Fong sai yuk
Tags: cult, violence

Plot synopsis:
The brash and ambitious Fong Sai-yuk meets the beautiful Ting-ting during a track and field competition and falls in love with her. Ting-ting is the daughter of Tiger Lui, a hot-headed hooligan. Lui stages a martial arts competition for interested men to participate and win his daughter's hand in marriage. The contestant must defeat Lui's wife, Siu-wan, in order to win. Fong joins the contest at his friends' urging and defeats Siu-wan. He catches a glimpse of his future bride, who is actually a servant maid to replace Ting-ting, who went missing during the contest. Fong decides to forfeit the match and leaves.
Fong's mother, Miu Tsui-fa, enters the contest in disguise as a man to help her son win back his lost pride. She defeats Siu-wan by knocking her off the scaffold, but catches her as she falls and they land safely on the ground. After that intimate moment together, Siu-wan becomes romantically attracted to Miu without knowing that Miu is actually a woman in disguise. Lui then forces Miu to marry his daughter. To save his mother from embarrassment, Fong marries Ting-ting on behalf of his "brother" (his mother in disguise as a man), and is confined in his father-in-law's house. He is unaware that his bride is actually his love interest and they fight in the dark. They discover each other's identities eventually.
Miu manages to persuade Lui to let her son return home. Just then, Fong's father, Fong Tak, returns home from a trip. Fong discovers that his father is a member of the Red Flower Society, an underground resistance movement that aims to overthrow the ruling Manchu-led Qing dynasty. While Fong Tak is having a conversation with fellow members, they are ambushed by the Governor of Nine Gates and his soldiers. The Governor demands that Fong Tak hand over the name list of the society's members, but he refuses. Just then, Fong Sai-yuk and his mother show up, and Fong fights with the Governor and holds him off until his parents have escaped.
Fong and his parents hide in their in-laws' house to evade the authorities, but the Governor visits Lui's house and recognises them. In the ensuing fight, Fong Tak is captured while Siu-wan dies from a gunshot wound. Fong lies to his mother that his father has been rescued and decides to save his father alone without letting her know. He attempts to storm the execution ground and fights with the Governor to save his father. At the critical moment, Miu appears with the Red Flower Society's members and their leader, Chan Ka-lok. They defeat the Governor and his men and succeed in freeing Fong Tak. Before the film ends, Fong Sai-yuk becomes Chan's godson and joins his godfather on their quest as they ride towards the far horizon.

Review: But he's not the only one who shines here.Fong Sai Yuk (Jet Li) is a young man who yearns to compete and backs it up with amazing kung fu.
Credit deservedly goes to Corey Yuen who displays some of the most creative battles I've ever seen.With a really cool soundtrack, great cast, humor and great kung fu, Fong Sai Yuk is really fun to watch..
A wonderfully funny film with a busy plot and great action scenes  only genre weaknesses hurt it a little bit.
When the Governor offers the hand of his daughter to the man who can defeat his wife in combat, Sai-Yuk Fong enters, only losing the fight on purpose when he spots who he thinks is the daughter.
With the Fong's already in trouble for this imaginary brother turning down the daughter's hand, things get worse when the Emperor comes to town to expose and destroy the members of the Red Lotus  a group that Father Fong is a key member of.As the plot summary suggests, this is a very busy little film with a plot that is very simple but at the same time filled with lots of little things going on.
In a way this is a problem because many of these things are by the by and only serve to fill a movie who's basic plot is 'Fong fights with bad Emperor', but here it doesn't matter so much because this patchwork of little events fit well into this basic frame of a story and make the film enjoyable.
Aside from this, the overall plot is nothing more than a frame and I can understand why some viewers would be bothered by both the lack of firm foundations as well as the comic tone.For me though, the comic tone was a big reason I loved it  just like I felt it made Once Upon a Time in China 3 so much fun to watch.
Performances were hard to judge for me as I saw the dubbed version, but the dubbing is not that bad and, while not great actors, the voice talent (as the credits call them) all do well to capture the tone and style of their characters  certainly the dubbing fits with the jocular tone of the majority of the film.
