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Once Upon a Time in China

Once Upon a Time in China

1991
Drama, Action
2h 14m
Set in late 19th century Canton this martial arts film depicts the stance taken by the legendary martial arts hero Wong Fei-Hung (1847-1924) against foreign forces' (English, French and American) plundering of China (imdb)
Your probable score
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Once Upon a Time in China

1991
Drama, Action
2h 14m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 60.15% from 554 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(554)
Compact view
Compact view
Rated 14 Aug 2007
85
83rd
Great martial arts movie. One of Jet Li's best for sure.
Rated 16 Mar 2008
71
29th
Some great martial arts and good entertainment. I have trouble getting into these types of movies though, with all the random stereotype comedy and the slow moving semi-silly semi-serious plot.
Rated 03 Mar 2009
70
83rd
The Once Upon a Time in China films are nothing less than classics. Jet Li plays an excellent Wong Fei Hung, and the supporting cast are good too. The action sequences are great, and the story never allows the viewer to get bored. We get to see the challenges the East faced with the arrival of the western cultures and how they deal with them. I prefer OUATIC II over the original, however, this film is great, and gives a good introduction to the characters.
Rated 20 Sep 2017
95
98th
My favorite Jet Li movie. I watched it three times in Chinese before getting a version with subtitles (back when you were lucky if you had a place to rent foreign videos). No, I didn't know Chinese; it was that good. One thing I appreciate is the rope-work is not overused like in the sequels. I also used to have a crush on Rosamund Kwan.
Rated 18 Jan 2021
85
92nd
When the theme song starts playing my heartrate goes up in anticipation of some ass-kicking. The plot is ambitious with several domestic and international villains, though most of them are one-dimensional. The competing master was ultimately a letdown despite some promise of honor. I'm hoping the sequels add more female characters and give them more to do, considering the real life Wong Fei Hung was married 4 times. He has the worst apprentices. Fav scene: ladder fight showed lots of planning.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
95th
Excellent wire fu action starring Jet Li as Chinese hero Wong Fei Hung who fought to preserve Chinese identity in the face of foreign occupation. Some classic fights in this one.
Rated 18 Aug 2007
86
76th
The type of movie I wish Jet Li were still doing.
Rated 06 Nov 2013
83
63rd
Excellent fight scenes, okay movie.
Rated 08 Apr 2008
94
96th
Great unique martial arts with a very original historic background and seriously well done cinematography. This movie really stands above
Rated 21 Apr 2009
60
41st
Useless film without fight scenes. And fight scenes were not that good either.
Rated 23 May 2022
40
13th
40 minutes in and no kung fu fights? Wtf is this
Rated 06 Jan 2013
81
68th
80.500
Rated 09 Apr 2010
8
80th
Great choreographed fight scenes. Jet Li dominates.
Rated 03 Aug 2011
90
79th
Hugely entertaining thanks to its top notch action sequences and Goku-like protagonist.
Rated 27 Jan 2010
77
61st
If you think you'll like this, you probably will. Not exactly the most in-depth of a review, but probably better for it.
Rated 01 Apr 2014
80
60th
- 8/12/12
Rated 31 Mar 2007
20
19th
Unless they star Jackie Chan, Kung Fool movies are boring. A lot of them that do star him are boring, too
Rated 27 Jun 2008
93
98th
Great
Rated 13 Mar 2009
67
61st
Jet Li became a Hong Kong superstar in this influential martial-arts epic. Crude dialogue and silly comic relief take back seat to superbly choreographed fight sequences showcasing Li's balletic, gravity-defying skills, notably in climactic duel involving giant ladders.
Rated 20 Jan 2010
73
56th
Good fights, good fun.
Rated 11 Jun 2014
40
7th
Amateuristic filmmaking except for the fight scenes (if you're into martial arts, I'm not crazy about it).The slapstick humour was more annoying than entertaining and the audio was often completely out of sync (DVD version).
Rated 29 Aug 2015
100
91st
A man (Jet Li) must protect his martial-arts school while sorting out his feelings for a young woman (Biao Yuen) who is his aunt by adoption.
Rated 05 Feb 2021
90
80th
Viewed February 3, 2021.
Rated 13 Mar 2020
55
22nd
metin rezalet, kavga döğüş güzel
Rated 19 Feb 2024
70
63rd
Very impressive production, and yet sometimes it seems that more effort went into the awesome set pieces than into the martial arts. The talent is obviously there. More spectacular than historically interesting, and to me the events unfold too haphazardly. There's always shit happening though.
Rated 07 Oct 2020
60
38th
Once upon a time in China, Jet Li gave a whole new meaning to finger guns.
Rated 27 Oct 2021
82
70th
Era Uma Vez na China estreava há 30 anos na Coreia do Sul. Fina flor do wuxia noventista, não sou profunda conhecedora do cinema de Tsui Hark, mas tudo que vi dele exala saber-fazer cinematográfico. Full BlurayRip BIH4U.
Rated 18 Dec 2021
63
24th
Lavishly produced martial arts epic is large scale in terms of its sets and design, but somewhat defeated by muddled storytelling, also indulging in wild swings of tone - clumsy slapstick mixes awkwardly with fairly graphic battle violence; it has to be said that Li and co are not as stylish (or apparently accomplished) at stunt work and staging as Jackie Chan. Still comes to life during the periodic battle scenes, but not enough to counteract the sometime deadening pacing of the plotting.
Rated 14 Apr 2022
60
26th
Even as I recognize the brilliant staging of some of the fight scenes, they're still just fight scenes. And worse than that, things don't seem to have changed that much in nearly 200 years: Chinese labor continues to be plundered by American (and other European) interests.

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