Heroes Among Heroes

Heroes Among Heroes (Chinese: 蘇乞兒) is a 1993 Hong Kong martial arts film produced and directed by Yuen Woo-ping and starring Donnie Yen as the protagonist So Chan, who was one of the Ten Tigers of Canton. The film shows opium smugglers in the Qing Dynasty, China, with Officer Lin Zexu and Chinese martial arts master and folk hero of Cantonese ethnicity Wong Fei-hung fighting against them. It was released in the US as Fist of the Red Dragon.

Heroes Among Heroes
A DVD cover with the film's US title Fist of the Red Dragon
Directed by	Yuen Woo-ping Chan Chin-chung
Screenplay by	Lau Tai-muk Jobic Chui Chan Chin-chung Anthony Wong
Produced by	Yuen Woo-ping Chan Chin-chung Lam Shue-kin
Starring	Donnie Yen Wong Yuk Ng Man-tat Fennie Yuen
Cinematography	Stephen Poon Ma Koon-wa
Edited by	Kwok Ting-hung
Music by	William Wu
Production company	Art Sea Films
Distributed by	Regal Films Distribution
Release date	11 November 1993 (1993-11-11)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Box office	HK$7,020,771

Heroes Among Heroes
Traditional Chinese	蘇乞兒
Simplified Chinese	苏乞儿
Literal meaning	"Beggar So"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sǔ Qǐ Ěr Yue: Cantonese Jyutping So1 Hat1 Ji1

Plot

Close to the end of the Qing Dynasty, opium is being smuggled to China. Officer Lin Zexu (Pau Fong) and Master Wong Fei-hung (Wong Yuk) join forces against opium smugglers.

Meanwhile, So Chan, also known as Beggar So (Donnie Yen), a man from a rich family, is famous for stealing food for his poor foster father (Kwan Hoi-san) and friends. He lives with his father (Ng Man-tat) and aunt Jean (Sheila Chan). So befriends a British teacher named Yi-teh (Fennie Yuen), a niece of Prince Barac of Twelve (Hung Yan-yan).

So fights and defeats the Fire Lotus Gang, causing an explosion in which many citizens are hurt and Master Wong demands an apology. Later, Prince Barac of Twelve offers So opium; So becomes addicted to it. He goes to his foster father and learns drunken boxing; his foster father is then killed by the Fire Lotus Gang, for whom Prince Barac of Twelve has betrayed So.

So eventually returns home, joins forces with Wong Fei-hung, and seeks revenge. In the end, So and Wong win against Prince Barac of Twelve and Yi-teh becomes So's girlfriend. Lin Zexu and Wong Fei-hung watch as the opium is burned.

Cast

• Donnie Yen as So Chan
• Fennie Yuen as Yi-teh
• Ng Man-tat as Chan's father
• Sheila Chan as Aunt Jean
• Wong Yuk as Wong Fei-hung
• Hung Yan-yan as Prince Barac of Twelve
• Kwan Hoi-san as foster-father
• Pau Fong as Lin Zexu
• Dickson Lee as Leung Foon

Reception

The author Clive Davies praised the movie writing, "Some enjoyable action puts it on a par with the previous Yuen/Yen collaboration Iron Monkey."^[1] In a mostly negative review, Reno Gazette-Journal's Jennifer Merriman rated the film a D and wrote, "Donnie Yen (So Chan) was bright and charismatic in his part, but the rest of the characters were overdone and shrill. The fight scenes were good, fast and not too choreographed, but since I couldn't tell what was going on, they seemed overly random — like they just stuck one in every ten minutes whether it fit or not."^[2]

Paul Fonoroff of the South China Morning Post had a mixed review of the film, writing, "Actually, Heroes Among Heroes isn't inferior to the majority of period epics churned out since the Wong Fei-hung series was revived in 1991. The lead actors know their kung-fu, and the producers appear to have spared no expense by employing hundreds of extras, all in Qing costume. But because we've seen it all so many times before, Heroes Among Heroes seems as fresh as a rice box left in the refrigerator since the last Wong Fei-hung movie was released two months ago."^[3] Another South China Morning Post review said, "Alas, the fight choreography, traditionally one of Yuen's strengths, lacks the crispness of the veteran kung fu director's best work. Donnie Yan (so good in Once Upon a Time in China II) lacks charisma when he needs to emote for longer than he fights, and Wong Kwok is charmless as Wong Fei-hung."^[4]

See also

• Donnie Yen filmography
• Wong Fei-hung filmography

References

1. Davies, Clive (2015). Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won't Write About. London: Headpress. ISBN 978-1-909394-06-3. Retrieved 17 October 2022 – via Google Books.
2. Merriman, Jennifer (23 January 2004). "'Open Range' backfires on Costner. Plus Donnie Yen makes noise in 'Fist'; 'Barney Miller' still good". Reno Gazette-Journal. Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Fonoroff, Paul (12 November 1993). "Yee triggers a flood of new emotions". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
4. "Wong pays a high price for violence". South China Morning Post. 21 November 1993. p. 43. ProQuest 1524593675.

External links

• So Hak-Yi at IMDb
• Heroes Among Heroes at the Hong Kong Movie Database