Born To Defence

Starring:Kurt Roland Petersson, Jia Song, Paulo Tocha, Erkang Zhao
Studio: Cav Distribution
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Kung fu superstar Jet Li (Romeo Must Die, The One, the Once Upon a Time in China series) makes his directorial debut with Born to Defense. When a Chinese soldier (Li) returns from fighting Japan, he discovers that his home town has become a base for the American navy. The arrogant and abusive sailors treat the locals with brutal disrespect, stirring up anger and violence. Of course, Li comes to the defense of an old friend and his daughter, who's been forced into prostitution. It's a good thing Li hasn't quit acting; the script is pure melodrama and Li's fledgling direction doesn't rise above that. But, as ever, the fight sequences are many and vigorous, especially a lengthy one-on-one donnybrook in a rain-drenched boxing ring between the diminutive Li and a huge naval officer. --Bret Fetzer

Martial Arts Master Jet Li: Born to Defence/The Shaolin Temple/Kids From Shaolin
Average customer rating:

Jet Li's first movies

Great package deal!

Jet Li is the New Bruce Lee

Martial Arts Master Jet Li: Born to Defence/The Shaolin Temple/Kids From Shaolin
Starring: Jet Li
Manufacturer: Cav Distribution
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Martial Arts | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
Jet Li | Action Stars | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
Martial Arts | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Art House & International | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
Boxed Sets | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Martial Arts of Shaolin

Once Upon a Time in China and America

Meltdown

Swordsman II

New Legend of Shaolin

ASIN: B0000633UE
Release Date: 2002-02-26

Customer Reviews:

Jet Li's first movies.......2007-04-29

Shaolin Temple (1982) is Jet Li's first movie and the first of a series of movies that resulted in the popularity of the Shaolin Temple in the west, and ultimately to the rebuilding of the real Shaolin Temple near Dengfeng (China). The story is not very deep, but the fight scenes are fun, especially as no ropes were involved. A classic.

Shaolin Temple 2: Kids from Shaolin (1983) is the second movie in the series. The story is artificially construed around the rivalry of a Wudang swordsmaster's family of girls and a Shaolin monk's family of boys. Nice fight scenes, but the "comical" scenes always give me the willies.

Born to defense (1986) is Jet Li's third movie, and the first and only movie that Jet Li directed himself. Even though the critics about this movie are generally very bad, I liked the movie very much: realistic fight scenes with no wires, none of the awful slapstick scenes, and the view of a historical situation from the other side, i.e. from the Chinese point of view. Yes, the villain and the good guy are pretty stereotypical, but still there are a number of surprising twists in the story. Also, I liked that even though Jet has great fighting skills and often wins the fight itself, none of the fights actually ends good for him.

All in all: two classics and one not-so classic that might still be worth seeing.

Great package deal!.......2004-06-06

The best movies included are Shaolin Temple and Kids from Shaolin. Born to Defense is not really worth watching unless you're bored.

Jet Li is the New Bruce Lee.......2003-01-24

this pack is awesome .these 3 old school kung fu movie are great
real fight without cable. real kung fu . chinese vs us officers. shao lin vs wudang. boy vs is dad killer.the image quality is poor but THE FIGHT ARE GREAT.
buy this .
for jet li fans & kung fu movies fans

Average customer rating:

Born to Defence-Directed by Jet li

Born to Defence/Deadend of Besiegers
Starring: Cav 2pak
Manufacturer: Cav Distribution
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000053GST
Release Date: 2000-10-31

Customer Reviews:

Born to Defence-Directed by Jet li.......2001-02-20

This the first movie Jet li made after the shaolin temple series. He personally directed this one. The plot is simple and very predicatable. The fighting it nothing to shout about, it is mostly boxing. Definitely not one of his better movies. Rent before you buy

Average customer rating:

Bad, just bad
Weak plot, and bad acting
JET LI'S BEST MOVIE TO DATE
Great movie!!!
Jet's only foray into directing!

Born To Defence
Starring: Kurt Roland Petersson , Jia Song , Paulo Tocha , and Erkang Zhao
Manufacturer: Cav Distribution
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Master
Meltdown
Jet Li's The Enforcer
The Legend
Contract Killer

ASIN: 6305763216
Release Date: 2000-12-10

Amazon.com

Kung fu superstar Jet Li (Romeo Must Die, The One, the Once Upon a Time in China series) makes his directorial debut with Born to Defense. When a Chinese soldier (Li) returns from fighting Japan, he discovers that his home town has become a base for the American navy. The arrogant and abusive sailors treat the locals with brutal disrespect, stirring up anger and violence. Of course, Li comes to the defense of an old friend and his daughter, who's been forced into prostitution. It's a good thing Li hasn't quit acting; the script is pure melodrama and Li's fledgling direction doesn't rise above that. But, as ever, the fight sequences are many and vigorous, especially a lengthy one-on-one donnybrook in a rain-drenched boxing ring between the diminutive Li and a huge naval officer. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Bad, just bad.......2006-03-06

I saw this on TNN, and NOW I have heard the worst dubbing job ever. The storyline isn't very bad, but everything else sucks in this movie. It sucks that it was Jet Li himself that put him in this position. That being said, he is VERY young in this movie, and can't act. It's surprising he is as good as he is in the Once Upon a Time in China series, because he showed no promise here. The fight scenes are almost watching in this, but highly NOT recommended by me.

