Those who win do not win, and those who lose do not lose.
"A Knife to the City"
Jet Li is a name that must be mentioned in the history of Chinese cinema, and with an irreproducible encounter, he has gradually grown into a world kung fu superstar.
In 1982, Jet Li starred in the martial arts movie "Shaolin Temple" and became popular all over the country, and his debut was the peak.
This "Shaolin Temple" not only laid the foundation for Jet Li's career, but also influenced many people, such as Wang Baoqiang, who went up to the mountain to learn martial arts after watching "Shaolin Temple".
At that time, the most direct promotion of "Shaolin Temple" to the film industry was to set off a wave of kung fu movie boom in the mainland. In those years, the mainland made a lot of kung fu movies, and also brought out a lot of action actors with real kung fu, such as Yu Rongguang, Zhao Changjun, Wang Qun, Hu Jianqiang, etc.
Unfortunately, no one can reach jet li's height.
Because of the difference in ability and encounter, it is no longer possible to encounter works like "Shaolin Temple" that can become popular, many people gradually become ordinary, and many people quickly retreat from the circle and change careers.
Xu Xiangdong, Yang Fan and Yu Yankai, three true kung fu actors of the same era as Jet Li, have little to do with each other before, but netizens think they look very similar, and even when they stand together, the audience can't tell who is who.
So, Xu Xiangdong, Yang Fan and Yu Yankai, are they really so similar?
[Xu Xiangdong] was once a main member of the Hebei Wushu Team, and became famous with the 1985 martial arts film "Kapok Robes" with Yu Rongguang.
Later, Xu Xiangdong had no intention of developing into the film and television circle, but was admitted to the Martial Arts Department of the Beijing Institute of Physical Education and concentrated on his studies; after graduation, he went to the University of Paris No. 7 in France to study for a doctorate, and served as a private special martial arts master of the King and Prince of Brunei Darussalam, and a specially invited Chinese Kung Fu International Coach by the French Ministry of Electricity.
In the 1990s, Xu Xiangdong briefly returned to the film industry, starring in Yang Ziqiong and Zhen Zidan's "Wing Chun", Lu Liangwei and Gong Li's "Western Chu Bawang", Wu Jing's "Kung Fu Kid Breaks into Love" and "Tai Chi Grandmaster".
[Yang Fan] is a native of Liaoning, a film, television, drama, and Jiju actor, and a deputy division colonel of the Cultural and Labor Troupe of the Political Department of the Armed Police Headquarters.
Yang Fan acted in a spy film "Wisdom Fighting Beauty Snake" in the 80s, but only a small supporting role; the real fame was the 1993 martial arts movie "A Knife In the City", and also fought with Yu Yankai for the first time in the movie.
Netizens are from "A Knife in the City" and found that the two look similar.
Yang Fan also played Zhao Yun and Gongsun Zhan in the 94 version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", played The Benlei hand Wen Tailai in the "Book of Swords and Vengeance", and played the desperate Sanlang Shixiu in the 98 version of "Water Margin".
[Yu Yankai] is also a native of Hebei, who learned martial arts since childhood and entered the film industry in the mid-1980s, but there are no representative works.
Until 1993, Yu Yankai starred in 4 Jet Li martial arts movies in a row, 2 "Fang Shiyu", "Yitian Slaughter Dragon Chronicles of the Demon Sect Leader" and "Taiji Zhang Sanfeng", plus Hong Jinbao's "A Knife to the City", which suddenly became famous in the film world.
After the wave of action movies in the 1990s receded, Yu Yankai also fell silent for a while, but in recent years he is still active in the mainland film and television circle and has successfully transformed into an acting school.
In terms of appearance and figure, Xu Xiangdong, Yang Fan and Yu Yankai do have many similarities, they are all thick eyebrows, big eyes, a face of pride, and even Xu Xiangdong and Yang Fan's eyes and nose are very similar.
The eyebrow shape of the three people is quite different, but the facial features are similar as a whole, coupled with the same tall and burly figure, it seems that it is indeed difficult to distinguish who is who.
Fortunately, Xu Xiangdong has a rough beard all year round, and his recognition with the other two comes out.
In fact, because they are all well-skilled action actors, with similar ages, figures and temperaments; therefore, Xu Xiangdong, Yang Fan and Yu Yankai have also cooperated a lot, and have also starred in the same works and roles.
For example, in the 1993 martial arts movie "A Knife In the City", Yang Fan played the male protagonist Of the Great Knife King Wu, while Yu Yankai played a villain role, the Flower Fist King Buting, and the two had a very wonderful ring battle in the film.
In 1994, Yang Fan played Ben Lei's Hand Wen Tailai in "Book of Swords and Enmity"; and Yu Yankai played Yu Tong (Yu Yutong) in Jet Li's "Fang Shiyu" in 1993, both of whom were characters in the Red Flower Society.
[In the original book of "Book of Swords and Enmity", Wen Tailai is the husband of the heroine Luo Bing, and Yu Yutong once had a crush on Luo Bing.] 】
Yang Fan played Shi Xiu in the 98 version of "Water Margin", while Xu Xiangdong played Shi Wengong in the 2011 version of "Water Margin", and Yu Yankai played Zhu Tong.
Yang Fan played Qi Wang Tian Rong in 1994's "Western Chu Bawang", Xu Xiangdong played Xiang Zhuang, and later in 2011's "Legend of Hongmen Banquet".
Yang Fan played Han Derang in 1995's "Empress Dowager Liao", and Xu Xiangdong also played Han Derang in 2021's "Great Song Palace Words".
In the 2002 "Shaolin Wu Wang" starring Wu Jing, Yang Fan played Zhengxiong of Wokou Oshima and Xu Xiangdong played the Shaolin monk Yuanzhao; in the 2007 anti-Japanese drama "Tiger Dragon Disk", Yang Fan played the anti-bandit Yang Yunchang, Xu Xiangdong played the second son of the Tong family; in the 2013 drama version of "Ip Man" starring Zheng Jiaying, Xu Xiangdong played the northern boxer Jiang Sheng, and Yu Yankai played the Shahe gang leader.
From these works, friends can delve deeper to find the similarities and differences between the three people.
In recent years, Yang Fan has gradually transformed into a producer behind the scenes, and there has been no pre-screen work for almost ten years; Xu Xiangdong and Yu Yankai are still active in the contemporary film and television circle, and I believe that there must be more opportunities for cooperation in the future.