The ladder fight scenes from
the "Callisto" episode of Xena: Warrior Princess
& Once Upon a Time in China

At the end of "Callisto," Callisto sets an elaborate stage for the culminating fight between Xena and Callisto-- we're talking a tiered fortress complete with dozens of ladders and a strung-up Gabrielle who is being precariously supported by a burning rope. So the trick is for Xena to get to Gabrielle before the rope burns through and Gab falls to her death--of course, Xena has to do this while battling the crazed Callisto and her army...on ladders. And, of course, Xena finds a unique way to use those ladders...
In Once Upon a Time in China (Part 1), folk hero Wong Fei-Hung (Jet Li), is faced with the same problem. No, there aren't any sidekicks hanging from burning ropes, but Fei-Hung is fighting against time to save his friends and fiancee from being shipped off to America as slaves. Both ladder fight sequences are remarkably similar--especially the way both Xena and Wong Fei-Hung manipulate the ladders and use them to move from tier to tier, and the manipulation of the ladders to build a "seesaw."

The Xena sequence also borrows from the HK movie Fong Sai Yuk (also starring Jet Li). Fong Sai Yuk must battle the evil guy while his father's head is in a guillotine that is supported by....you guessed it... a burning rope.



Xena: Warrior Princess
"Callisto"
Once Upon a Time in China


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