Eureka Entertainment bring us HEROES & VILLAINS: Three films starring Jet Li (THE ENFORCER, DR WAI IN “THE SCRIPTURE WITH NO WORDS”, and HITMAN).
Presented from new restorations, as part of Eureka Classics range, for the first time ever in UK, this exciting, action-packed boxset is available to order on Blu-ray, so get your copy now from Eureka Video or Amazon!
Trailer
Cast
Martial arts superstar Jet Li steps away from portraying historical kung fu masters to play a tough Chinese cop “Kung Wei” (The Enforcer), adventurer/author “Dr Wai/ Chow Si-kit” (Dr Wai in the Scripture With No Words), and as the young assassin with a conscience “Tai Feng” (Hitman).
Since the early 1980s, Li established himself as one of Asia’s most popular movie stars with roles in movies such as “The Shaolin Temple”, “Swordsman II”, Fong Sai Yuk”, “Fist of Legend”, and of course the “Once Upon a Time in China” films.
He would go onto have a successful international career in films such as “Lethal Weapon 4”, “The One”, “Romeo Must Die”, “Kiss of the Dragon”, “Forbidden Kingdom”, “Hero”, “Fearless” and “The Expendables” franchise.
The late great Hong Kong singer and actress Anita Mui co-stars in The Enforcer as Hong Kong detective “Inspector Anne Fong Yat-wa”.
As a singer Anita was known as the “Madonna of Asia”, but she was also popular as an actress with roles in “Drunken Master II“, “Miracles“, “Moon Warriors”, “Rumble in the Bronx” and “The Heroic Trio”, to name but a few.
Also appearing in The Enforcer is child star Mo Tse/Xie Miao plays Kung Wei’s son, “Johnny Kung Ku”. Born in Beijing, Xie Miao won championship titles in several wushu tournaments. Xie rose to fame in 1994 playing Jet Li’s son not only in in director Wong Jing’s box-office hit “The New Legend of Shaolin“, but also the popular “My Father is a Hero”.
Having appeared in productions such as “Return of God of Gamblers” starring Chow Yun Fat, Xie took a break from film work to focus on his school education. In 2006, he graduated from the Capital Institute of Physical Education (CIPE) in Beijing and resumed his acting career.
He rose to prominence once more in the Chinese television hit series “Legend of Shaolin Temple” in 2006 and the film “The Kung Fu Master” in 2010.
Since reviving his film career, Miao has had prominent roles in productions such as Yuen Woo Ping’s wuxia fantasy “Thousand Faces of Dunjia” and also “Ip Man: The Awakening”. He starred to great acclaim in the surprise 2022 Chinese box office hit, “Eye For An Eye: The Blind Swordsman“.
Chinese martial artist and actor Yu Rongguang stars as the evil gang boss “Po Kwong”. The son of a popular Peking Opera actor, Yu has appeared in films such as Donnie Yen‘s “Iron Monkey”, and several Jackie Chan films including “Shanghai Noon”, “New Police Story”, “The Myth”, “Little Big Soldier”, “The Karate Kid” and “Police Story 2013: Lockdown”.
Kao Sau-leung, better known as Blackie Ko, plays “Darkie/Uncle G”, who Kung Wei befriends to infiltrate Po’s gang. Before his sad death at the age of 50, Ko worked on classics such as “Wheels on Meals”, “Heart of the Dragon”, “Yes Madam” and “Crime Story”, to name but a few, and is considered Asia’s greatest automotive stuntman.
Damian Lau appears as “Inspector Cheng”. A popular television actor, Lau made his big screen debut in “Last Hurrah for Chivalry”. He would go on to appear in classics such as “Duel to the Death”, “Heroic Trio”, “New Legend of Shaolin”. Top Hong Kong action performers Collin Chou and Ken Lo get in on the action as gang members.
Chou is probably best known for his roles in “The Matrix Reloaded”, “The Forbidden Kingdom”, and his superb turn as the bad guy in Donnie Yen’s “Flash Point”. He also features in “Dr Wai” as ” Hung-hung Sing-sing”. Hong Kong action star Ken Lo, a former bodyguard to Jackie Chan, appeared in dozens of hit Hong Kong action films including “Drunken Master 2”, “Fatal Contact”, “Operation Mekong”, “Police Story 3: Supercop”, “Miracles”, “The Myth”, and many, many more.
For “Dr Wai”, Li is joined by the always popular star Rosamund Kwan as “Monica Kwan/Yu Fung”. Arguably her best known role alongside Li is “13th Aunt Siu-kwan” in the “Once Upon a Time in China” series of movies, and she also appeared with him in “Swordsman II”. Additionally, Rosamund has co-starred with Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao in “Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars“, and again with Chan in “Project A Part II” and “Armour of God“.