In typical Jeff Lau style it bounces all over the place, from stupid comedy to high (melo)drama via a little romance and the obligatory gender confusions, and of course leading into the incredibly imaginitive action sequences choreographed by director Corey Yuen and former opera brother Yuen Tak.The production values for the movie are very high, if not quite as slick as the Once Upon A Time In China movies they clearly aspire to emulating.
The soundtrack from James Wong (with regular partner Romeo Diaz) seems a little too close to his score for OUATIC in places, but mostly does a commendable job.Jet Li has said that Fong Sai Yuk is the character that most closely resembles his real personality from all those he's played.
From the small time I've spent in Jet's company I'm not sure his self-image is entirely accurate, but he's probably in a better position to judge than me Certainly Fong Sai Yuk is a very likeable chap the way Jet plays him, and you can tell Jet was 100% into the character and the project.
Sibelle Hu also steals a fair amount of screen as the mother of Fong Sai Yuk's love interest (the beautiful Michelle Reis), and wife of semi-villain Tiger Lui (Chan Chung-Yung?), who also shines with an affably overstated performance.
Main villain Chiu Man Cheuk is conspicuously far more charismatic and convincing than in any other movie he's been in apart from The Blade.Fong Sai Yuk could be described as a light-hearted riff on the wire-fu wave launched by Once Upon A Time In China.
Hong Kong humour can be an acquired taste, and the jokes sometimes fall flat in Fong Sai Yuk. Jeff Lau's jokes are generally a bit hit or miss, but he aims so wide that it's not surprising.
There are some genuinely funny moments though.When it comes down to it, the action scenes are what really got me hooked when I saw the movies though.
Since Tsui Hark raised the bar several notches above anything people had imagined possible for fight scenes when he made Once Upon A Time In China, the Hong Kong choreographers had been engaged in a battle to see who could produce the most inventive and outlandish action scenes.
The best of the bunch tended to be in Jet Li's movies, and the fights in Fong Sai Yuk are fine examples of HK creativity.
Grandly conceived if not flawlessly executed, the fights in Fong Sai Yuk were especially impressive to these innocent eyes that had never seen action Hong Kong style before.
I think the movie won the "best action" award that year, which is pretty impressive for a HK movie made in 1993, the year the new wave style reached its peak.Fong Sai Yuk is definitely a movie that has a special place in many fans hearts, even though it does have too many mis-fired jokes and rough edges to be called a true masterpiece.
Still a must see for any fan of Hong Kong cinema though, a wonderfully representative example of what makes it so special and unique.Sadly, the DVD owner that wishes to watch Fong Sai Yuk is faced with only 3 choices, none of which are particularly appealing.
It's probably cut by 30 minutes and re-scored with rap music, knowing Miramax's utter contempt for their catalogue and audience.I think the best versions of the movies I have are still the long play VHS copies recorded from Channel 4 in the UK before I discovered DVD, to be quite honest.
because it didn't matter a jot that I couldn't tell what the plot was as the film is just one amazing "fight" scene after another.
If you love MAD films check this out.There is a scene in which Jet Li fights the mother of the woman he has a crush on entirely on the HEADS of a crowd!
Jet revives another Chinese folk-hero into traditional action with a spirited portrayal of Fong Sai Yuk, kung fu wonderkid with a happy-go-lucky attitude and gleaming smile: despite their moral standings and martial artistry, Fong couldn't be more different than Jet's other alter-ego Wong Fei-hung.
Everything simply falls into place and we're left with a truly delightful action romp, with special turnouts from charming comedienne Josephine Siao (as Fong's mother) and the always-exciting Jet Li..
I love Jet Li. And I think his Hong Kong/China movies are far better than his Hollywood ones.
I had the privilege of watching this movie at the local theater recently and this is easily one of the top five Jet Li films of all time.
The movie incorporates, comedy, action, a well-written plot, and good old gender-bending fun.
There is a slight bit of gore in the beginning, but after that it's typical light hearted HK kung-fu action.This movie also includes one of the most memorable martial arts fight scenes which takes place in part on the heads of the audience.
A good place to start watching martial arts films.
Most martial arts movies have a few good fight scenes and practically no plot - just random wandering to transition between the fight scenes or some kind of revenge vendetta.
