Shi di chu ma

This is a really mixed bag of a movie. To begin with, it is very episodic, and the transitions between the episodes are confusing - even allowing for re-editing in different re-release prints. The opening episode appears to have been an attempt at homage to the Shaw Bros. style (sets, lighting, camera angles), and one suspects that Sammo Hung had a hand in it, since he had demonstrated a grasp on the Shaw style in a couple of his own early films. But once the opening is done, so too the Shaw style effects, and we're suddenly in Lo Wei territory at the Buddhist temple. Later, Chan borrows from Yuen Woo Ping quite heavily - the final fight is somewhat reminiscent of "Drunken Master", and apparently intentionally so. (It is probable that Yuen himself was on hand for consultation.) Sadly, these wildly different episodes never gel together to present us with one whole narrative; the grand finale feels like an artificial tack-on, it doesn't seem to resolve anything.

There's quite a lot wrong here: There's no explanation of why Chan's character - still an adolescent student - suddenly transfigures himself into a 'kung fu genius' (to borrow a phrase from Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle"); the school, once left behind, is never seen nor heard from again until the final credits - any dramatic input it could make to the story is thereby lost. The fascinating (and brilliantly performed) episode with the Inspector and his family also gets left behind and unresolved. The use of bong-water from an opium pipe as an elixir granting increased strength is completely artificial and unbelievable - a college fraternity in-joke; the use of wine in "Drunken Master", by comparison, is derived from myth, and based on an real martial arts tradition.

The one definitive term for this approach to movie making is: self-indulgence. Chan, at the time a recognized star in Asia, who felt he could do no wrong, is simply coming up with what must have appeared as good ideas and patching them together to give himself a star-vehicle and showcase for all his talents - he even sings the title track.

All this noted, it must be admitted that, as an episodic showcase, the film is actually very entertaining. Once you allow that the story is really irrelevant to the comic bits and fight scenes, these can be enjoyed on their own terms - the fight scene with Chan dressed as a beggar is really quite remarkable, and the visit to the inspector's house is very funny.

one more note on the release prints: I have seen a standard English-dub print and a Chinese print with subtitles; the weird thing is that the English print actually includes brief but important moments cut from the Chinese print, and would actually be preferable except that it re-arranges one important comic moment in such a way that all the humor is lost, and seems also to compress the violence so has to reduce its impact. Hopefully we'll one day get the definitive print of this; until then, best to see both prints so you know what you'd miss if you only saw one.

Young Master is a very early Jackie Chan film that shows a huge sign of things to come. Mixing in great kung fu action with physical comedy, Young Master is well worth viewing for any Hong Kong action film fan. Sure, the plot isn't worth talking about and all the jokes aren't funny (the set-ups are very obvious most of the time) but you watch Jackie Chan films for the action, which this film has in spades.

Some of the fighting sequences do have very noticeable choreography when compared with the more polished flow of more recent films, but this is a small gripe for a film over two decades old. For a kung fu film you can do much worse than Young Master. It is always great to see Jackie Chan in full f(l)ight!

Jackie Chan's directorial debut is a highly enjoyable action comedy. The film uses comedy more than action, although when Chan mixes the comedy in with the action, it is very effective - pure nonsense and child-like but very funny in places. The storyline is basically set-pieces to show off the fighters skills, and physique especially our man Chan. Highlights include a hilarious scene involving Chan and two bank robbers, a fight with a wooden stool against "little brother" Yuen Baio, and an end fight scene with a new Hwang Jang Lee, this fight however is too long, and relies on the comedy too much. Like all early Chinese films the ending is rapped up very rapidly. Still, there is much to enjoy here, and is a must-see for Jackie Chan fans. ***/*****

Review: It was weird watching this film again because it brought back old childhood memories. I remember the epic ending completely amazed me and I thought that the whole thing was real. The movie came out on VHS when I was 7 so I didn't get to see it until I was around 9 years old so I really thought that Jackie Chan was in pain towards the end. Anyway, this is definitely what I was looking forward to when I started this Jackie Chan season because it's extremely authentic and full of epic action. In some of the scenes it did seem like they were fighting for no reason and the plot did get a bit confusing in the middle but the epic showdown near the end was excellent. Watching Chan take some formidable punches whilst gearing up to kick butt near the end, still gave me goosebumps but like most of his movies, he just has to add a comedy element to the intense situation. For that time, the stunts were amazing and the choreography was spot on. I just hope that the rest of his earlier movies are just as good. Great Film!

