Drunken Master (1978)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Written by Ng See Yuen, Hsiao Lung
Directed by Yuen Wo Ping
Starring Jackie Chan, Yuen Hsiao Tieng, Huang Cheng Li

Features:

• Digitally-remastered audio (English mono or Chinese stereo)
  
• Remastered in High Definition
  
• Audio commentary by Ric Meyers, Hong Kong film scholar
  
• Subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Portugese, Korean, and Thai
  

Rating: NR

Anamorphic: Yep. Presented in 2.35:1 AR.

My Advice: Rent it.

For those undereducated in the world of chop-socky cinema, Jackie Chan's original Drunken Master is a classic of the genre, and represented one of the first attempts to break away from the heavy-handed melodrama of standard kung fu theatre. By creating a film that was heavy on both kung fu action and slapstick comedy, Chan essentially created his own place in cinema history. As the premiere comedic kung fu actor then and since, he carved out his own genre, and went on to produce scores of movies in this new vein.

With Chan's immense popularity in the states, coupled with the new thirst for all things Yuen Wo Ping, it was a given that Drunken Master would see DVD release before huge swaths of other Hong Kong flicks. With Yuen Wo Ping's work in The Matrix, we've already seen the theatrical release (and subsequent DVD treatment) of Iron Monkey, and if you've enjoyed either of those flicks (or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for that matter) then Drunken Master needs to be on your shelf, too.

The plot of the movie is simple enough. Won Fei Hung (Chan) is the son of a famous martial artist, but he doesn't exactly take the stuff seriously. Constantly goofing off and making jokes both in training and in public, he's a bit of a disgrace to the family name, but he's still talented enough. While goofing around and fighting some rival students, Hung badly injures the son of a powerful local man. To ensure discipline, Hung's father calls in a legendary kung fu master, with a reputation for crippling or killing his students, to teach Hung the mysterious art of drunken boxing.

This is a legitimately funny movie, though the humor is mostly physical slapstick rather than amusing dialogue. The training sequences with Hung and the drunken master himself are amusing, and if you've only ever seen Jackie's more recent American films, you're in for a surprise the first time Jackie gets his arse handed to him. He doesn't tend to lose a lot of fights in his more recent excursions. The one word of advice I'll pass on is this -- watch it subtitled. The English dub (which dates from its original theatrical release) is absolutely awful (and they call Hung "Freddy," I guess because having a Chinese hero with a Chinese name was just too silly for them).

The DVD treatment is beautiful, with a fully remastered video and audio track (though the English audio is mono, it doesn't matter because the dub is so bad nobody will want to watch this in English). Very little crackling in the picture or sound (though there is a small amount - I suppose there's only so much one can do with decades-old film stock). Colors are bright and clear, and the widescreen presentation shows off the action sequences nicely -- Chan tends to roam all over the shot during his fight scenes, and I can't imagine a pan-and-scan treatment being able to keep up with him. The audio is clean, maintaining a good balance between effects and dialogue, and there's no fuzzing of people's speech, so it's all discernible (though if you're watching subtitled, I imagine only so many of you care).

Extras are a bit sparse, providing only the commentary and some trailers, but the commentary is quite good. The commentary of the Hong Kong film expert is very informative, and serves to give a good sense of the state of the genre both then and now. Meyers also talks about the impact of Yuen Wo Ping and Jackie Chan on the kung fu genre at some length, and helps to explain some of the more bewildering tropes and aspects of Hong Kong film to a Western audience.

If you're a hardcore Chan or kung fu completist, this one is a must-own, but if you're a more casual fan, a rental should suffice. Chan's antics are as entertaining as always, though his stunts lack some of the over-the-top flair of his later films. Definitely check this one out, but don't shell out the long green unless you're the kind that knows all the words to "Kung Fu Fighting."