Fearless (2006 film)

Fearless
Theatrical release poster
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese霍元甲
Simplified Chinese霍元甲
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHuò Yuánjiǎ
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingFok3 Jyun4-gaap3
Directed byRonny Yu
Written by
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography
Edited by
  • Virginia Katz
  • Richard Learoyd
Music byShigeru Umebayashi
Distributed byEdko Films (Hong Kong)
China Film Group (China)
Release date
  • 26 January 2006 (2006-01-26)
Running time
105 minutes
Countries
  • Hong Kong
  • China
LanguagesMandarin
Cantonese
Japanese
English
BudgetCNY 90 million (18 million USD)+
Box officeUSD$68.1 million

Fearless, also known as Huo Yuanjia (霍元甲) in Chinese, as Spirit in Japan and as Jet Li's Fearless in the United Kingdom and in the United States, is a 2006 martial arts film directed by Ronny Yu and starring Jet Li. A Hong Kong-Chinese co-production, it is loosely based on the life of Huo Yuanjia, a Chinese martial artist who challenged foreign fighters in highly publicized events, restoring pride and nationalism to China at a time when Western imperialism and Japanese manipulation were eroding the country in the final years of the Qing dynasty before the birth of the Republic of China. Li stated that the film was his last wushu martial arts film, a point also made in the film's television promotions and other publicity, although he would do action films with martial arts in them and did not rule out historical epics with martial arts.

Fearless was released on 26 January 2006 in Hong Kong, on 23 June 2006 in the United Kingdom, and on 22 September 2006 in the United States. The film received generally positive reviews from critics. At the 13th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards, it won the Film of Merit.