ROTTEN TOMATOES: Total Recall: Jet Li's Best-Reviewed Films

Total Recall: Jet Li's Best-Reviewed Films

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1. Fist of Legend
(1994, 100 percent)

Li was already an established star when he signed on for Fist of Legend -- but still, it takes more than a little chutzpah to remake a classic like Bruce Lee's Fists of Fury. Fortunately, the results speak for themselves; at 100 percent on the Tomatometer, Legend is not only Li's highest-rated film, but it's entered the pantheon of established martial arts classics. And for good reason: Although there's plenty of good old-fashioned action, the movie also makes room for a suitably twisty plot, as well as some important themes (including an updated take on the racism that fueled the original) and fight scenes so good that they convinced the Wachowski brothers to hire choreographer Yuen Woo-ping for The Matrix. It isn't his highest-grossing film -- in fact, it was something of a box-office disappointment -- but any argument for Jet Li's status as a martial arts movie superstar should begin with Fist of Legend. "[It's] a marvel to watch," wrote Ryan Cracknell of the Apollo Guide.

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(1-19 of 19 posts) | Reply

dystopiandweller writes:
on Jul 30 2008 04:58 PM

"Fist Of Legend" is indeed a kickas* movie. I've lost count how many times I've seen it. Kudos for posting such a great clip from it too.

(Reply to this)

rockster11 writes:
on Jul 30 2008 07:42 PM

Lethal Weapon 4 didnt even make the top 10???????? BS....

(Reply to this)

tfortier writes:
on Jul 30 2008 11:50 PM

we should not count american movies on his tomatometer!!

(Reply to this)

dystopiandweller writes:
on Jul 31 2008 03:20 AM

Lethal Weapon 4 only has a 55%. RT is just going strictly by the tomatometer, rockster.

(Reply to this)

gigaherc writes:
on Jul 31 2008 03:56 AM

Consiedring martial arts material there's no use in comparing such pictures as Fist of Legend and Lethal Weapon V.
Nice article, I really like Jet, but as we can all see he's aging and personally I don't see anyone to take his place as a martial arts greatest movie performer.

(Reply to this)

Deathrow_nzl writes:
on Jul 31 2008 04:23 AM

In reply to this comment (#1938736)
Thats Cause Lethal Weapon V sucks & anyway Jet Li only has a small part in that movie as the badguy.
Probably the only reason he did that movie was to get into American movies.

Agreed Fist of Legend is definitely one of his best movies

(Reply to this)

xenogears writes:
on Jul 31 2008 05:17 AM

In reply to this comment (#1939393)
He is aging but he still has his speed and ability. As far as a replacement, Have you seen Ong Bak or the Protecter? Tony Jaa is the future of martial arts action movies.

(Reply to this)

gigaherc writes:
on Jul 31 2008 05:26 AM

Tony Jaa is great, I've seen some of his movies and work, but in my opinion he lacks charisma and acting talent (my god I write about Jet's 'acting talent';) that Jet Li crafted along all these years. I know Jet still has the moves but we'll see more stuntmen, wires and cgi in his movies with years because he just can't do some stuff.
Anyway, I like him very much, pity you haven't mentioned Hitman, that was a nice little movie.

(Reply to this)

RT-SmellyCat writes:
on Jul 31 2008 08:00 AM

Take it from a Jet Li expert:

For pure ***-kicking, Fist of Legend is indeed the best (9/10). But for a list of his other great movies:
Hero 10/10
Tai Chi Master (aka Twin Warriors) - 9/10
Wong Fei Hung 2 (aka Once Upon a Time in China 2) - 9/10 - and has his best fight scene ever, w/ Donnie Yen
The Warlords - 9/10
Fong Sai Yuk (aka The Legend) - 8/10 -- and hilariously funny

The number of unforgettable movies is stunning... a one man blockbuster machine!

(Reply to this)

lonewolfsg writes:
on Jul 31 2008 08:17 AM

Jackey Cheung did not play the part of Ling in the 1st part of The Swordsman, it was Sam Hui.

I think his best fight is the one with Donnie Yen in Hero. But I guess everyone has their favourites and most of his fights are great anyway.

(Reply to this)

Tim Ryan writes:
on Jul 31 2008 08:51 AM

In reply to this comment (#1939721)
You are correct, sir. My bad. It's been fixed.

(Reply to this)

Havokdx writes:
on Jul 31 2008 09:32 AM

I really enjoyed unleashed myself thought that as a fun one.

(Reply to this)

Ecs5001 writes:
on Aug 01 2008 11:56 AM

Unleashed is his best American film.

(Reply to this)

Long Live the New Flesh writes:
on Aug 01 2008 02:35 PM

In reply to this comment (#1943752)
I was about to say something about "Unleashed"! While I'm not a *huge* martial arts fanatic by anyone's standards, I had seen that film and really enjoyed it. Upon renting it (along with "Kingdom of Heaven"), I instantly fell in love with the blend of genres (most notably action and drama). It was just 3% off from being on the list!

(Reply to this)

dystopiandweller writes:
on Aug 01 2008 03:15 PM

In reply to this comment (#1943752)
Except that "Unleashed" isn't an American film. ;]

(Reply to this)

Roci writes:
on Aug 02 2008 10:00 PM

Ooops, here they go ranking films again. Everyone better dig a nice deep hole and grab some plastic sheeting. At least this time someone is taking smaller bites. You can sit here and argue for the rest of Jet Li's life which film is worst..better.best. It's like the old gag about two ladies at a bargain sale both grabbing the same frock, tearing it to pieces, and beating on some poor floorwalker who comes between them.
How about some real Journalism? Instead of all this nonsense, go interview Jet Li, and let the man speak for his own works. I'd rather read his words than a mess of this. But then, maybe I expect too much. After all, this is just a fan site, isn't it?-Roci

(Reply to this)

dystopiandweller writes:
on Aug 03 2008 04:49 PM

Congratulations, Rob Cohen. You bastard. You've made Jet Li's new worst film.

(Reply to this)

sayagila writes:
on Aug 04 2008 05:15 AM

In reply to this comment (#1939224)
agreed, i didn't like jet li's movies since he moved to hollywood.

(Reply to this)

RETyrant writes:
on Aug 04 2008 01:22 PM

In reply to this comment (#1939393)
Um... there is no Lethal Weapon V. V means 5 and IV means 4. I assume you were talking about Li's American debut in Lethal Weapon 4 which could also be written as Lethal Weapon IV.

(Reply to this)

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