Product Details

• Actors: Sung Young Chen, Chuen-Hua Chi, Damian Lau, Jet Li, Eric Tsang
• Directors: Corey Yuen
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sys International
• VHS Release Date: September 3, 1996
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304208219
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #79,944 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  Video > Action & Adventure > Action Stars > Jet Li

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A distraught warrior (the charismatic Jet Li) forces his toddler son to choose between a sword and a wooden horse. If he chooses the sword, together they will fight the corrupt government that killed their family; if he chooses the horse, the warrior will send him to join his mother--in hell. Thus begins The New Legend of Shaolin, a wild Hong Kong fantasy. Though the opening sounds grim, the movie shifts ahead seven years and becomes increasingly comic as its plot unfolds. The story centers around a map tattooed on the backs of five boys; it leads to treasure from the Ming dynasty that a heroic sect hopes to use to reestablish the Shaolin temple, which the government destroyed. Meanwhile, Li is forced by poverty to become the bodyguard of a blowhard merchant, who doesn't realize that his bride-to-be is part of a mother-daughter team of notorious thieves. Meanwhile, a villain deformed by a poison that gives him invincible powers is hunting down the five boys, one of whom is the merchant's son... As is usually the case with Hong Kong cinema, the filmmakers have crammed in enough stuff to fill several ordinary movies. The exaggerated stoic conversations between Li and his 7-year-old son, both of them stone-faced and painfully serious, are extremely funny, as are the bizarre bits when the bride's mother masquerades as a ghost. And on top of all this are at least seven spectacular action sequences that are both comic and exciting. A prime example of the unique joys of Hong Kong pop culture. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Get "New Legend of Shaolin" instead of this [take]., July 23, 2002

By	Tensegrity Dan "daredevil_30" (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legend of the Red Dragon (DVD)

This is the second time I am trying to post a review of this film. Maybe they don't want you to know you are getting [a bad deal]?

Okay, so Columbia TriStar has done an excellent job presenting Hong Kong movies such as the Once Upon a Time in China series. They deserve praise for that, unlike the always despicable nimrods at Disney/Miramax/Dimension/Buena Vista.

Unfortunately, this time out Columbia TriStar has stumbled badly and decided to issue a truly sub-standard DVD, both compared to their own usual high standards and compared to what fans and viewers want.

This movie is actually a dubbed, edited, renamed version of the original movie titled "New Legend of Shaolin" which is actually also for sale by Amazon at about half the price of "Legend of the Red Dragon"

The new title is mystifying: there are no dragons in this film, red or otherwise. The original title is much more appropriate: the story is about the semi-historical legend of 5 young monks who survived the destruction of the Shaolin Temple and went on to rebuild it. In this fictionalized account, Jet Li aids the 5 kids, and together they rebuild the legend of Shaolin Temple. Get it? Shaolin. Legend. New. Now is that so hard for American audiences to understand? Apparently, Columbia TriStar thinks so, hence the ridiculously random and generic reference to red
dragons or mauve phoenixes or teal lions or something like that.

And yes, this DVD has dubbed audio tracks only. Despite the ease with which multiple language tracks can be included on the same DVD disc, as Columbia TriStar themselves have done with other films, this time out they've chosen to give us literally less than half the value we expect. Why not include the original Cantonese audio track alongside the English dub? The only explanation I can think of is sheer laziness and disregard for the customer.

Is the dubbing of good quality? Who cares?! For [price] I expect BOTH audio tracks.

What is worse is that this dubbed version of the film is actually edited. That's right, footage has been cut from it. "New Legend of Shaolin" has a running time of 95 minutes. "Myth of the Magenta Tapeworm" is 87 minutes. That's 8 minutes or almost 1/10th of the movie, completely gone. Why? Apparently, because Columbia TriStar doesn't think enough of American audiences to give us the real stuff. Frankly, I am insulted.

Sorry, but for [price] this DVD includes less than half the entertainment value it should. A total [waste].

Do yourself a favor, go up to the area of the "Product Details" area which says "Other Formats" and click on the link that says "DVD". This takes you to the listing for "New Legend of Shaolin" the complete, unedited, original language, subtitled version of this film. And it will cost you almost [price]less.

For that price, the original "New Legend of Shaolin" is a value-packed DVD version of a zany, funny, action-packed, over the top martial arts classic starring the always excellent jet Li.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fong Sai Yuk meets Swordsman II, December 16, 2001

By	David Koski "b-movie fan" (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: New Legend of Shaolin (DVD)

I really enjoyed this movie! It combines the political intrique of Swordsman II with the comedic elements of Fong Sai Yuk (which also had a political underpinning). This is a fantasy style movie with plenty of wirework and unlikely physics. If you like that style of movie, then you should love this one!

Jet Li (Hung) and his son Man Ting are on the run from government soldiers. Jet Li has plenty of good (and serious!) advice for his son, like "show no mercy" and "don't lose your temper, but if you do, then lose it". In a way, Jet Li and his son are playing the straight men in this movie.

Red Bean and her mother are infamous thieves who trick foolish men out of their fortunes. It turns out that they are kung fu artists of considerable skill too (no match for Jet Li of course, but who is?). They target Mr Ma, who has just hired Jet Li to protect him. These two provide a lot of the comic relief. Mother Red Bean reminds me a lot of Fong Sai Yuk's mother.

The villians are the evil government soldiers (who die by the hundred), an evil eunuch (of course), and someone from Jet Li's past who has turned himself into a Poisonous Man and drives around in what looks like a metal rat-car!

Anyway, the movie was very funny. The fight scenes were well done and impressive, as were the special effects. Definately a high quality movie.

The video quality was pretty good. It is widescreen, but not anamorphic. The movie has either Cantonese or Mandarin soundtracks, with English subtitles. The subtitles are in the movie however (as opposed to a separate subtitle track on the DVD) and are sometimes hard to read.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is My Favorite Movie, September 22, 1999

By	[e-mail] (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Legend of Shaolin [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Take this movie for what it is ENTERAINMENT. Everyone who reveiwed this movie is acting like it was made as a martial arts instructional video. This movie is great lots of action, it was funny, but to top it all off Jet & Tze are so cute together. Please watch this movie without over analyzing it.