Customer Reviews

Once Upon a Time in China & America

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

My only criticisms are that the american actors are sometimes a little cheesy and that a little "flying kung-fu" appears thanks to wires. But who cares?, that's not why you watch the movie! The movie's filled with energetic, often cool, fight scenes featuring Jet. His side kick, Seven, makes the film though. His tough, ass-kicking personality makes his scenes worth watching over and over again. The athleticism the actors display is mind-boggling, some moves are hard to follow even in slow motion. When Seven fights Jet, hold onto your butts!!

Not the best in the series, but worth buying if you want to complete the set. I thought the series started to wane with OUATIC III, but it actually picks up a bit with this one.

ClubFoot reappears (now known as "Seven") puts on a fantastic display of martial arts. In fact the scenes of Jet Li and Seven fighting Native Americans, Cowboys and each other make this film worth watching. What is a bit disappointing is the end fight; rather corny and very predictable.

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.

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.

So Sammo Hung decided to put his name into the history books by making the last Wong Fei-Hung movie starring Jet Li. The movie starts off with Wong, Clubfoot, and Aunt 13 travelling across America to go visit Bucktooth at his new Po Chi Lam school. Wong befriends a man named Billy and they become good friends even though they can't speak eachother's language. Billy loves everything abouth the Chinese once he meets them especially their fighting skills. During an attack the group gets split up and Wong hits his head on a rock and loses his memory. He knows how to do everything he did before but he just doesn't know who he is or remember anythign liek that. So Wong lives with Indians for a while before Clubfoot finally reminds Master Wong who he is. As an injected subplot there are robbers who Master Wong, Clubfoot, and Billy have to take on in the final fight.

Overall I was pretty dissapointed in this movie but it still had enough good moments to recommend it to people who have seen the other 4 Wong Fei-Hung films with Jet Li. The movie just really doesn't know what it wants to be. Some parts are over violent and while that wouldn't be so bad, Jet Li and everybody else can't make a single movement without it being wire assisted. This does become bothersome but luckily Sammo slows down on it as the movie moves along. As expected in a Sammo movie, it is hilarious at times but they should have made it just a comedy or a very serious movie and not tried to have a perfect blend of everything becasue they do anythign but. The final fight is good but still below standards of other movies in this series, even the hard to watch #3.

Also this movie has to be the best showcase for Xin Xin Xiong ever right up there with 'Hero of Heroes'. Sadly he doesn't do much in the final fight but it is still a rare showcase for him. Truly one of the best, or would have been if he could have gotten more of a chance.

The version I have of this movie is from China Star Entertainment Group and also has the name of Win's Entertainment group on it. The DVD is somewhat dissapointing with slightly below average picture quality and subtitles that constantly show up 5 seconds after the person has spoken making the dialogue very hard to follow. There is a 30 minute making of on the DVD and even though most of it is is Chinese, about 7 minutes are interviews with Americans and overall it is very fun to watch.

Although they managed to drag Jet Li back to the series for this installment, I personally wish they'd left the saga on the more respectable note that was the fourth sequel. Though the production values are high, with the American locations and actors being considerably better than in most HK films, the movie's plot is the weakest of the lot.
While Sammo Hung's direction makes the best visual use of the settings, it's suprisingly the action sequences that are the biggest let-down. The number of them is fairly frequent and the choreography is reasonable, but they are just too short to hold the attention. The failure to have a strong villian for Wong Fei-Hung to battle is also a major minus point.
There is also no attempt made to develop the characters and their relationships, as it seems the filmmakers think that dumping WFH and the gang in the middle of a Western is enough to justify making the film. It isn't.
It's a shame such a great series of movies signs off with such a weak parting shot. One for OUATIC completists only.

It was mostly what I expected. My subtitles didn't work right and kept displaying several seconds after they were talking. It may have colored the way I saw the movie, though.

Okay, I have to admit that this movie is just for fun, nothing more. I think my wife and I laughed more in this Western than any Western since Cat Ballou. It is King Fu meets the Wild West! I think this must be the only movie made where there had to be more stunt men than film crew! Forget about a good story or drama - just watch the most unusual Western ever made and laugh out loud. It'll do you good!

A Wu Shu western, a la the old TV series "Kung Fu." Seeing Jet Li, after being taken in by American Indians, wearing pig tails on either side of his head and running up the front of his shirt is something everyone should see. The problem with this film is that the best fight scenes involve Clubfoot, now known as "Seven." Sammo Hung's directorial style has never been a favorite of mine (see "Mr. Nice Guy" and all the slo-mo action there), and this just reinforces that perception....

This is a great installment in the OUATIC series. Wong Fei-Hong in the old west, great action. Sammo as Director brought some of his unique brand of humor and with Jet Li you cant go wrong. For Jet Li fans everywhere.