Line #80 Film/Fearless2006


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fearless_2.jpg]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:Between Japanese karate and Chinese wushu, let's see [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours whose kung fu is stronger]].]]
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8	''This is about the 2006 Chinese {{Wuxia}} movie. For the 1993 Peter Weir plane crash film, [[{{Film/Fearless1993}} click here.]]''
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10	''Fearless'' (original title: 霍元甲) is a movie starring Creator/JetLi, directed by Ronny Yu and released in 2006. It is a [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory heavily fictionalized biopic]] of famous martial arts master Huo Yuanjia (1868-1910).
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12	Huo was the son of a wushu professor in Tianjin, but because of his poor health, he wasn't allowed to study martial arts himself. However, after seeing his father lose a fight against a dishonorable adversary, he decides to become a master in his own right in order to redeem the family name.
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14	As years go by, Huo's fame rises, but so does his vanity. One day, he confronts Qin, the master of a rival school and, in the heat of combat, deals him a deadly blow. The latter's followers retaliate by killing Huo's mother and daughter. Stricken with grief, he wanders the countryside in a state of shock, and is taken in by a kindly old woman and her blind granddaughter.
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16	Sharing their life and that of the simple country folk in their village, he nurses himself back to psychological health. In 1907, a more mature and humble man, he returns to Tianjin, and is appalled by the decay of Chinese society and the arrogance of foreigners. He restores his fame by winning a fight against an American wrestler, and with the financial backing of an old friend founds the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chin_Woo_Athletic_Association Jingwu Association]], a martial arts school in Shanghai.
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18	Incidentally, Jet Li also starred in the 1994 movie ''Film/FistOfLegend'' (itself a remake of the Creator/BruceLee movie ''Film/FistOfFury''), where he played the fictional student of Huo Yuanjia out of [[YouKilledMyFather get justice for the death of his master]] after he is murdered, so while they have very different continuities, the film could be considered a SpiritualSuccessor of sorts to that one.
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20	Unrelated to ''Film/Fearless1993''.
21	------
22	!!Contains examples of:
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24	* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Master Qin's sword. Huo's own blade gets progressively more chipped during their fight, eventually breaking in two different places, while Master Qin's seems to come out completely unscathed.
25	* AbsurdlySharpClaws: One of the opponents Huo Yuanjia fights uses a form named "Tiger Claw" that involves him scratching his opponent with his bare nails. Apparently, he can slowly rip your shirt if you let him get close enough.
26	* AccidentalMurder: In a duel to restore his personal honor and pride, Yuanjia ends up beating Master Qin, a fellow martial artist, to death. Qin died offscreen the following day, which Yuanjia learns from his friend Jingsun, leading to a painful CycleOfRevenge.
27	* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: In the Japanese release, the theme song was changed from "Fearless" to "Crime" by HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR. [[http://www.multistars.com/forums/index.php?topic=9805.0 This apparently upset many Japanese fans of the original song]].
28	* AntiVillain: Tanaka, to the point he isn't really a villain at all, just an opponent in the tournament. He and Huo clearly respect each other.
29	* {{Arcadia}}: The village folks live an idyllic existence made of wholesome agrarian work and caring togetherness.
30	* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Huo is one before he learns better. His vanity and recklessness end up making him bankrupt his family's money on extravagant parties for his admirers, participate in random death matches to show off, and causes him to carelessly kill a rival martial arts master, whose godson end up murdering Huo's family in a MurderSuicide plot since he could never beat Huo personally.
31	* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
32	** The only similarities between the film and Huo Yuanjia's biography are the following: that his father was a martial artist, that Huo had asthma and was forced to learn secretly the family style of wushu, that he founded the Chin Woo Association along with Nong Jinsun, and being generous, that he did fight challenge matches against foreign fighters. The rest of the movie is dramatic embellishment, in particular the point of him being an arrogant master that got his family killed in a honor feud, which is completely fictional (in fact, his wife and children survived him in real life).
