Pendekar Bujang Lapok

This is another of P. Ramlee's movies that you can just never get tired of watching. Simplicity and authenticity at its best, even without the use of lavish decorative sets or props. Good fun humour and a realisitic look at life in the villages of Singapore of yesterdays gone by.

Wow. What a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed near to about every second of this movie. Pendekar Bujang Lapok shines through as an infinitely better sequel to its original.

I need to start the review with the cinematography because it was just simply splendid. One of the biggest issues I had with the first Bujang Lapok was that the framing and cinematography in general was bleak, unprofessional and lacked any form of composition. Its sequel completely turns that around with beautiful shots and GREAT composition. There are some boring wide shots here and there but from the first second of this film to the end, i kept saying to myself how amazingly shot it was. Here's to you Abu Bakar Ali, I will DEFINITELY check out more of your stuff.

And man, the opening jetty scene. That was so wonderful. This movie has a way of being both comfortably natural and comical at the same time and that jetty scene is a great example of it. In addition the fight scene on the jetty was such a pleasure to watch. I would even go as far to say that that fight scene was WAYYYY better than the jetty fight scene in Mat Kilau. (2022)

The jokes were funny, the acting was funny and so much of this movie is pure genius + ridiculous enjoyable stupidity. Its directing was also great, but had its weak spots that I'm willing to let slide.

Overall, I had a BLAST watching this movie. If you're ever worried you'll be bored watching a movie from the 50s, watch this one. This one is one for the ages, and certainly will be a reeatch for me sometime in the future.

Out of all the P Ramlee comedy series (Do Re Mi, Bujang Lapok, Labu Labi), the Bujang Lapok series is probably considered the best with the Legend P Ramlee being paired against two talented actors in the Ad-Lib genre in S Shamsuddin and Aziz Satar.

Pendekar Bujang Lapok is also arguably the best of the Bujang Lapok series in terms of a comedy with a proper story-line (In my opinion, Bujang Lapok was an excellent drama story with comedy elements being thrown in very sensibly and appropriately, Ali Baba Bujang Lapok on a similar level with Pendekar and can be argued which of the two was better, whereas Seniman Bujang Lapok was more melodramatic and taught us all lessons in life, although it has to be said had the best sketches within all the films put together in the acting auditions sketch).

Pendekar Bujang Lapok in a quick summary is where the bachelor trio are on a mission to learn the art of 'penchak silat' (traditional art of fighting) from Pendekar Mustar of Kampong Pinang Sebatang, after having seen (or at least seen the after-effects) of his talent at a local jetty. What follows within the film are the antics of the trio which include them learning how to read and write, after it was revealed that they were illiterate, and also the infamous 'godaan' scenes where they had to endure scary moments as part of their training. As with all P Ramlee films, there is also included the part of them going after a woman, in this case Cikgu Rose played by the very beautiful Allayarhamah Roseyatimah. No prizes for guessing who gets her in the end! All in all, an excellent film, and the fact that the film was made in 1959 and still stands today justifiably shows the quality of the film and the tremendous talent of P Ramlee.

'Hai Mambang Tanah' 'Godaan!!!'

From the opening sequence at the penambang (boat-quay) to the ending with the trio getting honoured as pendekar (warriors), please do not move an inch (or if possible, blink) as this film is one marvelous way to appreciate the line-ups of great comedy-movies made during the golden Malay films era, circa 50s-60s. All hell's break loose, as I would say, once the Bujang Lapoks clicked to bring a casual but lively performance in the film. Sadly, such this movie has long gone from the theatre here in Malaysia. Nobody's have the fresh ideas and spontaneous acting as portrayed in this (and other Bujang Lapok) movies anymore. A highly recommended watch for everyone.Watch out for the trio 1st lesson in school or their hilarious 'cobaan' sequences. Honestly no other trio (not even The 3 Stooges) could match the togetherness of Ramlee,Sudin and Aziz. And let's chant now... "Hey mambang tanah, mambang air, mambang angin, etc, etc, etc..."

This is one of the best movies in the Bujang Lapok series. I never get tired of watching this movie.Even my children who were borne after P. Ramlee's death loved all his comedies. I love the scenes that involved the late Mustarjo and Ahmad Nesfu. Ahmad Nesfu was truly a talented actor. This was also the movie that introduced the late actress Roseyatimah to the silver screen.I love also the songs like "Maafkan Kami", "Bujang Idaman(aka "Malam Bulan Dipagar Bintang") and "Pok Pok Bujang Lapok".The scenes at the graveyard, the school for the elderly was hilarious.I hope somebody will preserve this movie on a DVD so that new generation of fans will enjoy them.