Fist of Fury II

Fist of Fury II (aka Chinese Connection 2)
Region 1 DVD Cover
Directed by	Siu Fung
Starring	Bruce Li Lo Lieh Chan Wai-Lau Ti Fung
Music by	Chow Fu-Liang
Editing by	Leong Wing-Chan
Distributed by	21st Century Distribution (America)
Release date(s)	April 5, 1979 (Hong Kong), April 1980 (America)
Running time	104 min.
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese

Fist of Fury Part II (Chinese: 精武門續集), originally released in Hong Kong as Jing wu men xu ji and also released as Chinese Connection 2 and Fistful of the Dragon, is a martial arts film that is an unauthorized sequel to Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury (A/K/A The Chinese Connection), not to be confused with New Fist of Fury). Bruce Li plays the brother of the Lee character from the first film.

The lead role of Chen Shan, played by Bruce Li, who goes to Shanghai to mourn his brother's death who was killed at the hands of the Japanese. Chen Shan then avenges his brother by killing the Japanese.

The final fight between Chen Shan and Miyamoto, played by Lo Lieh, is generally thought of as disappointing compared to other fights in the film as it is slow and long. This film is generally regarded as one of Bruce Li's better films. It wasn't as well received as its predecessor but was thought to be much better than New Fist of Fury. Another sequel exists, called Fist of Fury III(Chinese Connection 3).

Synopsis

The action takes place shortly after the execution of Chen Zhen, the Bruce Lee character from Fist of Fury. Japanese leader Miyamoto Lo Leih orders that the Ching wu martial arts school be closed. Chen Zhen's brother Chen Shen (Bruce Li) arrives from Shanghai after hearing about his brother's death, and is just not happy. Kicking butt to avenge both his brother's death and the oppression caused by the Japanese, he finally kicks and punches his way to Miyamoto for a showdown.

Reaction

In his 2001 Bruce Li fanzine Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger, Carl Jones spoke favourably of this film:

"Li's martial skills are in top form here and his fights are well choreographed by veteran Tommy Lee. The final duel with Miyamoto is well staged and takes place at the Ching Wu school...All in all a worthy sequel to a great Kung Fu classic."[1]

Also admiring is Dean Medows, who wrote in his three-part Bruceploitation essay in Impact Magazine:

"Fist Of Fury 2 is a movie that is still regarded as one of the very finest examples of Bruce Lee exploitation cinema. With martial arts skills constantly improving, including his earlier limited nunchaku use, Li was now firmly established as the pioneer of Bruceploitation."[2]

Trivia

• The adventures of Chen Shen were continued in the 1980 film Fist of Fury III.

• Bruce Li has said that out of all the movies he made, this was one of only three that he liked (the other two were Dynamo and The Chinese Stuntman.[3]

• There is some debate as to when this film was released. IMDB lists the release year as 1977, but the Hong Kong release date as April 5, 1979 (which is also the year that the Hong Kong Movie Database lists). Some websites say the film was from as early as 1976.[4]

• IMDB credits the directors as Iksan Lahardi and Tso Nam Lee, while the Hong Kong Movie Database credits Siu Fung, and other websites credit Jimmy Shaw.

• Nora Miao's part in Fist of Fury is played in this movie by a different woman (she is the only woman in the film) whose face is concealed by a hood. She kills herself near the beginning of the film.

• While veteran Fist of Fury actors Nora Miao and Han Ying-chieh acted in the "official" sequel New Fist of Fury (with the former playing her same character while Han played a new character), fellow veteran Fist of Fury actors Tien Feng and Li Kun reprised their roles for this film.

• The set of the Ching-Wu school, seen in Fist of Fury, was recreated for this film, and appears very similar to the original.

• There is an infamous moment in some prints in where Chen Shan takes a pair of nunchaku out of a Ching-Wu student's hands and the nunchaku suddenly disappear. This is due to a ban on nunchaku scenes in the United Kingdom. The UK video version has apparently been the source of the US DVDs but some UK tapes were released uncut. Ironically, one of the most widely seen publicity photos from this film involves Bruce Li holding said weapon.

• Due to Fist of Fury III being released on video in the US by Video Gems under the title Fist of Fury II, there has been frequent confusion as to which film is really the first sequel to the original Fist of Fury. However, the Chinese title of this film translates as "Jing Wu Men sequel".

External links

• Fist of Fury Part II at the Internet Movie Database