Jet Li Lianjie is one of the greatest martial arts action movie stars of our time having won multiple Wushu competitions and spending a brief period of his life as a Shaolin monk before debuting on the big screen in 1982's The Shaolin Temple and later his most recognizable role as Chinese folk-hero Wong Fei-Hung in the Once Upon a Time in China series. Earning his nickname "Jet" through his unrivaled speed during his Beijing Wushu days and a certain movie promotion in the Philippines, Li's authentic background in many styles of Kung Fu including Changquan (Northern Long Fist) and Fanziquan (Rotating Fist) has given him a stylish form unlike audiences have ever seen. So here are my 12 favorite Jet Li fight scenes.
#12. The One (2001)
(closing sequence of Yulaw proclaiming to an entire planet populated by prisoners that he is "nobody's bitch!")
Jet Li made his Hollywood debut as the villain of Lethal Weapon 4 before given the opportunity to co-star as one of the heroes in Romeo Must Die and Cradle 2 The Grave. 2001's The One takes his ability in performing along both sides of the moral line by allowing him to play both the main protagonist Law as well as his power-hungry doppelgänger from an alternate dimension Yulaw (creatively named?). Having killed and attained the essence of all other versions of himself throughout the multiverse, Yulaw locates his last variant Law which if also absorbed of his life energy would grant Yulaw the status of "The One", a nigh omnipotent multiversal being. Aided by two agents from the MultiVerse Authority, one played by Jason Statham, Law must stop his interdimensional alter ego. The two are evenly matched as Law himself being only one of two variants left shares the speed, strength, and martial arts prowess of Yulaw with Yulaw having easily handled an entire team of futuristically armed soldiers and stopping two full-speed police motorbikes with his bare palms. Jet Li's role was almost given to Dwayne Johnson when he was still fresh out of his WWE persona. But our timeline decided to give a chance to the less menacing eyebrows of Li instead. I'm sure somewhere out there in a parallel universe The Rock made a hell of an action flick appearing alongside Jason Statham for the first time rather than waiting years to team up in the Fast & Furious franchise. But in our reality we got Jet Li granting us some entertaining kung fu twin-sanity.
Each multiversal clone uses a combat form that matches their distinct personality. Yulaw's more belligerent nature is expressed through his particular martial art Xinyiquan (shape-intent fist) applying aggressive direct linear attacks. Only later does Law learn to counter Yualw's style of choice by using Baguazhang (Eight Trigrams Palm), the polar opposite style utilizing softer, circular movements evoking Law's belief in a harmony and balance among all living things. Both are internal Chinese martial arts that focus more on one's qi, or internal spiritual strength, rather than the physical external strength of the body. Xing Yi emphasizes more explosive short-range power while Baguazhang relies more on redirecting the opponent's energy. Gabe tries defeating Yulaw with conventional kung fu including some intense foot fighting but is beaten by Yulaw who continually rebounds with powerful counterattacks taking the fight off the catwalk and onto the ground floor. Gabe finally switches to his Bagua style allowing him to evade Yulaw's blows and return them in kind in a slow-mo sequence with sparks raining down from above. Various stunt doubles were used utilizing green facial paint to digitally recreate Jet Li's face on the double. Choreographing this doppleganger duel is Corey Yuen, a long-time collaborator of Jet Li's as well as stunt coordinator Gary Hymes turning what could've been a mediocre sci-fi action film into a more memorable American martial arts movie. Jet Li declined to play the part of Seraph in The Matrix trilogy so one can only speculate that this bullet-time beatdown is how he might've approached the role as not only Seraph but even that of Neo since The One does see Li as...The One, a title now more famously associated with Keanu Reeves. But in another corner of our multiverse, the iconic martial arts messiah might've been Jet Li....
