Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Hong Kong superstar Donnie Yen brings his customary eye-popping martial arts to Andrew Lau's period action drama, Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, which revives the titular folk hero originally played by Bruce Lee in 1972's Fist of Fury. Yen also played Chen in a 1995 television series, and his reprisal here again succeeds due to his natural gravitas. Opening with an astonishing sequence that pits Chen and his Chinese allies against the Germans on a World War II battlefield, Legend of the Fist soon shuttles back to China, where Chen joins a growing resistance against the invading Japanese. Donning a black mask, he takes to the streets to wreak vigilante vengeance against the imperial forces, which have marked several prominent citizens for death. The fight sequences are naturally the high point of Legend of the Fist, with Yen incorporating elements of Lee's Jeet Kune Do system into his kinetic moves. Where the picture stumbles is in its various subplots, including a tentative romance between Chen and Shu Qi, who plays a nightclub singer with connections to the Japanese. These scenes and others lack the same energy as the fight sequences, and slow down the film's forward momentum, which pits Chen against main heel Kohata Ryu. The mix of action, politics, and emotion in Legend of the Fist doesn't work as well as Yen's Ip Man, but viewers who watch purely for Yen's extraordinary fighting won't be disappointed. The two-disc collector's edition features eight behind-the-scenes featurettes, which run in total for about 40 minutes, and cover everything from set construction to fight choreography by Yen himself. Interviews with key members of the cast and crew are also concluded, as well as original theatrical trailers and previews for other Well Go USA titles. --Paul Gaita

Synopsis:
Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: NR
Street Date: 06/14/11
Wide Screen: yes
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
LanguageENGLISH
Foreign Film: yes
Subtitlesyes
Dubbed: yes
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve Please note: This supplier will be closed on 11/24, 11/25, 12/26, 1/2 for the holidays. The shipping cut off is 12/10 to try and have the products delivered by Christmas.