Remakes are probably one of the hardest things to do in cinema. A precedent is already set, and in Fist of Fury's case, it was first done by a legend, Bruce Lee, then successfully retold by Jet Li with Fist of Legend. So Donnie Yen's 1995 attempt makes a third stab at telling the story. Made for HK TV, it was a 30 hour series.

If you are reading this and haven't seen either the Bruce Lee or Jet Li versions of this story, then you may want to see them before you see this. For those that don't know or need a refresher, the basic story is- 1930's Shanghai. Martial arts student Jun Chen returns home to find turmoil. The Japanese are in control and their martial schools have begun to usurp the Chinese schools. Jun Chens's master tries to rally the Chinese schools together, and in his efforts to prove Chinese styles superiority (the Japanese call them the "Sick Men of Asia"), he is poisoned and killed by the Japanese. As they further plot to dominate the Chinese martial world and destroy the spirit of his people, divided by his love for a Japanese girl, Yumi, and his hatred for the atrocities committed against his culture, Jun Chen soon wages an almost one man war against the Japanese.

This DVD release covers the first five episodes which created a backstory to the character, focusing on the years leading up to Jun Chen's actions in the previous films and the first edited down Tai Seng release I reviewed here. The backstory we get to see involves Jun Chen and his sister, Sui-Yeen, and the loss of their parents who are killed by a bandit. Jun Chen finds work at a lumber mill run by a cruel mobster, Master Fu, who quickly has a grudge against Jun Chen because Jun rallies the oppressed workers to defend themselves. We also get the most essential part of the story, the part that would payoff later, Jun meeting his beloved teacher Fok Yeun-gaap (Eddie Ko), fighting gangsters, and the loss of his sister. These would be the things that lead to Jun Chen becoming a proud, hardened man intent on defending the honor of his people.

Being an HK TV production, they faced a lot of limitations. Limitations in budget and production equipment. Limitations in stunt performers. Limitations of time. And, now with this DVD release, they face the limitations of having this material being edited down to an acceptable running time for the average home viewer. This collection of episodes fares much better than the first DVD release. The fighting is a much better with some neat duels between Jun and the bandit who killed his parents and a rumble with a Thai kickboxer, plus the story is engaging and the direction much more assured, thanks to Benny Chan (Gen X Cops, Who am I?, Man Wanted).

Although due to the production limitations, the Fists of Fury tv series is not an ideal Donnie Yen showcase, it is an admirable one. He did the fight choreography and while the limited budget never allows him to do much, sometimes having to choreograph and shoot an elaborate fight scene in one night or in a couple of days with non martial actors and limited stuntmen, you can still see his skill shine through. While Jun is a martial artists at the beginning, you can see a significant change in his style and range as he learns more. The fights are of the quick edit, epileptically sped up variety, but the action still has quite a few thrilling moments thanks to a neat lion dancing sequence and real martial performers like Xin Xin Xiong being cast as the villainous bandit. Yen does try to pay more of tribute to Lee than Jet Li did, aping Lee's stances, and using some Leelike dialogue, and it works, never becoming a parody.

The thing about being a Donnie Yen fan, no matter how much you love him (like I do), the sour fact is that he never really took off as a huge star or solo talent. In the industry and with fans, he has respect, has charisma, and certainly has talent on par with any of the top names in martial films, from Jet Li, to Yuen Biao, to Jackie. But, I think getting his start in the age when martial films were dying, when the true martial stars began to fade and fighting just became an element in any kind of action film, as opposed to a genre in and of itself, he never saw the chance to be a huge star. His resume is a nice blend of genres, from one of the last old school films- Drunken Tai Chi, to cop action- In the Line of Duty 4, Tiger Cage, to fantasy swordplay- Dragon Inn, Comet Butterfly and Sword, to new wave, wire fu period fighting- Wing Chun, Once Upon a Time In China 2, Iron Monkey, but in these films, his best work, he was usually a co-star or shared billing with other stars. And, his directorial efforts like Legend of the Wolf and Ballistic Kiss are entertaining b-pictures but nothing groundbreaking. Since Jun Chen is a more substantial role, ranging from cute moments with this sister, to angry fights, to rabble rousing speeches, Fist of Fury succeeds in showing his acting range much better than the one-dimensional hero/villain roles he played in other films.

The DVD: Tai Seng

Picture: Full-Screen. The transfer does fine with the materials provided, but what is provided just doesn't look astoundingly great. Its got the BETA grain, but for low budget video, the colors and contrast are adequate. I will say this, mostly likely due to Benny Chan being a good director, this editions picture/production is superior to the other Tai Seng release which covered the series last half.

Sound: Cantonese DTS, and Dolby Digital 5.1 Cantonese or English dub tracks with optional yellow English subtitles. Very good audio tracks. While pretty straightforward and a little hollow, what it lacks in dynamics it make up for in simple clarity. The sound fx is pretty generic, but, once again, when one considers it is a low budget tv production, it gets the job done.

Extras: Chapter Selections--- (Tai Seng ) Trailers for The Duel, Deadful Mealody, Fist of Fury, Kung Fu Master, Dragon Inn, Assassin--- "Making Of" featurette (21:38)Commentary by star Donnie Yen and HK film expert and Yen punching bag Bey Logan (aka The Gwailo God of HK Action DVD Commentary). Just like the first release, the commentary is very engaging, casual and informative, and is a definite plus.

Conclusion: If you are a Donnie Yen groupie, this is a very entertaining release. Certainly those fans of Fist of Legend and the original Fist of Fury interested in getting a take on the characters possible past will want to check it out. The DVD is fine and the addition of a nice commentary track should make it a must have for anyone who considers themselves a Donnie Yen fan.