#11. Black Mask (1996)
(English Re-Sound)
Adapted from the 1992 manhua (Chinese comic) of the same name, Jet Li's character is a vigilante donning a domino mask similar to and as a homage to Bruce Lee's character Kato from the Green Hornet TV series. Li is an ex-supersoldier leading a peaceful existence as a librarian when members of his former supersoldier squad, The 701, go on a murderous rampage bringing Li to handle them personally in secret. There are only a few Jet Li films featuring heavy gunplay and this is one of them. But there are still plenty of hand-to-hand fights including the final fight which starts with a 701 solider played by world Taekwondo champion Mike Lambert (who you'll see again later on this list) executing some excellent kicking combos and even wielding a wrist blade all while a wall-mounted laser turret fires at Li. Then comes the final boss; the commander of the rogue 701 team played by Hong Kong actor Patrick Lung Kong who is not only a capable hand-to-hand combatant but also throws everything he has in his high-tech weapons arsenal at Jet Li such as an extremely high-powered rifle that leaves spiraled smoke trails in the air, a long severed electrical cord, and even poison gas. To avoid electrocution from the water below, Li does an awesome splits that would make even Jean-Claude Van Damme proud and later uses a CD like a makeshift shuriken.
As is common with many 90s' Hong Kong martial arts movies, the 1999 US re-release English dub featured a Hip Hop soundtrack along with "updated" yet much softer sound effects. Hong Kong purists would obviously favor the original dub however old and new fans alike would agree that legendary action director Yuen Woo-Ping as well as martial arts directors Ku Huen-Chiu and Dion Lam have made a chaotically fun semi-computer generated fight sequence that takes wuxia-style wire-fu into a more modern sci-fi setting. 38 days were needed to film this fight scene with the set covered in 3 to 4 feet of water causing a very real risk of equipment from above falling into the water potentially killing the cast and crew creating a real sense of danger. For all we know Jet Li could've had to actually stay in that splits position off-camera just to prevent his career from ending right there and then. Lucky for him and everyone else he survived that ordeal and got to play as what was more or less an actual Kung Fu superhero.
#10. Dragon Fight (1989)
Much of Jet Li's early filmography consisted of the Shaolin Temple series and only a couple of films brought Li into the urban streets of a contemporary time period. 1992's The Master is one such example but we're going back a little further with 1989's Dragon Fight. Jet Li and Taiwanese actor/martial artist and Hong Kong action movie baddy Dick Wei play childhood friends and members of a wushu team. Dick Wei becomes disillusioned with his life as a martial arts performer and leaves to move to America where Jet Li later finds him working for a local mafia. The film's climax involves a contest of unarmed combat between the former kung fu compatriots until Li gains the advantage grabbing a hold of a stick that happens to be lying around. I guess you could say the fight could've gone only one way. But not the Dick Wei (haha) The two are found by Dick Wei's mob employers who declare him expendable after failing to collect a supply of drugs. Jet Li and Dick Wei each take on half of the mobsters. Li is able to show off his superb staff fighting skills against some mafia men armed with sticks, a spear, and even a three-section staff. He finally faces off against the mob's top enforcer played by martial artist Mark Williams who has the aerial skill to counter Jet Li's pole vaulting move with a flying kick. Normally on the performative rather than choreographic side of film-making, this is only one of several movies where Dick Wei was the martial arts director. With no wires, CGI, or any special effects at all, this fight sequence is proof of Jet Li's pure martial talent in a much earlier movie role.
#9. The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
(full fight scene not shown in video below)
It wasn't until all the way in 2008 when Jet Li and Jackie Chan finally crossed cinematic paths in The Forbidden Kingdom, a collaboration between Hollywood and Chinese film studios that loosely adapts one of the most famous Chinese novels of all time, Journey To The West. Retelling the story of Sun Wukong, the mythological monkey king, an awkward teenage kung fu movie nerd is unwillingly transported from modern Boston to ancient China where he stumbles into an inebriated academic portrayed by Jackie Chan. In his second dual role since The One, Jet Li plays both Sun Wukong and a fairly untalkative monk who is the current owner of the monkey king's golden staff.
