Shout! Studios Celebrating Jet Li With Five Of His Early Hong Kong Classics

Anyone with even the most remote interest in martial arts films will recognize Li Lianzi, better known by his stage name of Jet Li. This Chinese-born Singaporean started his martial arts career after three years of training under the wushu/kung fu master Wu Bin. That training quickly bore fruit in 1974, when he won the national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. Then he would do it again, and again, and again, and again until he had won five of them.

It’s only after that point that Jet Li retires from martial arts as a sport, and starts his career doing martial arts for the cinema. All starting with the Chinese-Hong Kong martial arts film Shaolin Temple in 1982, which instantly catapulted him to stardom. A stardom that continued with two sequels to Shaolin Temple, and a whole host of other martial arts films even before he transitioned to Hollywood in the 1990’s, beginning with Lethal Weapon 4 in 1998. A film which also marked his first debut as a villain, by the way.

However, we still can’t forget Jet Li’s roots in Chinese and/or Hong Kong martial arts films. Certainly, Shout! Studios isn’t forgetting about them. After all, why else would they be about to release five of them in quick succession for home video?

Shout! Studios Jet Li Celebration: Home Video Details

Shout! Studios is proud to announce that they will be bringing five martial arts classics from Jet Li’s early Hong Kong days to home video. These five films represent some of the earliest examples of his martial arts work back in his pre-Hollywood time. Hence, they provide some key looks in his early career.

All five of these Jet Li martial arts films will make their home video debut on February 18, 2025. However, this home video release will be for digital download in 4K only. You can download them from digital platforms including Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Fandango At Home, and Microsoft on that date. As of this writing though, we have no word when or even if they will arrive on physical media. We will have to wait for Shout! Studios to tell us that at a later date.

In the meantime though, we do have the full list of all five Jet Li films and their synopses, courtesy of Shout! Studios. You can check out that list below:

FIST OF LEGEND

Starring Jet Li, Siu-Ho Chin, Billy Chow | Directed by Gordon Chan

In 1937, a devoted martial artist returns from overseas studies to Shanghai to find his teacher dead and his school harassed by the ultranationalist Black Dragon Clan.

TAI CHI MASTER

Starring Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Siu-Ho Chin | Directed by Woo-Ping Yuen

Two Shaolin monks – one placid and humble, the other fiery and competitive – are expelled from their temple after a false accusation of cheating. They embark on two radically different paths before being reunited when one betrays the other and nearly kills him in combat. While recuperating, the more balanced monk discovers the power of the slow, graceful martial art of tai chi.

THE LEGEND

Starring Jet Li, Josephine Siao, Michelle Rei | Directed by Corey Yuen

Self-assured with the kung fu skills to back it up, Fong Sai-Yuk (Jet Li) is one of the best fighters in the area. When a wealthy merchant (Sibelle Hu) devises a competition to win the hand of his daughter (Li Jia Xing) in marriage, Fong jumps at the chance. However, a case of mistaken identity compels Fong to forfeit, leaving his mother (Zhu Zhang) to win back his honor. Meanwhile, Fong’s father invites more problems as a member of a secret anti-government organization.

THE LEGEND 2

Starring Jet Li, Josephine Siao, Jeffrey Lau | Directed by Corey Yuen

Having failed a secret mission for the Red Flower Society, Chinese folk hero Fong Sai Yuk (Jet Li) must try to get his hands on a special document by wooing the governor’s daughter, Man-Yin (Amy Kwok). This doesn’t sit well with his fiancée, Ting Ting (Michelle Reis), or with his martial arts-master mother (Josephine Hsiao). Fong enters a martial arts competition, where he faces off against the villainous Yu (Chuen-Hua Chi) as he battles to restore the Ming Dynasty.

THE BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING

Starring Jet Li, Christy Chung, Kent Cheng | Directed by Corey Yuen

A witness to a gangland murder (Christy Chung) falls for the bodyguard (Jet Li) hired to protect her.