Director: Daniel Lee

Synopsis: During the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor of China possessed one weapon greater than all others, the Jin Yi Wei, an elite force of assassins recruited from street orphans.

Trained in clandestine combat from childhood, the Jin Yi Wei were masters of the 14 Blades, eight being for torture, five for killing, and the last blade being reserved for suicide when a mission failed. Above the law, with a license to kill, the Jin Yi Wei devoted their lives and lethal prowess to the service of the Emperor alone.

When the Imperial Court is taken over by evil eunuch Jia (Law Kar Ying), the best of the Jin Yi Wei, Qing Long (Donnie Yen) and Xuan Wu (Qi Yu Wu), are assigned to steal a list identifying those still loyal to the Emperor. However unbeknownst to Qing Long, the Jin Yi Wei have fallen under the control of Jia, and during the mission Qing Long is betrayed by Xuan Wu and barely escapes with his life.

Now as the most wanted man in the land Qing Long must seek out and rally the loyalists to rise against Jia and restore the Emperor to power. Will Qing Long win the battle in the end?

Genre: Drama/ Action/ Thriller

Cast: Donnie Yen, Vicki Zhao Wei, Wu Chun, Kate Tsui, Qi Yu Wu, Chen Kuan Tai, Fung Hak On, Hui Chen Zhi, Sammo Hung, Damian Lau, Law Kar Ying, Wu Ma, Xu Xiang Dong

Date Released: February 4, 2010

Trailer

Click here to view the embedded video.

30.kickboxer – Yuen Biao vs Yuen Wah + Others
Yuen Biao made this movie in reply to Tsui Hark as he felt he lied to him during the filming of Once Upon A Time In China and didn’t get chance to shine, but here he certainly does. Here he takes on Yuen Wah and his thugs with Biao delievering some breathtaking kicks and flips, (He also gets rid of 4 guys with just four excellent kicks). After he defeats the thugs, he then faces Wah with both displaying great hand to hand techniques and the unusual “ghost foot” from yuen biao, where he basically has three legs to kick is a great watch. Both are legends in my eyes and both always work so well together.

29.Duel To The Death – Tsui Siu Keung vs Damian Lau
After a couple of minutes frenzied swordplay the two fighters pause and are covered by mist (or dry ice) before the action explodes again. The way they have the fighters on a rocky outcrop with the waves crashing below is really well shot with the fighters flying through the air, which was very well done for the time. We do get to see arms being sliced off and other parts in this great fight scene.

28.Odd Couple – Sammo Hung vs Lau Kar Wing (end fight)
Excellent weapon here as two masters meet up for the final time to see whos style and weapon work is the greatest. We get to see some great hand to hand combat from Leung Kar Yan against the two, with his trade mark movement which made him a legend in his own right. Sammo delievers some great kicking skills and works very well with Lau Kar Wing once again. Sammo Hung is a master at choreography and how he keeps getting better and better is only a good thing for Hong Kong cinema.

27.The Victim – Leung Kar Yan vs Wilson Tong and Chang Yi
After believing his friend (Sammo Hung) had been killed, Leung Kar Yan finally builds up his courage to face his demons and kill his evil brother once and for all. The first fight he takes on Wilson Tong ( ‘Foot Doctor’),where we get to see some nice leg movements and hand to hand combat, (wilson is doubled by Yuen Biao in this scene). As the fight goes on Leung starts to take over with ease and the way he finishes him off with a kneck break is some way to go. Then we see the final fight and its a great showdown with Sammo Hung creating some excellent action and really gets the best out of Leung Kar Yan who just seems as good as any other fighter in the movie (even though he hadn’t studied kung fu before getting into films). One of my favorite sammo films in terms of action and a very well written plot.

26.Fearless Hyena – Jackie Chan vs Spearmen
Ths is Jackie showing us some excellent chroeography as he faces 3 spearmen and shows them all how excellent fighting is performed. The first guy that walks forward is easily beat by jackie, with him using some impressive hand techniques to block and strike with power. When all 3 attack at the same time, jackies ability to flip, land, roll, and perform kung fu without anything hitting him is very very good. Fantastic fight scene from of the top 3 choreographers in the world.

25.Daredevils – warehouse fight scene
Lu Feng, Kuo Chui and Chiang Sheng star in this Shaw Brothers movie and bring there talent alive in the final showdown, where we get to see some very impressive acrobatics with alot of them running and jumping off things which you’d normally see Yuen Biao performing. Also we get to see some good use of different weapons such as a spade and huge metal hooks also not to mention the big sledge hammer one of them fights with. Very enjoyable scene which you wont mind watching a fair few times.

24.Encounters Of The Spooky Kind – Final Fight
Here we see two priest masters who can allow themselves to be possessed by various spirits to defeat each other, Sammo takes on the roll as the Monkey God and we see some brilliant martial arts and choreography that makes sammo one of the all time best. We see him show monkey kung fu to the limits with him also showing us his ability to flip, spin and kick all in one shot. Some very good ideas went into this film which i think is a classic in the Hong Kong horror/kung fu movie scene.

23.Warriors Two – Sammo Hung and Casanova Wong vs Fung Hak On
Excellent wing chun based movie with sammo taking on one of my all time badguys Fung Hak On. Sammo has an amazing 2 vs 1 double swordfight before taking on Fong Hak On and brings to the screen the strange mantis style technique which can also make him float. The kick at the end by casanova wong is a great spin kick in the air over a table (on a wire,but still impressive). Great movie and was the first wing chun by Sammo Hung followed by the classic Prodigal Son.