Hong Kong actress Charlie Yeung Choi-Nei stars as “Yvonne/Yan-yan/Pansy”. Having made her feature film debut in Wong Kar-wai’s “Ashes of Time”, she rose to fame in Tsui Hark’s “The Lovers”. After retiring from films in 1997, Yeung resurrected her career in 2004 in Jackie Chan’s “New Police Story“.
She has gone on to appear in films such as “Seven Swords”, “Bangkok Dangerous”, “Kung Fu Killer” and “Cold War I & II”. Occasionally billed as “the Asian Johnny Depp”, Takeshi Kaneshiro stars as “Shing”. Kaneshiro has appeared in many Hong Kong films including the box office hits Zhang Yimou‘s “House of Flying Daggers“, John Woo‘s “Red Cliff“, and Peter Chan‘s “The Warlords” and “Dragon/Wu Xia”.
Joining Li in “Hitman” is former stuntman and Hong Kong entertainment legend Eric Tsang as “Ngok Lo”. Tsang has had a prolific film career appearing in hits such as the “Lucky Stars” series of films, “Gen-X Cops”, Andy Lau‘s “Infernal Affairs”, Donnie Yen‘s “Bodyguards and Assassins” and alongside Jackie Chan in “Skiptrace“.
Hong Kong movie star Simon Yam stars as “Officer Chan Kwan”. In a long and varied career, Yam has appeared in hit films such as Chow Yun Fat’s “Full Contact”, the first three instalments of the “Young and Dangerous” film series, “Dragon Squad“, “Naked Killer”, “SPL: Sha Po Lang“, “SPL 2: A Time for Consequences“, “Election 1 & 2”, “Ip Man 1 & 2“, “Bodyguards and Assassins“, “Operation Red Sea”, and many more.
Plot
MY FATHER IS A HERO (aka THE ENFORCER) Original Hong Kong Trailer (with English Subtitles)
The Enforcer (1995): An undercover police officer tracks down a notorious Hong Kong crime lord. Teaming up with his martial-arts prodigy son and Inspector Anne Fong, together they lay down the law!
DR WAI IN THE SCRIPTURE WITH NO WORDS Original Trailer
Dr Wai in The Scripture with No Words (1996): A down-on-his-luck pulp fiction author lives vicariously through one of his characters, an Indiana Jones-esque adventurer searching for a mythical scripture.
Jet Li’s HITMAN (aka CONTRACT KILLER) Original 1998 Hong Kong Trailer
Hitman (1998): Tai Feng is a young assassin with a conscience who crosses paths with the “King of Killers”, a legendary vigilante with a huge bounty on his head.
Xie Miao Fight Scenes
Action
THE ENFORCER
It’s a little startling to see a chain-smoking Jet Li in the opening scenes, but it helps to establish his cool Hong Kong undercover criminal persona.
The action gets underway almost immediately, as we cut between a Chinese wushu tournament and Jet Li fighting with some hatchet-wielding thugs. It functions as a good way to establish Xie Miao’s impressive wushu skills and a more contemporary style of fighting from Jet Li.
When you have someone as revered as stuntman Blackie Ko as part of your production, high octane automotive stunts are a given. With the action shifting to Hong Kong, an extended shoot out in a glass- panelled restaurant is initiated, with an impressive car crash through the windows. It also serves to introduce Anita Mui who gives off a Michelle Yeoh-style vibe as a tough detective.
THE ENFORCER (aka MY FATHER IS A HERO) Movie Clip
Xie Miao has an excellent sequence when he takes on several school bullies. The choreography allows the kids to perform at a level equivalent to their adult co-stars, setting up a pay off for later in the story.
Xie Miao and Anita Mui join forces to fight off a half dozen or so thugs at a harbour. Although occasionally doubled both actors still perform a great deal of the high kicking action themselves.
As the film builds to it’s conclusion, we are treated to some classic Jet Li action. He starts by fighting several opponents at a time with a pair of tonfas.
Yu Rongguan has an innovative sequence where he disguises his kicks and punches by twirling his long flowing overcoat around them. The stakes are raised when acclaimed action performers Collin Chou and Ken Lo join the proceedings.
With Xie Miao coming to his father’s aid, although we are treated to some silky rope dart-style skills, the use of wirework is increased significantly. It’s a bit of a shame, as much of the preceding action demonstrates that the actors can deliver spectacular action without the aid of wires.
Unusually for the accompanying Arne Venema/ Mike Leeder commentary it goes into quite deep, almost emotional waters, discussing Anita Mui’s career. Otherwise it’s business as usual with their jolly observations on movie making and Hong Kong life.
