Once Upon a Time in China V

Wong Fei-Hung returns to his home province with his students and Aunt Yee, only to find the region gripped by hunger. Pirates have been raiding farming communities along the coast, and the local authorities have abandoned their posts, leaving the population to fend for itself. Wong and his companions set out to end the threat from the sea, a campaign that brings them into conflict with armed bandits and with officials who have failed the people they were meant to protect.

The film is the fifth entry in the Once Upon a Time in China series and was directed by Tsui Hark, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Lau Tai-Muk and Jason Lam Kee-To. It is the fourteenth of the thirty-one films he has directed in chronological order, following Green Snake in 1993 and preceding The Chinese Feast in 1995. Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo plays Wong Fei-Hung, with Rosamund Kwan as 13th Aunt, Max Mok Siu-Chung as Leung Foon, Kent Cheng Jak-Si as Porky Wing, Roger Kwok Chun-On as So and Xinxin Xiong as Kwai Geuk-Chat.

Released in Hong Kong in June 1994, the film runs 101 minutes and belongs to the action and drama genres. On IMDb it holds a rating of 5.9 from around 1,300 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 5.7 from a much smaller base of 58 votes; the two scores are close, suggesting a modest but consistent reception among those who have seen it.