1103 Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films

[swo17]

Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films



One of the pinnacles of Hong Kong cinema's 1990s golden age, the Once Upon a Time in China series set a new standard for martial-arts spectacle and launched action star Jet Li to international fame. It brings to vivid life the colorful world of China in the late nineteenth century, an era of immense cultural and technological change, as Western imperialism clashed with tradition and public order was upended by the threats of foreign espionage and rising nationalism. Against this turbulent backdrop, one man—the real-life martial-arts master, physician, and folk hero Wong Fei-hung—emerges as a noble protector of Chinese values as the country hurtles toward modernity. Conceived by Hong Kong New Wave leader Tsui Hark, this epic cycle is not only a dazzling showcase for some of the most astonishing action set pieces ever committed to film but also a rousing celebration of Chinese identity, history, and culture.

Once Upon a Time in China

Writer-producer-director Tsui Hark's sprawling vision of a changing nineteenth-century China begins with this riotously entertaining epic, a blockbuster hit that cemented Jet Li's status as the greatest martial-arts superstar of his generation. Li displays his stunning, fast-yet-fluid fighting style as the legendary martial-arts teacher and doctor Wong Fei-hung, who, with a band of loyal disciples, battles a host of nefarious forces—foreign and local alike—threatening Chinese sovereignty as British and American imperialists encroach upon the Mainland. Once Upon a Time in China's breathtaking blend of kung fu, comedy, romance, and melodrama climaxes in a whirlwind guns vs. fists finale that is also a thrilling affirmation of Chinese cultural identity.

Once Upon a Time in China II

Having chronicled the social upheaval wrought by Western influence in the opening chapter of the Once Upon a Time in China series, Tsui Hark turned his attention to the perils of unchecked nationalism in his sensational follow-up, the rare sequel to equal the dizzying highs of the original. Jet Li returns to the role of Wong Fei-hung, who here takes on the diabolical White Lotus Sect, a virulently xenophobic cult whose anti-foreigner sentiments unleash a wave of destructive violence. Fellow martial-arts icon Donnie Yen dazzles in a star-making turn as Wong's nemesis, who faces off with the hero in a battle royal that showcases the kinetic brilliance of revered Hong Kong action choreographer Yuen Wo-ping.

Once Upon a Time in China III

Jet Li's third outing as the storied martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung in the Once Upon a Time in China films is an exhilarating celebration of Chinese culture peppered with a dash of international espionage. This time around, Wong travels to Beijing, where he finds himself drawn into the intrigue surrounding an epic lion-dance competition, spars with a Russian rival for the affections of his beloved Thirteenth Aunt (Rosamund Kwan), and fights to foil a foreign plot to assassinate the real-life Chinese diplomat Li Hongzhang. The eye-popping lion-dance set pieces—which combine vibrantly colored, fire-breathing pageantry with martial-arts mayhem—rank among the most visually spectacular achievements of the series.

Once Upon a Time in China IV

Though it picks up the narrative thread where the previous installment left off, Once Upon a Time in China IV introduces a new director, action choreographer Yuen Bun, and star, Vincent Zhao, who takes over the role of Wong Fei-hung from Jet Li. Once again, foreign skulduggery and a violent nationalist group—in the form of the fierce women warriors known as the Red Lantern Sect—swirl around a magnificent lion-dance competition, with Wong caught in the fray. Toning down the comedic and romantic elements of the first three films in favor of almost wall-to-wall kung-fu action, the fourth entry is the leanest and meanest of the series, highlighted by a gravity-defying fight atop a field of collapsing, domino-like planks.

Once Upon a Time in China V

Tsui Hark returned to the director's chair for the rollicking comedic adventure Once Upon a Time in China V, in which the indomitable hero Wong Fei-hung (Vincent Zhao) tangles with a band of ruthless, finger-removing pirates who are exploiting the political chaos created by the invasion of foreigners in order to terrorize the Chinese coast. The fist-and-foot kung-fu set pieces—including a showstopping, gold-hued melee set in a warehouse of pirate treasure—are plentiful, but Tsui ups the ante by introducing acrobatic gunplay to the proceedings, infusing this furiously entertaining crowd-pleaser with a bracing jolt of John Woo–style bullet ballet mayhem.

