Anecdotes

A comparison of the Hong Kong and American versions of Fong Sai-yuk illustrates the impact of Miramax's tinkering and its effect on the viewing experience. Directed by Corey Yuen Kuei and starring Jet Li, Fong Sai-yuk involves the youthful adventures of the titular hero, a legendary Cantonese martial artist who was trained by his mother and inspired several series of films. Miramax released its version on DVD through its Dimension label, re-titling it The Legend, cutting approximately ten minutes, and adding a new score and a English dubbed dialogue. An analysis of two sample scenes - one involving changes in music and dialogue, the other also featuring excised material - suggests that the American version is not only more taut, inoffensive, and consistent in tone than the Hong Kong original, but also offers a substantially different interpretation of character motivations and relationships. It is also simply not as funny.

This was the first time Jet Li worked with Corey Yuen.They have since become close friends and work together on many projects.

Jet Li also played the title role in Wong Fei Hung (1991), and when he tells the story about how he stated a fake name to the police officers, he says he gave his name as "Wong ...", strikes his trademark Wong Fei-Hung pose, and Wong's theme song ("Under the General's Orders") starts playing. Instead of "Wong ... Fei-Hung", he says "Wong ... Jing", referring to director Jing Wong.

Jet Li gives the police the fake name "Yuen Kwai" - the film's director.

Kau Man was Vincent Chiu Man Chuk's first acting experience, so before shooting began, his friends told him that they could not envision him playing a villain because of his honest and kind appearance in real life. When he told the director he did not know how to portray a villain, he taught Chiu a trick to accomplish it, which is to simply look at someone from the corner of one's eyes while acting. Chiu took this advice to heart resulting in his evil performance as Governor Kau Man.