Drunken Master

This is arguably the BEST film of jackie Chan's career. while Jackies' death defying stunts came abit later to try to top the spectacular original kung fu of the early films like this one, the kung fu scenes are immaculately choreographed and photographed. the camera shots are of the typical energetic kung fu cinema style, with the high speed zoom-out-to action and so on. the characters are all wonderfully portrayed, each with its own colourful personality and background.Even the english dubbing in this film is excellently done-how many times have you seen a kung fu film with poor dubbing by voice actors who sound like theyre reading the script for the first time as the movie plays? This film offers the best in english dubbing, with true-to-character voices and translation, which makes the film all the more exciting to watch. the story is simple but amusing. chinese folk hero Wong Fei hung is a rebellious teenager causing mischeif about town. in the english version, his nicknamed "freddy"(lol). freddy's father has tried several times to discipline him, but to no avail. eventually he calls upon great uncle So Hai for help. So Hei is an aged little drunkard but he is notortious across the land for his formidable kung fu-"the secrets of the eight drunken gods." initially freddy finds So Hei's gruelling methods and drills too much and runs away. he meets Thunderleg, a local assassin who is renowned for his incredible kicking style of kung fu. bullied and utterly humiliated by him, freddy runs back to So Hei, angered and invigorated to learn his "secret style", drunken kung fu. after a bad deal over local real estate, Thunderleg is employed to kill freddy's father. freddy finds them just in time and promises to make amends with his father and protect him from the evil Thunderleg as So Hei watches from a distance, confident freddy will not need his help. But has freddy mastered the Secrets of the 8 Drunken Gods? hilarious humor and splendidly witty kung fu sequences bring you to a thrillingly spectacular show down ending in what is often reffered to as Jackie Chans' finest film ever!!

the film itself is astounding. young jackie chan’s prowess working with his kung fu brothers and a teacher of theirs; the showcase of the comedic fight scenes; it’s everything you could want it to be; basically a superhero movie without tye computers i don’t know how many vhs copies i’ve had of this over the years, but audio was always questionable, small scenes would be in some but not others (like how the first half of the ropes-and-barrels punishment had about a 30% chance of being i cluded), and the transfer was almost without exception going to have a few rough parts this has, i think, every scene in its entirety, and the highest quality transfer i’ve yet seen. highly recommend this as a great version of the utterly classic film

love this movie

This is a certified Jackie Chan classic and I can confirm it works in US blu-ray players. I tried it in my Philips 4k player that bulks at region free discs & it played this film perfectly. I own a region free Blu-Ray player but always try it in the player that usually can't play them 1st just to see if it will work. And to any other Kung Fu fans out there noticing that a lot of the best release always seem to be for region B remember the playstation, xbox, & your PC Blu-Ray drive will play any region Blu-Ray. As a side note this is the best release of Druken Master ever but if your a Jackie Chan fan your probably aware of that. It comes with a nice booklet & special feature. The audio & video are perfect. Again another 4k transfer without a 4k release. Hopefully one day companies will realize that collectors are the ones still buying physical media & we want it in the best quality possible but until than this is a great disc.

