Jet Li's Fearless (HD DVD)

Yet again the studio resorts to selling an unrated version of a film to try to attract additional attention. However, if you look closely, you will see that the unrated version only adds about 60 seconds of additional footage; footage upon viewing I can only determine is a little bit of additional violence. Despite the unrated edition, there is still one deleted scene left over, more on that in a moment.

As for the film I may have been a bit harsh on it when I reviewed the theatrical release as I gave it a "C", but I don't think that is too far off. As always, home viewing is more enjoyable and with Jet Li's Fearless that fact is no different. If I was to give this movie a grade now it would probably only grow to about a "C+".

Fearless was sold as Jet Li's final martial arts film, a statement that appears to only mean it is his final film based on martial arts alone, as I am sure he will be kicking and punching in the upcoming Jackie Chan/Jet Li feature. That said, we have our story centered on Huo Yuanjia, a man so revered his name isn't seen anywhere on the box art for the film. Nonetheless, this is a man that led quite a life and the film takes on a task too big for one film as it explores Yuanjia's life from childhood to death. When following the one-time Tianjin champion from his rise to fame, his subsequent fall and his spiritual re-awakening you have a story that far outreaches what director Ronny Yu attempted. My theatrical review hammered this home, but while watching it a second time I think knowing that it wasn't supposed to be the purely action-packed film the trailers promoted I was ready to fall deeper into the story. Truly the martial arts action is the smallest portion of this film, a film that certainly could have been much bigger and better had the script been developed a little longer and the running time increased.

As for the special features it is relatively light with a featurette primarily focusing on Li's motivation to do the film and the importance of the story in his own life as well as one deleted scene, and a rather long one at that, as Yuanjia gets mixed up with nearby villager. This is a scene that would have been found about midway through the film and would not have worked, but it is fleshed out enough that it is almost a nice little peek into something that happened, but was not talked about.

Overall, I think this is a movie that is worth a rental at the very least. I think martial arts fans interested in both the action and the philosophy behind the technique will be highly interested in the movie and enjoy it quite a lot. While it still needs some work Fearless is a decent film and one you won't regret after watching it.