Guest WuxiaFan Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 IP MAN and FEARLESS are very similar films in that both are period biopics about two Chinese Grandmasters, Ip Man and Huo Yuan Jia. Both films star two of the top martial arts film stars, Donnie Yen and Jet Li. Both films were outstanding, but which one did you like better? For me, I liked FEARLESS more than IP MAN. I thought FEARLESS was one of Li's finest all around performances as an actor and martial artist. Donnie Yen was also superb. I liked how all of the stunt men and actors (that fought with him) were REAL martial artists, at least that's my understanding. In IP MAN, the Japanese General was not a real martial artist. That was frustrating to Sammo Hung. Why was someone cast against Donnie Yen who was not a real martial artist? For me, Jet Li as Huo Yuan Jia captured the true essence of why learning martial arts is not just learning to fight, but a true way of life. This was shown by his redemption and stopping of his final punch against Tanaka. Tanaka knew he was beat just by the inertia of Yuan Ji's punch. I'm also speaking of the Director's Cut of FEARLESS. IMO, this version is what Ronny Yu wanted to show to audiences, not the cut up theatrical version. The DC is practically a different movie. If you haven't seen the DC, you really haven't seen FEARLESS yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Asmo Posted May 8, 2009 Moderator Share Posted May 8, 2009 Hiroyuki Ikeuchi is a Judo practitioner (I believe he holds a Black Belt). I liked the DC of Fearless more than Ip Man, but I still think Ip Man is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted May 8, 2009 Member Share Posted May 8, 2009 I agree with Asmo. Both are great, for different reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Gaijin84 Posted May 8, 2009 Member Share Posted May 8, 2009 I thought both were fantastic, but I preferred Ip Man a little bit more. I liked Donnie Yen's performance - very stoic until provoked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted May 8, 2009 Member Share Posted May 8, 2009 fearless the stories in both have similar themes, but Fearless realizes them much better and creates a fuller, better rounded character. I felt like I knew more about Huo Yuan Jia by the end of the film than I did about Ip Man. The choreography is Ip Man was more grounded and realistic than in Fearless, but Fearless had more variety as far as opponents and styles used. That appeals more to my taste, the fact that Donnie fought the same people several times was a bit of a turn off. Also as far as the role of each in the star's filmography - Fearless felt like a 'summary' of sorts of Jet's career within the genre of period martial arts, his definitive and maybe best (obviously debatable vs OUATIC) statement on the subject. Ip Man on the other hand just seems like another notch on Donnie's belt, it doesn't have the same gravity of purpose. Both are good bordering on great, but Fearless has the edge imo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted May 8, 2009 Administrator Share Posted May 8, 2009 I think they both great. But IMO, FEARLESS is a much better overall movie, with a considerably stronger script, better direction, and an epic feeling with tons of heart. When Huo Sifu dies it always pulls my heart strings and really gets me. IP MAN was extremely entertaining, but was somewhat lacking in quality in most departments aside from the action. It truly had some outstanding action that at times surpassed those of FEARLESS. But I don't feel caught up in the story or events in IP MAN like I did with FEARLESS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member gorhama Posted May 8, 2009 Member Share Posted May 8, 2009 I must say I enjoyed both films tremendously. But I keep feeling that FEARLESS was the overall better movie for me. I don't know if it had something to do with the feeling that it's Jet Li's final martial arts movie or what, but it's slightly better to me. The whole story, production and fight scenes were of the highest caliber. Don't get me wrong IP MAN was great and had similar qualities, but I think Jet Li played Huo Yuan Jai perfectly and the story of redemtion and coming to learn the true meaning of martial arts and sacrafice was very emotional. So in all FEARLESS gets the nod from me as well. Very close though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member lillippa328 Posted May 9, 2009 Member Share Posted May 9, 2009 I love both, but Ip Man...atleast for right now....maybe because its much newer, but both are great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member SimonMW Posted May 9, 2009 Member Share Posted May 9, 2009 Fearless is the better movie, but I felt let down by both to be honest. I didn't like the bland dark tone in the second half of the Ip Man movie, and the end fight was not what it could have been had the opponent actually been a good screen fighter. What I loved about the HK fights of old, especially the ones choreographed by Sammo Hung, was that he actually showed the strategies that the fighters were using, and also how they adapted during the fights. Feignts were used, and there were dramatic pauses while the fighters revaluated their opponents. In other words each fight was a story in itself. These days it just seems to be about fancy movements and an exchange of punches and kicks rather than containing anything deeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kingofkungfu2002 Posted May 9, 2009 Member Share Posted May 9, 2009 I went for Fearless too (the director's cut) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted May 9, 2009 Member Share Posted May 9, 2009 Ip Man is more of a Kung Fu film, whereas Fearless (The Director's Cut), is more of a statement film, or philisophical point, on Kung Fu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Chinatown Kid Posted May 9, 2009 Member Share Posted May 9, 2009 Ip Man. I also think Donnie could kick Jet's ass easy in an actual fight, Jet's style is more of a showy performance kind of art. Hey just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Milkyway Posted May 9, 2009 Member Share Posted May 9, 2009 Ip Man just for Donnie's performance. It was the most genuine portrayal among all the actors who played kung fu masters in kung fu biopics to date by how Donnie really dug into Ip Man's spirit and managed to portray his personality as truthful as he could (despite having to take advantage of, to most degrees, a fictionalized story). Too bad everything else in the story was underdeveloped compared to Fearless though, I wanted to see more of Simon Yam, Louis Fan, Lynn Hung and the other supporting players, all of whom had their own nice subplots that barely made it deeper. Fearless is the overall superior movie but Jet's performance, while still great, doesn't even hold up to anything regarding the real Hua Yuan Jia, and for that reason alone I value Donnie's performance more than his. As far as action goes, the choreography in both movies are great and I usually have no problem with wirework (as long as it's used wonderfully and creatively) and neither it and Fearless had moments that got out of hand or annoyed me. But when CG is used during the action, it can cause problems. Both movies have CG but I think Ip Man got it right whereas the CG in Fearless looked too obvious and cheap for me to enjoy the fights (those that had CG). Plus I'm more captivated of seeing Donnie unleash movements and techniques, he's got so sharp and precise execution and can make any style look good. So overall, it's Ip Man for me as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AbeRudder Posted May 9, 2009 Member Share Posted May 9, 2009 Ip Man for action, Fearless as a film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LoBo Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Fearless because i think it has better story and character`s. ________ Kitchen Measures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator thekfc Posted May 9, 2009 Moderator Share Posted May 9, 2009 Both are almost equally good but I will give the edge to Fearless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted May 9, 2009 Member Share Posted May 9, 2009 This is one of the hardest to choose from but I will give the edge to Fearless, but both are equally awesome films but I'm also referring to the Directors Cut of Fearless! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member GwaiLoMoFo Posted May 16, 2009 Member Share Posted May 16, 2009 Love both films but I would easily say FEARLESS. Probably because of Jet's dramatic performance. They didnt give Donnie as much material/stroy to work with in Ip Man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 27, 2021 Member Share Posted May 27, 2021 I choose Fearless. It's a thinking man's The Quest with a heart of gold. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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