Earlier than being made much more well-known by a pair of Jet Li classics within the Nineties, a preferred martial arts hero was portrayed much more instances by a distinct style icon. Jet Li added one other hit to an already-impressive resume when he starred in Corey Yuen’s Fong Sai-yuk, taking part in the titular character.
Fong Sai-yuk was a 1993 kung fu interval a couple of skilled fighter who participates in a martial arts match and unwittingly wins himself a spouse within the course of. Afterward, he winds up aligned with the Crimson Lotus Society and their efforts to oppose the evil Manchus who management China. The movie was profitable sufficient to warrant a sequel, Fong Sai-yuk 2, which continued the hero’s adventures.
As evidenced by its 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Fong Sai-yuk is now acknowledged as one in all Jet Li’s biggest martial arts films. As for Fong Sai-yuk 2, it has a popularity as a worthy sequel. All issues thought of, Fong Sai-yuk is among the actor’s memorable roles. Nonetheless, one other star – Alexander Fu Sheng – did much more with the Chinese language people legend.
Earlier than Jet Li’s 2 Fong Sai-yuk Motion pictures, Alexander Fu Sheng Performed Him 3 Occasions
Through the mid to late Nineteen Seventies, Alexander Fu Sheng was one of many prime stars of Shaw Brothers, the main kung fu film studio within the Hong Kong movie trade. One of many performances that contributed tremendously to his rise was his position as Fong Sai-yuk in director Chang Cheh’s Heroes Two.
Fong Sai-yuk is a significant determine in Chinese language folklore and a hero related to the supposed fall of the Shaolin Temple. Nonetheless, he by no means existed in actual life.
Launched in 1974, the old-school kung fu movie advised the story of two insurgent heroes who come collectively to face in opposition to the Manchus within the aftermath of the Shaolin Temple’s destruction within the Qing Dynasty. The film, which was a success for Shaw Brothers, led to Chang Cheh directing a number of films with related themes, settings, tales, and even the identical characters.
Retroactively known as “The Shaolin Cycle,” the Chang Cheh-directed sequence of six, loosely-connected films all starred Alexander Fu Sheng and dealt ultimately with the autumn of the Shaolin Temple, whether or not as an occasion that happens throughout the story or an occasion that types the catalyst for the plot.
Along with Heroes Two, Alexander Fu Sheng performed Fong Sai-yuk in two different Shaolin Cycle films, Males from the Monastery and Shaolin Temple. Shaolin Temple was an all-star Shaw Brothers ensemble movie that noticed Fu Sheng’s Fong Sai-yuk be part of a number of Shaolin fighters within the battle to guard the Shaolin Temple.
Males from the Monastery, however, was a narrative akin to Heroes Two, besides it adopted three well-known Shaolin warriors. On this one, Chang Cheh performs into the myths surrounding Fong Sai-yuk, depicting Fu Sheng’s character as a nigh-invincible martial artist who can solely be killed when struck underneath the groin space.
All three are high quality kung fu films with glorious battle choreography, with Heroes Two and Shaolin Temple particularly standing out as two of Shaw Brothers’ greatest Nineteen Seventies martial arts movies, making Fu Sheng’s performances as Fong Sai-yuk a key a part of his personal cinematic legacy.