Jui kuen

Wong Fei-hung as a young man has a reputation different from that awaiting him as an adult. With a nickname of Naughty Panther, Fei-hung is in constant trouble with people and, no matter his intentions to help out just makes things worse for himself. When his father has had enough he sends Fei-hung away to be trained by a wine-guzzling master Su who is not only famed for his 8-Drunken Genii style but also for crippling many of his students. Fei-hung tries to get away from this fate but it is not long till his drunken teacher tracks him down and teaches him, whether he likes it or not. However, when he is humbled by the mighty killer Thunderleg, he decides to train to be better no matter what it takes.

I've not given up on modern releases totally but a real death-march of uninspiring films of late has seen me using my DVD rental subscription to get in touch with older films and also genres that do not often show up on my basic TV package. Recently this has seen me getting some old-school martial arts films and of course Drunken Master had to be one of the first to be seen. When watching it, it is important that you keep your genre frame of reference because as a "film" (with no riders or expectations) it could be dismissed as having no substance to speak of - an accusation that I myself level at many blockbusters that offer me nothing to engage with. In this case though one does have to wonder if it matters because in terms of pure entertainment value there is just about sufficient story to pull a basic frame together for an amusing and exciting film.

I say this because the plot doesn't do much other than set up the many fight sequences that the film has and really these are the reason why we are all here. Without exception, these are technically and visually impressive. The physical strength and control of the actors is just as impressive as the choreography and, unlike modern films, the camera sits back so we can see and doesn't get into the close and frantic editing which reveal the actor perhaps could only do one short movement at a time and needed lots of help from the camera. Speaking of camera movement, one of the joys of the film is to see what has now become the genre-defining zooms in on faces and other such clichés.

Speaking of which, the acting also fits this mould as it is the wonderful OTT style of acting, with big hair and exaggerated performances that owe a debt to silent cinema. Chan is not at his funniest here (partly because his character necessitates a degree of arrogance that takes away a little) but he is still very comic and self-effacing in his comedy. He is well supported by Yuen, who is also very skilled and able to do comedy, while Hwang's villain is wonderfully 1970's martial arts and full of camp menace. The support cast features some familiar faces who bring stuff to the table such as the high-kicking Linda Lin and the amusing Dean Shek.

Drunken Master is very much a genre film and those who do not like the conventions of the genre should not be too shocked to find that they don't like it here. However for martial arts fans and the casual viewer, this is a great film with plenty of brilliant action blended with a genial and comic tone that allows it to be solid good fun.

This for me is Jackie Chan's finest, and is the film which propelled him to super stardom in Hong Kong. Whilst other martial artists were trying to be the new Bruce Lee, Jackie did something different. Why replace the irreplaceable when you could do something completely different? What Jackie did was introduce slapstick into the Kung Fu formula, the rest as they say is history.

Jackie stars as Freddy Wong aka (Wong Fei Hung) depending upon which dub you watch. A juvenile delinquent with a penchant for feeling up immediate female members of his family. His father, fed up of his delinquency hires Sam Seed aka The Drunken Master to teach him some discipline as well as his secret fighting style. Naturally the two get off on the wrong foot but learn to respect each other as the film goes on whilst of course getting into the obligatory scrapes and japes. There is of course a villain of the piece in this case its the Tae Kwan Do master Hwang Jan Lee as the underworld assassin "Thunderfoot" who in real life was just as badass as he is in the film.

So it's all pretty derivative then? Well yes and no. There is a genuine rapport between Jackie and Yu Su Tien as pupil and teacher. The martial arts is brilliantly choreographed and inventive (the scene in the restaurant is probably my favourite) and the whole thing has a "joie de vivre". Watching it, it seems to me that the actors had a ball making the film. Which is just as well as I had a ball watching it.

This is my favourite jackie chan film. It's one of the funniest films i've ever seen. It starts with a fight and ends with one,so the action crowd won't be disappointed! Plus it contains the funniest scenes chan has ever put on film,such as the taunting of his idiotic teacher and the horror of realising the woman who he picks a fight with is his auntie!Brilliant.