This leads to a back-and-forth battle between Jet and Jackie that references many of their past films. Jackie Chan has made the leap from student to master as he is actually a disguised Lu Yan, one of the eight Drunken Immortals that were imitated by Chan in Drunken Master 1 and 2. His Drunken Fist is also coupled with even more traditional Kung Fu in the form of classic Tiger and Crane shapes all of which harken back to his period films in the late 70s'. But because the action was directed by Yuen Woo-Ping who, despite the "wireless" martial arts of Jackie's own movies like the aforementioned Drunken Master, this fight scene is really more geared towards the more wired capabilities of Jet Li as Yuen Woo-Ping by then established himself as the premiere wire-fu fight choreographer. Though not as wire-dependent as some of Jet Li's film fights, it still retains a more fantastical tone as the golden staff is tossed and thrown in every direction eventually sent piercing through a statue. Thus, Jet Li's presence is far more fitting for this modernized wuxia adventure while, like Jackie, also makes callbacks to his oldest films particularly his monk persona in a reference to his Shaolin Temple series. Jackie's not the only one who's got some Animal Kung Fu moves either with Jet Li pulling out some old-school Praying Mantis forms. Even Jackie himself seems to acknowledge the fact that he's more in a Jet Li fight scene than a Jackie Chan fight scene by using the same one-handed push-up off the ground as Jet Li had in Fist of Legend (which will obviously be mentioned later on this list).
Despite the creative constraints under which Jackie had worked within, he still admitted to his screen fight with Jet Li as being the most effortless of all the fight sequences he has been in from the prior decade. The incredible choreographed chemistry between them is partly thanks to not just Yuen Woo-Ping but also assistant martial arts directors Yuen Cheung-Yan and Ku Huen-Chiu. The only thing that could've made this long-awaited fantasy face-off even more awesome would've been if Donnie Yen had accepted the role of Jade Warlord which instead went to Collin Chou. A cinematic martial arts triple threat that is unfortunately nothing but an intriguing what if scenario...
#8. Tai Chi Master (1993)
(original dub)
(English Re-Sound)
Among the many Chinese martial arts that Jet Li has mastered, it may seem odd that Tai Chi, a style known for its meditative rather than its combative applications, is one of them. But when combined with wuxia wire magic and expertly crafted choreography, it can be presented as both a beautiful and deadly fighting form in movies like Kung Fu Cult Master and for the 8th spot on this list, Tai Chi Master. However, the fight scene in question is from much earlier in the story when Jet Li is still just a humble Shaolin monk training alongside his best friend played by Chin Siu-Ho. Unfortunately their ascetic lifestyle is cut short when Chin Siu-Ho lashes out at a deceitful sparring opponent and their master. Unsuccessfully attempting to de-escalate the situation and defend his friend's honor, Jet Li is given the same punishment as Chin Siu-Ho.
If you've read my top 12 staff fight scenes article you'd know that Jet Li is no slouch with the staff as was also demonstrated in other films like Dragon Fight and his most popular Shaolin role, The Shaolin Temple. In this first act fight of Tai Chi Master, Jet Li and Chin Siu-Ho prove their penchant for pole fighting as they are punished by the entire Shaolin school enclosed on all sides by columns of their own former comrades. The screen is littered with staffs that are bent and bowed, swung and thrusted, and split into double sticks. Jet Li and Chin Siu-Ho only raise the stick fighting craziness by covering the floor in melted candle wax and surfboarding on the back of a bewildered Shaolin monk. We even get what might be the first time we ever see the human flagpole carousel kick, one of the coolest moments from the burly brawl in The Matrix Reloaded. So it wouldn't surprise you to know that the mind behind this chaotic kung fu is the same one responsible for The Matrix series, Yuen Woo-Ping. Working with him are Yuen Cheung-Yan and Ku Huen-Chiu, and Tony Ling Chi-Wah all of whom lend their creative energy into this pandemonium of poles in one of the last major movies co-starring the greatly underrated and ex-Shaw Bros. actor Chin Siu-Ho (who you'll see again much later on this list) who managed to land the part that was originally meant for Donnie Yen. Make sure you check out both the original dub and the English re-sound (re-titled Twin Warriors) versions of the fight scene to compare differences in sound design.
