Drunken Master
(136 votes, average: 4.24 out of 5)Posted In: Action Movies, All Movies, Jackie Chan, Jackie Chan Movies, Kung Fu Movie Reviews, Kung Fu Movies, Martial Arts Movies, Shaolin Kung Fu
Comments: No Responses
This is arguably Jackie Chan’s best movie and truly exemplary of his unique ability to combine Bruce Lee martial acumen with three stooges-like humor. Director Yuen Woo-Ping really brings out the best in Chan and this film is one of his finest performances, setting the bar for all films to come.
The plot centers on the young and wily Wong Fei-Hung, who is a born hellion. His day culminates in a comedy of errors when he hits on a beautiful young woman, only to be soundly thrashed by her matronly guardian. His shame is compounded when these two are later revealed to be his visiting aunt and cousin, whom he has never met. To top things off, he lays a beat down on a hooligan who is the son of a very influential man in town. His father decides he needs to learn some discipline and to punish him for his behavior, hires a new Master named ‘Beggar So’ to train his son in the martial arts.
Initially Wong resists training with Beggar So but through a series of mishaps relents when he is humiliated by the notorious killer Yan Ti San, known for his “Devil’s Kick”, a swift and deadly kicking style which has never been defeated.
Wong learns Beggar So’s secret style of martial arts, a form of Drunken Boxing called “The Eight Drunken Immortals”, named after the eight mythological figures that the fighting style emulates. Wong masters seven of the eight styles with the exception of “Drunken Miss Ho’s” as he feels that her style of fighting is too feminine.
Meanwhile, Yan Ti San is contracted to kill Wong’s father. Wong’s father fights with Yan and is critically injured. Wong and Beggar So arrive in the nick of time and Wong uses his new found ‘drunken style’ to outmatch Yan’s kicking style.
Yan then resorts to his secret technique, the Devil’s Shadowless Hand, which Wong is unable to defeat. Wong confesses that he did not master the last style so Beggar So tells him to combine the seven styles and create his own version of the last style. Wong follows the instruction and discovers his own unique style of Drunken Boxing, which he uses to defeat Yan and become the new Drunken Master. Enjoy! Thomas DiSanto
Come Drink With Me
This is considered by most aficionados to be the first great Kung Fu genre film to come out of Hong Kong in the 1960′s and is most certainly a great film by any standard. Produced by the inimitable Shaw Brothers and written and directed by King Hu, this film is an absolute technical masterpiece that [...]
Fantasy Mission Force
Sit back, relax and get prepared to be dumbfounded. Please…allow me to explain. What if I told you that Jackie Chan made a Kung Fu Movie that combined these stunning plot elements: Crazed Amazons. Ghosts who cheat at cards. Bouncing vampires. Japanese Nazis who attack riding atop 1970s clunker cars. Burlesque musical numbers. Abraham Lincoln [...]
The Young Master
Jackie Chan had already established himself in Hong Kong as a major box office star with 1978′s Drunken Master and 1979′s Fearless Hyena, but he was not getting his fiscal due from Lo Wei Productions, so he opted out of his contract with Lo Wei and was hired by Golden Harvest. The Young Master was [...]
Meals on Wheels
Filmed in beautiful Barcelona, Spain, the story centers around cousins Thomas (Jackie Chan) and David (Yuen Biao) who run a fast food van. The food is delivered by Thomas, who rushes around the busy downtown square on a skateboard. After a melee involving a biker gang, they meet the beautiful pickpocket Sylvia (Lola Forner), who [...]
Rumble in Hong Kong
Let me be frank: This is not a great Jackie Chan film. This is not even a good Jackie Chan film. Although he portrays a bad guy, which is rare, and sports an odd looking mole on his face, this is no career defining moment. Considering my own personal cinematic proclivities, seeing Jackie with a [...]
Fearless Hyena
As far as plots go, Jackie Chan’s Fearless Hyena is nothing special. Here, Chan plays yet another country bumpkin whose venerable master gets killed by a dastardly villain. This, of course, leaves Chan no other option but to train under a new Kung Fu master to avenge his teacher’s death and vanquish all evildoers by [...]
Ten Fingers of Death
Also known as Master with Cracked Fingers, Jackie Chan portrays Hsiao Hu, an adopted martial arts obsessed youth who has been brought up by a sadistic foster dad and enjoys sparring with his foster sister Hsiao Lam, when he is not working for his Uncle Chiang at Chiang Kee Noodles. Hsiao Hu does not know [...]
The Hand of Death
Let me begin with the all-star cast, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Carter Wong, Dorian Tao-liang Tan, James Tien, and Biao Yuen. For any self respecting Kung Fu Movie fanatic, we could end right there. But what if I threw in John Woo as the director? That’s right, John Woo directing what is one of his [...]
36 Crazy Fists
This is one of the better early Jackie Chan films, when Jackie had finally started to come into his own. Too often, in many of Jackie’s first films, he was relegated to the role of country bumpkin and his talents were often overshadowed by poor production qualities and lesser talented players. Here the plot revolves [...]