Jet Li is likable as Fong Sai Yuk (a genuine hero to the Chinese, about whom tall tales are spun, sort of like Daniel Boone), a young do-gooder who seems perpetually caught up in one mess after another despite his good intentions.
Any of the big set piece fight scenes are worth the rental, especially the one early in the movie on a huge and rather unsteady looking tower.
Jet Li starred in this film shortly after making Once Upon A Time In China, and once again he kicks ass.
The fight scenes are truly amazing for its time, and film is just brimming with entertainment from start to finish.
The story consists of Fong Sai Yuk (Jet Li) being forced into a family marriage, his romance with the girl, finding out his dad is part of some rebel movement, and protecting the whole family then on as they are on the run.
There are a few stupid scenes in this, particulary one where Jet Li dresses up as a woman, and another one where Mother Fong covers her hair so people mistake her for a man (even though she has make up on and still looks like a chick).
Kung fu enthusiasts should definately take a look at this for the action and to see Jet Li do his stuff, but it's not really one for the mainstream hollywood film lovers.
The martial arts scenes are original in content and are visually stunning with Jet Li and Josephine Siao.
Fong Sai Yuk is one of his better films.
It's typical of Hong Kong films by having some romance, drama, comedy, and action.
It's a little inside joke if you know Hong Kong martial arts films.
Fong Sai-Yuk. what do you think of when someone talks about a Chinese movie, which is a cross between martial arts "Crouching Tiger" action, hilarious comedy, a farce, modern fairytale, passioned lovestory and very out of sync talks?
Fresh from the success of Once Upon A Time In China, he moved straight into this movie, and in turn crafted 2 masterpieces in succession.The simple story of Jet Li's forced marriage is run parallel to the more adventurous tale of a secret sect or revolutionarys fighting against the emperor.
For example, Jet Li's playful and young Fong Sai Yuk is a far cry from his serious and restrained Wong Fei-Hong from his Once Upon A Time series, and so the fighting style is different to reflect that.
He moves a lot more playful, cracks jokes between punches and it is a marvel to behold.It is one of the funniest and entertaining films out there, and is a definite must see for all martial arts fans..
I wish I could get a copy of Fong Sai Yuk 2, because I would love to see more of this movie.Synopsis: Fong Sai Yuk is a late teen with  a lot of martial arts skill, taught to him by his mother, equally as good.
It's a fully entertaining film, with a decent plot, three dimensional characters and some great martial arts action.
Though it does contain its share of cliches and wild stunts (a man rides his horse as it jumps about 50 feet on to a boat), its story, action and humor may win over those whose hearts are closed to martial arts cinema.In short, see the film.
The acting is terrific, especially the character of Sai Yuk's mother created by Josephine Siao.
The movie is very funny - on purpose, not the way many action films are!
If you're a fan of Hong Cong action movies you'll think this is Jet Li's greatest film; if you're new to the genre you're likely to be completely blown away because in addition to everything else you'll have the fun of being exposed to this exotic world.
Fong Sai Yuk is one such film.
Jet Li shows great martial arts ability in a fine performance, yet he's easily overshadowed by his own Mum....The film has action, comedy and great stunt work..
A funny, action-packed kung-fu flick with some of the best martial arts scenes I've ever seen!.
"The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk" (or "The Legend" as entitled by Dimension Films Home Entertainment) starring Jet Li as the title character captures some of the best martial arts ever placed on film.
Oh, sure, the actors are sometimes aided by the help of wires, but "wire-fu" never does overstay it's welcome in this fun-filled comic, kung-fu drama.Jet Li (an executive producer on the film) and director Corey Yuen ("Kiss of the Dragon", "The Defender", "The One") have been able to come up with some of the most inventive fight scenes that rival those of "The Matrix", "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and "The Legend of Drunken Master" (though I don't think Chan has ever used any wires in his work) or I should say vice versa since "Fong Sai Yuk" was filmed before any of the above mentioned.The movie itself is more or less the same as many other similar period piece kung-fu films (the "Once Upon A Time In China" series, which also starred Li, comes to mind).