#7. The Bodyguard From Beijing (1994)
(original dub)
(English Re-Sound)
The Bodyguard from Beijing stars Jet Li as the eponymous bodyguard hired by a wealthy Hong Kong businessman to protect his girlfriend who also happens to be the last remaining witness to a murder. Throughout the movie, various hitmen burst out every area of the city to take her our prompting Jet Li to engage in some excitingly fresh gun-fu battles. The gunplay is paired very well with Jet Li's kinetic style of combat but because it's Jet Li we're talking about, it's obviously the melee fights that we're most looking forward to. The final act brings in Taiwanese actor/martial artist and former Sammo Hung stunt team member Collin Chou, the older brother of one of the hitmen that are killed in one of the ensuing gun fights. The same Collin Chou who portrayed the Jade Warlord, the main villain of the Jackie Chan-Jet Li film The Forbidden Kingdom. Having begun his martial arts training since the age of 5 primarily in Taekwondo, Collin Chou is always impressive in his kicking capabilities. In a noxious gas scenario similar to Black Mask, Collin Chou desperately tries getting a drink of water from a nearby sink but is knocked about by Jet Li who whips and wraps him around with a wet rag, cuts him up with some window blinds, and delivers one of the most awesome palm strike combos ever. Turning everyday objects into lethal weapons is the specialty of Jackie Chan but this fight sequence is evidence enough that Jet Li can do the same with his own more serious and stylishly slick manner.
The film and its action are both directed by Corey Yuen along with Yuen Tak as co-action director. Helping to coordinate the sequences with them are assistant martial arts directors Chan Sek, Huang Kai-Sen, Jiang Ke-Cheng, and Kong Miu-Deng, a couple of whom appear as some of the hitmen. And yes, this is another Jet Li movie re-released in the US a few years later as The Defender, an English dub which adds a new soundtrack and sound effects to make it more palatable to American viewers. Before you say that The Defender is simply another effort to repackage a Hong Kong action classic for "American tastes", know that the The Bodyguard From Beijing itself was somewhat of a remake of the American film The Bodyguard starring Kevin Costner. Proof of both countries trying to remix each other's cinema for their own local audiences. Regardless of which dub you favor, a lot of you would agree that the end fight between the underappreciated Collin Chou and Jet Li is still quite thrilling.
#6. Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
Produced by Luc Besson and a story partially written by Jet Li, Li is a Chinese government agent framed for the murder of a Triad boss by a corrupt French detective. A prostitute, played by Bridget Fonda, is witness to the murder and held hostage by the French detective in a police station leading to Jet Li raiding the entire building in the hopes of rescuing her. Kiss of the Dragon is named after a fictional acupuncture strike which causes all of the body's blood to rush into the head causing death by brain aneurysm. As absurdly deadly of a technique that is, the 2-on-1 fight scene in question for this list will not be featuring it but it's a pretty dam good fight nonetheless.
Set to the rap beats of Mystikal Fever and featuring possibly the most hand-waving in fight scene history, a pair of twins stealthily appear and disappear out of a set of office cubicles to ambush Jet Li. The smaller and more agile of the two twins is played by French martial artist and parkour expert Cyril Raffaelli (go watch the District 13 films for more of his amazing skills) whose Shotokan Karate and Wushu legwork and acrobatics rival even that of Li's. That is until Jet Li uses the surrounding tables to trap Raffaelli's kicks and misdirect him with some open palm feints (similar to those he used against Billy Chow in Fist of Legend). Eventually only the larger twin is left played by (unrelated to Raffaelli in real life) French bodybuilder Didier Azoulay, former bodyguard for Elton John and Steven Seagal.
Jet Li himself wanted to remove as much wirework and CGI as possible in Kiss of the Dragon mostly as a response to fans on his website forum wanting the more grounded action of Fist of Legend and being disappointed by the heavy wire-fu in his later Hollywood film Romeo Must Die. As a result, this fight scene was only one of two sequences using wires; one for Li hand-stand kicking a billiard ball into a gunman's head and the other for Cyril Raffaelli's 1 1/4 somersault backflip kick supposedly because of it's speed not being properly captured by the camera. Apparently both Li and Raffaelli's movements were so feverishly fast that their footage had to be slowed down. A piece of trivia that is a clear testament to the pure martial arts talent on display in this fight sequence. Creatively utilizing the grid-like layout of the office space, preeminent choreographer Corey Yuen once again teams up with Jet Li to change what is ordinarily seen as a plain and boring setting into a tactically complex and even somewhat suspenseful combat area. Definitely not just another day at the office.
