Movie:
Fist of Legend, originally released as Jing wu ying xiong in 1994, was directed by Gordon Chan (screenplay) and Woo-ping Yuen (martial arts). The movie is a remake of Bruce Lee's The Chinese Connection and stars Jet Li as Chen. While the film was released previously by Buena Vista, it was both dubbed and cut - approximately three minutes of footage was taken out. This disc, from Ritek in Taiwan, is both uncut and playable in all region players.

When Chen learns that his martial arts master has been killed in combat, he returns to China to pay his respects. But tensions between the Japanese and Chinese are high, as Japan has occupied China. Chen soon discovers that his master was poisoned, and because of that, the master of the Japanese school, Akutagawa, was able to defeat him. Akutagawa soon turns up dead and Chen is blamed for his murder. Sure to be convicted, Mitsuko, Chen's friend from Japan, shows up and tells the court that they were together that night. Because of her nationality, Chen is ousted from his school. Chen refuses to let this stop him and continues his search for the parties responsible for his master's death.

I had previously only seen the English dubbed version of Fist of Legend, so getting to see the film with subtitles and uncut was a real treat. Many people argue that Fist of Legend is one of the best Hong Kong films ever, and I'd have to agree with them. The martial arts in the film are simply some of Jet Li's finest work and the plot, while confusing at times, elevates the film above the simple "revenge" storylines other kung-fu movies usually have.

Picture:
Fist of Legend is presented in approximately 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen. Simply put, the transfer shows lots of wear. Print defects such as specks, marks, lines, and scratches all appear throughout to various degrees. Some grain also is visible, as is a bit of shimmer. The print appears "smeared" a few times, most notably in chapter 8 after the fight. Colors are mostly natural in appearance, though at times, are muted. There is also some color bleeding, though it is mostly confined to the nighttime scenes. Flesh tones occasionally appear too orange. Blacks, while decent, often suffer from the color bleeding.

Sound:
Fist of Legend is presented in Dolby 2.0 Stereo in Mandarin with non-removable white subtitles in English and Chinese. Though the film was originally presented in Cantonese, this release does not contain that track; it does, however, have the film's original music. The track is not problem-free, though, as there is some distortion in the language in a few scenes. The subtitles, while understandable, don't make complete sense, and occasionally, they run off the screen.

Extras:
There are no extras on the disc – the menu is the chapter select screen.

Summary:
Fist of Legend is a superb martial arts film that no fan of the genre or Jet Li should miss. Though the presentation is lacking, this release is the only DVD that presents the movie uncut and with more accurate subtitles. Even though this DVD is officially out of print, HKFLIX.com has gotten a limited amount in stock, so those interested might want to move quickly – but be warned, the price is rather steep. I highly recommend the film, even if you have to watch Buena Vista's version.