Taking a page out of contemporary European radical thinking, Godard used to complain in his films about the “CocaColonization” of France. He was a profound American movie lover, but abhorred the deterioration of European culture at the hands of uniformity-demanding corporate culture, the rise of McWorld.

A similar “CocaColonization” has taken place in the world of Asia action cinema. This has had a perhaps almost beneficial effect on world audiences, or at least American viewers because they are now easier to follow, having been denuded of their “odd” local cultural eccentricities. In addition they often have specific political messages embedded in their narratives, but not at all explicitly, as Godard’s later films did. For example, Yimou Zhang’s Hero had a specific and pro-Chinese message about unification and strong leadership to impart. Yimou may or may not have believed in the message himself, but it was obviously the price he had to pay to get the film made, a crazy mirror image of the patriotism test Howard Hughes made of the RKO film The Woman on Pier 13.

Which brings us to the latest example of Asian action, Fearless, also known as Jet Li’s Fearless. The titular possessiveness makes sense. It is clear from the making of on the disc that this is a highly personal film for Li, a practicing Tibetan Buddhist, whose film is the result of his grappling with the conflict between the subject matter of his movies and the nature of his beliefs.

Directed by Ronny Yu, who has made something of a name for himself in American films via Freddy vs. Jason, Formula 51, and Bride of Chucky, and credited to writers Chris Chow and Christine To, Fearless tells the oft-recounted tale of Huo Yuanjia, the martial artist who, according to the film, unified the disparate Chinese combat techniques back in the early 1900s. As the film tells it, Huo always admired the martial spirit of his father, who refused to let his son train. Huo does it anyway, secretly, and grows up to lead a popular school.One day he goes into combat to defend the honor of a student beaten up by a rival school master. Huo takes so much out on him that the rival dies. Then Huo learns that the beating the student suffered was more or less deserved, but that doesn’t stop one of the dead master’s students from killing Huo’s wife and kid before slitting his own throat.

Fearless is divided into four parts. The massacre ends part two. Part three follows Huo as he becomes a drifter, his hair growing wild and his mind apparently broken. One day he is pulled out of a stream and brought back to health by a village of rice farmers. Working with the villagers focuses and steadies him as his strength comes back, and Huo finds himself drawn closer to a blind girl (Li Sun) who “sees” better than him.

The third and final part commences when Huo leaves the village (it’s probably obvious but I didn’t quite catch why), and sets about to help China regain its pride among other nations, whose leaders have nicknamed China the sick man of Asia. This is done, of course, via a succession of combats, the last one staged between Huo and a Japanese martial artist. The film ends on a rather solemn if elegiac note.

Though the tale is perfectly clear, unlike many of the older action films beloved of buffs who first saw them back in the 1970s, the film still subscribes to some of the crazier aspects of the genre. For example, Huo has a preternatural ability to fly. He uses this ability to dance around his opponent, like a Muhammad Ali. But if you can fly, why bother to continue fighting so conventionally in the first place? If the movie were wholly funny and action oriented rather than having a political message in a mostly serious and realistic context, then the flying wouldn’t stick out, but it does. Being a “cleaned up” version of an action film, it is also bereft of humor, Jet Li taking his role and the message of the film very seriously.

Asian viewers probably found its message of unification and working together as one rather unsubtle as propaganda, and in the finished film it comprises only a few minutes in part three as Huo rallies the masses. It’s subtle as messages go, but still there. It’s not clear to me, though, who its intended recipients happen to be, because the message seems at variance with Li’s stated beliefs in the making of doc. There, Li indicates that as a follower of Tibetan Buddhism, he must work on himself, on his own never-ending training and development. Maybe this isn’t really at variance with Huo’s call for national and martial unity, but it seems to be. What Huo seems to want is for the faceless masses of China to become strong though collectivism. What Li practices in private sounds self-absorbed and isolating.

Jet Li’s Fearless comes in a smashing wide screen transfer (2.40:1 enhanced). It features both Chinese and English dialogue tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1, and has English, Spanish, French subtitles. The Unrated Edition also includes the original, slightly shorter theatrical version.

Supplements consist of one a 20-minute making of, and a deleted scene. “A Fearless Journey” recounts how and why this is Li’s final action film, and displays him wrestling with issues of screen violence and moral messages. It exists almost solely to prompt respect in the viewer for Li’s decision, but does have sound bites from Yu, and from some of the martial artists who play Li’s opponents in the ring. The deleted scene is a six minute sequence that takes place in the rice farmer village and shows a major stage in Huo’s development as a “peaceful warrior.” Jet Li’s Fearless hit the street December 19, 2006, and retails for $29.95.

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