SIX-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR'S SET FEATURES

• 4K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II and III, and new 2K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China IV and V, all presented with their original Cantonese theatrical-release sound mixes in uncompressed monaural or stereo
• Alternate stereo Cantonese soundtracks for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II, featuring the original theatrical sound effects, and monaural Cantonese soundtrack for Once Upon a Time in China III
• Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) in a 2K digital transfer, featuring 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and monaural Cantonese soundtracks, along with a stereo Mandarin track with the voice of actor Jet Li
• New interviews with director Tsui Hark, Film Workshop cofounder Nansun Shi, editor Marco Mak, and critic Tony Rayns
• Excerpts from audio interviews with Li conducted in 2004 and '05
• Deleted scenes from Once Upon a Time in China III
• Documentary from 2004 about the real-life martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung
• From Spikes to Spindles, a 1976 documentary about New York City's Chinatown featuring uncredited work by Tsui
• Excerpts from a 2019 master class given by martial-arts choreographer Yuen Wo-ping
• Archival interviews featuring Tsui and actors John Wakefield, Donnie Yen, and Yen Shi-kwan
• Behind-the-scenes footage for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China and America
• Making-of program from 1997 on Once Upon a Time in China and America
• Trailers
• New English subtitle translations
• PLUS: An essay on the films by critic Maggie Lee and an essay on the cinematic depictions of Wong by novelist Grady Hendrix

[DeprongMori]

Surprisingly, this set does not include Once Upon A Time In China and America, which was in the Eureka set. Having heard the Criterion would include 4 and 5, I was hoping I’d be able to replace the Eureka with the Criterion, but I guess I keep both.

[Apperson]

It's included in the special features, just like the Eureka set.

[justeleblanc]

Is Once Upon A Time In China and America not considered canon?

[knives]

Well, I’m doing something I never do and am preordering this. If you include six this is a little less than $18 a film which seems reasonable to me.

Hark has easily been the best discovery I’ve made since trying to see more Chinese and Hong Kong films. I was talking to someone recently and we came to a conclusion that Spike Lee was a weirdly good comparison point, though obviously Hark has more producer power, with both being super prolific and versatile while maintaining a distinct eccentricity in their output.

[dwk]

For those that have access to the sell sheet, is Sony one of the credited licensors?

[cdnchris]

Fortune Star and Warner Bros. are listed as the licensors

[dwk]

Thanks. So the first three are no longer with Sony.

[Mr Sausage]

I loved these films as a high schooler, especially the first one (which contains one of the most thrilling fight sequences in martial arts films, done across a series of ladders). Here are my thoughts on the Jet Li films from elsewhere on the forum:

Once Upon a Time in China (Tsui Hark, 1991): Turns out I had been watching the American edit all those years in high school. The chance to finally see the original cut was welcome indeed. Thirty minutes have been restored, making for a more expansive and developed movie. Characters are now given more complete introductions, and the historical background of much of the plot is filled in and better accounted for. Unfortunately, many of the new scenes are given over to that strain of goofy, child-oriented comedy so popular in HK martial arts films and that, to my sensibility, is at odds with the gravity of the narrative. I can see why it was trimmed for overseas markets. The movie is still wonderful, tho’. The music, sets, atmosphere, characters, and fights are alive and brimming with energy. The complicated story revolves around the influx of foreign ideas, customs, and armies into China. The movie is, in the end, nationalist (the foreigners, the Americans especially, are snarling villains out to profit off the Chinese, when they aren’t tricking them into servitude, and the local Chinese government is too enamoured with these foreign elements to function properly). Yet there are some complications, including hero Wong Fei-Hung’s beloved Aunt 13 having become westernized from a long stay in America (which the movie treats as awkward but not necessarily a negative) and one of his most talented medical students being a Chinese born in the west and knowing little of the language or customs of China. The movie’s thematic thrust is fundamentally melancholy, with Wong Fei-Hung coming to realize that China has to modernize; that its centuries of culture, including its martial arts traditions, are unequipped to deal with the incursion of the west and the power of its gun. The movie is ambivalent about this reality, but gives some potent and sad images to reinforce it (the fate of Wong’s primary antagonist is perhaps the saddest example of this, being almost a metatextual comment on the collision of the mystical, physics-bending martial arts hero and the power of western munitions—the martial arts fantasy film blown apart by the forces of history). As with any martial arts film, the final judgement has to be left to the fights, and those presented here are brilliant in their ever-increasing complications and stylistic extravagances, culminating in a boggling fight up, down, across, and between an endless series of ladders.

