Fist of Fury (1995)
Fist of Fury is a 1995 Hong Kong martial arts television series adapted from the 1972 film of the same title. Produced by ATV and STAR TV, the series starred Donnie Yen as Chen Zhen (Cantonese: Chan Zan), a character previously portrayed by Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury (1972) and Jet Li in Fist of Legend (1994). The series is also related to the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, in which Yen reprises his role.
The series is set in early Republican China. Chan Zan travels to Shanghai with his younger sister in search of a new life after their hometown is destroyed by a group of bandits.
Upon his arrival, he notices that Shanghai is divided into an international settlement under the control of various foreign powers such as the United Kingdom and Japan. He also observes that the martial artists’ community in Shanghai is marred with disunity and the various schools are pursuing their individual goals. The fractured status of the martial arts community reflects the state of China: the Chinese are individualistic and are often engaging in internal conflict instead of uniting to drive out their common enemies (the overbearing foreigners) and regain sovereignty of their nation.
Fok Yuen-gap, the founder of Ching-mou School, is trying hard to persuade and influence the other schools to unite under a common purpose of defending China from foreign intrusion.
Chan becomes a rickshaw puller and coolie to earn a living in Shanghai. Once, he saves the famous singer Yi-kiu from some ruffians and is invited to join the notorious Green Gang through her introduction. Chan proves himself to be the best fighter in the gang and wins the favour of its boss, Choi Luk-kan.
At the same time, he encounters the bandits who murdered his family, who are coincidentally allies of the Green Gang. Chan is unable to convince his fellow gang members to support him in taking revenge on the bandits. When his sister is killed by the bandits later, Chan learns a painful lesson that he should distance himself from the gang’s illegal activities. He leaves the gang after killing his sister’s murderers.
He joins Ching-mou School after being enlightened by Fok Yuen-gap in the few earlier encounters they had. Chan becomes Fok’s favourite student as he demonstrates an excellent understanding of Fok’s martial arts philosophy.
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