Long hang tian xia

This is Jet Li's last film of the 80's. That means it's his last film before directors and producers started putting him on wires way, way too much. Of course, the acting is horrible. This is a straightforward martial arts movie of the 80's.

The plot is simple enough. Jet comes to America to find his old teacher, and gets involved in the conflict between the master and another student. Nothing special there. What is special is the fight scenes. Jet Li is awesome in this movie. He shows off his acrobatic talent and agility w/o wires. His abilities are simply amazing. Jerry Trimble is impressive as the American student, and Yuen Wah does well as the master. The choreography is pretty good overall, and the final fight between Jet and Jerry is one of Jet's finest in my opinion.

Jet's career in the early-mid 90's largely involved wire-fu, which is why this film is worth seeing. You can watch a young Jet Li w/o wires in his prime. I give it a 7/10.

Before I begin, let me get across everyone's complaint: the acting is horrible...from the white actors. It is far worse than the dubbing of old school kung fu movies (although I prefer the dubbed dialogue of old kung fu movies to many movies made today, the dialogue is more quotable). But come on, what type of person would watch a low-budget kung fu movie and expect good acting?

The plot is right out of an old kung fu movie: Rival kung fu masters duking it out to see who is better. Jet is a fish-out-of-water who gets involved.

The fights are why we see this movie...right? The fights are well-choreographed. Very little (if any) wires are used. Jet Li, Yuen Wah, and Jerry Trimble look very impressive. He actually is better in this movie than in stuff like Romeo Must Die, Hitman, Swordsman II, and Dr. Wai. The last fight is very cool, one of his best overall. Overall, a pretty good movie...just don't expect much.

I noticed there wasn't a lot of information on this movie, along with some low rating and negative reviews. Nonetheless, I vowed to own every Jet Li movie, so I had to buy this and watch it. And I must say, I was positively surprised!

Jet Li plays the student of Uncle Tak (Yuen Wah), who is a kung fu master and has established a shop for traditional Chinese medical treatment in America. Meanwhile there is an "evil" martial arts club that causes trouble, challenging and beating up kung fu masters all over town. Only with the help of Jet can these hooligans be stopped.

You can't enjoy this movie if you over-analyze every detail and point out the goofs, which are rather numerous. "The Master" is probably one of Jet's goofier movies, with a lot of miscommunication jokes and silly sidekicks. If this isn't your deal, try focusing on the great non-wired action scenes with Jet Li and Yuen Wah, who are both excellent fighters. All in all, this movie isn't for everyone, and it's definitely not Jet Li's best by far. HOWEVER, if you consider yourself a true Jet Li fan and can withstand some silly humor, then you should definitely see this movie. The fights were surprisingly good, which made me enjoy "The Master".

this is tsui hark's tribute to the 'golden age' of hong Kong chop-socky kung-fu films. although set in los Angeles, tsui makes sure he has most of the better known clichés at work here - the 'school-against-school' clash, the reluctant fighter who wants to avoid violence, the training sequence, questions of loyalty between masters and students, etc.

the film, to be properly appreciated, has to be seen in this light. it is not intended to be a typical jet Li film or typical tsui hark film; it's intended to be a Bruce-lee-clone-film of the later '70s.

in fact in some ways this reminds one of 'Ta e kou' aka 'the godfather from hong Kong' aka 'the godfather squad' starring Bruce Liang, a little known - but surprisingly effective - chop-socky effort to cash in on lee's 'return of the dragon'.

given that, the Li-tsui movie has to be given credit as both amusing and entertaining for fight fans - the kung-fu here is really top-notch.

one word of caution - the violence here goes over the top once or twice, and the film really needs to be seen by mature audiences, especially those familiar with the genre it pays tribute to.

Although Jet Li is in it and as a viewer you are aware that you are watching an action (Eastern) movie, it doesn't mean that the movie doesn't have to meet a standard! Unfortunately it doesn't reach the heights of the Li flicks.

I'd even say that Jet Li is the best thing in it. And I don't mean it in any way as a disrespect to Tsui Hark (director). The thing is though, that if you're not a Li fan, than there is high possibility that you won't enjoy the movie at all.

I am a fan and can say for certain, that Li has done better pictures than this. Though this is not a complete stinker, you might want to watch other Li flicks for your viewing pleasure ...