Once Upon a Time in China 2 (Tsui Hark, 1992): I was sad to see what looked to be an examination of the complicated politics of the period turn out to be simple nationalist propaganda. The film is set right after the cession of Taiwan to the Japanese. The fallout results in widespread political instability in Canton, with the upswing in nationalist, isolationist fervor begetting an ugly religious sect, The White Lotus, which uses the resentment boiling in the general populace to stir up anti-foreign sentiments and attempt to drive out foreign influence through superstition backed by violence. The local Cantonese government is spread too thin trying to quell political unrest, but increasingly sees The White Lotus as a convenient tool and cover for suppressing what they believe to be the far more dangerous revolutionary element lead by Sun Yat-Sen. So a complicated background for an equally complicated plot that looked to be willing to examine the effects of China’s interaction with the west. Except it becomes increasingly clear (especially following the introduction of Sun Yat-Sen as a character) that these complications are all short hand for the film’s own unreflective nationalism. The White Lotus sect are evil not because they represent the ugly extremes of nationalism and isolationism, but because they are beholden to the idolatry and superstition of religion; they are children who are tricked and deluded and who need to be woken up. The local government is not merely caught in a complicated situation that allows it to be pulled around by different motivations and ideologies, but simple corrupt counter-revolutionaries opposed to liberation. Enter Wong Fei-Hung, who is repurposed as a folk hero of the revolution (here helping Sun Yat-Sen evade the government while battling the White Lotus to protect his family). Yes, it’s all deliriously energetic and great fun, with some amazing fight choreography filmed in long takes and wide and or medium shots, when the camera isn’t zooming around anyway. It’s a treat to watch Jet Li and Donnie Yen battle each other, and as with the first one, the city itself seems alive, always crammed with people eating, drinking, and talking. And yet it’s too bad the film settles for crowd-pleasing propaganda over what promised to be a more complex set of themes.

Once Upon a Time in China 3 (Tsui Hark, 1993): Imagination begins to flag in the third entry. The series seems to’ve exhausted in the first two entries the little it wished to say about the effects of imperialism on China. That this film has political/historical themes at all seems mostly the result of habit, and amounts merely to a grafted-on subplot that contributes little the main plot and could (should) have been excised. The main plot will be familiar to even a casual viewer of martial arts films: Wong Fei-Hung must help his father’s school win a local competition against the dirty tactics of an unscrupulous rival school. Where the film distinguishes itself, and shows it is not bereft of imagination after all, is in its focus on Lion Dance competitions. There are still traditional fight scenes, including a magnificent fight involving floors slicked with oil; but the largest and most complicated scenes involve a gorgeous, chaotic pageantry of lion costumes dancing, leaping, and fighting. Not without merit, but easily the weakest of the first 3 Once Upon a Times.

Once Upon a Time in China and America (Sammo Hung, 1997): The sixth film in the series, and Jet Li’s return to the Wong Fe-Hung role after being replaced in 4 and 5. Set in America, the film is actually a western. It’s a strange movie that doesn’t quite work. The plot involves Wong Fei-Hung, Aunt 13, and Clubfoot going to America to visit Wong’s disciple, Bucktooth So, who’s opened up a clinic in a town whose mayor and populace are snarling anti-Chinese racists. On the way, Wong hits his head (seriously), gets amnesia, and becomes a native American. There’s a certain made-for-tv quality about many of the scenes here. The filmmakers seem to understand the Western mainly through its clichés, and so load the movie with as many as they can remember. HK genre films are notorious for casting poor actors (often non-professionals) as foreigners, which isn’t a problem when confined to a few supporting roles, but cripples a film like this that relies on a large non-Chinese cast. Plus I could’ve sworn one of the native americans was played by a black guy. This is not a good Western, nor is it really a good martial arts film (the fight choreography is able, but excessively undercranked and over-edited). Not a very triumphant return to the series for Jet Li.