33	** The real life Hercules O'Brien was a boxer, while the one from the film appears to be a professional wrestler. Also, he was an Irishman, while in the film he is American (and played by the Australian Nathan Jones). In any case, sources disagree, some claiming that he and Huo never actually fought because O'Brien fled before the challenge.
34	** The notion Huo being poisoned by the Japanese was actually claimed by some of his students in real life, especially given that one of his doctors was Japanese and worked for a judo association the Ching Woo school had clashed against. However, there is no evidence that something so farfetched actually happened, and it's rather accepted that he died of complications of the tuberculosis and jaundice that plagued him for much of his life. Huo's corpse was exhumated in 1989 and did reveal marks of arsenic poisoning, but arsenic was a popular fixture of Chinese medicine and supports more the theory of Huo dying as a consequence of putting his trust on traditional medicine of dubious scientific value.
35	* ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: Jet Li's fighting style on screen does not resemble very much mizongyi, the school of kung fu used by the real life Yuanjia. Instead, it resembles more Li's natural wushu (which Yuanjia also practised, anyway).
36	* TheAtoner: After Huo spends some time in the village and learns compassion and mercy, he returns to his home to atone for his past by apologizing to Qins family and his friend who’s now business man.
37	* AudibleSharpness: When Huo fights Master Qin, their swords are very, very sharp, and therefore incredibly audible, even when they aren't moving...
38	* AwesomeByAnalysis: In space of a second, Tanaka realizes both that Huo was throwing a type of punch which could end his life and that he stopped it out of his new morals.
39	* BattleInTheRain: Parodied in one of Huo's fights, where he takes on an opponent in the middle of heavy downpour holding an umbrella in one hand and kicking ass with another. Huo didn't even ''need to move'' and wins the fight!
40	* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: The last series of fight are this: he fights the boxer with his bare hands, the pikeman with a spear, and the fencer with a jian. Subverted during his first bout with Tanaka, though, where he countered the latter's katana with a completely unrelated weapon, the 3 sectioned staff.
41	* BlindedByRage: After the Belgian lancer comes off the worse in his first few clashes with Huo's spear, he angrily decides to snap his lance and shorten it to allow him to stab faster. However, his now-shortened reach [[HoistByHisOwnPetard proves to be the reason he loses the fight.]]
42	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: [[DoomedMoralVictor Huo dies, but on his own terms,]] and while bringing self confidence back to China's martial arts.]]
43	* BlackBlood: [[spoiler: Huo, due to the poison.]]
44	* BloodFromTheMouth: You know Huo has dealt his rival a killing blow when the latter spits blood. [[spoiler: Likewise, he starts coughing blood when the poison kicks in.]]
45	* BoxingBattler: The British fighter in the tournament against Huo.
46	* BreakTheHaughty: Strikes Huo '''brutally'''.
47	* TheBully: Zhao Jian, the son of a local expert fighter, delights in beating up the neighbourhood kids and especially picks on the young Yuanjia, after his father had beaten Yuanjia's in a duel. He's probably the closest the movie has to a HateSink, as one of the most obnoxious named characters in the film - it makes Yuanjia beating Zhao into a pulp in a fair fight during their adult years, avenging his father's defeat, even more satisfying to watch.
48	* CallBack: Huo's spinning forward punch, his killing technique. We first see him use it on Master Qin, killing him. He later uses it in his final match against Tanaka, though instead of going through with it, he pulls it at the last second, illustrating how far he's come from what he once was.
49	* CallToAgriculture: After the murder of his mother and daughter, Huo goes to a small village. He lives among the farmers and he takes part in the farm work (but he sucks at it).
50	* CasualtyInTheRing: [[spoiler: Huo dies of poisoning in the final bout.]]
51	* ClothingDamage: Tiger claw moves seem to damage everything but the skin.
52	* CompletelyDifferentTitle: The original title is simply the hero's name.
53	* CompositeCharacter: Anno Tanaka, being a karate man with some judo moves, is a mixture of the Japanese opponents Huo is said to have fought through his life. According to sources, he faced one of more judoka and later a karate master from the Goju-Ryu school, presumably defeating them (though sadly their names or circumstances have not been registered.)
