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Once Upon a Time in China and America

Once Upon a Time in China and America

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I liked it!!!
Review: This last part (so far) of the six part
OUATIC series wasn't too bad. It gets panned a bit by Jet's fans
at times, but I enjoy the concepts behind OUATIC and enjoy owning
this final installment. Jet, who plays Wong Fai Hung, travels to America (circa 1900) to check up on the newly established Po Chi Lam headquaters [Wong is a doctor]. He travels with Auntie 13 and Club Foot, who is called Seven in this movie [another reason I jumped on this title, by the way, was for this awesome fighter].
The story revolves around am injury to the head which cause
Wong to briefly forget who he is. He is adopted by some Indians [I had to laugh, as some of the Indians with mohawks look like English punks circa 1980: fire engine red hair!] The portrayal of Native Americans could have been a bit better, but I didn't let it distract me. As a subplot, there is a heart of gold version of Billy the Kid who befriends the Chinese, and is taught some kicking by Seven; I liked this blond haired character more than I thought I would, and give the guy credit for playing his character well! This has more the feeling of a television show than a movie in some ways, but is a must see for Jet/ Wong Fai Hung fans alike. Yes, there is wire-fu, but Jet was made for that stuff and I don't mind it most of the time.
The real question is: Is a movie about a martial arts god who beats up cowboys even remotely possible [shanghai noon aside, this movie came out first]? It does work; Tsui Hark manages to provide us with a great lead villain with a very sinister look; a real tough and spooky character [whos name I forget!] who seems to have a lot more going for him skill-wise than slinging a six-shooter. There is also a decent fight between Seven anf Wong, to eliviate the overall lack of martial arts. In short, not a bad flick, especially if you love Jet!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Big Hit in PRC
Review: We watched this movie while travelling in the PRC. Not only did we enjoy the movie, but the people in the lounge where we watched it made the experience one of our travel favourites. The main character is something like the Wyatt Earp of China. Fine piece of Kung Fu.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Once Upon a Time for an Average Sequel
Review: Well, on the outside, it would appear that Jet Li had made a triumphant return to the series that made his career. In reality, this sequel falls short of the glory of the past titles. You should know that Jet Li was replaced for Once Upon a Time in China 4 and 5. (This being the sixth) Those movies were also very much below the quality of the first two. I suppose this movie does a better job than the Vincent Zhao vehicles that are OUATIC 4 and 5, but not by much. I must say these movies are very similar. I can tell you this, the storyline deals with the whole fish out of water ordeal. The big twist in this movie is that Jet Li bangs his head on a rock and thinks he is a native american indian. Then with some coaxing from his friend, Clubfoot, (read: fighting) he goes back to normal. In my opinion the romance between Jet Li and Roseamund Kwan has never been a strong point in the series. Much like Shanghai Noon, this movie goes out with a whimper, not a bang when Jet Li fights some evil looking goth cowboyesque character on top of a platform. I have to say, the fina fight scene is sub par for any Kung Fu Film and especially Jet Li. So in the end, go enjoy Once Upon a Time in China one and two. Go enjoy the gangster masterpiece Once Upon a Time in America, but be weary of the sub-par Kung Fu/Westerner that is Once Upon a Time in China and America. I recommend "Rikki-Oh" cause as far as Kung Fu movies, it's the poorest produced flick i have ever seen, but it's also the funniest. Check it out now.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Good try, but no cigar!
Review: When Jet Li stars as legendary Wong Fei-Hong, you know you're going to see lightning quick attacks and ferocious high flying exploits. The only problem is that in all the Wong Fei-Hong movies combined, Fei-Hong has almost never been hit during the fight scenes. Every adversary prior to this movie seemed relatively skilled. But in this one none of these guys stood a chance! None of them had any skill at all! If you just wanted to watch fight scenes, you'll be sorely disappointed to watch Jet beat up a bunch of Americans. I suppose they were trying to focus more on the story line (which was dreadfully mediocre!). The previous Once Upon a Time in China movies are much better. If you can't get enough of Wong Fei-Hong movies, try Iron Monkey! It's a much more exciting movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good ol' fashion super silly kung fu
Review: who cares about what the indians look like, or the main bad guys overuse of an eyebrow pencil?
This had everything you look for in a kung fu movie: action, humor and NO PLOT!!
All the people watching this who are taking it seriously, are watching the wrong movie.

This is the first movie i saw out of the "once upon..." series. I tried watching the first 3 after this one, and they paled in comparison.

So if you want to watch a first rate, cheesey kung fu movie, this is for you. If you want a documentary on Native American wardrobe, go watch the Discovery Channel.

...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: If this movie sounds familiar.....
Review: Wong Fei Hung (Jet Li) comes to the states with his ever present love interest Auntie Yee (the delectable Rosamund Kwan) only to be lost in some white water rapids, rendering him an amnesiac and adopted by Indians. His entourage begin searching for him but are limited by the fact that they're Asians in the old West. Sammo Hung returned to directing after a long, unsuccessful period with this film. If upon viewing the film seems familiar, it's because it was actually an early version of the recent Jackie Chan film "Shanghai Noon." I'm not calling Hung a rip off artist, as he's one of the most prolific, successful, and highly regarded Hong Kong directors of all time, but story has it that Hung, after a long streak of unsuccessful films, took the basic story as his own when Jackie Chan told him of his long time desire to make a modern Western. Perhaps Hung did this due to the fact that he and Jackie had a falling out in the mid 80's which was only recently mended (the proof is the Sammo Hung directed MR. NICE GUY). But even though Hung may have gotten the idea from Chan, you can't deny he did a good job with it. Hung is a much better and capable director, in my opinion, than Chan, and has been for a long time, but for some reason Chan has managed to outshine not only Hung, but also Hong Kong superstars like Yuen Biao. For those of you not in the know, Chan, Biao and Hung were all "brothers" at the Peking Opera School, all were trained torturously in martial arts, acrobats, acting, and stunt work. As for Once...in America, it's not the best Jet Li movie, but it is a lot less sillier, and the fights more intricate, than most Jet Li films which are mainly period pieces and involve an embarrasingly large amount of wire work (as witness Tai Chi Master and most of the other Once upon a time films). Hung proves himself once again to be a very talented director, as well as fight choreographer, but if you really want to see a great Sammo Hung film, check out PEDICAB DRIVER, MILLIONAIRE'S EXPRESS, or WHEELS ON MEALS, all with Sammo's special brand of razor sharp, intricate martial artistry.


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