Gordon Chan’s 1994 martial arts masterpiece starring Jet Li, the Hong Kong-produced movie Fist of Legend, is surely one of the genre’s best for all-out action. The film is a remake of 1972’s Fist of Fury, which features Bruce Lee. However, the 1990s version takes things to another level in fighting terms, thanks to pioneering choreography from cinematic martial arts specialist Yuen Woo-ping.

Yuen choreographed several stunning dojo-based combat sequences throughout Fist of Legend, in which Jet Li demonstrates his mastery of Chinese Qin Na and Mizong Fist martial arts techniques. Li, who was just 30 years of age at the time the movie was sH๏τ, plays Chen Zhen, a young martial artist who goes to university in Kyoto, Japan. However, most of the action takes place in and around the hallowed Jingwu School of martial arts in Shanghai, China. There could be no better or more appropriate setting for one of the greatest martial arts movies of modern times.

Fist Of Legend Is Filled With Great Action From Start To Finish

The Fight Scenes Begin Seconds Into The Movie

Starting at breakneck speed with a fight in which Chen Zhen demolishes an entire cohort of Kyoto martial artists, Fist of Legend is arguably Jet Li’s single best collection of movie fight scenes. The action never lets up, with Li entering into a scintillating head-to-head against the character who killed his master within the movie’s first 15 minutes. Li’s Chen Zhen defeats Akutagawa with the Huaquan fist technique inside 60 seconds, displaying his trademark lightning reflexes to the shock and awe of Jingwu’s dojo. This scene is just one of several in which Li shows off his mastery of various techniques.

What elevates Fist of Legend to an even higher level as a martial arts movie is its integration of wall-to-wall action into a compelling story in which Li’s character must fight for his relationship with a Japanese classmate to be accepted in both their countries. The scene in which his girlfriend’s father agrees to teach Chen Zhen the legendary Mizong Fist, having finally accepted him, is almost as good as the climactic action that follows. Combining the wisdom he takes from his new father figure with an epic training sequence, Li’s character is prepared for the finale of a lifetime.

Yuen Woo-ping Is The Main Reason Behind Fist Of Legend’s Amazing Fight Scenes

The Choreographer Was Already A Kung Fu Movie Great Before Fist Of Legend

Working Jet Li’s incredible abilities as a martial artist into a choreographed onscreen performance is no mean feat, especially given just how fast Li could move at his peak. But he met his match in choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, who’d been directing and choreographing kung fu cinema since the early 1970s. Yuen Woo-ping directed some of the best martial arts movies around, including the 1978 kung fu masterclass Drunken Master, starring Jackie Chan.

Following Fist of Legend, with its landmark final fight scene between Jet Li and Billy Chow, Yuen Woo-ping went on to prove his worth as a choreographer to directors of other genres. His work appears in everything from The Matrix to Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, and he was the fighting consultant behind perhaps the greatest of all martial arts movies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Still, none of these films feature a fighter on the level of Li, which places Fist of Legend a cut above them for genre purists.