54	* ContemplativeBoss: Huo's long-estranged friend strikes the pose when turning down a request to lend him money. On a later encounter, their reconciliation is illustrated by his turning from the window to face him as Huo enters the room.
55	* CoolSword: Master Qin's. At one point, Huo's sword gets caught in its rings. Master Qin releases his grip, causing his sword to flip through the air as if launched from a spring, and then catches it after it slashes Huo.
56	* CrazyHomelessPeople: There's one who constantly asks Huo when he will become the champion of Tianjin. Huo usually treats him kindly, but when the madman's words take later a sinister echo, he gets understandably disturbed.
57	* CurbStompBattle:
58	** One time Huo fought in the rain, and he beat the challengers (MANY!!!) without moving from his spot ''while holding an umbrella''.
59	** His first fight as a child is also this.
60	* CurbStompCushion: The three European champions Huo fights before facing Tanaka are shown to be no slouch and they manage to put up a good fight against him, but Huo is shown to be above their league.
61	* CycleofRevenge: One that turns the film tonally upside-down. Huo Yuanjia, intending to restore honor to his pupils, challenged another martial artist, Master Qin, to a duel right on Qin's birthday, leading to Yuanjia beating Qin to death. Qin's godson then pulls a RevengeByProxy, killing Huo's mother and adopted daughter, before commmiting suicide. Thus leading to Yuanjia losing everything in a single night and ultimately choosing to throw himself off a cliff...
62	* DeathGlare: The look on Tanaka's face is ''terrifying'' after the corrupt Japanese businessman declares he "is not Japanese" for [[spoiler:conceding the fight]].
63	* DeathOfAChild: Huo Yuanjia's adopted daughter, who gets killed alongside his mom by Qin's vengeful godson. Though it's a CensoredChildDeath where audiences sees only the aftermath.
64	* DefeatMeansFriendship: DoubleSubverted. The U.S. wrestler is at first furious when Huo defeats him, but after [[spoiler: Huo saves his life]] comes to respect him.
65	* DiedOnTheirBirthday: Huo Yuanjia challenged Master Qin to a DuelToTheDeath, on the night where Qin is supposed to celebrate his birthday. Take a ''wild'' guess who died that night.
66	* DoomedMoralVictor:
67	** Master Qin's relative who had killed Huo's mother and daughter. He waits by Master Qin's funeral pyre, thanks his godmother for taking care of the surviving relatives, then waits for an angry Huo to show up before committing suicide. Denying Huo his RoaringRampageOfRevenge drives him into a HeroicBSOD.
68	** Huo continues his fight against Tanaka despite being poisoned. He fought for the pride of China.
69	* DramaticThunder: During Huo's DuelToTheDeath with Qin.
70	* DrillSergeantNasty: In the director's cut, Huo beats up and scolds some of his students for not training hard enough, and [[RankScalesWithAsskicking demonstrates the results of his training]] when he punches a wooden pole in two.
71	* DrivenToSuicide:
72	** Master Qin's godson, after killing Yuanjia's mother and adopted daughter, offs himself with a self-inflicted SlashedThroat.
73	** After his family's death, Huo roams the countryside and nearly dies from drowning after letting himself fall from a boat.
74	* DualWielding: Huo does this in the last moments of his armed bout with Tanaka; after Tanaka uses his katana to cut the chains of Huo's three-sectioned-staff, Huo wields two sections of it as dual staves until the end of the fight.
75	* FantasyForbiddingFather: Huo's father is a martial artist, but he does not want his son to learn wushu. He wants him to study.
76	* ForeignWrestlingHeel: O'Brien is the most prominent example. Before the fight, he mocks the "sick men of Asia" and claims he can [[MonumentalDamage demolish the Great Wall]] with one finger. However, he has a change of heart when Huo saves his life. The other Western fighters Huo faces also count.
