Fist of Legend

Fist of Legend is a Hong Kong martial arts action film set in Shanghai in 1937, as the Sino-Japanese War begins. Chen Zhen, a Chinese engineering student who has been studying in Tokyo, returns to the martial arts school where he trained after learning that his old master has died. The official account says the master lost a fight against a champion of a rival Japanese karate school, but Chen does not accept it. He investigates and finds evidence of murder, which puts him on a collision course with the Japanese military presence in the city. Among those around him are the master's son, a Japanese martial arts teacher who becomes an ally, and Mitsuko Yamada, a Japanese woman close to Chen.

Jet Li plays Chen Zhen, the role made famous by Bruce Lee, and also produced the film, with Dante Lam. The director is Gordon Chan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Lan Kay Toa and Kim Yip Kwong-Kim. It was Chan's fifth film as director, after King of Beggars and two Fight Back to School comedies. Shinobu Nakayama, Chin Siu-ho, Billy Chow, Yasuaki Kurata and Paul Chun round out the cast.

The film was made for about 2 million dollars and took roughly the same amount at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds 7.5 out of 10 from around 27,000 votes; on TMDB it has 7.5 out of 10 from a much smaller base of 636 votes. A critics' rating of 7.9 out of 10 from 10 reviews is slightly higher than either audience figure.