Review: The story behind this movie is based on some real life events that happened during that time period, also this movie is sort of a remake of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury aka ``The Chinese Connection (USA)``. The interesting thing about this movie is the conflict between the Chinese and Japanese, this is not something that is seen often in kung fu movies. Its really something to see Chinese martial arts versus Japanese, especially since great attention was paid to the actual fighting styles used in the film. The story is simple, it is one about honor and conquest. There is no confusing twists in the plot or anything like that, it is easy to follow.

The characters are a nice varied mix, during the film there is a good amount of development for a couple of the characters. You really end up understanding the underlining motivation of many of the characters, one example is when the failed samurai who learns he did not defeat the Chinese master on his own. The acting if very good, all the characters are believable in their roles. Also the conflict between Japanese and Chinese was well played, you could feel the tension between the two.

This film has the reputation of being one of Jet Li's best movies, when you see this movie you will understand why. The fights are of an unparalleled beauty, the moves and techniques are perfect. Also a good 90% of the moves are realistic, the rest are the famous Wire Fu which Jet Li does. The fight scenes are well placed during the movie, each one is pretty long and is perfect in choreography. One of the best fights is when Jet Li fights an old Japanese master, it is incredible to see the two styles clash together. The final fight is especially spectacular and is one of the longest single fights we've seen in a Jet movie.