Fist of Fury may well be the archetypal period kung fu revenge film, and the plot in this respect couldn't be simpler. Set in the Japan-dominated International Settlement in Shanghai in the 1930s (the same setting that inspired Hergé's breakthrough Tintin story The Blue Lotus and J.G.Ballard's Empire of the Sun), it focuses on a Chinese kung fu school in general and one of its students in particular.

The fatalistic tone of the film is set right from the opening scene, when Chen (Lee) returns to the Jing Mo school to find that his beloved master has died in mysterious circumstances. Understandably, the school is somewhat shaken, even before a group of opportunist Japanese students from the rival Bushido school decide to assert what they see as their cultural and martial superiority, not only beating the crap out of them but forcing them to accept a framed sign reading "Sick Man of Asia", an unmistakable racial slur.

Not too surprisingly, though, their plans go somewhat awry when Chen doesn't take too kindly to their visit, and goes round to their school to teach them a single-handed lesson - all of which sets the scene for a whole series of tit-for-tat revenge sequences culminating in a series of epic one-on-one fights that rank among the most impressive things that even Bruce Lee ever did (the then unknown Jackie Chan was a stunt double in one scene, performing what was then the longest backwards fall ever captured on film).

But, as with The Big Boss before it, Fist of Fury is more than just a by-the-numbers revenge flick. There's a serious political and racial subtext regarding the poor treatment of the Chinese (one of the film's most famous sequences sees Chen refused entrance to a park whose entrance bears a sign reading 'No Chinese or Dogs'), and it's constantly emphasised, partly through context but mostly through his extraordinarily expressive face and body, that he's not just fighting for himself, or his school, or his dead master, but he's defending his entire tradition and culture. And the decision not to go for a Hollywood-style happy ending gives the film a real emotional wallop that resonates far deeper than the usual clichéd triumph over adversity that concludes most of the film's imitators.

In this respect, Fist of Fury is a significant step forward from The Big Boss - and the other major improvement for Bruce Lee fans is that it delivers far more in terms of what they've paid to see: not only are there many more combat sequences involving Lee, but they're spread throughout the whole film rather than bunched up towards the end. And the best of these are truly jaw-dropping, including a fight with Bob Baker (the only Western actor in the film) that may well be the most complex and intricate one-on-one fight he ever filmed, showcasing his full range of movements and techniques in one unforgettable sequence.

Unlike the other Bruce Lee films, Fist of Fury was entirely filmed in the Golden Harvest studios, and the benefits of this approach can be seen in the far more coherent and consistent visual style. Lo Wei is never going to go down in film history as a major director, but he does a perfectly competent job here, making good use of the widescreen frame (it's a sobering thought that many people will have grown up with the pan-and-scan version, which does it no favours at all).

It's possible to pick plenty of holes in Fist of Fury - it's technically crude (at this time, Hong Kong films were way behind their Japanese, European and American competitors), the plot is serviceable rather than especially complex, and some scenes are frankly absurd (Chen single-handedly picking up a rickshaw plus passenger and tossing them against the wall, for instance). Also, the contrast between the choreography of the fight scenes involving Lee and those that don't feature him is a little too overt: the non-Lee scenes are a little stilted and over-rehearsed, while Lee's own choreography is lightning-fast and totally unpredictable. It's also obviously dubbed, regardless of which language version you watch. But none of these defects mars Fist of Fury as a whole, and it remains arguably the definitive Hong Kong martial arts film.

Incidentally, you're hardly going to miss this, as it's trumpeted all over the package and the trailer, but I'm delighted to confirm that this is the first legitimate British release of the uncut version of the film since the 1984 Video Recordings Act made BBFC classification compulsory. And unlike The Big Boss, which suffered censor cuts in Hong Kong that were never restored, it appears to be uncut in every other respect as well (including a surprisingly racy striptease sequence considering Hong Kong cinema's pre-Category III prudishness about sex). Needless to say, this means that the beyond-legendary nunchaka scenes have been restored to their full glory, and I suspect many people will be snapping up this DVD for that reason alone - but that's by no means the only thing it has going for it.

With each successive release, Hong Kong Legends have been raising the bar in terms of what can be wrung out of 30-year-old prints sourced from a country not exactly renowned for its film preservation skills- and this is their finest effort to date. The Big Boss was mostly very good indeed, but marred by chemical damage in the last reel and a slightly contrasty picture that tended to swallow up shadow detail. Fist of Fury, though, is in well-nigh perfect physical condition - almost unbelievably, there are virtually no spots or scratches - and the transfer is generally excellent, with no noticeable artefacting or similar encoding defects.

That's not to say that the image is flawless - some shots are decidedly soft, and there are occasional colour shifts, but I think it's safe to assume that these are inherent in the original materials. Otherwise, though, this is a triumph: colours are punchy and vivid (just look at those red walls, turned into a fuzzy mess on VHS and VCD but pin-sharp here), the anamorphic transfer reveals more detail than I've ever seen on a small-screen version before (the studio lighting means that the shadow problems that marred The Big Boss are far less of an issue here), there's a commendable absence of picture grain, it's framed correctly at 2.35:1, and it's everything I could realistically have hoped for. For anyone who's only ever seen this on pan-and-scan VHS, this will be a revelation in every sense of the word.

