United News of Bangladesh

Martial arts legends Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li could soon grace the screen once more, this time in digitally resurrected form, as China launches an ambitious AI-powered revival of classic kung fu cinema. Unveiled at the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival, the China Film Foundation, alongside industry partners, announced two major initiatives under the Kung Fu Film Heritage Project: an AI-led restoration of 100 iconic martial arts films, and the debut of A Better Tomorrow: Cyber Border, the world’s first fully AI-produced animated feature. According to Variety, the restoration project will use artificial intelligence to remaster titles such as Fist of Fury, The Big Boss, Drunken Master and Once Upon a Time in China, enhancing image and sound while preserving their original aesthetic and storytelling. “From Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan, from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to Wolf Warrior, these films have shown the world the vitality and spirit of the Chinese people,” said Zhang Qilin, chair of the China Film Foundation. “They are our cinematic calling cards to the world.” In the project’s first phase, ten films will be prioritised, backed by an initial investment of RMB100 million (USD13.9 million), confirmed Canxing Media chair Tian Ming. ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ takes off with $83.7M opening, surpassing ‘Lilo & Stitch’ “AI is the brush, but creativity is the soul,” Tian said. “Classic kung fu films embody China’s spiritual backbone. We’re inviting global partners to join this cultural and technological reboot.” Meanwhile, A Better Tomorrow: Cyber Border, a futuristic reimagining of John Woo’s crime classic, premiered at the festival. Created entirely by a 30-person team at Quantum Animation using a full-stack AI pipeline from scripting and modelling to animation and rendering the film exemplifies AI’s growing influence in creative production. “This entire animated feature was made by just 30 people,” said producer Zhang Qing. “AI has collapsed the barrier between creativity and execution. The production cycle has gone from years to months.” Presented as a proof-of-concept for the future of Chinese genre storytelling, Cyber Border blends martial arts and sci-fi elements while encouraging creators to adapt IPs like Wong Fei-hung and Nezha into games and interactive formats.

Bruce Lee was a martial artist and actor from Hong Kong and America. He was the creator of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts concept that combined elements from many combat styles. Lee is regarded for his matchless contribution to contemporary Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). By bridging the divide between East and West, Lee is regarded by critics, the media, and other martial artists as the most influential martial artist of all time and a 20th-century pop culture icon. Lee was well-trained in Wing Chun, tai chi, boxing, and street fighting. The talented martial artist incorporated these disciplines along with influences from a variety of sources to create his own martial arts philosophy called Jeet Kune Do (The Way of the Intercepting Fist). On July 20, 1973, Lee passed away at the age of 32. Even after his death, Bruce Lee's martial art techniques and acting left significant influences on contemporary popular culture, including movies, television shows, comic books, animation, and video games, as well as combat sports like judo, karate, mixed martial arts, and boxing. Lee was ranked among the top 100 historical figures by Time magazine. Read More: Best Martial Arts for Women: Know the purposes, risks, requirements He is remembered for his parts in five full-length Hong Kong martial arts movies from the early 1970s: Golden Harvest's Way of the Dragon (1972), directed and written by Lee; Lo Wei's The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972); and Golden Harvest.  How Excess Water Consumption Cause Bruce Lee's Death The martial arts actor Bruce Lee died of cerebral oedema, a swelling of the brain. Doctors at the time thought a painkiller was to blame for brain enlargement.  A recent study, released in the Clinical Kidney Journal, shows that Bruce Lee may have passed away from consuming too much water. According to a team of researchers, hyponatraemia caused oedema. In this study, the Researchers suspected that Bruce Lee passed away because his kidneys were unable to get rid of additional water. Read More: Best Martial Arts For Fitness Scientists speculate that the actor's cause of death relates to hyponatraemia, a condition that happens when the body's sodium levels get diluted by drinking too much water. Such imbalance causes the enlargement of body cells, particularly brain cells. Researchers also revealed that Lee had a number of risk factors for hyponatraemia, including: - high fluid intake, - thirst-enhancing actions, like marijuana use - actions that reduce the kidneys' ability to excrete water, such as prescription drug use, alcohol consumption - having previously suffered kidney damage - low solute intake. Read More: "Before I Die": The First British Bangladeshi Martial Arts Film to Release Internationally The researchers wrote in their conclusion that they hypothesized that Bruce Lee died from a specific sort of kidney dysfunction that causes an inability to eliminate enough water for maintaining a tubular function called water homeostasis. Researchers also added that when excessive water intake is not matched by the amount eliminated through urine, this may lead to hyponatraemia, and cerebral oedema (brain swelling). This condition may finally cause death within hours. This consequence matches the timing of Lee's demise. Matthew Polly, the author of "Bruce Lee: A Life" book published in 2018, mentioned Bruce Lee's daily water intake. Lee's wife, Linda Lee Cadwell, mentioned his "carrot and apple juice" fluid-based diet.  Read More: New "Ip Man" film depicts Chinese martial arts master's trip abroad Bruce Lee made the famous adage 'Be water my friend,' but ironically excess water might have killed him.