Customer Reviews

Once Upon a Time in China 5 [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What's wrong with this movie? Hmm, where to begin... how about the fact that the main weapon of choice in the film is guns. That's right I said guns. Wong Fei Hung, Clubfoot and crew jump around performing martial arts and then shooting people dead. It makes no sense whatsoever and is totally out of character for Fei Hung who, in one scene, shoots a woman in the eye and kills her. Then there's the fact that the movie drags on and on with TERRIBLE comedy scenes that make you wish someone would shoot you in the eye and end the misery. The only thing saving this film from a one star rating is one AWESOME figth scene where Wong Fei Hung battles an ancient kung fu master in a massive treasure chamber. Very cool but definely not worth the purchase price.

movies number 4&5 bring a whole new element to the table and I love it.I read the [other] review posted here and it said that the series hit rock bottom with this one,[but] this movie is great,Chiu Man-Chuek is an excellent Wong Fei-Hung and with numbers 4&5 creates his own branch in the OUATIC series that are "wire-Fu" master pieces,while the first 2 movies were complete movie masterpieces,these ones are more like fantasy comic books and are totally off the wall,while Chiu isn't as much the star in this one as in #4,his students-Lueng Fun,Club Foot,and Butcher Wing create some amazing wire-fu spectacles in this one(especially Club-Foot) and has a very plentiful amount of well edidted fight scenes which will make you wish you weren't so sceptic of an OUATIC movie without Jet Li.... A great addition in the series,check it out,but remember to forget about Jet while watching this one and watch it for the great movie it is.

Director and OUATIC series creator Tsui Hark bravely puts a new twist on the legend of Wong Fei-Hung in this fifth chapter in the series. As emphasised by other reviewers here, firearms are fairly prevelant in this episode; although they complement rather than overshadow the martial-arts action. Personally, to see WFH dodging bullets while kicking heads made for lively viewing in my opinion.
Man Cheuk Chui plays Wong Fei-Hung pretty well, but in the acting/charisma stakes, he's obviously no Jet Li. Where he does shine is in the well choreographed action scenes. Spinning and kicking for all his worth, here he does give Jet a run for his money! In fact all of Wong's sidekicks are given space to show off their martial moves, with Clubfoot in particular displaying some powerful kicking.
In conclusion, while it doesn't reach the epic heights of the earlier Jet Li chapters, OUATIC 5 is a well-paced kung-fu movie that provides action, comedy and drama in equal measure.

The OUATIC saga hit rock bottom with this fiasco. Everybody assumed that the series would hit rock bottom with the fourth movie without Jet Li but that was a pretty good addition to the saga but you can't say the same about this mess. What happened with this one?! The story looked like the writers had a little too much to drink when they were developing the plot for this weak entry...what a shame...this series deserves better....