77	* ForgottenFramingDevice: In the extended version, at least. While the theatrical cut is set entirely in the Qing Dynasty, the extended version actually begins in modern times where a wushu spokeswoman (Creator/MichelleYeoh, as TheCameo) narrates the backstory of the founder, Huo Yuanjia, with the movie flashing back to the past. But at the end of the film, [[spoiler: after Yuanjia's death]], the movie just ends without going back to the present.
78	* AFriendInNeed: Huo's ChildhoodFriend Nong Jinsun, though more of a SourSupporter at first, copies the Huo family's wushu manual to help his friend learn martial arts, [[spoiler:covers for some of Huo's debts, prevents the foreclosure of Yuanjia's old home, and after some convincing, gives Huo the money he needs to travel to Hong Kong and challenge O'Brien. After they properly reconcile, Jinsun sells his successful restaurant to provide start-up funds for his friend's Jingwu Assocation]].
79	* FriendlyEnemy: Tanaka is on very good terms with Yuanjia.
80	* GoKartingWithBowser: Tanaka visits Yuanjia before the match, and they have tea and enjoy a friendly conversation about martial arts (and tea).
81	* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Huo himself at the end.]]
82	* GracefulLoser: There are an unusual high number of those for a martial arts film.
83	** Huo Endi, Yuanjia's father. In his fight with another martial artist at the beginning of the movie, even though he only lost because his opponent was an honourless bastard, he bowed and accepted his defeat without complaint.
84	** O'Brien starts off as a SoreLoser but becomes this after Huo saves him from falling on some spikes.
85	** The Spanish fencer. Huo takes away his sword and points a jian to his throat. He looks at Huo, nods and smiles, with an obvious "good one" face. Huo smiles back and returns his sword.
86	** Tanaka, who declared Huo the victor [[spoiler:even though he's dying of poison]].
87	* KatanasAreJustBetter: To a point -- Tanaka manages to slice Huo's ''metal'' (or at least metal shod) three piece staff out of the air when Huo hurls it directly at his face, leaving a visible slice in its structure, and later in the duel slices easily through two of the chains holding the staff sections together. However, the weapons are otherwise shown to be evenly matched.
88	* HeroicBSOD: Yuanjia has a major one after [[spoiler: finding his mother and daughter dead in their beds after his fateful match with Master Qin, then a worse one when their murderer commits suicide right in front of Yuanjia, denying him his revenge. It gets so bad that he winds up in a semi-catatonic state, stumbling around until he winds up in Moon's village.]]
89	* HowWeGotHere: The story begins with the final fight, then goes back to Huo's childhood.
90	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: If it were not for Huo catching him, [[spoiler:this would have nearly happened to Hercules.]]
91	* InsistentTerminology: During the fight with his childhood rival.
92	--> Cat's paw? \
93	Tiger claw!
94	* InspirationallyDisadvantaged: Moon, the blind village girl, teaches Huo a lesson about compassion and mercy.
95	* IWillWaitForYou: Yueci.
96	* LovingParentCruelParent: When a young Huo Yuanjia loses a fight to [[TheBully Zhao Jian]], his father is angry at his son causing trouble and is ready to beat him. Huo's mother speaks up for their son, saying that Huo has been hurt enough. His father settles for a less strict punishment.
97	* MidfightWeaponExchange: During Huo's bout with Tanaka, with the former using a three-sectioned staff and the latter using a katana, both end up swapping weapons mid-fight. Both of them adopt the other's weapon style competently at first, but after [[WhatTheFuAreYouDoing Tanaka accidentally whacks himself in the head with the flexible staff]], Huo pauses the fight for them to swap weapons back.
98	* AMinorKidroduction: In the beginning, Huo is a child who wants to learn wushu. He sees his father's defeat, then he is defeated by another boy and he swears not to lose fight any more.
99	* MotivationalLie: In an inversion of a TactfulTranslation, the wrestler's Chinese manager tells the wrestler that Huo's polite speech that condemns death matches was a BadassBoast by Huo saying that he was going to beat the wrestler up. The wrestler is fired up after hearing that.
100	--> He wants to kick your butt!
101	* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer gives you a pretty good idea of the plot of the last half-hour of the movie, giving the impression that it's a much more action-oriented film.