There's any number of reason to like international film star Jackie Chan...his superior athletic ability, infectious sense of humor, personable charm, but I think the one element that endears him to me is his willingness to put himself in the position of serious physical harm in order to entertain the audience. Sure there are attempts to minimize the risks to some degree (meticulous planning and repetitive practicing), and given Chan's incredible physical prowess he's less likely to suffer harm than say I would trying to do half the things he does, but despite these factors, there is still the notion that with many of his stunts, particularly in his later films, he's always about a hair away from killing himself. Anyway, directed by Woo-ping Yuen, who would later choreograph action scenes for the Matix and Kill Bill films, Drunken Master (1978) aka Jui kuen stars Jackie Chan (listed in the credits as Jacky) and Siu Tien Yuen (the director's father). The film begins as an assassin named Thunderleg, Master of the Devil's Kick, searching out his most recent target in that of The Champion of the Four Door Fist (not all, but a lot of the characters have titles like this). He finds him, a battle ensues, and one is left standing. We then cut to a scene featuring students practicing martial arts in a school. It's here we meet one of the pupils named Wong Fei-Hung (Chan), whose father actually runs the school. Wong appears fairly adept (after showing up one of the teachers), but lacks the discipline and humility to achieve beyond his current skills, which becomes obvious to his father after a series of incidents involving a local bully, among others. This leads Wong's father to request another to assume training of Wong in that of an older man who's rumored to be incredibly difficult and completely sadistic. Wong decides to run away, but ends up meeting his new teacher (Siu Tien Yuen), a master of the 8 Drunken Gods fighting styles, after an altercation at a restaurant. Wong begins his training with his new master, but soon runs off, as it's too difficult. This sets up a chance meeting between Thunderleg and Wong were Wong gets the thrashing of a lifetime and ends up returning to the Drunken Master, realizing his own skills are pitiful. This leads into a lengthy set of training sequences eventually leading to the Master teaching Wong the secret fighting tactics of the 8 Drunken Gods. As Wong's training is completed, we find out a contract has been taken out on his father, one to be fulfilled by Thunderleg, so now Wong must put his training to the test in the fight of his life (or death). I think I should mention, as a number of reviewers have brought it up, something about the partial English dubbing within the film. The copy I received a little while ago has a little sticker on the back of the DVD case stating something in the way of `English substituted in some areas where original dialog track lost'. The effect is that when you're watching the film with the original Cantonese audio track, using English subtitles, there are scenes where the characters switch from Cantonese to really goofy sounding voices speaking English. This happens about three or four times, and it is a little annoying as it tended to draw me out of the film. I would have preferred that, if some of the original audio were lost, a re-recording in the same language as the original dialog...but whatever...now on to the film. The movie is crammed with excellent wall-to-wall fight scenes. There are momentary lapses devoted to working on the plot, but these quickly pass resulting in more fight sequences. I think my favorite sequence, besides the lengthy one at the end, featured Siu Tien Yuen in the restaurant, smacking assailants with a dishrag. Not only was it really funny, but almost hypnotic as he twirled that towel around before rat tailing someone in the face (in case you're not familiar, `rat tailing' means taking a wet towel, twisting it up, and snapping it at poor individual). Can anyone tell me what was up with that teacher Chan's character beats up on near the beginning? The guy had this mole on his face, one that had this set of really long hairs emanating from it, and the guy could often be seen playing with the hair, twirling it with his fingers...it was pretty disgusting. And what was the deal with that waiter from the restaurant? Was that the biggest set of buckteeth you've ever seen? I suppose these were some of what made up the comedic element of this film, but they weren't all that funny. What was funny was the scene where Chan's character is trying to learn the drunken fighting style of the lone woman god, doing so in a mocking fashion as he thought it was too effeminate. Another concept I found really funny was the whole notion of fighting styles based of being intoxicated, and the fact Wong's teacher was drunk throughout most of the film. The choreography in the fighting scenes is really spectacular as Chan not only displays that psuedo comic fighting style he's famous for, but also a lot of serious chop socky. Don't expect to see Chan doing any large scale, over the top stunts like leaping off building, as seen in his later films, but do expect lots of close up, smacky smacky action (he also takes the beating like no one I've ever seen). The picture on this DVD is very good (some cropping), presented in 2.35:1 widescreen, enhanced for 16 X 9 TVs. The monaural audio is decent, but certainly nothing to brag about. Special features include a commentary track including Hong Kong film expert Ric Meyers and Jeff Yang, a co-author of Chan's autobiography. Also included are trailers for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Time and Tide (2000). Cookieman108

