4/5 Ok DVD-Set for a Good TV Series...
  by Darkuser (London, UK)
Interesting to see that this product isn't completely unknown, having had two reviews here on Amazon already. As has already been stated, this is indeed a much-shortened version of a TVB series produced in Hong Kong. The original series has 20 45-minute episodes, the standard length of an average TVB series. This means that the original length of over 10 hours of actual screen-time has been reduced to 3-hours.

When the original series was released in Hong Kong, the show was decidedly unsuccessful and remains a little-known series. As a martial arts movie fan however, I thought the series was much underrated. The cast, far from consisting of popular TVB stars and starlets, actually featured martial artists and stunts actors who have made their names in the martial arts movie genre. Of note are Wang Lung Wei (Clan of the White Lotus), Moon Lee (Angels series), and Xiong Yen Yen (OUATIC series), all of whom have had extensive experience in the once flourishing genre of the 80s and early 90s.

However, it was the male-lead, the then (and still) little-known Fan-Siu Fong who really stood-out. Not only does his martial arts skills really show and was able to convincingly demonstrate the legendary tiger-crane style, but the guy's also a serious kicker! There's this scene right at the end where he was supposedly training as a beginner of "northen kicking" and he deals out some serious kicks, without wires or doubles and in full frontal view! Why the guy hasn't gone on to work in Hong Kong's now dying martial arts movie business, we shall never know.

The series has many flaws though. In fact, it's not even a good series if you're not into Martial Arts genre. Even the full story in the original series feels somewhat contrived and the acting is mediocre and melodramatic. Although the action sequences employ choreography and camera-work reminiscent of martial arts movies, the scenes lack distinction and realism. The series is far from movie material. It was obviously produced with low budget and does some serious music ripping, mostly from Japanese, American and other Chinese OSTs.

Another point is that I very much prefer the full series. This shortened version actually included the main stories: the North vs. South story, the white lotus story, and the story about Qing reformation. However, they still left out a significant amount of the series, including important death scenes and some good fights. Also the main stories felt very rushed and may seem choppy and nonsensical. In other words, if you liked this DVD-set, you'd definitely want to see the whole series.


4/5 Terry Fan and Moon Lee fans rejoice!
  by D. Huynh (Honolulu, HI United States)
This dvd is a 2 disc set presenting the Hong Kong TV-B mini-series "Southern Fist, Northern Kick", a kung fu period piece starring Terry Fan from the Story of Ricky and "girls with guns" beauty Moon Lee. The length of this Tai Seng presentation is just over 3 hours, and has been pared down from the original series, with the film content being mostly fight scenes -- you can tell that quite a bit of the story exposition was cut out, as the fights occur often -- almost every 3 to 5 minutes there's another fight or training sequence. Still, enough of the plot development scenes were left in tact so that the viewer can follow the dramatic love story between Terry Fan's character and Moon Lee's character, as well as the two over riding plots in the film -- one involving a rivalry between a northern kung fu master and a southern kung fu master, and the other being a plot to overthrow the emperor. Kung fu film afficianados will be pleased to see some familiar faces in strong supporting roles, and this all adds to the excellence of the fast paced, breath taking fights scenes. Terry Fan and Moon Lee are excellent in their roles, and their fight scenes allow them to demonstrate their skills very admirably. The fight choreography in this series is representative of what you'd see by Yuen Woo Ping or Yuen Kwai (Corey Yuen), and harmoniously blends wire work with classical kung fu styles (i.e. tiger and crane fists, among others), as well as modern wushu with its brand of acrobatics and high kicks. There is also a good balance between weapon battles and hand to hand battles. Further enhancing the quality of the fight scenes is the excellent camera work. As this was a tv series, the picture is in full screen format, but no need to worry, as the clarity of the picture is good. Overall, highly recommended to fans of kung fu films, and a must see for fans of Moon Lee and Terry Fan.

5/5 First Class martial art action in a double disc set
  by Brian P. Webb (philadelphia,PA USA)
This is the story of Wong Kei Ying the father of the great Wong Fei Hung potrayed several times in Once Upon A Time in China series by the great Jet Li. This double disc set is a knockout and the fighting is nonstop, the action is centered around a good story about his training, dedication to his Master and political beliefs and the love of a woman. I was really excited to see that my favorite villian Lung Wei had a major role in this film.I enjoyed disc one over disc 2 but other viewers must draw their own conclusions. The first disc is a five star movie, disc two would be a 4 star for my overall rating of the high end.