Damme's signature movements, so if you've ever fantasized of Van Damme's getting his what handed to him by Jet Li, this may be as close as you'll get. This constitutes the best fight in this woeful picture. And I suppose I'm impressed that Senofonte does push-ups with only one finger.

There's a chance, I guess, that the archived footage may belong to a 1974 Taiwanese film titled FISTS OF LEGENDS II: IRON BODYGUARDS, except that the makers of that film, bless them, are strenuously denying it. Or that's the rumor... that I just made up. Hey, man, I'm trying to do 'em a solid."

Awesome collection

Movie Man | 11/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this back over the summer - but am only reviewing now. I've kept watching this one again and again. I love Jet Li. There are some really strong fight sequences in here. This is a must have for any Jet Li fan."