Round-Up: This movie was also directed by Jackie Chan, who gives you an in depth insight into his methods behind the camera, on the bonus features of the DVD, which are definitely worth a watch. I must admit, I did miss all that "You Killed My Master" type of concept but it's still worth a watch if your into you vintage Kung Fu movies.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/adventure/comedy, Kung Fu movies, which came out on VHS during the 80's. 7/10

Jackie Chan had already established himself in Hong Kong as a box office champion 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 his first picture under that studio. The film was interrupted several times because of the contract dispute with Lo and a Triad that wanted a stake in Jackie's fortune. This was eventually settled with help by Jimmy Wang Yu whom Jackie would owe (along many other actors) several favors. Even with all this chaos, Jackie was still able to create a memorable and must-have film, though the movie is marked by continuity problems.

Jackie stars as Ah Lung a mediocre student (funny he doesn't seem so in the film and that point is soon forgotten) who loses in a beautifully choreographed lion dance competition because his fellow adopted brother Jing Keung (Wei Pei), faked an injury and competed incognito for the Wei Yee school. Lung and Keung's sifu Master Tien soon finds out of this deception and this betrayal leads to Keung leaving the school. After an impassioned plea from Lung, Tien gives Lung his blessing to find his brother. Jackie takes his big white fan (important plot point.) Jing looks for work at the Wei Yee school, but is turned down when he is found to have helped the Wei Yee school win the Lion Dance competition. He is then recruited with two others, including Fung Hark-On (aka Fung Ke-An who was the martial arts consultant with Jackie) who has a large mole on his face – reminiscent of Jackie's mole in Police Woman, to free Master Kim (Hapkido expert Whang In Shik.) Jing uses his big white fan to help Kim escape. So Ah would later be mistaken for his brother and sought after by the local police inspector and his son (played by Hong Kong regulars Shih Kien and Yuen Biao.) This would lead up to an awesome fight scene between two of the Seven Little Fortunes, Yuen and Jackie. Yuen would expertly use a bench and you get to see Jackie use a pole again.

Even with the continuity problems (even admitted by Jackie, including one scene where Jackie is fettered and the next he is not) and the overuse of sped-up footage and zoom shots (including one that is parodied in Kung Pow), this is a fun film to watch.. The high points of this movie are the Cantonese comedy and the sublime martial art scenes. In those fight scenes you get to see him use many props such as sword, pole, bench and even a skirt, a skill he learns from his encounter with the Police Chief's daughter played by Lily Li. The high point of the film is a showdown that involves an 18-minute plus scene between Jackie and Whang (Jackie in his autobiography "I Am Jackie Chan" considers this his ninth best fight scene.) I do not want to describe this sagacious scene too much, because it has to be seen. I will say that I have never seen Jackie get beat up so much in any other movie and most of it is shot with wide-angle lenses with few cuts. Even his solution to winning is unique.

This movie is a must buy for Jackie Chan or Hong Kong film fans. The most important decision in buying this film on DVD is what label/version you purchase. There are many shorter versions out there, even several that are widescreen, but the scenes that are taken out are mostly from the action scenes! But, Fortune Star puts out a 106 minute version that is digitally remastered and has the Cantonese (along with dubbed version) audio. Though there is one caveat, many of the cheaper versions have a huge benefit that the Fortune Star DVD does not – Jackie Chan singing in English at the end of the film. Even without that benefit the Fortune Star release is by far the best version of an excellent Jackie Chan film.