Wie Jacky Chan mal selbst in einem Interview sagte, hatte er es leid ständig als neuer Bruce Lee angepriesen zu werden. So musste er sich mit einer anderen, seiner eigenen Art davon irgendwie distanzieren! Wie sprach ein weiser Mann? „Wenn Bruce Lee der König des Kung Fu ist, dann ist Jacky Chan der Hofnarr!“ Das war wohl eher lieb und nett von ihm gemeint, denn der „Hofnarr“ hat mächtig was auf dem Kasten! Nach Bruce Lee hat kein anderer wie er, die Welt der Eastern-Filme nicht nur geprägt, sondern revolutioniert. Nach seinem Auftauchen war nichts mehr wie zuvor. Er setzte mit seiner Art vollkommen neue Maßstäbe. Humor, Witz, seine einmalige Mimik. Seine Austrahlung auf der Leinwand, sein akrobatisches Können, das alles macht ihn einzigartig. Bei ihm merkt man, dass er nicht Kampfkunst betreibt, er lebt sie. Es gibt da so nen blöden Spruch:“Niemand ist unersetzlich!“ Falsch, nimmt man ihn aus den Filmen raus, dann sind sie so gut wie tot. Er schafft diese Gratwanderung perfekt in seinen Filmen. Der Meister der Kampfkunst und gleichzeitig der Meister aller Peinlichkeiten. Die Fettnäpfchen in die er tritt, die müssen andere erst mal finden. Gerade das macht ihn so sympathisch, damit können sich viele identifizieren. Hier in diesem Film das Paradebeispiel einer tragisch-komischen Figur. Mit seinen Kumpels macht er ein Mädel an, bekommt dann von der Mutter mächtig was auf die Glocke. Daraufhin rettet er jemand anders aus einer misslichen Lage. Später stellt sich dann raus, dass die Mutter, die ihn verprügelte seine Tante ist. Also gibt es Stress mit seinem Vater, gewaltig sogar. Sogar seine gute Tat wird ihm zur Last gelegt. Sein Vater will ihn sogar erschlagen, weil er ein Monster ist. Dank seiner Tante darf er weiterhin Sauerstoff verbrauchen auf dieser Welt. Doch Strafe muss sein. Wenn schon Strafe, dann richtige Strafe. In den Fängen eines alten, versoffenen, verdreckten, verlausten Zausel, der eine sadistische Ader hat zu geraten, das ist schon die Höchststrafe. Der (auch sein Onkel) bringt ihm bei wie man kämpft, sich benimmt, Wasser schöpft. Wein holt und wie ein Mann richtig säuft. Genial und zum weglachen, die Gestik und Mimik von Jacky Chan beim Training. Der Stil der Göttin Ho.....boaaaaaah :-))))) Auch interessant zu sehen, dass der alte Zausel ohne Sprit als Kämpfer so ziemlich ab stinkt. Der Suff gibt ihm die Kraft. In dem Film, da passt einfach alles. Auch die musikalische Untermalung, besser geht es nicht mehr. Won Fei Hung (Jacky Chan) kann einem richtig leid tun obwohl er so manche Abreibung wirklich verdient hat. Dieser Won vermittelt den Anschein, dass er nix auf die Reihe bringt. Also der totale Versager schlechthin. Auch beim Training versucht er ständig zu schummeln und jedes mal wird es entdeckt und er steckt noch tiefer in der Sch.....adenskrise. Erst die Abreibung von Donnerfaust bringt ihn auf die richtige Schiene. Diese Demütigung bringt ihn zur Besinnung und treibt ihn zur Höchstleistung. Dann nach einem Jahr wird er aus der Trainingshaft entlassen. Nix wegen guter Führung, vorzeitig und so. Sondern weil er fertig ist (nicht soooo) mit der Ausbildung und es irgendwie überlebt hat. Zeit zum Luftholen bleibt einem da nicht, denn es geht sofort übergangslos rein ins Finale! Für mich der beste Kung Fu Film aller Zeiten. Mit Herz, Verstand und Humor. Er bringt auch eine glasklare Botschaft rüber. Das es auch ein Loser zu was bringen kann, wenn er nur will. Won schafft es vom großmäuligen Jammerlappen zum Meister. Am Ende ist er der siegreiche Held. Was ihm niemand zugetraut, das hat er geschafft mit Hilfe der 8 versoffenen Göttern, des alten Zausels und seinem unbändigem Willen zu lernen. Wer diesen Film nicht im Regal stehn hat, der ist selber schuld!

Me gustó el formato. Lástima que no viene ni audio ni subtitulos en español. Fuera de esto. Una buena adquisición.

Drunken Master is a Hong Kong action film from 1978. The film was directed by Yuen Woo-Ping (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and stars the legendary stunt master Jackie Chan. The film is a Kung Fu classic and is a film that I have never actually seen up, until now that is. With the Corona Virus lock down in full effect, I found myself with the desire to watch some old school Jackie Chan films. I was on the lookout for the classics Police Story, Project A and Wheels On Meals. I noticed that Eureka have cleaned up and released a lot of these films. Unfortunately for my bank account, I picked up a large amount of movies in one swoop. This included Drunken Master, a film I have always been curious about but for whatever reason, a film that I had never really went out my way to see. Drunken Master is a fairly simple story and one that no doubt has been told many times. Jackie Chan plays (presumably the legendary) Wong Fei-Hung. He's an overly cocky but talented individual. His over the top attitude lands him in trouble and as a punishment, his father sends him off to learn under the dreaded Beggar So. The plot is fairly bare bones and is nothing particularly ground breaking. It's all held together by the great charisma from the actors on screen. They all do their parts with great conviction. In typical Jackie Chan fashion, the film is quite tongue in cheek and has a lot of high speed action. The use of slapstick humour etc is generally well done. I got a good number of laughs out of the film and I think they did a great job scattering the jokes around without making it overly silly. This of course is all balanced out with the action sequences, which there are no lack of. Some scenes are very fast and hard hitting, whilst others come across as very well choreographed routines. These routines I quite enjoyed. You could see the actors were clearly keeping a specific rhythm and was very different (to my eyes at least). The print presented by Eureka looks very nice. It has lots of colour and plenty of crisp detail. I have seen clips of this film over the years and not a single one came remotely close to looking this good. For a film that is over forty years old now, it has aged beautifully and that is not just from the beautiful cinematography etc but the effort to preserve the quality of the film. I almost feel embarrassed that it took me this long to see this film but I am glad I finally did. It's a great up beat movie with lots of laughs. It's a very easy watch with plenty of extras to keep any fan going. If martial arts movies is your thing, do yourself a favour and pick this one up.

Buy it on Blu-ray, it looks great and i tested it on my playstation 4, it plays perfectly, no problem with the region locking. This movie would later heavily inspire Akira Toriyama's world famous Dragon Ball manga/tv show.

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