The Legend of Drunken Master
Dimension - Dimension
Release date: 2001-03-13
DVD
Director:Jackie Chan
Actors: Jackie Chan, Kwok Kuen Chan, Wai Yee Chan, Chi-Kwong Cheung, Kar Lok Chin
Action, Action / Adventure, Action Comedy, Action/Adventure, Bright, Color, Comedy, Down on Their Luck, English, Fathers and Sons, Feature, Feature Film-action/Adventure, Goofy, Hong Kong, Light, Martial Arts, Mischievous Children, Mothers and Sons, Movie, Quirky
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The Legend of Drunken Master
Date undefinedJackie Chan truly delivers a spectacular performance. In the final battle scene Jackie takes it to the extreme.
This movie will surely become a classic in the martial art genre, in the pure tradition of the Bruce Lee style.
The Legend of Drunken Master
Date undefinedI know it's sacrilege to suggest that a cut-down, dubbed DVD is superior in any way to the original. But in this case it does have its advantages. This film (originally titled Drunken Master 2) is JC's best Kung Fu choreography you'll find. This version is shorter than the Hong Kong version, has only dubbing, and replaces the original score. But being as this is such a fantastic fighting film, the watered-down format makes it more palatable to the casual viewer. You'll have no subtitles to read (and at least Jackie dubs his own voice), all the action is preserved (you only lose some bits of the story), and you get the cleanest picture available. For any die-hard fans I, of course, recommend getting the uncut original. Now, onto the movie itself.
Jackie Chan has a pretty broad spectrum to his work. Some films are all about the big stunts, some are about the action sequences, some are funny. This film is all about the fight sequences.
Hands down this is Jackie's best kung fu choreography. It was done by Ming-Sing Wong (aka Sam Wong), who also choreographed Jackie's other fighting masterpiece "Who Am I?". While WAI does boast some impressive fights with some huge stunts, DM2 is pure fighting. The Drunken Boxing style really allows Jackie to show his skill and creativity inside of the kung fu arena. This film really lets you see just how good Jackie is. Here, he shows he can hold his own against his contemporaries like Jet and Donnie (back in the day that is, at least).
The story is a little silly: things get set in motion because of some missing ginseng getting mixed up with a royal seal and some British imperialists. Same kind of thing as "Once Upon a Time in China" (since Jackie and Jet are playing the same character of Wong Fei Hong, it's not surprising). Only here, it's a bit more comedic than the Tsui Hark fare. But it doesn't matter. The interplay between Jackie and the late, great Anita Mui as his mother is priceless. The comedic element to this film really does add some depth, so you're not just sitting by watching the clock until someone starts punching someone else in the face.
You really could spend a semester studying why this movie is simply one of the greatest action films of all time. Even those who don't want to read subtitles and prefer their action with lots of explosions and CG will love this. Look, if you haven't seen it, stop reading and just click the button to add this to your shopping cart, select the fastest shipping you can afford, and just sit back and watch in amazement.
The Legend of Drunken Master
Date undefinedJackie Chan returns in top form with his drunken art. Without a doubt the highlight of this film is seeing Jackie in action. But I found the film stale in some areas. Most notably with the characters. Outside of Jackie, I really didn't care for any of them.
The action scenes are very good and they're plenty. But this time around the characters were very uninteresting to me. The lead villian in this one could never match Thunderfoot from the original. If only more screen time was given to the lead villian. I would appreciate this movie more.
In anycase, this is a good film to check out if you're a fan of Jackie. But personally I watch this one the least and I haven't seen it for years until today. I would give it a 3.5.
