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Once Upon a Time in China and AmericaRating:
Release Date: 30 July, 2002 Retail Price: $14.95 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (6 total) |
Once Upon a Time in China and America Reviews
Your mouth smells like a heard of Buffalo Dung
Sol heads to the U.S. with visions of opening a school for martial arts. During this time period many Chinese people are being sold to U.S. railroad companies. The Chinese people are being placed in harsh working environments, and being mistreated by Americans. The American workers show hatred towards the Chinese immigrants. Nevertheless, shortly after Sol arrives in the US he gets into trouble with an American mob. Wong Fei-Hung, Club Foot, and Aunt 13 come to the rescue. Upon their arrival Wong Fei-Hung goes through several fits of amnesia, causing further difficulties for Sol's rescue and resolution.
"American food will kill us if the Indians don't."
Sammo Hung (Mr. Nice Guy, Moon Warriors, Eastern Condors, Project A, Prodigal Son, Spooky Encounters, The Victim, Knockabout, Enter the Fat Dragon, and The Iron-Fisted Monk) directs Once Upon a Time in China and America, his last project, though he is working on the upcoming Knight Rider. I am a big fan of Hung's work; I look forward to his Knight Rider project, as he has not made a major film in almost 10 years. Nevertheless, I did not expect much from this film, especially with these two genres. The character development continuation was very good, the action was also solid as you would expect from Hung. The film was better then anticipated.
"Remember, you are not Abraham Lincoln."
There were several aspects I truly enjoyed from this film; none more then the development of the character Clubfoot. His fighting scenes were the highlight of the film in my opinion. I also liked the consistency of Wong Fei-Hung fighting with an umbrella in every film he is in. I did wonder where the character of Foon was in this film?!?! The main aspect of the film I found strange was the final villain and Billy both knowing martial arts. I mean, when did cowboys ever fight in a film utilizing martial arts???
"You and I should open a store together. We can call it 7-11."
Overall, Once Upon a Time in China and America possesses all the stereo types for both the Chinese and American characters that you would expect. However, you should not watch this genre of film for an in depth story, plot, or character development. Nevertheless, the Once Upon a Time in China series does develop great characters. Wong Fei-Hung, Foon, Aunt 13, and Clubfoot are all marvelous characters. It was too bad Foon did not appear in this film, however, in Once Upon a Time in China 3 you could see him starting the transition of becoming a master, as he started teaching students. Once Upon a Time in China and America is not the best of the series, though I would not say it is the worst either. If you collect the series, you should have this film.
"I just keep saying yeah."
Grade: B-
Once Upon a Time for an Average Sequel
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.
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