New Fist of Fury is the first film Lo Wei directed — of many! — that starred Jackie Chan, who used the stage name Sing Lung which he is known in China as. It means “becoming a dragon.”

Chan had previously appeared in the original Fist of Fury as a stuntman. This movie was Lo’s attempt to market Jackie Chan as the new Bruce Lee. Chan became known for it, but didn’t become a true star until he began infusing comedy with his martial arts.

Theatrical 1976 edition: A brother and sister escape from Japanese-occupied Shanghai to Japanese-occupied Taiwan. There, they work with their kung fu teacher grandfather, who is dealing with a Japanese martial arts school that is attempting to dominate all of the other schools, even using murder to get their way. Chan plays a young thief who resists learning kung fu yet finally accepts them and becomes a master who fights the Japanese to support the rights of the Chinese people.

Rerelease 1980 version: Chan plays the same thief, but who is met earlier when he steals a pair of nunchaku from Da Yang Gate, a Japanese martial arts school. They offer him a job in their casino and when he refuses, they attack him. He’s saved by the students of the Jingwu school and is invited to their master Mao Li Uhr’s 80th birthday party. Those same Japanese martial artists attack the party, causing the master to have a heart attack and strengthening the resolve of the Jingwu to reestablish their school. Chan joins them and learns that he must defend the Chinese people.

Produced three years after Bruce Lee’s death — the movie opens with his lover Li-Er mourning the death of his character Chen Zhen — this was Chan’s first big break. Sure, he had played in uncredited roles, done stunts and smaller movies, but at one point he even moved to Australia and was working in construction. Luckily, he returned and worked hard to become the star that he is today.

This movie is fine, however, but it doesn’t establish who Jackie Chan really could be. He wasn’t the next Bruce Lee. He was the first Jackie Chan and would soon have his own copycat clones. After all, he even has a genre named after him, Jackiesploitation.

The Arrow Video blu ray release of New Fist of Fury has a new 2K restoration from the original negatives by Fortune Star for both the 120-minute theatrical cut and the 82-minute 1980 re-release. It also has commentary on the theatrical cut by martial arts cinema experts Frank Djeng and Michael Worth, co-directors of Enter the Clones of Bruce Lee and a commentary on the re-release cut by action cinema expert Brandon Bentley, who also contributed a video essay that compares this film to another sequel that came out at the same time, Fist of Fury Part II. There’s also a trailer gallery, including a Chen Zhen trailer reel of sequels and reboots; an image gallery; a double-sided fold-out poster and reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella and an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Jonathan Clements and an archival retrospective article by Brian Bankston. You can get it from MVD.