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Jet Li, Erkang Zhao, Jia Song, Kurt Roland Pettersson, Dean Harrington ... see more see more... , Kurt Roland Petersson , Paulo Tocha

Produced in Mainland China by Sil-Metropole, this action picture marked the first directorial work by international martial arts icon Jet Li. He also stars in the film as a young kung-fu expert who fi... read more read more...ghts back against the heartless American soldiers routinely bullying the Chinese populace in the days after World War II (needless to say, the film's viewpoint is slanted in an extremely anti-Western direction bordering on agitprop). First beating one loud-mouthed sailor in a kickboxing contest, the valiant Li gives his prize money to the poor and becomes a rickshaw driver. The Americans destroy his rickshaw and trick Li into allowing himself to become a sparring partner for their fighting practice, a setup engineered with the aim of repeatedly beating the cocky Chinaman to a bloody pulp. The climax of the setup occurs in a driving torrential rain, as he is pitted against the huge Navy captain, and their battle results in a large-scale melee as Li improbably defeats his towering foe. To punish his impudence, the Americans then murder two of Li's friends and frame him for the slayings, setting up the hero's inevitable jailbreak and retaliatory triumph. The film's structure is aimed at portraying all the Americans as vicious sadists, so Li spends a majority of the 92-minute running time being savagely beaten, only to repeatedly come back for more and emerge victorious. Zhao Erkang co-stars with Song Jia and the hulking Kurt Roland Pettersson, whom one might suspect would get the better of Li in a real fight. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

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61% liked it

5,406 ratings

R, 1 hr. 31 min.

Directed by: Jet Li

Release Date: January 1, 1986

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DVD Release Date: May 11, 2004

Stats: 128 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (128)

  • binky013
    January 18, 2011
    binky013
    I'm giving this three stars, but I can't recommend it

    unless

    you can get a copy that isn't English dubbed. I don't know if there are DVD copies that offer Cantonese and/or Mandarin, but the one I received from Netflix offered English dubbing only. This is very disappoin

    ... read moreting. Fortunately, it's only the second time this has happened, but I really do wish that Netflix would say right up front that English dubbing is the only audio option; I would never have rented it.

    It's not just Cantonese and/or Mandarin language films where this is a problem either. ANY non-English language film made should be offered in the original language. English dubbing always distorts the original and almost always dumbs it down.

    I repeat, do NOT see this film UNLESS you can find it with the audio option of the original language.
  • Jossepi
    October 21, 2009
    Jossepi
    This film is directed by Jet Li himself trying to follow the legacy of Bruce Lee's older films where he tried to correct the soldiers.
  • Chosen718
    December 28, 2007
    Chosen718
    Great film, kinda reminded me of Rocky a little...I don't know why.
  • technopoodle
    February 27, 2009
    technopoodle
    This was actually pretty good.Though i'm not all for the all dubs no subs option.lol
    Gah Jet looks so young here! And he totally kicks butt! lol great action kungfu movie!
  • kingmob6
    February 24, 2008
    kingmob6
    Uncomfortably racist in that ALL white people are portrayed as bullying thugs who are in the film to subjugate the Chinese people at every turn, the actual fight scenes are pretty decent.

    A rental at best.

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Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy
November 5, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

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  • Which one of his movies did Jet Li direct?  Answer »
  • To date the only film Jet Li has directed (as well as starred in) is?  Answer »
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