The Bare-Footed Kid (1993)
The Barefoot Kid (aka The Bare-footed Kid) is a remake of the 1975 Shaw Brothers classic Disciples of Shaolin staring Alexander Fu Sheng. I certainly enjoyed The Barefoot Kid but I have a soft spot for 90’s wuxia films. Especially when they star Maggie Cheung.
Aaron Kwok plays a recent orphan who was instructed to seek out Tuan Ching-yun who is played by legendary Ti Lung. Tuan Ching-yun gets him a job at the dye factor which is owned by Miss Ho played by Maggie Cheung. A local gangster wants to own the dye factory and the secrets of its amazing colors. I’m pretty sure you get the idea of what happens next.
Mark Polland of Kung Fu Cinema rated it 4 out of 5 stars and writes The Bare-Footed Kid is a thoughtful kung fu film with an unusually strong story that winningly delivers a message that strength and fighting ability are useless without morality and sound judgment.
Well I’m a big fan of the “90’s new-wave kung fu” that exploded in the 90’s so this film was right up my alley. The fight choreography was excellent and Lau Kar-Leung really delivers the action. Ti Lung certainly shows his years of experience showing some seriously great combat scenes. The story was also well written and engaging, I highly recommend this movie!
Johnnie To Kei-Fung, Director
Yau Nai-Hoi, Script
Liu Chia-Liang (aka Lau Kar-Leung), Action Director
Aaron Kwok Fu-Sing (The Storm Riders, The Storm Warriors, The Gods and Demons of Zu Mountain) as Kuan Feng-yao
Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk (Moon Warriors, Green Snake, Ashes of Time, Hero) as Miss Ho
Ti Lung (Warriors of the Yang Clan TV series, 7 Assassins, Drunken Master II) as Tuan Ching-yun
Ng Sin-Lin (a.k.a. Jacklyn Wu) (The Return of the Condor Heroes 1998 tv series) as Hua Huang Lien
Paul Chun Pui (The Legend of the Condor Heroes 1976 tv series, Fist of Legend, Fourteen Amazons) as Mr Hua
Kenneth Tsang Kong (Wong Fei Hong Conquers the Plum-Blossom Piles, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (1982 tv series)) as Ke Hu Pu
Eddie Cheung Siu-Fai (Running on Karma, The Monkey King, The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber) as Magistrate Yuan Tien-Yu
Wong Yat-Fei (The Kung Fu Scholar) as Kuei
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