#5. My Father is a Hero (1995)
Jet Li is a Chinese mainland cop working undercover as a member of a gang lead by the Iron Monkey himself Yu Rongguang. The final act involves Yu's gang planning to bomb an antique auction attended by Hong Kong's wealthiest individuals. In a lengthy sequence of unrestrained martial arts mayhem, Jet Li dual wields tonfas (which he would also later do in Kiss of the Dragon featured earlier) and faces off against Yu Rongguang dressed like a weird kung fu magician who uses his jacket and wavy gloved hands as a form of sneaky misdirection. Later joining Yu Rongguang in the fight is Li's adversary Collin Chou from The Bodyguard From Beijing as well as Taekwondo expert and former Jackie Chan bodyguard Ken Lo who all triple team Jet Li with a barrage of kicks. The battle is dialed up to an even higher level of craziness once a father-son team-up is formed by Jet Li and Kung Fu prodigy Tse Miu who also portrayed Li's on-screen son previously in The New Legend of Shaolin. The two engage in some rope whipping action with Tse Miu being swung around like a improvised rope dart/meteor hammer. Directed and choreographed by Corey Yuen along with Yuen Tak and assistant martial arts directors Huang Kai-Sen, Kwan Yung, and Kong Miu-Deng, the action is a happy medium between moderate realism and the wilder wirework. The only exception being for more absurd moments like the human flail which still achieves its purpose of enhancing the film's campy humor. If you do want a less "bassy" and modernized sound design then be sure to look for the 2000 US release English dub The Enforcer.
#5. Unleashed (2005)
Also known as Danny the Dog, Unleashed reunites Jet Li and French director Luc Besson some years after Kiss of the Dragon with Besson this time only as writer and co-producer leaving the directorial seat to Louis Letterier in a screenplay that was drafted with Jet Li specifically in mind. Li is a human attack dog who, when unlocked from his metal collar and "unleashed", brutally beats down anyone who has failed to make proper payment to a powerful loan shark played by Roger Rabbit P.I. Bob Hoskins. When Li tries to escape his master and the criminal underworld he has been raised in for a new life with a compassionate blind man played by Morgan Freeman and his adoptive daughter, Hoskins tries to hunt down and recapture Li. Besides a gladiatorial multi-weapon pool brawl (one of the gladiators played by Scott Adkins), the final chase through an apartment complex is certainly the film's top fight sequence.
Every other enemy thus far throughout the movie have been nothing but "chewtoys" for Jet Li. That is until he meets his match against a silent assassin played by Mike Lambert, a British martial artist trained in Boxing and Kickboxing who has won multiple Taekwondo championships all over Europe and is the only person to win the Lightweight division in both WTF and ITF tournaments. Lambert would later climb up the stunt hierarchy as fight choreographer and fight coordinator for major Hollywood films like The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (co-starring Jet Li), Wrath of the Titans, Kick-Ass 2, and Zack Snyder's Justice League. This fight scene in Unleashed is of course during his humble days as a stuntman and is also in fact, if you recall from his name having been mentioned previously on this list, a rematch with Jet Li about a decade after their bout in Black Mask. Li almost receives a free haircut after he is snuck up on by a knife wielding Lambert and is forced to defend himself with some fireplace tools. The fight then moves to the bathroom of another building rudely interrupting a young woman's shower. Lambert's incredibly adept kicking skills push back Li while the close camerawork emphasizes the tight spaces and claustrophobic combat especially in a particularly narrow hallway where, true to Li's feral nature, takes a bite out of Lambert's nipple. Their intense duel comes to an end when Li knocks Lambert through a window and attempts to save him from falling to his death, an effort to not break his vow of never killing another human being again. Next to Kiss of the Dragon and Fist of Legend, this may be action director Yuen Woo-Ping's most wire-free and realistic martial arts action movie of his career also thanks to assistance by Tiger Chen as well as action choreographers Philippe Guegan and Pascal Guegan.
