Nicholas Raymond is an author and journalist based in Alabama, where he is a proud member of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. A graduate of the University of Montevallo, he holds a degree in mass communications with a concentration in journalism.
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Before being made even more famous by two Jet Li classics in the 1990s, a popular martial arts hero was portrayed even more times by an icon of a different genre. Jet Li added another hit to an already impressive resume when he starred in Corey Yuen Fong Sai-yukplaying the main character.
Fong Sai-yuk was a 1993 kung fu period about a trained fighter who enters a martial arts tournament and unwittingly wins a woman in the process. Subsequently, he finds himself aligned with the Red Lotus Society and its efforts to oppose the evil Manchus who control China. The film was successful enough to merit a sequel, Fong Sai Yuk 2which continues the adventures of the hero.
As evidenced by its 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Fong Sai-yuk is now recognized as one of the Jet Li’s Greatest Martial Arts Movies. As for Fong Sai Yuk 2it has a reputation for being a worthy sequel. All things considered, Fong Sai-yuk is one of the actor’s memorable roles. However, another star – Alexander Fu Sheng – did even more with the popular Chinese legend.
Before Jet Li’s 2 Fong Sai-yuk films, Alexander Fu Sheng played it 3 times
In the mid to late 1970s, Alexander Fu Sheng was one of Shaw Brothers’ biggest starsthe leading kung fu film studio in the Hong Kong film industry. One of the performances that greatly contributed to his rise was his role as Fong Sai-yuk in director Chang Cheh’s film. Hero two.
Fong Sai-yuk is a major figure in Chinese folklore and a hero associated with the supposed fall of the Shaolin Temple. However, he never existed in real life.
Released in 1974, this old-school kung fu film tells the story of two rebel heroes who unite to oppose the Manchus following the destruction of the Shaolin Temple during the Qing dynasty. The film, which was a success for Shaw Brothers, led Chang Cheh to direct several films with similar themes, settings, stories and even the same characters.
Retroactively referred to as “The Shaolin cycle“, the series of six loosely related films, directed by Chang Cheh, all starred Alexander Fu Sheng and dealt with the fall of the Shaolin Temple in one way or another, whether as an event that occurs in the story or as an event that provides the catalyst for the plot.
In addition to Hero twoAlexander Fu Sheng played Fong Sai-yuk in two other films of the Shaolin cycle, Men of the monastery And Shaolin Temple. Shaolin Temple was an all-star Shaw Brothers ensemble film who saw Fu Sheng’s Fong Sai-yuk Join several Shaolin fighters in the fight to protect the Shaolin Temple.
Men of the monasteryon the other hand, was a similar story to Hero twoexcept it followed three famous Shaolin warriors. In it, Chang Cheh plays on the myths surrounding Fong Sai-yuk, portraying the character Fu Sheng as a nearly invincible martial artist who can only be killed when struck under the groin.
All three are quality kung fu films with excellent fight choreography, with Hero two And Shaolin Temple specifically standing out as two of the The Best Shaw Brothers Martial Arts Movies of the 1970smaking Fu Sheng’s performance as Fong Sai-yuk a key part of his own cinematic legacy.