[Finch]

irongod who assists Eureka with their HK output says on the other forum that Criterion will feature a superior Cantonese mono track for the first film and a new stereo Cantonese track that is not on the Eureka set that uses the original sound effects; a fix for two missing effects shots in the first film; featuring the original Cantonese stereo track for Part 3 and fixed missing day for night filters.

[yoloswegmaster]

From Irongod in regards to what's been fixed on this release in comparison to the Eureka release:

Much better Cantonese mono track for the first film. Also includes a new stereo Cantonese track that is not on the Eureka set that uses the original sound effects.

Fixed both missing effects shots in the first film.

Located the original Cantonese stereo track for Part 3 and fixed missing day for night filter.

English tracks were left off for they cheapen the experience of these amazing films. No 5.1 nonsense either.

[feihong]

So glad to see OUATIC V included in the set––easily the equal of any of the other subsequent films in the series. For my money Zhao Wen Zhuo is as good a Wong Fei Hong as Jet Li is (at least in the fifth film––the fourth is a cheaper-looking movie with less dynamic performances in general).

It looks like no commentary tracks, though. But at this point, I might be fine letting those go. The Arrow ones are only OK. I'm resigned to there never being a good commentary track for the first movie.

[dwk]

For those that don't know, here is an example of the f/x errors on the first film

[TheRanchHand]

I understand that this is sometimes a forum for acting like we are all pretentious experts on films and nit pick at the releases but I continue to be so happy Criterion dives further into martial arts cinema (outside of the samurai). Pulling all of these together is genius and did not see it coming. I pre ordered already myself as I did Arrows Shaw set and the Joseph Kuo region 2 set. These films were (and are) falling into the pit of erosion without some of these studios grabbing them up (granted higher end films like Shaw and OUATIC are in good shape) and now gives the fans some top notch home video experiences.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I feel Criterion is underselling From Spikes to Spindles. It's fairly lengthy (40 minutes), a fascinating time capsule with an agitational bent that distinguishes it from a conventional tourist/ethnographic piece, and a seminal work in Asian American film history. Besides Tsui's involvement as one of the cinematographers, it also has a historical angle that ties in very well with the themes of the series. Its inclusion makes me wonder if Criterion has more Christine Choy titles in the pipeline—Who Killed Vincent Chin? would be a no-brainer for a standalone release.

[colinr0380]

It looks like no commentary tracks, though. But at this point, I might be fine letting those go. The Arrow ones are only OK. I'm resigned to there never being a good commentary track for the first movie.

It was a real shame that the Hong Kong Legends commentary by Bey Logan for Once Upon A Time In China is kind of completely ruined by the guy who played an extra in the film, Mark King, acting less passive-aggressive and more 'aggressive-aggressive' about his experiences on it and about the quality of Hong Kong cinema in general! It is probably the most uncomfortably awkward commentary track I have ever listened to! (Though listening to it again reminds me that the relatively poorly received Once Upon A Time In China Parts 4 & 5 span-off into an apparently much better TV series with the same lead actor)

Thankfully Logan went solo on the second and third films.

[feihong]

Yeah, those tracks for 2 and 3 were much better. There was that moment on the first track, though, where Logan is genuinely enthused, telling Mark King it's going to be him and Donnie Yen commenting on the second film. Sadly, that never came to pass.

The main things I remember from the commentary on OUATIC I in the Eureka set was a protracted apology by the new commentators for Bey Logan and the HKL commentary track ever existing. They refuse to even mention Logan's name, so I had to go Googling and find out why.

