Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

callanvass This is a good enough Jet vehicle, that's entertaining for the most part, with above average fight scenes and a decent story. All the characters are good, and it had some pretty intense scenes, plus Jet Li is simply amazing in this!. The last fight is extremely tense and somewhat emotional, and it was awesome to see Jet unleash his anger in this one! plus it had a couple of shocking moments as well. One thing I didn't particularly care for was the women abuse, and it did take a little while to get going, plus the dubbing is simply awful. This is a very rare Jet film, so I was lucky to catch it on Spike TV, and I thought Kurt Roland Petersson played a very effective villain and was one big guy, plus Paulo Tocha played the prick very well. It's at times very dark, and also quite violent, plus I think this should be a bit higher then 4.9. It's well made and decently written, and for a 1st time director Jet did a pretty good job, plus it was nice to see they let Jet use his real fighting ability!. This is a good enough Jet vehicle, that's entertaining for the most part, with above average fight scenes and a decent story, and I say it's well worth the watch!. The Direction is pretty good. Jet Li does a pretty good job here with good camera work, solid angles and keeping the film at a nice pace for the most part. The Acting is good. Jet Li is amazing as always and is amazing here, he is extremely likable, very intense, aggressive, funny, as always had a lot of charisma, kicked that ass, and it was great that they let him use his real ability, as it really made the film more enjoyable and livened up the fight scenes a lot in my opinion (Jet Rules!!!!!!). Kurt Roland Petersson is good as the villain, he was big, intimidating, and looked quite menacing, and is also quite a good fighter, he had a couple of great fights with Jet!. Jia Song is OK as the love interest but didn't have much to do. Paulo Tocha played a real good prick that you love to hate, he's also a great fighter as shown in Bloodsport. Erkang Zhao is good as Jet's teacher I dug him. Rest of the cast are OK. Overall well worth the watch!. *** out of 5

dt10111 This movie seemed to primarily be trying to show what a fantastic guy Jet is, and how naughty everyone else is. Everyone in the American Navy is evil, and stereotypical. The sycophantic Chinese officers are obviously crooked and in league with the bad, evil American guys. Meanwhile, Jet is out trying to save everyone, and making life better for his friends and neighbors. What a sport! The martial arts isn't even all that terribly convincing, though it is very stylish. The super bad American office looks like a really angry Jason Lee crossed with Paul Bunyan. My personal favorite is the black guy they included. Seriously, they should have gave him a chunk of watermelon and some collard greens just to complete the stereotype. It is an understatement to say that nothing in this movie is subtle.The movie is a bit (unintentionally) funny at times. If you are a fan of bad dialogue and plot devices and have a lot of patience, it might be worth watching. Otherwise, I can't see how anyone could take this seriously in even the slightest way.

bad_habitt whats with that? it was made after this movie so would that mean that it stole its soundtrack from this movie? and if so, i'm amazed as the nrns2 soundtrack is my favorite ever.apart from that i thought the movie was pretty cool. nothing too amazing. jet li is a pretty short martial artist and therefore very quick but i don't think he has the screen presence of a loren avedon or mathias hues.check it out but pay careful attention to the great soundtrack.My vote - 6\10GREAT SOUNDTRACK!

AwesomeWolf Version: Some PAL VHS double-pack with 'Kids from Shaolin. English dub, accompanied by the worst quality soundtrack you will ever hear.In the tradition of nearly every dubbed Jackie Chan movie up to 'First Strike' (and beyond), Jet Li gets to play Jet, a Chinese soldier returning from World War Two only to find that the accomplishments of he and his men are made meaningless when the American navy (the "real war heroes") rolls into town. Naturally, the American servicemen run around being arrogant jerks, and it is up to Jet to kick their collective arses. Woo!Somehow, 'Born to Defend' is both one of the most dramatical Jet Li movies I've seen, yet at the same time is somehow one of the most plot-less Li movies I've seen. I would like to try and explain that in a convincing way, I really would, but you will just have to settle for this: You'll see people getting beaten up, then some drama, and then someone thrown through a table in a dramatical way. If Jet Li can direct such a perfectly plot-less drama about lots of people getting a good butt-kicking, why hasn't he directed any more movies? Come on, Jet, I know you can create more plot-less dramatical awesomeness.So, after all the plot-less drama, 'Born to Defend' is just a bunch of fight scenes? Hey, I'm not complaining, and you shouldn't either. Unlike most of his movies in the 80s / early 90s, this is not a wu xia. Sure, he can get hit by a car and be perfectly fine, but most of the time Jet takes on his bearded foes in kick / boxing style fights. The fights are entertaining enough, but nowhere near the level of Li's later movie 'Fist of Legend'. Have I mentioned the beards yet? Basically, the more noticeable beard an American soldier has, the better fighter he is. I swear, I'm serious.'Born to Defend' is not the finest, nor awesomest, Jet Li movie I have ever seen, but it certainly isn't the worst Li movie around - 6/10