The Big Boss opted for the original mono soundtrack, but this disc goes for a full 5.1 remix - and generally gets the balance right: it's only the music and occasional sound effects that get the full surround treatment, with the actual fights sensibly left in mono for the most part. I'm not tempted to be purist about this, especially as this is a far more involving and full-blooded soundtrack than I've ever heard with this film before, and the original wasn't anything to write home about: it was the crudest of mono mixes, done as quickly and cheaply as possible. As with the picture, there are quibbles - the restricted dynamic range and somewhat thin top end betray the fact that it clearly isn't a recent recording (the subwoofer has virtually nothing to do), but all in all the changes are an improvement rather than a drawback.

There are Cantonese and English language options - both are obviously dubbed, but there's no question the Cantonese version sounds considerably more convincing, and the English track is only really recommended to those who really can't handle subtitles - the dubbing is pretty laughable, and an object lesson in the impossibility of synchronising English speech and Chinese lip movements. And if you want a good idea of just what you're missing, try watching the English version with English subtitles and seeing how much more is translated in the written version!

The subtitles are excellent, detailed (translating not just the dialogue but also the song lyrics and all on-screen text including all the names in the opening credits: a commendably scholarly touch) and clearly proofread by a native speaker for once. They're situated right at the bottom of the frame, spilling over into the black bars, so they only slightly overlap the picture but still manage to be clear and readable. And thirty chapter stops isŠ well, about three or four times more than you'd get with a typical Hong Kong release, so I'm not exactly going to complain about that!

The extras are a distinct cut above those of The Big Boss - though with the caveat that one of them, the animated biographical showcase, is more or less a straight repeat of its predecessor, the only difference being that the accompanying stills, which gradually change throughout the reading, are from Fist of Fury: the text appears to be identical.

But for those who might have gained the impression at this point that Hong Kong Legends are cutting corners and recycling extras, they throw in a bonus that wasn't on the earlier disc: two interviews with Max Lee and Tony Liu, former Bruce Lee colleagues, students and sparring partners, both of whom appeared in Fist of Fury. Each gets a two-page biography explaining their relationship to Lee, and the interviews themselves are in subtitled Cantonese, running 18 and 13 minutes respectively and containing affectionate reminiscences of what it was like working with him.

The stills galleries are rather more extensive than the one on the previous disc, subdivided into four categories: 'Production Photo Gallery' (34 stills), 'Bonus Big Boss Gallery' (8), 'Tracking the Dragon' (28) and 'The Making of Fist of Fury' (57). The first two are basic stills galleries with back-and-forth narration, while 'Tracking the Dragon' is more of an illustrated essay on what went on behind the scenes, with each individual still preceded by a screen of explanatory text by George Tan, who generously allowed part of his collection to be reproduced (in screen-filling anamorphic close-up, what's more). It ends with a rather touching tribute to Fist of Fury co-stars Bob Baker and Paul Wei Ping Ao, who each died a few years ago. The final section is more of a memorabilia collection, and presents the photos edited to a musical backdrop.

Two trailers are included for Fist of Fury - the original and surprisingly lengthy (only a whisker under five minutes) Hong Kong theatrical trailer (which I'm not sure has been framed correctly - it's in anamorphic 16:9, but it looks as though a 2.35:1 image has been stretched vertically) and the rather shorter, more visually and aurally dynamic Hong Kong Legends trailer that you may well have seen on television to promote this DVD. And if that's whetted your appetite for more trailers, eight more are offered, for Hitman, Black Sheep Affair, Battle Creek Brawl, Eastern Condors, Once Upon a Time in China, Armour of God, The Big Boss and Legend of a Fighter (all of which are anamorphic), together with a list of DVD features.

And finally there's the commentary, which is once again by Bey Logan and once again absolutely superb. As before, it's a genuinely encyclopaedic mine of information about both the film and Bruce Lee, drawn from original first-hand research and conversations with people who knew and worked with him. It combines an intelligent critical analysis of the film (he's particularly interesting on the visual similarities between Fist of Fury and the great Japanese chambara films, especially considering the film's anti-Japanese stance) with a comprehensive explanation of various cultural elements that wouldn't be obvious to a Western audience (Chinese colour symbolism, the political and historical background, and so on), plus plenty of production anecdotes (there's a lovely story about Bruce Lee's glasses).

In my review of the Region 1 Enter the Dragon, I complained that Paul Heller (whose lacklustre commentary is neanderthal compared with this one) didn't even mention Jackie Chan's appearance - but there are no quibbles on that score here: Logan generously highlights virtually every significant performer and indeed stuntman in the cast (not to mention surprise cameos, including one towards the end that was so astonishing I'm not sure whether I believe it - judge for yourself!) and supplies potted career outlines: it's by no means just a slavish Bruce Lee love-in. As before, the delivery is decidedly rapid, but that's well-nigh essential just to get this vast amount of information across! A nice additional touch is that if you select the commentary via the menu (though you can change it on the fly as you watch the film), you get a three-page biography of Logan setting out his credentials.

All in all, it's hard to imagine any Fist of Fury fans reacting to this disc with anything other than unbridled ecstasy - and anyone looking for a way into not just Bruce Lee's films but Hong Kong cinema in general could hardly pick a better starting point. Frankly, it's hard to see how Hong Kong Legends are going to be able to improve on this - but if they want to have a go, I'm not about to stand in their way.

Michael Brooke