Once Upon a Time in China IV

Set in late Qing-dynasty China, when foreign powers hold sway along the coast, Once Upon a Time in China IV centres on the martial artist and physician Wong Fei Hung. Having earned renown by winning a lion dance contest, he is invited to represent his country at an international competition arranged in Shanghai by the allied foreign concessions. He accepts, seeing the event as a chance to uphold Chinese dignity, but the contest is not his only problem: nationalist feeling is running high, and a militant group hostile to foreign influence on the one hand and to outsiders of any kind on the other pushes him into a second, more dangerous struggle. His disciples stand with him throughout.

The film is the fourth entry in the series, directed by Yuen Bun, who took over the chair from Tsui Hark; Tsui Hark wrote the screenplay with Elsa Tang Bik-Yin and produced alongside Ng See-Yuen and Raymond Chow Man-Wai. Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo plays Wong Fei Hung, with Jean Wang Ching-Ying as May, Max Mok Siu-Chung as Leung Foon, and Xinxin Xiong, Billy Chow Bei-Lei and Chin Ka-Lok among the supporting cast. Released in June 1993, it took in about 12 million US dollars worldwide, a modest return by the standards of the earlier films. On TMDB it holds a rating of 5.8 from 63 votes, indicating a muted response from the audience.