1993's "Young Huang Feihong's Iron Horse" is a classic kung fu film directed by Yuan Heping and starring Zhen Zidan and Yu Rongguang, and is also a very representative work of Zhen Zidan's early years.
Due to the big sale of Jet Tsui's version of "Huang Feihong" in Hong Kong and even the whole southeast Asian region, there was a rush of follow-up works on the theme of Huang Feihong, and this "Young Huang Feihong's Iron Horse" is also one of them. Of course, the production standards of this film and various aspects of literary drama are far from Jet Tsui's version of "Huang Feihong", but its martial arts drama is quite wonderful, and some action scenes are not even lost to Jet Li's version of "Huang Feihong".
Needless to say, although one of the main actors, Zhen Zidan, has always been half red and not black, but its "can fight" is recognized in the circle. In 1992's "Huang Feihong 2's Boy As Self-Improvement", Zhen Zidan (as Nalan Yuanshu) also played with Jet Li (as Huang Feihong) in the film.
Another star, Yu Rongguang, was born in mainland Peking Opera, and was discovered by Hong Kong director Xu Xiaoming in 1982, and became popular with films such as "Kapok Robes". Yu Rongguang is a martial artist, and his skills are also quite good, he is a regular in Hong Kong action films, and later starred in classic works such as "The Undefeated Rise of the East", "Letter to Daddy" (starring Jet Li), "New Three Kingdoms" (as Guan Yu) and so on
Playing the main villain is Ren Shiguan, who comes from a martial arts family. Ren Shiguan is outstanding in skill, and his appearance is even more domineering, so he is deeply appreciated by zhang che, Yuan Heping, Xu Ke and other big directors, and specializes in starring in various major villains. Ren I Xing in "Smiling Proud of jianghu II:Oriental Undefeated", Yan Zhendong in "Huang Feihong", Feng Xifan in "Deer Ding Ji II:Divine Dragon Sect", Chen Gonggong in "Three Heroes of the East" are all his classic characters.
When the three major kung fu masters get together, it is natural that there will be a big war. Especially Zhen Zidan, as the director and action director of this film, Yuan Heping naturally knows the roots of his beloved apprentice's skills, so in this film, Zhen Zidan's sharp leg skills are vividly displayed.
One-legged continuous side kicks N combos.
Four consecutive 360-degree one-legged turns.
Signature vacated triple kick. One of Zhen Zidan's must-show skills.
Half turned around and alternated six kicks on both legs.
In the above shots, although there is a bonus to the action rate after the fast release, it can still be seen that Zhen Zidan's solid leg skills are as strong and powerful as a spring and retract freely. And some of the above sets of shots are one-shot to the end, without editing processing, relying on the real kung fu of the actors themselves, and it is difficult for ordinary stunt performers to achieve this effect.
It can be said that the "Zhen-style shadowless feet" tailored by Yuan Heping for Zhen Zidan in this film are not inferior to the "Li-style shadowless feet" at some levels. Jet Li's version of Huang Feihong's shadowless feet are of course more beautiful in terms of moves, but the design of continuous oblique kicks in mid-air will make the action look a little "weak".
On the other hand, in comparison, Zhen Zidan's body shape is more "tall and long", so leg skills have always been the highlight of Zhen Zidan's action movies.
The other star of this film, Yu Rongguang, is not bad. Whether it's a stick.
Or the nine-section whip, all of which are playing tigers and tigers.
The opening duel with Zhen Zidan can be described as a chess match against the opponent and a good talent.
And the big boss Ren Shiguan is even more powerful, a move of hercules King Kong as soon as he appears, he will successively lay down the two male protagonists.
Flowing cloud fly sleeves. "The world's first martial finger" Yuan Pingyuan Baye can always give you a different new trick.
The finale of the burning wooden stakes at the end is even more wonderful. The three men did not fight enough on the ground, but also ran to the stakes and fought in the sea of fire.
The horizontal horse on Zhen Zidan's wooden stake is really showing off the sky.
At that time, Zhen Zidan and Yu Rongguang were both at the peak of their respective bodies, so various disturbances in the film were not uncommon.
There are also many ingenious details in the film, although some violate the objective law, but it can also be seen that the Hong Kong action filmmakers of that year really strive for excellence in martial arts.
Double version of the balance beam.
Use your toes to "hook" your teammates back.
In terms of literary drama, the musical ghost Uncle Xia used exaggerated performance methods to interpret the image of a corrupt official who was greedy for money and lustful, bullying soft and afraid of hardness, and vividly appeared. It can be called one of the representative works of Uncle Xia's acting career.
Zhi Lingjie's predecessor, Wang Jingying, who was once the first supermodel in Taiwan, also had a rather eye-catching performance in the film.
Playing the teenager Wong Fei Hung is actually the hong Kong children's group of women's martial arts champion Tsang Si Min, her performance in the film is extremely amazing, but unfortunately there is no trace on the screen later.
In 2001, with the help of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Quentin re-edited and dubbed "Young Wong Fei Hung's Iron Horse" and released it in North America, which turned out to be the sixth (6 million) highest grossing in the first weekend, and the film eventually earned 14.68 million at the north American box office, which can also be regarded as triggering a niche movie boom. It can be seen that the "disciple of Hong Kong films" Quentin still has a good grasp of the taste of old beauty.
In contrast, the box office performance of "Young Wong Fei Hung's Iron Horse" in Hong Kong that year was less than 7 million, which can be described as quite dismal, which can also be seen in the fierce competition in the Hong Kong film industry that year. It's just a pity that the golden age of Hong Kong films has long gone, and we can only remember the former glory of Hong Kong films in these classic works!