#4. Once Upon a Time in China 2 (1992)
Jet Li's meteoric rise to superstardom landed him the opportunity to portray two of the greatest kung fu masters and folk heroes in Chinese history; Fong Sai Yuk, and for the 4th best fight scene on the list, Wong Fei-Hung. The Once Upon a Time in China series is perhaps the most poplar cinematic depiction of the historical martial arts figure starring Jet Li in arguably his most iconic film role. So iconic that Li even returned for the role in what is a semi-parody of the series The Last Hero in China. The first installment of the Once Upon a Time in China series ends with an extremely elaborate ladder fight but many Jet Li fans would agree that his climactic duel with Donnie Yen in the second film is by far the best of the series. Reprising his famous role as Wong Fei-Hung, Jet Li must protect the leader of a resistance played by Shaw Bros. star David Chiang who is attempting to replace the Qing government with a new Republic but is being tracked down by a local military officer portrayed by Donnie Yen. Once Upon a Time in China 2 is the very first on-screen meet-up between Li and Yen and we get a glimpse of what's to come during a staff-based sparring match early on in the film.
But this is merely an appetizer to the main course that is finally served in the movie's climax which showcases both Jet Li and Donnie Yen's world-class Wushu skills in a battle of two cinematic Kung Fu legends. All the while Wong Fei-Hung also defends his student played by Max Mok who is desperately trying to burn a book listing the names of every member of the anti-Qing movement. This fight sequence makes the most versatile use of poles aside from the earlier entry on the list Tai Chi Master, where Jet Li uses a stupidly long bamboo pole while balancing on the top of some rice stacks swishing it around like a giant calligraphy brush before the fight comes back down to ground level with both Li and Yen dual wielding staffs. The duel shifts outdoors in a narrow street alley where Donnie transforms a long cloth into an improvised rope dart breaking Li's pole into a two-section staff. Though Wong Fei-Hung was historically a master of Hung Ga, a southern Chinese martial art that focuses on close-range low-body attacks, Li applies his more acrobatic and flashy northern Changquan style which is more fitting with the abundant wirework throughout the fight giving us moments like Li's signature flying sidekick combo. The pole fighting was apparently so intense that Donnie Yen was struck near one eye requiring stitches and causing any close-up shots of his face to only be of one side. Luckily Yen finished the fight with both eyes intact and his insane bamboo battle with Jet Li won action director Yuen Woo-Ping the Hong Kong film award for best action choreography. With help from assistant martial arts directors Yuen Shun-Yi and Ku Huen-Chiu, this fight sequence is proof that Yuen Woo-Ping is the perfect choreographer to actualize film director Tsui Hark's vision of the high-flying wuxia-inspired showdowns which dominated the 90s'.
#3. Hero (2002)
Pairing up Jet Li and Donnie Yen is always a formula for choreographic gold and with the release of Hero in 2002, that fact stands even a decade after Once Upon a Time in China 2. Hero made martial arts movie history by becoming the first Chinese-language film to earn the highest spot on US box offices upon its release. The film is mostly a series of flashbacks narrated by Jet Li who plays a nameless swordsman who claims to have successfully assassinated a trio of warriors on a mission to murder Emperor Qin (who was nearly portrayed by Jackie Chan). Li takes on each warrior individually and the first of these duels is with Donnie Yen.
The fight takes the audience quite literally inside the mind of a martial artist, the two supremely skilled masters mentally anticipating one another's moves. Having been chosen as the #1 spear fight scene on my past article, Donnie Yen's spearplay speaks for itself but were it not for the superbly handled sword and scabbard of Jet Li, this fight scene would not have reached such high recognition. It's uncertain how things may have changed if Jet Li hadn't recommended Donnie Yen for the role and it had instead went to Robin Shou who had already broke through the international mainstream as Liu Kang in 1995's Mortal Kombat. It is certain however that Li and Yen's duel is the best out of the three main duels in the film all of which were weaved together by the wirework wizardry of Chin Siu-Tung, one of the world's top wuxia fight choreographers. Chin Siu-Tung was actually third in line for consideration in crafting the choreography as Yu Rongguang of Iron Monkey and My Father is a Hero fame as well as Hong Kong action veteran Tung Wei were originally picked. Because the film's director Zhang Yimou decided upon Chin Siu-Tung along with assistant martial arts directors Jack Wong Wai-Leung and Li Cai, we were blessed with not only Hero but also later collaborations within the wuxia subgenre House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower.
