General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Once Upon a Time in China V (黄飞鸿之四：龙城歼霸)

Once Upon a Time in China V (黃飛鴻之五龍城殲霸, released in some listings as 黄飞鸿之龙城歼霸) is a 1994 Hong Kong martial-arts film directed by Tsui Hark and the fifth entry in the Once Upon a Time in China series about the legendary Cantonese martial artist Wong Fei-hung. Vincent Zhao took over the lead role from Jet Li for this film, as he had for the previous installment, and the story moves Wong and his followers into a fight against pirates along the southern Chinese coast after the Eight-Nation Alliance occupies Beijing.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Hong Kong release	17 November 1994; 101 minutes; Cantonese language; drama, action, wuxia¹
Director and writers	Directed by Tsui Hark; written by Lau Tai-Muk, Lam Kee-To, and Tsui Hark¹^•³
Lead cast	Vincent Zhao as Wong Fei-hung, with Rosamund Kwan, Max Mok, Kent Cheng, Roger Kwok, Xiong Xinxin, Jean Wang, and Zhang Tielin¹
Action choreography	Yuen Bun, who had directed the previous installment, served as action choreographer⁴
Hong Kong box office	HK$4,902,426, a sharp drop from the HK$11,301,790 of Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993)⁵
Audience rating	6.8/10 on Douban from 18,615 user ratings¹
Critical score	58% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 2 reviews⁶

Spoilers

Plot

The story is set after the Eight-Nation Alliance occupies Beijing, leaving China in a state of anarchy in which government officials, including the Empress Dowager, abandon their posts and the southern coast becomes a haven for pirates, the most powerful of them Cheung Po-tsai (played by Yee Tin-hung).²^•³ Wong Fei-hung and his father Wong Kei-ying and Aunt May are traveling toward Guangzhou when a storm forces them to shelter near a warehouse; a fight breaks out when the warehouse owner mistakes Wong's group for pirates, and Wong captures the real thief, Xie Si.⁸ Wong discovers that Xie is a skilled constable who stole grain to feed the court's soldiers and maintain law and order, and, impressed by his character, Wong supports the campaign against the pirates, culminating in an assault on the pirate stronghold at Aotoubao and a decisive battle with Cheung Po-tsai.⁹ A romantic triangle between Wong, Aunt Yee, and Aunt May runs through the film, advanced by misunderstandings and sight gags.⁴

The historical Cheung Po-tsai commanded more than six hundred ships and ruled the Guangdong coastline, according to the Criterion Collection's essay on the series.¹⁰

Production and casting

The film reunited Tsui Hark with the series he had created. After a fallout between Jet Li and Tsui Hark, the younger performer Vincent Zhao was given the lead role of Wong Fei-hung in the fourth and fifth parts of the series; both actors are wushu practitioners, though Li was the more experienced and internationally established of the two.³ Tsui Hark returned to the director's chair for this entry after directing the first three films, while Yuen Bun, director of Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993), served as its action choreographer.⁴

Several cast members carried over from earlier films. Rosamund Kwan reprised her role as "13th Aunt" Yee Siu-kwan, and Jean Wang appeared as "14th Aunt" May; Xiong Xin-Xin returned to the series as the Northern-style kicking practitioner Clubfoot, and Kent Cheng reprised his role as Lam Sai Wing for what was, in this film, the last time.⁴^•³ The original actors for Leung Foon and Bucktooth So, Yuen Biao and Jacky Cheung, had appeared only in the first film and had already been replaced by Max Mok Siu-Chung and Roger Kwok.³ Production companies included Golden Harvest and Film Workshop, and the producers were Ng See-yuen and Tsui Hark.³^•⁷

Reception and box office

The film underperformed commercially. Its Hong Kong gross of HK$4,902,426 was less than half the HK$11,301,790 earned by Once Upon a Time in China IV the year before, and Chinese-language commentary describes it as earning under HK$5 million in 21 days of release.⁵^•¹ A Japanese database places the Hong Kong gross at HK$4,902,426, ranking 80th for the year, and notes that the film was not theatrically released in Japan, appearing there only on video.¹¹ In South Korea it opened on 18 June 1994 and sold 78,304 admissions.⁸

Critical response was largely negative. Rotten Tomatoes records a 58% Tomatometer from only 2 reviews, with an audience score based on more than 2,500 ratings.⁶ Reviewers have criticized the film's heavy reliance on wire-work (stunt technique using suspended cables for flying martial-arts moves), its blend of kung fu action with gunplay in the style of heroic bloodshed movies, and its slapstick comedy; one retrospective review calls it disjointed with sloppy acting and suggests it is likely to be considered the worst entry in the series, while noting that Vincent Zhao's injury during production may explain the heavy wire use.³ Douban users gave it 6.8 out of 10, with 53.8% of ratings at three stars.¹ The Criterion essay takes a warmer view, describing the film as indulging in riotous fun with scattered fracases exploding in burlesque settings, a deliberate change of tone from the loftier earlier entries.¹⁰

Place in the series and home video

Once Upon a Time in China V was the last of the five main-series films and the second and final series appearance of Vincent Zhao as Wong Fei-hung; Jet Li returned for the standalone sequel Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997), directed by Sammo Hung.³ The film is included in the Criterion Collection's box set Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films in a new 2K digital restoration presented with its original Cantonese theatrical sound mix.¹² Streaming availability is limited: as of recent checks the film was not available on any subscription or purchase platform in the United States, though it was available in Germany on Amazon Video.¹³

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026