The One (2001)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

James Wong

Writers (WGA):

Glen Morgan (written by) &
James Wong (written by)

Release Date:

2 November 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

What if there was a killer traveling through parallel worlds...and he looked just like you? [taken from the trailer]

Plot:

A sheriff's deputy fights an alternate universe version of himself who grows stronger with each alternate self he kills.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Escape | Prison | Arrest | Police Officer

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Jet Li	...	Gabe Law / Gabriel Yulaw / Lawless
Carla Gugino	...	T.K. Law / Massie Walsh
Delroy Lindo	...	MVA Agent Harry Roedecker / Gas Station Attendant
Jason Statham	...	MVA Agent Evan Funsch
James Morrison	...	LAPD Officer Bobby Aldrich / 'A' World Inmate #1
Dylan Bruno	...	Yates
Richard Steinmetz	...	D'Antoni
Steve Rankin	...	MVA Supervisor
Tucker Smallwood	...	Prison Warden
Harriet Sansom Harris	...	Nurse Besson
David Keats	...	MRI Technician
Dean Norris	...	Sgt. Siegel
Ron Zimmerman	...	Rotten Ronnie
Darin Morgan	...	Hugo
Mark Borchardt	...	Cesar

Also Known As:

Jet Li's The One (UK)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense action violence and some language.

Runtime:

87 min | Germany:85 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Germany:16 (cut version) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38092) | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | UK:15 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:18 | Hungary:14 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Singapore:PG | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Edison Generating Station, Redondo Beach, California, USA

Company:

Revolution Studios

Trivia:

For the martial arts aficionados: Jet Li uses two distinct kung fu styles when portraying Gabe and Yulaw. The evil Yulaw uses Xingyi Quan, or "Mind-Form Fist" (loosely translated). As can be seen when he is training, it is a very linear, offensive style. Gabe on the other hand practices Bagua Zhang, or the "Eight Trigrams Palm". It is characterized by open palm fighting, with circular footwork. Both styles are two of the three main "internal" styles of Chinese kung fu - the third being Taiji Quan (Tai Chi).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Toward the end, during the final fight scene, when Gabe is dragging Yulaw to the wormhole and holding the ax to his throat, you can tell the head of the ax is some sort of foam, as you can see it bending against Yulaw's neck

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: There is not one universe. There are many: A multiverse. We have the technology to travel between universes, but travel is highly restricted and policed. There is not one you. There are many. Each of us exists in present time, in parallel universes. There was balance in the system, but now a force exists who seeks to destroy the balance so he can become The One.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)

Soundtrack:

Sinner

nice movie

I can't understand why all the Matrix fans are claiming a special effect as their own and that no other movie can make use of it.

The Matrix copied the Chinese movies that used those pulleys to keep the actor in mid air after jumping and doing all those kicks before they land back on the ground. And using those pulleys to fly backwards thru the air after getting hit.

I think that once a technique or special effect has been created then everyone's allowed to make use of it.

This is a nice movie to watch. Jet Li's English is such an improvement on his past efforts and you can feel the affection in his voice when he talks to/ about his wife. Jackie Chan, as wonderful as he is, still hasn't mastered English to Jet Li's level.

The action was great. I'm not looking for realism in a sci-fi movie. I had no expectations. Just watched to see what I'd get - and for the 1.5 hours, I was entertained. It's a simple story, simple concept.

I wish people would go to see this movie and not try to compare it to Matrix. Matrix itself is not innocent of "borrowing" special effects already used in other movies. As for the "there can be only one" theme, look back to the old days of Astroboy. There was that robot war thing where they had to kill each other so there would be only one winner. Big deal.

I will definitely be buying the DVD. But then again, I do have most of Jet Li's movies on DVD :-)