Zhang Yimou has established a reputation for his vibrantly contrasting color schemes which strangely elevates the irony of the least colorful and stimulating of the action sequences being possibly the most entertaining. The shades of grey covering the courtyard are desaturated into an almost entirely black and white once the two combatants begin visualizing their duel. Despite Zhang Yimou mentioning that the colors have no symbolic meaning, one can only help but to interpret the black and white aesthetic as representing the complete concentration of the duelists on only the essential details necessary to continue their fight, their weapons glowing with a white radiance to emphasize their special importance during the duel. Visually and sonically, this scene is all about contrast. The soothing sounds of the blind man's meditative melody initially contrasts with the fast and frenzied flurry of sword and spear as well as the war-like traditional Chinese opera vocals. The sights and sounds do gradually converge onto a singular tone though as the camera cuts closer and shorter, the strings increasing in speed and intensity culminating in a cacophonous crescendo abruptly awakening the two fighters from their battle meditation. Everything comes together in a beautiful merging of music and martial arts and only because of Zhang Yimou's unique visual style and Chin Siu-Tung's masterful choreography of Jet Li and Donnie Yen.
#2. Fearless (2006)
There's no doubt Jet Li is one of the greatest cinematic swordsman out there and his 2nd best fight scene is unsurprisingly another sword fight. Directed by Ronny Yu whose filmography includes Freddy vs. Jason of all things, Fearless is a semi-biographical movie revolving around the life of the Chinese martial artist Huo Yuanjia which the movie is originally titled after. Adding to his resume of roles as historical martial arts heroes, Jet Li stars as the eponymous kung fu master in a film that is packed with pulse-pounding fight sequences ranging from empty-handed to weapons combat against Chinese, Japanese, and Western opponents. But topping them all is the restaurant duel between Jet Li and Chen Zhihui and what I personally deemed the greatest sword fight in cinematic history.
Chen Zhihui's birthday celebration is rudely interrupted by Jet Li who believes one of his disciples had been violently attacked by Chen. What was to be a joyous occasion is substituted by a vengeful sword duel as the dimly lit restaurant is illuminated by bursts of lightning, the raging thunderstorm evoking the seething rage of the two master swordsman and the grim ambient music conveying a foreboding mood. Although Jet Li is the more acrobatic of the two, at one point hanging upside down under the ceiling like Donnie Yen had in the previous fight from Hero, Chen soon gains the upper hand through his fierce powerful swings chopping down Jet Li's sword into a short shard of metal. Chen's Zhihui's sheer strength is in fact a common trait among his film characters one of his most recognizable being Master Liu in Ip Man. The actor is in reality a practitioner of Shaobei Fist, a Chinese martial art derived from Shaolin Kung Fu providing him the screen fighting skills to portray a worthy rival to Jet Li. Realizing Chen is far more skillful with the sword, able to pull off one of the coolest sword lock counters ever, Jet Li tosses away his broken blade and engages the superior sword master in old-fashioned hand-to-hand.
The pitch dark room of the final moments of the fight sequence convey the growing inner darkness of Jet Li who is consumed by his pride and anger that reach a boiling point when landing a chest-breaking blow upon his bloodied opponent. There is not a single fight scene more significant to his character arc in the film than this one as it is the first step in his spiritual journey towards redemption and martial enlightenment. Fearless is yet another exhibition of Yuen Woo-Ping's fine choreographic craftsmanship striking the right balance of wires and CGI to accentuate the world-renowned wushu mastery of Jet Li in what was meant to be the last martial arts movie of Li's career.
