Fist of Legend

Fist of Legend 精武英雄 Error creating thumbnail: File missing DVD Cover Country Error creating thumbnail: File missing Hong Kong Directed by Gordon Chan Release Date 1994 Language Cantonese Studio Eastern Productions Distributor Golden Harvest Dimension Films Main Cast Character Actor Chen Zhen Jet Li Huo Ting-en Chin Siu-ho Fumio Funakochi Yasuaki Kurata Mitsuko Yamada Shinobu Nakayama General Fujita Billy Chow

Fist of Legend is a 1994 martial arts film and a loose remake of Bruce Lee's 1972 film Fist of Fury (aka The Chinese Connection.) It was written and directed by Gordon Chan, starring Jet Li in the role of Chen Zhen, originally played by Bruce Lee, with fight choreography by Yuen Woo-ping, who would go on to work on The Matrix trilogy and the Kill Bill films. This film would take a more nuanced approach to Sino-Japanese relations compared to the original, showing that the Japanese were decent people led by bad leaders, unlike the original which painted all of the Japanese characters with the same brush. Gordan Chan would revisit the character of Chen Zhen in his 2010 sequel, Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, with Donnie Yen taking over the role.

The following weapons were used in the film Fist of Legend:

Mauser C96

Captain Jie (Cheung-Yan Yuen), Uncle Noh (Paul Chun) and various Shanghai policemen use Mauser C96 pistols. These do not appear to be "Red 9" or Shansi broomhandles.

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Pre-War dated Mauser C96 "Broomhandle" Commercial Version - 7.63x25mm Mauser. Note the rear tangent sight; in something of a display of wishful thinking, the C96's sight is adjustable for ranges up to 1000 meters.

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Captain Jie ends the fight between the Jing Wu school and Master Akutagawa's students, because the guy who will always win in a sword fight is the guy with the gun. (Notice that his pistol is not cocked, despite having fired a warning shot moments before.)

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Captain Jie and the other officers with their C96's

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Captain Jie and Uncle Noh armed with Mauser C96s in the end.

Type 94 pistol

General Fujita (Billy Chow) executes the Jingwu traitor with a Type 94 pistol.

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Japanese Type 94 "Shiki Kenju" Pistol - 8x22mm Nambu

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General Fujita chambers a round. Given the horrible safety record of the Type 94, it's probably best to keep the chamber empty.

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The general shows good trigger discipline.

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General Fujita passes the Type 94 to a subordinate.

Rifles

Lee-Enfield No.1 Mk.III*

Japanese troops using a variety of rifles in this film, including the Lee-Enfield No.1 Mk.III*.

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Lee-Enfield No.1 Mk.III* - .303 British. This was the main battle rifle of British and Commonwealth forces during the First World War, introduced in 1907 it has seen action throughout the 20th century.

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Fujita's troops take aim at Chen Zhen and Hou Ting-An. Notice that the rifles are already cocked, possibly due to multiple takes.

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Fujita's troops cycle their actions. This is for dramatic effect as it's clear that there isn't any ammunition in the rifles.

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A Jin Wu student with a captured SMLE.

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These Enfields still have the full sized Pattern 1907 bayonet.

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The Ambassador (Toshimichi Takahashi) intervenes.

Mauser rifles

Japanese troops and Chinese police also use a variety of Mauser rifles. Given the setting and filming location, some of these may be Type Zhongzheng rifles.

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Type Zhongzheng rifle - 7.92x57mm Mauser

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Captain Jie's men with their rifles.

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Chinese police take aim with their Mausers.

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A Mauser slung on the back of a Chinese cop. (Notice that "Council" is misspelled on the sign.)

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The Mausers here have bent bolt handles.

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Mausers slung on the backs of Japanese troops.

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Some of the Mausers have straight bolt handles.

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Some have bent bolt handles.

Arisaka rifles

Japanese troops can only been seen with Arisaka rifles in a few scenes.

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Arisaka Type 38 rifle - 6.5x50mm Arisaka

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A Japanese guard with an Arisaka standing behind Chen Zhen.

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An Arisaka with what appears to be a taped on bayonet.

Unknown rifle

Some Japanese troops in the background have an unknown rifle slung across their backs. This may just be a dummy rifle.

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Miscellanea

Fist of Legend is first and foremost a kung-fu movie, and a very fine one at that. But that means that corners were cut in other aspects, such as the weapons as shown above, and uniforms.

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The shade of green selected for the Imperial Japanese troops may be a bit off.

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And whoops, looks like they ran out. At least it's clear that the soldiers in the front are meant to represent Imperial Japanese Army troops. As for the soldiers further down the line, well...