Weak plot, and bad acting.......2004-06-06

Had it not been for the few decent action scenes, this movie may have never made it past editing. Jet was young in his career, and was unfortunately handed the script for this film.

The movie starts off with Jet, a solider, engaged in a heated battle with the Japanese. He and a friend later return to the city only to discover that it has drastically changed. Foreigners are everywhere belittling the Chinese culture. Jet soon makes enemies with an American soldier, who will try relentlessly to destroy him.

Unless you buy the 3 DVD pack that includes Shaolin Temple, Bodyguard from Beijing, and this movie, I'd honestly suggest avoiding this at all costs.

JET LI'S BEST MOVIE TO DATE.......2004-05-18

THIS MOVIE WAS DIRECTED BY JET LI IN 1985. IT WAS RELEASED FOR YEARS IN VHS AND DVD FORMAT WITH BAD PRINTS. NOW DIMENSION HAS TAKEN IT AND ADDED IT TO THE JET LI COLLECTION. GIVING IT A SHARP RAZOR CRISP PICTURE. THE MOVIE TELLS THE STORY OF A SOLDIER RETURNING FROM COMBAT. HE MEETS UP WITH HIS OLD FAMILY AND FRIENDS. BUT LUCK WILL HAVE YOU GETS INTO A FIGHT WITH THE LOCAL AMERICAN SOLDIERS STATIONED THERE. IM GUESSING THE MOVIE WAS SET IN A PORT CITY DURING CHINA WWII. THE FIGHT SCENES DONT INVOLVE FLING AND DEATH DEFYING. THEY RELY ON JET'S RAZOR SHARP SPEED AND AGILITY. I GUARANTEE IF YOU WATCH THIS MOVIE YOU'LL BE SHOCKED TO SEE JET LI USE THE FIGHTING STYLES HE DOES. AND HOW HIS FACE GET BEATEN TO A BLOODY PULP EVERYTIME HE ENGAGES IN A FIGHT. AFTER A FEW BLOODY BRAWLS AT THE LOCAL TAVERN WITH THE SOLDIERS, THE SOLDIERS CROSS THE LINE AND MURDER THE TWO PEOPLE JET HOLDS DEAR. THEN HE GOES INTO A KILLER FRENZY. JET LI IS ONE OF THE BEST ACTION STARS IN CURRENT MOVIES. HIS LAST MOVIE "HERO" SHOWED HE IS CAPABLE OF HANDLING SERIOUS DRAMATIC ROLES. JET IS THE LAST OF A DYING BREED OF MARTIAL ARTISTS WHO DIDN'T RELY ON COMPUTERS TO AIDE THEM IN THERE FIGHT SCENS. HE DID IT ALL BY HIMSELF WITH SOME GOOD STUNT CHOREOGRAPHY AND HERE HE DOES JUST THAT.

Great movie!!!.......2002-08-21

Jet Li does a good job of directing this film. It's a good tale of revenge and all out hardcore fighting. Jet does a reely good job of acting in this film, the Americans don't do that good. Jet doesn't do that much "real" boxing since he uses his legs sumtimes in the ring. Anywayz I reely like this film a lot and the fightings reely good all out hardcore blood shed fighting. At the end Jet and the Tall American commander go all out using ther legs and chains, hammers, huge screws and etc. Good stuff. You''l be cheering jet on as he beats down the ones who black mailed him and killed his Uncle and neice.

Jet's only foray into directing!.......2001-10-18

"Born to Defense" is the first-- and only-- film directed by Jet Li. Personally, I consider it a worthy film, even though it is not among his finest. Jet portrays a Waorld WarII vet who, upon returning to China with his army buddies, finds that the American and British troops are receiving the heroes' welcome, while the Chinese who fought alongside them are neglected. This intolerable state of affairs comes to a head when some thuggish US Navy members begin assaulting Jet and some of his friends. Naturally, this film can only end with Jet ripping these guys to pieces! Interestingly, Jet displays a talent for boxing, something I've seen in none of his films before nor since "BTD." There are some pretty good action scenes if you can handle the atrocious acting by just about everyone in the film, and the boxing scene that evovles into a full-blown bar brawl is quite good. This DVD has one of the most horrible transfers I've ever seen; it appears to have been hanging around in someone's bathroom for the past fifteen years. The four-star rating is just for the film itself. "Born to Defense" may not please the casual fan, but Jet's fans shouldn't miss it.

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