#1. Fist of Legend (1994)
(Original Dub)
(English Re-Sound)
Many martial arts film fanatics may have called any attempts of remaking Bruce Lee's classic Fist of Fury damn near blasphemous but that was before Fist of Legend came out. You could never truly top the cinematic phenomenon that was Lee's second breakout role but Fist of Legend is the closest it gets. In an intriguing role reversal, Jet Li plays Chen Zhen, fictional student of Huo Yuanjia, the martial arts master he would later depict years later in Fearless. Chen Zhen puts a hold on his university studies in Japan to return to Shanghai after learning of the death of his master. In some ways Fist of Legend surpasses the original by creating more fully detailed supporting characters which is one among a list of reasons as to why multiple masterpiece-level fight sequences are all contained in just one single film. Jet Li's hay-swept sparring match with Yasuaki Kurata and his climactic confrontation with Billy Chow are often acclaimed as two of the greatest fight scenes ever made. I will cover those fight scenes in future articles but I wanted to use this spot to more fully appreciate the fight between Jet Li and his favorite on-screen frenemy Chin Siu-Ho who goes from Shaolin ally in Tai Chi Master from earlier in the list to friendly rival. Chin Siu-Ho plays Huo Ting-en, son of Huo Yuanjia who has now become the head of their Jingwu martial arts school. But after Chen's reputation and martial prowess begin to exceed that of Huo Ting-en's, he challenges Chen to a duel.
Out of humility and respect, Chen Zhen initially holds back against Huo Ting-en pulling his punches and even dodging Huo's kick with a one-handed push-up, a nod to Bruce Lee who also performed similar push-ups with only his thumb and index finger. After the realization that he is also fighting to defend his love for a Japanese woman unfortunately frowned upon by his fellow Chinese students, Chen Zhen abandons his usual Northern Wushu style to adopt a loose interpretation of Jeet Kune Do. As a tribute to Bruce Lee, Jet Li utilizes the Ali shuffle dancing around the more traditional Kung Fu of Chin Siu-Ho with the footwork, head movement, and counterpunching of a modern boxer (or maybe a Sanda/Sanshou fighter?). Even when Chin Siu-Ho figures out Li's bouncy stepping patterns and successfully executes a leg sweep, Li recovers with a clean Capoeira-style kick to Chin's head. Jet Li has never trained in Jeet Kune Do but the versatile amalgamation of Eastern and Western martial arts used by Li truly captures the worldly and adaptive spirit of Bruce Lee's combat philosophy. Aside from the reinterpreted form of JKD, Jet Li also projects his very own personality into his character expressing a more silent and stoic Chen Zhen. Dramatically different from the outwardly aggressive and kiai-filled vengeful fury of Bruce Lee's version of the same character.
Much of the fight scenes in Fist of Legend were reimaginings from Fist of Fury but this fight sequence was entirely original and further developed the relationship between Chen Zhen and Huo Ting-en. At this point, I probably don't even have to tell you that this was of course choreographed by the god of martial arts action design Yuen Woo-Ping. Collaborating with martial arts directors Yuen Cheung-Yan, Yuen Shun-Yi, and Ku Huen-Chiu, Yuen Woo-Ping toned down the wire-fu to maintain some of the grounded realism of Bruce Lee's style of action albeit with the then refined choreographic complexities of 90s' Hong Kong martial arts cinema. Legions of western fans out there may have gotten their first experience of this movie through its English dub produced around 2000 that introduced a new but less "patriotic" and more menacing soundtrack, softer sound effects, and some altered dialogue that sometimes radically changed the meaning of some scenes. Among those fans may have been the Wachowskis who were inspired specifically by Fist of Legend to select Yuen Woo-Ping as their action director for the Matrix trilogy. As the only martial arts film to ever hold a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the Wachoswskis honestly couldn't have chosen a better cinematic template to base their action scenes on. Fist of Legend is without a doubt the ultimate collaboration between Jet Li and Yuen Woo-Ping. And Jet Li's one-on-one against Chin Siu-Ho is the truest display of Li's film fighting capabilities during his physical prime and a shining example of the narrative developments that can be evoked through the art of fight choreography.
Choosing the best fight scene from Fist of Legend was not easy. If you think I should've went with the more popular choice of the fight between Jet Li and Billy Chow then let your voice be heard by commenting down below. And please subscribe to this website to be notified of the next article. He already appeared twice on this list and it's about time he's gotten his very own top 12 countdown. Who is it you ask? Why it's Donnie Yen of course.