102	* NoSell: A couple of Huo's kicks and moves cause him to stumble against the U.S. wrestler.
103	* OhCrap: O'Brien has two when his [[spoiler:body slam gets countered perfectly]] and when Huo [[spoiler:rescues him from impaling his head.]]
104	* OldRetainer: Huo's personal servant.
105	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Yuanjia comes home after finding out that [[spoiler:Master Qin died of his injuries to discover his daughter, dead in her bed.]]
106	* PoorCommunicationKills: SO much. Had Yuanjia's disciple or ANY of his compatriots simply told him that Master Qin beat the disciple up because he insulted his concubine, then Yuanjia's mother, Yuanjia's daughter, Master Qin, and Master Qin's godson might still be alive.
107	* PrideBeforeAFall: Huo Yuanjia during the film's first StoryArc becomes more cocky and brutal against his opponents after he beat his childhood bully (twice in the director's cut) which culminates in his NoHoldsBarredBeatdown and killing of Master Qin.
108	* ProWrestlingIsReal: Possibly with Hercules O'Brien. He fights with what appear to be "show" wrestling moves instead of the catch-as-catch can grappling system used historically by "real" wrestlers of the time.
109	* SoreLoser: The Belgian lancer barely restrains from attacking Huo with his bare hands after being humiliated and defeated.
110	* SwordSparks: During the duel with Qin.
111	* TenMinuteRetirement: [[ProdigalHero Huo]]'s time in the village. Actually, he's there for a few years, but that's the idea.
112	* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Tanaka towards Yuanjia. [[spoiler: He is so infuriated by Yuanjia being poisoned during their fight that he concedes defeat.]]
113	* UnskilledButStrong: Hercules O'Brien is this compared to Yuanjia. Unlike many examples of this trope, he is actually good at utilizing his massive strength to cover up his weaknesses. Behind Tanaka and Master Qin, he gave Yuanjia the most trouble out of his opponents.
114	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Huo's father. While his refusal to permit Huo to learn Kung Fu was out of concern for Huo's asthma, it only strengthened Huo's defiant streak. If he had been more open with his son and teaching him the importance of control and mercy, a lot of suffering in the future could have been avoided.
115	* UseYourHead: Hilariously fails.
116	* WireFu: There is some, though not nearly as much as in {{Wuxia}} films.
117	* WhatTheFuAreYouDoing: When Tanaka, the Japanese fighter, [[MidfightWeaponExchange swipes Huo's three-section staff during their fight and loses his katana to Huo in the process]], both men are forced to use the other's weapon for awhile. Huo swings the katana one-handed with many circular movements like how he would wield a Chinese Dao sword, while Tanaka wields the three-section staff as it is done with the same weapon in traditional Okinawan kobudo. However, Tanaka turns out less competent at the task, and after whacking himself in the head while trying a fancy around-the-back spin move, Huo graciously returns the sword, and Tanaka does likewise with Huo's staff.
118	* WorldOfHam: Everything is dramatic. Westerners are especially shouty and not less sinister. One of them strongly resembles a DastardlyWhiplash, and the corrupt Japanese businessman is basically reprising the same actor's role as Omura in ''Film/TheLastSamurai''.
119	* WorthyOpponent:
120	** O'Brien warmly greets Huo after their bout, in which Huo saved him from hurting his head in the ring's outer spikes.
121	** Tanaka epitomises this trope - offering Huo a chance to fight the next day to make the contest fairer (after fighting three other opponents before him), immediately halting his attacks and attempting to stop the contest when Huo is taken ill and conceding the match, and leading the cheering for Huo's victory when he realises Huo could have easily killed him with the final blow.
122	* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Hercules O'Brien uses a diving splash at a point.
123	* YouCanBarelyStand: Huo decides to carry on with the fight even though he's [[spoiler:dying from poisoning.]]
124	** And [[spoiler: WINS! That's HeroicSpirit, right? And a swordless SwordOverHead moment.]]
125

Context Film / Fearless2006