Jet Li's Fearless [WS] [Unrated/Theatrical]

Director: Ronny Yu Ronny Yu

Overview

Fearless opens in Shanghai, China, circa 1910, when wushu master Huo Yuanjia (martial arts superstar Jet Li) prepares to battle one Japanese opponent, Tanaka (Shidou Nakamura), and three American opponents (Anthony de Longis, Jean-Claude Leuyer, and Brandon Rhea) in a massive tournament. The picture then cuts back to Huo's boyhood in the city of Tianjin, in North China, circa 1880, when his father forbids him from engaging in martial-arts training. He must therefore slip off and train covertly. Around 1900, Huo -- then in his twenties -- continues to fight in tournaments. His determination is such that his entire life begins to revolve around championships, and the prospect of becoming the top-ranked fighter in Tianjin turns into a die-hard obsession, despite the repeated warnings of his best friend, Nong (Dong Yong), to cut back. Huo ignores these admonitions, then turns conceited and ultimately refuses to hear an additional word of caution, until his arrogance leads to the death of a fighter and Nong's decision to abandon him as a friend. Driven into exile, Huo journeys to southeastern Asia, where he works alongside rice farmers and divests himself of conceit, then gently touches the spirit of a blind girl. When he finally returns to Tianjin, he has transformed, internally, into a different person altogether. A huge hit in Hong Kong when originally released into theaters in 2006, Fearless was often touted as Jet Li's final film in the wushu school of martial arts. The picture is based on the real-life story of Huo Yuanjia, founder of the Jingwu school of martial arts.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/19/2006
UPC:	0025193168320
Original Release:	2006
Rating:	NR
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:44:00
Sales rank:	51,275

Special Features

A Fearless Journey: Join Jet Li as he explains the making of this definitive martial arts epic; Deleted scene ; Includes original theatrical version

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jet Li	Huo Yuanjia,Actor
Shido Nakamura	Anno Tanaka
Dong Yong	Nong Jinsun
Paw Hee Ching	Yuanjia's Mother
Yun Qu	Grandma
Nathan Jones	Hercules O'Brien
Brandon Rhea	German Fighter
Anthony De Longis	Spanish Fighter
Jean Claude Leuyer	English Boxer
Mike Leeder	Referee
Collin Chou	Yuanjia's Father
Jon T. Benn	American Businessman
John Paisley	English Businessman
Philippe Millieret	French Businessman
Chen Zhihui	Chin
Scott Ma	Zhou
Yi Shixiong	Liu Zhensheng
Chen Fusheng	Xu Dashan
Zheng Shiming	Xia Xiang
Lu Yuhao	Huo Yuanjia as a Child
Zhu Qilong	Nong Jinsun as a Child
Shang Yapeng	Zhou as a Child
Qi Wang	Gui
He Ju	Town Idiot
Xu Ailing	Jade
He Sirong	Chin's Wife
Ma Yin	Chin's Daughter
Li Jun	Judge
Qian Yi	Phony Westerner
Ma Jing	Yuanjia's Disciple
Wei Binghua	Yuanjia's Disciple
Zhao Tieying	Yuanjia's Disciple
Xu Yonghai	Yuanjia's Disciple
Song Shuo	Yuanjia's Disciple
Liu Licheng	Ah-Qiang
Sun Leqiu	Accountant
Shu Jian	Short Twin Brother
Betty Sun	Yueci
Jacky Cheung	Actor
Jacky Heung	Actor
Zhi-hui Chen	Chin
Masato Harada	Mita
Dave Mallow	Voices
Shigeru Umebayashi	Composer

Technical Credits

Chris Chow

Christine To

Richard Epcar

¿¿

Ronny Yu	Director,Producer
Chris Chow	Screenwriter
Christine To	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Richard Epcar	Screenwriter
Bill Kong	Producer
Jet Li	Producer
Buting Yang	Producer
Bo-Chu Chui	Producer
Bobbi Banks	Sound Effects
Nancy Barker	Sound Effects
Bill R. Dean	Sound Effects
¿¿	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Since Fearless was hyped as Jet Li's last-ever martial arts film, it has a lot to prove from the minute the titles roll. Such a bold announcement might inspire cynical viewers to roll their eyes at what would appear to be a blatant PR move, but Fearless proves itself to be a graceful and earnest attempt at the most literally definitive wushu (martial arts) film ever made. A fictionalized account of the life of turn-of-the century martial artist Huo Yuanjia, the narrative injects Huo's story with classic elements of rise-fall-and-redemption fables in order to emphasize the already-momentous effect that Huo's career had on China's precarious cultural identity at a time when Western powers were subjugating and exploiting the Chinese people on a massive scale. The choices work beautifully; when Huo's hedonism as a successful fighter leads him to lose everything, the film reaches a crux that in countless chop-socky kung fu movies has set the protagonist with nothing left to lose on a path of revenge. But here, the hero's fate is carried along a more meaningful current, and he eventually awakens to the bounty of what he still has to fight for: his nation. It becomes clear that Fearless is meant in many ways to remind the Chinese people of their cultural and historical character, but this doesn't detract from its more universal message about the true meaning of wushu -- that its purpose is to better oneself for the help and protection of others. It's very impressive that even as Huo learns to extinguish animosity between China's wushu schools and encourage competitive fighting between them only as a means of inner exploration, the film's depiction of how wushu fighters approach their matches with foreigners does not become prejudicial. On the contrary, despite the movie's portrayal of how exploitive and racist many foreign powers were, it also illustrates how any fighter who understands the truth behind wushu is capable of overcoming dishonesty and corruption -- and that this is just as true for members of the nations that are otherwise abusive to China. The overall feel of Fearless is relatively distinct in Li's filmography. Its epic, sweeping mood stands in contrast to Li's adrenaline-fueled action thrillers like The One, but despite its grandness and scale, it never reaches the fanciful, almost magical nature of Hero. The end product is almost perfectly balanced, proving that even if Li's promised retirement from martial arts films was indeed an honest attempt to leave the genre as accurately defined as possible, it was still a successful marketing tool because as deftly as Fearless accomplishes Li's goal, it also leaves us hoping that someday soon he'll be inspired to come out of retirement.