22.Iron Fisted Monk – Final Fight
This final fight involves Sammo Hung, Chen Sing, Fong Hak On and Chin Yiet Sang in a brilliantly choreographed scene. Chen Sing is fighting one group of badguys whilst Sammo faces a swordsman and spearfighter in a brilliant scene that requires excellent timing from all that is involved. It seems Sammo and Chen are getting the better hand but soon as you think this, even more guys come in to help Fong Hak On but after defeating them sammo goes to using his leopard style against Fong Hak On’s mantis. Excellent fight scene which gets better with each watch.

21.Secret Rivals – Hwang Jang Lee vs John Liu and Wong Tao
Excellent kung fu on show here as first off we see John Liu and Wong Tao facing each other with both of them delievering great kicks until John starts to take over the fight and Hwang Jang Lee enters the frame. We see Hwang perform an excellent leg take down on John Liu which you will be rewinding once its over, there are a few flips from hwang (Just to note Yuen Biao once again is on hand for some doubling). It turns to a 2 -1 fight and the way they finish Hwang off with a flying kick is good stuff.

Top 100 Martial Arts Fights – Continued!

Over the last few days we have been counting down from 100, the best fights ever put to film. Stick with us over the next few weeks and find out which fight scenes make it into our top 10, and of course use the comments box to the right to discuss any of our choices.

100 – 91

Rosa – End Fight
The fight between Yuen Biao and villian Dick Wei is a great watch with fast paced action mixed with great comedy. Biao at first beats a few bad guys with high kicks and flips then steps up Dick Wei, the choreography is very well done with them going toe to toe delievering powerful moves. The fight turns to comedy when they both get stuck in a freezer and have to take parts of each others clothing to stay warm. Great watch.

Dance Of The Drunken Mantis – Yuen Siu Tin vs Hwang Jang Lee
Yuen Siu Tien plays his famous character of Sam Seed and faces Hwang Jang Lee (Long white hair) in a great fight scene. The fight starts off with them both sitting at a table talking then it erupts, hwang shows some great movements in the mantis style flipping Sam Seed over and delievering hard punches. Yuen Siu Tien shows us a bit of the Drunken Fairy style which is a great watch and both trying to steal the Beer and get drunk shows great timing.

Drunken Tai Chi – Donnie Yen vs Wong Tao
This fight scene shows Donnie Yen perform some brilliant acrobatic and weaponry abilities against Wong Tao. This is Yens first film and in this fight scene we see great close combat from the two with donnie showing his kicking ability, also Donnie’s use of the Plum Flower Chain is great viewing.

Fist Of Legend – Jet Li vs Yasuaki Kurata
This is just one of many great fights in this classic movie, showing Japanese martial art master Kurata take on Wu Shu champ Jet li toe to toe. Jet starts of using alot of knees and punches which seems to be getting the upper hand, but when the wind picks up the Japanese master cannot see so they go use blindfolds to finish the fight. Both throw stones to confuse each other and attack but ends with both on the ground and calling it a draw.

Kiss Of The Dragon – Dojo Fight
A little nod to the fist of legend scene when jet enters a dojo and takes on about 30 guys at one time. The fight only lasts over a minute or so but shows high energy martial arts from jet li using a police batton to get rid of the bad guys before the others come blasting their way in.

Eagles Claw – End Fight
Hwang Jang Lee is back with his long white hair and eyebrows this time taking on 3 people, We see him perform his usual high impact kicks but also front flips and great hand techniques. He also shows good use of the pole (well rather a big looking walking stick) before the others start to get a upper hand against him.

Broken Oath – Chan Wai Man vs Bruce Liang
Angela Mao is the star of this movie and While Angela is fighting against Sammo Hung (with a beard), Chan Wai Man and Bruce Liang also face off in this great fight scene. Bruce Liang is a great kicker and delievers some great techniques against Wai Man whilst angela then just watches from the side and only gets involved in the last second. The setting is great and although there is no music when they fight, this seems to work and build the fight up.

Last hurrah for chivalry – Wei Pai vs Fung Hak On
Fung Hak On is one of my all time favorite badguys and in this scene he squares off against Wei Pai, the fight starts with both using the sword showing us great timing with long shots without the camera changing.
Both are getting the better of each other and the fight does turn bloody, and the way Wei Pai finishes Fung Hak On off is brutal.

The Buddhist Fist – End Fight
Classic film directed by the legend Yuen Woo Ping and his magic shows off in this movie with some great fight scenes. Tsui Siu Ming faces Yuen Shun Yee who were seperated when they were younger but have to fight at the end of the movie and its got some great hand to hand combat thrown in, the monk randomly will perform a stance (like a pose) to make the other fighter miss. The part when the monk starts climbing all over him and performing strikes is a good watch. The end result could have been different but one of them realise its not worth it and drops to the ground.

Enter The Fat Dragon – Film extra Fight Scene
Sammo arrives as an extra on the set of a bruce lee (lookalike) movie and because hes a massive fan of Bruce in the movie he hates the guy playing him and quicly lets him know about it.
They square off and sammo blocks every counter from the fighter in the style of bruce lee, and when he gets the upper hand all the extras decide to join in. Sammo shows us fantastic kicking skills, the way he takes down one after another only the way Bruce Lee could do, he’s fast, powerful and direct. This show how he is the ultimate Bruce Lee impersonator himself.