It is quite significant that co-producer and star Jet Li chose this particular vehicle for his latest film. The parallels between his journey and his character’s, Huo Yuanjia, are striking. Each evolves beyond outstanding physicality and exceptional fighting prowess to spirituality. This becomes clear in one of the supplements in which Li expresses a Buddhist philosophy that suggests that George Lucas’ Jedi credo was highly influenced by that Eastern religion.

Fearless is set at the turn of the century, a little more than one hundred years ago. China is falling under the undue influence of Western powers and losing its self-respect. Huo Yuanjia (Li) must muster all of his formidable martial arts skills to defeat Western champions and to defend his county’s honor. How he comes to agree to face four opponents in quick succession is told in a biographical structure.

In his childhood, during a martial arts competition, his father’s nobility overcomes his will to win. Huo Yuanjia is humiliated by his father’s defeat and the beating he suffers at the hands of the winner’s bully of a son. This sets Huo Yuanjia on a course to become the champion of Tianjin and to reclaim his family honor. He becomes highly skilled and successful, meeting challengers in battles that frequently leave only one combatant alive. But with each success come an elevated ego that taints his judgment. A tragic turn of events brings him great shame, and he exiles himself, drifting aimlessly through the Chinese countryside, ultimately to very nearly lose his life. Kind villagers, who live a simple existence farming rice, save him.  

The second act is peaceful and lyrical; Huo Yuanjia finds unexpected spirituality among the simple pleasures of labor and enjoys the generous kindness of strangers who take him in and make him one of their own. But as he looks back on his life, he virtually imposes a twelve-step program on himself. He determines to return to his original home and make amends to the people he had wronged.

In act three, he finds that his home has changed considerably since he left years before. The influence of external intrusions is everywhere, which leads Huo Yuanjia to take on the martial arts challengers from without. He feels he must restore the county’s self-respect and self-determination, all the while determined not to take a life. He has come full circle, finally understanding how his father could have lost that match so many years before while still remaining the spiritual champion.

Action choreographer Yuen Wo Ping and Jet Li stage remarkable conflicts with minimal wirework and CGI. Jet Li’s physical prowess is a wonder to behold. His speed and agility border on the superhuman. Director Ronny Yu maintains a swift pace and mixes high speed cinematography with conventional footage to emphasize action and reveal that which would be too swift to see at normal film speeds. This is a meaningful spiritual journey punctuated by intense action. It’s exciting, compelling, and emotional satisfying.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s original aspect ratio of 2.40:1 is presented in a good but not exceptional high definition transfer compressed with the VC-1 video CODEC. The bit rate is modest, so the transfer is not outstanding. Small object detail is very good, but for a BD, finely grained textures are a tad below average. The overall impression is ever so soft, made evident by the lack of resolution in fabric weaves. Colors are very nicely conveyed, from natural flesh tones to colorful Chinese decorations. Black levels are deep and noiseless. I did not notice any halos. Considering the presence of the other two cuts (which I believe were combined and presented with seamless branching), this is a fully acceptable transfer.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Available audio tracks depend on which version you watch. All have Mandarin DTS-HD Master 5.1 tracks. The Theatrical and Unrated Cuts also have English and French DTS 5.1 tracks. Since I watched the Director’s Cut, I had no choice but to deal with subtitles and listen to the original Mandarin. I’m assuming that the music and sound effect tracks were simply used in the dubbed mixes and should sound the same on the DTS tracks, but with less transparency due to the lossy nature of the CODECs. The DTS-HD track is not dramatically immersive, but it does apply the surrounds for subtle sounds, like birds chirping in the countryside, and for the cheers of enthusiastic fight fans. EX decoding will neither help nor hinder this track. Sound effects serve the action on the screen. The score by Shigeru Umebayashi is impressive, particularly the massed drums, helped by the deep, chest pounding bottom end. The fidelity is excellent, but this is not a demo quality mix.

All three cuts have English SDH, English, Spanish, and French Subtitles.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

As mentioned, there are three versions of the film on this BD: the Director’s Cut (141 minutes); an Unrated Version (104 minutes); and, the Theatrical Version (101 minutes). From both an opening menu and from the main menus, you’ll be given a choice among the three. I watched the director’s cut. The presence of all three might explain why the supplements are a bit thin, but at least the quality of the content is high.

We have a featurette imported from the DVD release; it’s titled A Fearless Journey (16:06, 1.78:1, SD). This short is both a behind-the-scenes look at the goals for and production of the film, and a tribute to Jet Li. We learn that wirework and CGI were kept to a minimum and Jet Li’s athleticism and skills as a martial artist were brought to the fore. And we’re told that he’s so fast that high-speed cameras were frequently used to capture his actions. Most significant is the answer to the question on everyone’s mind. Is it true that this is his last martial arts film? The short answer is yes. The long answer relates to a life journey not too dissimilar to Huo Yuanjia’s. Li has pursued his spiritual side; deeply committed to Buddhism, he has decided that glorifying fighting is inappropriate. (However, for those who have seen The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), or War (2007), one might get the impression that his retirement from the martial arts was quite temporary.)

The Director’s Cut has twenty- one chapters and the other two cuts have twenty.

Final Thoughts

This is a very fine addition to Jet Li’s filmography as a martial arts film star. It blends action and the concepts of nobility and spirituality into the satisfying life journey of a historical figure imagined for the big screen. The transfer is very good, the audio impressive, and the sole supplement is okay. This is a fine film that should be seen. Recommended.