mpaa : not rated ( though i feel it would likely be pg , for martial - arts violence . )
with three movies already ( re ) released theatrically in america , and at least three more on their way , jackie chan is one of the newest " hot properties " in action adventure stardom , and it 's just about time .
for over twenty - five years , jackie 's been starring in martial arts and action movies in hong kong , thrilling audiences with both an incredible grasp of acrobatics and martial arts and a wonderful sense of comedy .
" drunken master " has the distinction of being the first jackie chan movie to " make it big
" --this is the movie that supposedly set jackie up for big stardom in hong kong .
i 'm not entirely sure why , exactly .
in many ways , " drunken master " is similar to most of jackie 's other early films , such as " fearless hyena " i and ii , " master with cracked fingers " , " half a loaf of kung fu " , " spiritual kung fu " , and others .
in fact , looking at all these early films together , one gets the impression that they were stamped out , cookie - cutter style , at a rate of four to six per year , all using the same casts and telling very similar stories .
to be honest , i think that early jackie chan movies are something of an acquired taste .
they 're quite different from action movies as we know them in america .
these films tend to be set in the chinese countryside in an indeterminate period sometime in the distant past , with fairly slow plots that often meander far afield and sometimes seem to exist only for the intention of stringing comedy and fight scenes together .
" drunken master " , though its plot is tighter than some , is no exception .
( as an aside , " drunken master " was the first jackie chan movie i ever saw , and i saw it the way it was meant to be seen .
. . in a movie theater in seattle , as part of an asian film festival .
at the time , i did n't really think it was anything special . . .
but after having seen more films like it , it 's kind of grown on me . )
" drunken master " 's storyline is very similar to that of other early jackie chan movies , such as " fearless hyena " i and ii and " master with cracked fingers
" --slacker martial arts student is taught the martial arts by a harsh - seeming master , and has a big fight with an evil bad guy in the end ( a formula that has been " adapted , " to put it kindly , by american films such as karate kid ) .
more specifically , jackie chan plays the part of wong fei - hong , aka " naughty panther , " a fun - loving , practical - joking kung fu student who is too good at kung fu for his own good , but not _ quite
_ good enough .
after embarrassing his instructor 's assistant by beating him roundly , then beating up a bully in a marketplace , wong fei - hong tries to hit on a pretty girl , but discovers that she , and her mother , can hit back , better than he can . . .
and is further chagrinned to discover that the two women are his cousin and aunt , respectively .
his father , wong kei - ying , is unhappy about this , and is further annoyed when the father and brother of the bully show up to sue for damages .
kei - ying soon institutes a harsh regimen of punishment , which fei - hong does not like at all .
while escaping from this punishment , fei - hong meets up with a drunken old man , who proceeds to thrash him soundly , then take him on as a student and thrash him some more .
this turns out to be su hua - chi , a legendary master of drunken - style kung fu .
he assigns fei - hong a series of bizarre tasks , such as filling jugs with water while hanging upside down from a frame , cracking walnuts with his hands , and other such exercises , that seem like more pointless cruelty but are actually strengthening him up .
then , when he 's ready , he teaches him the seven styles of drunken kung fu .
unfortunately , the lazy fei - hong only practices six of them . . .
" drunken master " features some wonderful martial arts sequences , with jackie winning some fights and losing others .
it 's been said before , but i 'll say it again --
these fights do n't just _ happen
_ , they 're as
carefully choreographed as any ballet performance , and it shows .
in his fights , jackie often makes use of objects found in his environment-- benches , jugs , cups , bowls , fruits and vegetables -- often in new and surprising ways .
the fight scenes , particularly those toward the end of the film , are unparallelled in most american films .
whether jackie wins or loses , it 's really something to see . . .
and it 's often as funny as anything , too .
and funny is the other thing
jackie chan is very , very good at
.
there 's very little
that 's new in this movie --
jackie winning fights , jackie getting beaten badly by a master , jackie going through punishment or training . . .
these schticks have all been seen before , in any one of several dozen similar jackie movies from the seventies and early eighties .
but they 're still hilarious as ever .
likewise , jackie has a _ great _ supporting cast , many of whom were also in other early jackie films , and they 're often the source of plenty of hilarity on their own .
the really big thing about " drunken master " , though , that inspired several copycats ( including a couple starring jackie himself ) and a sequel fifteen years later , was the drunken - style kung fu .
i 'm not certain whether or not this is actually a genuine style of kung fu , but the principle behind it is to imitate the wobbly movements of a drunkard to lull the enemy into a false sense of security . . .
and it apparently helps if you 're drunk while you 're doing it .
genuine or not , i have to admit , there 's just something incredibly fun
about watching a fellow who looks utterly sloshed wading into a group of startled opponents and making mincemeat out of them before they even realize what 's going on .
come to think of it , perhaps this element is what accounts for this film 's success over any of the other jackie films . . .
it 's not just martial arts , it 's the kind of martial arts that makes you stop and go , " whoa . . .
" on the negative side , the cinematography in this film is nothing special , the film stock is rather primitive , the plot is often rather slow , and the subtitles are sometimes extremely hard to read against the background . " gone with the wind " , this is n't .
still , if you like martial arts films , or like what you 've seen so far of jackie chan and want to see more , give it a shot .
it 's much more " real " than chuck norris or jean - claude van damme .
you might very well like it .
another interesting thing about " drunken master " has to do with its video availability in the us .
" drunken master " is the
only early jackie chan movie that i know of that you can find in its original , letterboxed , hong kong subtitled form , commercially available on vhs ( from magnum video , in a gold box , for about $ 10 ) .
there are plenty of other early jackie films around , but these are typically either in dubbed , pan - and - scanned form or else import tapes priced for rental instead of purchase .
thankfully , " drunken master " , at least , is available in the aspect ratio in which it was meant to be seen , at a very affordable price .
if you like " drunken master " , take a look at the numerous other early jackie chan films that are out there ( even the dubbed ones are n't really _
too _ bad .
.
. if nothing else , you can enjoy the martial arts choreography while making fun of the dialogue ) .
i particularly recommend " spiritual kung fu " , " half a loaf of kung fu " , the " fearless hyena " movies , and " snake & crane arts of shaolin " .
also , the mostly - unrelated - storywise sequel , " drunken master ii " , will hit theaters in american release sometime later this year ( though what its american - release title will be is still uncertain ) and comes _ highly _ recommended by this reviewer .
also , for a rather different interpretation of the character wong fei - hong ( who is in fact a popular figure from chinese folklore ) , i 've been told to suggest the " once upon a time in china " series starring jet li ( though i have n't personally seen any of them yet ) . if you choose to watch " drunken master " , i really hope you enjoy it , and i hope it starts to open your eyes to the wonderful world of asian cinema
that 's out there .
all in all , i give this film
an .
Output: P