DR WAI
The first proper bit of action is a wire-assisted Jet Li heroically leaping from a galloping horse onto the top of a giant out of control mechanical bull. That almost summarises how all of the action in this film is pitched.
A cartoonish element is added when Jet fights Billy Chow during a burglary gone wrong, with some crazy sped up filming. Rosamund Kwan gets in on the action, initially flying in with a whip, and later dashing and slashing with a katana.
There is an insane sequence involving a runaway steam train smashing through a town, although it does feature some impressive falls from the stunt team.
A street fight has Jet Li fighting off some thugs much more in the style of his “Once Upon a Time in China” films, with some familiar wushu sweeps and jumping kicks.
Collin Chou has a mixed bag in a well shot fight in a warehouse that features some cool high-kicking choreography, and some very goofy, effects-driven slapstick.
The best of the action has Jet Li fighting Billy Chow and his team of ninjas and sumo fighters. In parts, it’s as crazy as it sounds, but it features Jet doing what he does best, mixing wushu and weapons work with hyperreal wire fu.
The finale takes place in a tomb and sees Jet Li using a supernatural cross between a flaming sword and whip chain.
A very cool extra feature is some old documentary footage taken from the classic Chinese documentary film “This is Kung Fu”, highlighting Jet Li’s career and training as a wushu champion.
HITMAN
This film takes its time before getting to some meaningful action. The initial scenes, are a light-hearted establishment of Jet Li and Eric Tsang’s characters and their initial relationship.
HITMAN (Starring JET LI) Original UK DVD Trailer
Jet Li’s fighting starts proper in a quite violent shootout at an amusement park. Li still gets in some slick moves but it is always punctuated with bloody gunshot wounds and deaths.
A stunt filled escape from a rundown apartment block sees Jet get into fight mode against six foot plus martial arts actor Paul Rapovski.
Bedecked in night vision goggles, British martial artist turned stunt coordinator Jude Poyer takes on both Jet Li and Eric Tsang. An impressive set piece sees Jet fighting in an elevator shaft whilst trying to keep Eric Tsang from falling to his death.
HITMAN Movie Clip
The finale goes ballistic in every sense of the word with gunfire, lightning fast kicks, and explosive punches. Jet Li repeats his use of his trouser belt in “Fist of Legend” to gain the upper hand in a rematch against Paul Rapovski. Simon Yam also impresses as he gets in on the hard-hitting action.
Arne Venema and Mike Leeder deliver their trademark entertaining audio commentary. It’s almost like sitting at a table in a pub watching the movie while they discuss what’s going on on screen and their often hilarious asides about the cast, crew, locations and life in Hong Kong.
There is a great archival interview with Jet Li from the 1990s discussing how he progressed from wushu athlete to film star, featuring lots of clips from the classic “This is Kung Fu” documentary and his debut hit “The Shaolin Temple”. There are also archival interviews with Simon Yam and Keiji Sato reflecting on their careers.
Summary
This action-packed trio of movies are a great showcase for the growth in depth and range of Jet Li’s acting in the mid-1990s, as he ventured away from the period, historic settings of his previous works.
HEROES & VILLAINS: Three films starring Jet Li Special Edition Blu-ray Unboxing
For Jet Li fans there is a little bit of everything here; crime drama, swashbuckling adventure, and high stakes action, all featuring some slick contemporary fight scenes.
It all makes for an entertaining package, beautifully restored on Blu-ray, and featuring some excellent extra features, interviews, deleted scenes and audio commentaries.
Trivia
- Jet Li and Xie Miao previously portrayed father and son in the 1994 film, “Legend of the Red Dragon/New Legend of Shaolin“.
- Director Corey Yuen has a cameo in “The Enforcer” as a Bartender.
- Screenwriter Sandy Shaw who wrote “The Enforcer” and “Dr Wai in the Scripture With No Words”, also wrote “The Heroic Trio”.
- German actor and martial artist Thorsten Nickel appears in “The Enforcer” as a Russian arms dealer. He would go on to play “Cougar”, Jackie Chan’s nemesis in the thriller “Thunderbolt”.
- “Hitman” also went by the titles “King of Killers” and “Contract Killer”.
- “Hitman” was directed by Stephen Tung Wei who appeared as the young student opposite Bruce Lee in the classic “Like a finger pointing at the moon” scene in “Enter the Dragon”.
- “Hitman” is the only movie in which Jet Li used his own voice for the Cantonese dialogue.
JET LI HEROES and VILLAINS – available on
Blu-ray – KUNG FU KINGDOM