Wong Fei-Hung (Jackie Chan) is a cheeky young student who knows how to fight and stand up for himself. But after a public situation gone poorly, Wong is punished by his father. Wong will now be trained and disciplined by a man named, Beggar So (Siu Tin Yuen). Beggar So is a master of "Drunken Martial Arts" and Beggar begins to train Wong in a way he believes will correct Wong's path in life.

I personally have always been a huge fan of Jackie Chan films (especially from the 90's). I recently discovered this film had been remastered (thanks to Umbrella Entertainment) and I must personally confess, this film has been on my watch list for many years.

As a plot, I enjoyed this movie as all it does is follow a simple formula. Our leading character Wong (Jackie Chan) will generally start a conversation or some sort of trouble, and shortly after the situation will result in humorous fight scenes (aka Kung Fu). The method of storytelling is A, B, A, B until the credits roll.

Needless to say, the biggest highlight of this film was the action by Jackie Chan. The style and humour by Jackie Chan is something I can't say I've seen in films before, even in today's films. The stunts and action here are real. This film was also completed before actor's started using wires or visual effects. I found myself at countless times during this film feeling impressed by Jackie Chan's ability as an actor, fighter and his ability to deliver funny jokes along the way. It's no wonder the film managed to return again with a sequel in 1994.

Overall, this would have to be one of my top 5 favourite Jackie Chan films. Drunken Master delivered a new style of Kung Fu which is great to see remastered on Bluray. There are many elements present here including action, humour and an easy plot, but its biggest draw card is naturally the fight scenes which are incredibly entertaining. As the credits rolled all I could say was "Wow, Jackie Chan is such a legend".

8.7/10 Walkden Entertainment

It is said that this is the film that made Jackie Chan a star, but that isn't really true, since Snake in Eagle's Shadow actually had a bigger impact at the time, and allowed Chan to make this film. One way we know this is that there are some two dozen films made in the late '70s- early'80's designed to imitate Snake in Eagle's Shadow, and only a couple imitate this film. By the time Drunken Master had become legendary world-wide, the chop-socky cycle (to which it still belongs, to an extent) had passed into history, and Chan himself had abandoned historical 'fu films for contemporary comedy-thrillers.

It should be noted that the idea of making a film based on the early years of Wong Fei Hong was not original to Chan; at roughly the same time this film was being made, well-known martial arts choreographer Liu Chia Leung made a straight (non-comic) version of the story (without drunken boxing) over at Shaw Brothers, Challenge of the Masters, with Gordon Liu as Wong Fei Hung.

The defining moment for the Chan-Yuen version of the film is the use of Drunken Boxing. There is no real evidence that the historical Wong Fei Hung was a master of this style; his more famous innovations involved the development of the shadowless hand technique and the no-shadow kick. Interestingly, in order to highlight Chan's use of Drunken Boxing, these other two techniques, better identified with Wong, are assigned in the film to the villain, "Thunderlegs" played by Hwang Jen Lee.

At any rate, it would not be clear that one could consider this a Wong Fei Hung film at all - if it weren't for the fact that this film effectively redefined the Wong legend, so that it has since become pro-forma to assume that Wong was a bit wild in his youth. (Just to set that record straight, Wong was actually extremely studious, and recognized as a real child-prodigy in the martial arts, winning his first major public duel at the age of thirteen.) Drunken Master is solid martial arts entertainment. There are decided weaknesses in the plot and over-all staging of the film, but these can easily be ignored, as the film thrusts us along with kung fu and comedy to the grand final fight at the end. It must also be noted that these characters - even the villain - are well acted and quite likable and familiar, and thus add a credibility to the film. And Yuen's direction is also very professional and a couple notches above the average for a Hong Kong genre film of the time.

Lives up to its own legend, and well-worth the viewing.