Once Upon a Time in China (1991)

I love this movie so much

What makes it different from others?

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

kung fu movie fans argue who is the best and what are the classic movies, and i'm sorry but jackie chan with his slapstick acrobatics resembling kung fu is not it. i am a fan of jackie chan movies and some of them are quite entertaining but the moves are more acrobatic( he trained in peking opera ), and not wushu based. jet li on the other hand was actually a world champion for a few years in the late 70's and early 80's and actually fought in underground fights. you can tell by the way they move through the action.i rate this as in the top 5 all-time greats of kung fu movies. i personally must have seen this movie at least 20 times over the years and it never gets boring. this is one of the few kung fu movies which stands on its own as also an epic movie and with the kung fu it woulld have been a very good movie also. tsui hark was able to create an epic movie with a tenth of the budget of an American blockbuster epic, which is incredible!the movie itself is based on loose fiction and a lot of the stuff happening really did happened. china at the time was in great turmoil and foreign nations were using this as an excuse to divide china up amongst themselves. this is the backdrop of the story and what a story it is.with jet li in the lead all the fight scenes were meticulously done and there were also 2 jaw-dropping fight scenes which you have to see to believe. the sets were so beautiful and mostly true to that period. instead of slapstick we get real wushu and there was actually a back story to this movie. this is one of 2 movies that defined jet li, the other one being " shaolin temple ", but that one even though its also very famous , it is very low budget and looks it.i just have 2 minor gripes about the movie: 1)the pistols are from like the 1600's, the rifles from 1700's 2)when you see the soles of the fathers shoes you could tell those shoes did not exist in the 1800's.if you call yourself a kung fu movie fan then this movie is a must see!

Two of my favorite films are "One Upon a Time in America" and Once Upon a Time in the West." So naturally, I would be attracted to this film just to see if it matches the others. It does.Jet Li stars as the legendary Chinese hero Wong Fei-Hong. He is fighting against intruders from the West. Yep, invading armies like us. The people of China are not going to give in. He is asked to train the locals in kung fu. Things get complicated with the arrival of Wong's "Aunt" Yee (Rosamund Kwan), just back from a two-year stay in the West. She is not really his Aunt, so romance simmers between the two.There are plenty of evildoers in this film. Gangs looking for protection money, corrupt government officials (no surprise there!), and those nasty foreigners. You will want to watch this film more than once. Jet Li's performance, coupled with his kung fu wizardry, carries the viewer through any shaky patches. The fight scenes are the main attraction, of course, and the film delivers the goods again and again.

Eyes and ears. The movie is very stylish. Costumes, choreography, music - everything is fine.Mind. This film has rich national atmosphere and it is done sensibly. This movie doesn't present itself like kidstuff and does not relies of cheap plagiarism. It's original and therefore does not make a viewer's mind melt under the influence of "pop-culture" for masses.Heart. The point of the film when one person sacrifices his life for another (even for a stranger) is carried out quite well. There are many touching moments, which at the same time do not make the whole production feel too melodramatic.Overall quality. It's of the same quality as American "Gone with the Wind", Japanese "When the Last Sword is Drawn", and Russian "War and Piece". Of course, only the American movie is on the top 250 list now. If anybody starts to chat about kung fu movies disrespectfully, this title is to be mentioned to cool the chatter-box down a bit.The positive Chinese characters are provided with powerful looks (mind the haircuts, and as to Mrs Rosamund Kwan - she is orientally beautiful as always), righteous behaviour (cannot help admire the doctor's self-control), and insane stamina (to survive in such hostile surroundings seems to be impossible but the heroes live). The evil European characters in the movie are also well cut: they are disgustingly vindictive, their gestures and face expressions are sodden with contempt and hostility. They treat Chinese folks like cannon-fodder and some kind of dim-witted aborigines. And that character trying to fight the doctor in the restaurant is a memorable baddie ("Tiger"?). The doctor could whip him real hard but... And as a good add-on, there are Chinese baddies with bad looks, bad attitude, and bad behaviour.The follow-ups have no such quality - at least the second installation did not impress me much: its ridiculous wirework put me off instantly.It deserves a 10 out of 10 - a gem in its genre. Thank you for attention.

Once Upon A Time In China is a good and ambitious movie with generally good performances. However, it also has boring parts and is, I think, generally a bit overrated. I rate this movie a 7 out of 10, and I have to say it is not as good as, say, Last Hero In China, or even Fong Sai Yuk.I am certainly a big fan of Wong Fei Hung (not to mention Jet Li and Yuen Biao!), but the problem with this movie is that it tries to be both a history movie and an action movie, and because of the disturbing influence of each of these elements upon the other, it doesn't quite succeed in being either one or the other. There isn't enough kung fu in it to be a really good kung fu movie, and the history is not quite treated seriously enough for it to be a really good history movie.I'd recommend watching Tai Chi II (a.k.a. Tai Chi Boxer, from 1996) for a movie that extremely successfully blends humor, history and brilliant kung fu. It is far superior to this one.