It details the heroics of Fong Sai-Yuk and his family (his father is the leader of a group of freedom fighters) as they try to evade and defeat an evil emperor's (who wants to rule China, of course) death squad.There's a subplot that involves a greedy land baron that's mostly played for laughs, but also introduces a female character who falls for Li and fleshes out a little bit of a love story between the two.
However, as entertaining as those plot threads are, everytime the fighting begins, "Fong Sai-Yuk" kicks into overdrive with very thrilling scenes involving intricate, complex fight scenes.It's for those reasons that we go to see a martial art film and it's for those reasons alone that you should see "The Legend", I guarantee you won't be disappointed..
This movie has a great sense of humour, on top of being one of the most well-choreographed fight films of all time.
This movie has a WONDERFUL plot...it's fun to go along with these characters...and Jet Li shows his charming sense of humour, too.
Ah a film that combines comedy and fast paced action...its a lot better than the second one (which i saw first?!?) Jet Li seems to have far too much energy for the other stars in the film all in all a truly awe inspiring film 10/10.
Also the film starts with a very graphic fight scene and ends with several comic characters getting killed.
FONG SAI YUK is known as THE LEGEND in Britain and was broadcast on BBC 1 earlier tonight probably because it ties in with the release of Jet Li`s up coming HERO and since we`re also treated to an athletics contest very early into the film I guess someone thought it might have been a good idea to broadcast it after the BBC`s Olympic coverage THE LEGEND isn`t a bad martial arts movie , it features romance , comedy and action which is what entertainment is all about .
Great funny comedic zombie martial arts movie.
It seemed like the characters were fighting for no reason most of the time and Jet Li's mum just couldn't help poking her nose into her son's business.
On the plus side, it does look authentic and the mum did crack me up in a few scenes, but I did end up falling asleep.Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: HK$30.6millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their Jet Li movies about a man fighting for justice to save his family and his love ones.
The reason the comedy does not work is because Jet is fighting someone and then in the middle of a fight, comes out with a witty (or unwitty), quip, it's so cartoony, it's not meant to be "Superman", it's a damn KUNG-FU, ROMANCE, ACTION, COMEDY, kind of movie.
Back to the good bits, Fong Sai-Yuk has some really good fight scenes (except the first one, and the one where all the bad guys bow to him at the end, what a bunch of dufuses, I'm sure I'd never do that).
The best thing about the film though is that Jet's character is not the perfect gentleman you see if you catch the first ten minutes (killed a flower lady or something like that).
This film has fight scenes equal to "Once Upon A Time In China".
So go rent this film for comedy, action with different types of weapons, and Jet Li..
Jet Li, acting as Executive Producer as well as the main star, plays Fong Sai-Yuk, a cheeky chappy with amazing Kung Fu prowess who falls in love with the beautiful daughter of an influential businessman and must prove his worth to the judgemental Patriarch.
This is an astounding Martial arts film, that has lots of great comedy and jaw dropping fight scenes!.
This is an astounding Martial arts film, that has lots of great comedy and jaw dropping fight scenes!.
The dubbing is once again, pretty good, and the final fight was simply fantastic!, plus Jet Li had a great sense of humor!.
A lot of the laughs come from the scenes with Fong and his mother, they are absolutely hilarious, and the ending especially had me cracking up, plus there are lots of great serious and dramatic moments too!.The plot is really cool and the use of wires was actually incredible, plus you do get to see some of Jet's natural ability too!.
This has to be one of the 1st Jet Li films i have seen him act sort of goofy, and i loved it!, plus some of the dialog was absolutely hilarious!.
This is an astounding martial arts film, that has lots of great comedy and jaw dropping fight scenes, and i say Go see it right this instant!.
Josephine Siao is absolutely hilarious, the scenes with her and Jet are a scream,she was also extremely likable, and just did a fantastic job overall!, i loved her.
Overall Go see it right this instant, it's my 2nd favorite Jet Li film next to Once Upon A Time In China!.
It then all kicks off as a top fighter from the government tries to track them down.We have comedy (which, for once, works well in a martial arts film) romance and, most of all, action.
It has some of the best scenes I have seen.All in all The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk is a superb film.