One of these days I want somebody to just analyze the film on a commentary track, add some "inside baseball" stories...you know. The stuff people normally do on a commentary track.

For my money, OUATIC V is underrated. It's as good as II and III, I think. I haven't seen the TV series. I did see some of the later 7 Swords TV series, also starring Zhao Wen Zhuo, and it was very hamstrung by the budgetary restraints of TV. I can't imagine the OUATIC TV series was not as well, but maybe it was good?

[dwk]

I feel Criterion is underselling From Spikes to Spindles. It's fairly lengthy (40 minutes), a fascinating time capsule with an agitational bent that distinguishes it from a conventional tourist/ethnographic piece, and a seminal work in Asian American film history. Besides Tsui's involvement as one of the cinematographers, it also has a historical angle that ties in very well with the themes of the series. Its inclusion makes me wonder if Criterion has more Christine Choy titles in the pipeline—Who Killed Vincent Chin? would be a no-brainer for a standalone release.

You nailed that, as noted by Ribs in the Janus Films thread, they have Who Killed Vincent Chin? and it will be screening at NYFF.

[yoloswegmaster]

Irongod revealed that he tried to get Criterion to add Wong Jing's LAST HERO IN CHINA as an extra but Tsui Hark said no.

[dwk]

Is that also known as Claws of Steel? If so, I think that is a Miramax title (it is streaming on Paramount+), so I wonder how far they got before Tsui Hark said no. (I'm curious if Paramount is willing to license any of Miramax's Hong Kong titles.)

[yoloswegmaster]

Claws of Steel is indeed the alternative title, and Miramax is listed as the licensor on Vudu.

[PfR73]

Irongod revealed that he tried to get Criterion to add Wong Jing's LAST HERO IN CHINA as an extra but Tsui Hark said no.

Awwww man, that had been my biggest hope for this set. I've never seen any of the OUATIC films yet, but my friends & I watched that film, which I know as "Deadly China Hero," over and over in middle school. The scene where Jet Li is dressed as a chicken fighting guys dressed as a centipede is seared into my brain.

[feihong]

My impression was that Last Hero in China was meant to be a thumb in Tsui Hark's eye, after Jet Li left his stable to work for Wong Jing (only a minute or so later Jet was also on board with Wong Jing in his movie-long diss track against Jackie Chan, High Risk). So I can understand in that context how Tsui might nix the possibility of including the film in the set. And I'd agree with him. Last Hero in China is a pretty sh*tty film, not on the same level as the Tsui Hark films. It doesn't belong in this set. OUATIC VI is terrible, but at the very least it is a fairly earnest attempt to expand the series, without the goofing off and the implicit middle finger to the overall exceptional quality of this series.

[Mr Sausage]

My impression was that Last Hero in China was meant to be a thumb in Tsui Hark's eye, after Jet Li left his stable to work for Wong Jing (only a minute or so later Jet was also on board with Wong Jing in his movie-long diss track against Jackie Chan, High Risk). So I can understand in that context how Tsui might nix the possibility of including the film in the set. And I'd agree with him. Last Hero in China is a pretty sh*tty film, not on the same level as the Tsui Hark films. It doesn't belong in this set. OUATIC VI is terrible, but at the very least it is a fairly earnest attempt to expand the series, without the goofing off and the implicit middle finger to the overall exceptional quality of this series.

How is High Risk a Jackie Chan diss? Granted, I saw it in high school, but that facet utterly passed me by.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

The Jacky Cheung character—an action movie superstar named Frankie Lone who's actually a lazy coward that doesn't do his own stunts and doesn't know martial arts—is primarily a parody of Chan. The character's Chinese name (龍威, which was also incorporated into the film's Chinese title) is an inversion of Chan's (成龍) with a slightly different character, and the roles played by Wu Ma and Charlie Cho are clearly modeled on Chan's father and manager, respectively. Wong Jing had feuded with Chan during the making of City Hunter, and Kirk Wong ghost-directed much of High Risk after Chan fired him from Crime Story. Jet Li was originally set for the lead in Crime Story, but in some tellings (there are different versions of this) was elbowed out by Chan.