Episodic saga from the first half of the 20th century follows Hero Hua from an ill-omened June day in his youth to a showdown 17 years later with a disaffected member of his martial-arts school, a Japanese named Invincible. Tensions between Chinese and Japanese, plus U.S. racism, mark the tale. Hero marries Jade, leaves her in China when he goes to America as an indentured servant, rebels against cruel labor conditions, and is joined by her in New York City where she has twins. Jump ahead 16 years: their son Sword comes to New York looking for his father. There, Sword hears many stories of his father, which we see in flashbacks, and the stage is set for the battle with Invincible.
1913年，钱无义（徐锦江 饰）带了洋人来夺家传之宝，华家人惨遭灭门。华英雄（郑伊健 饰）在怒火中杀光洋人。他忍痛与妻子洁瑜（杨恭如 饰）暂别，远避美国当苦工谋生，却承受着种族歧视的不公待遇，华英雄反抗出走。 洁瑜带着身孕赴美，得中华楼老板元武（元彪 饰）相助，而英雄也被鬼仆救 出，夫妻相聚。洁瑜诞下龙凤双胞胎之夜，中华楼遭“五术人”纵火，洁瑜身亡，女婴被掳走，男婴被好友生奴（林晓峰 饰）收养。华英雄为了报仇，苦练师父金傲（黄秋生饰）的《中华傲决》武功。十六年后，华英雄之子华剑雄（谢霆峰 饰）欲寻生父，但华英雄以“天煞狐星”为由，不肯亲近儿子，最终在纽约自由女神像上，与仇人“五术人”的师父无敌（吴镇宇 饰）决斗……