5/5 Drunken Master
  by Jonathan M. Harshman
This movie is one of Jackie Chan's finest. The action was great, and so was the story.

3/5 CGI is for cowards, in China they fight in actual pits of burning coals
  by Alexander M. Walker (Chicago, IL USA)
Jackie Chan made a lot of really fun kung fu films. However, Mr. Chan also made a lot of mediocre films in the process. The Legend of Drunken Master has a few standout moments of kung fu action, but overall it's not amongst his best. However, for Jackie Chan created comedy alone, it's easily one of his funniest. The final decision of purchasing The Legend of Drunken Master isn't going to come down to the quality of the picture or sound, because they received no bump at all in the transfer. No, instead you'll have to decide whether or not you value the comedy of the Chan man enough to make up for his lesser action scenes.

One of the basic conventions of kung fu (and especially film kung fu) is the numerous different forms. Crane. Tiger. Praying Mantis. The titles are endless and their styles distinctly unique. So what happens when you take a ridiculous notion like the wild aimless swings of a drunken brawler and dare to call them "technique"? Hilarity ensues. Sometimes.

Wong Fei-hung (Chan) shoulders a large responsibility despite being an irresponsible hooligan who frequently indulges in prideful fights and any opportunity to make a buck. Wong's father (Lung Ti) does his best to keep the academy of drunken boxing afloat, but the competition is fierce and their funding very poor. Eventually Wong's actions bring so much trouble for his father that their establishment shuts down - but just in time for Wong to go off on a mission to prevent an international hoarder of Chinese history from shipping out highly valuable ancient artifacts to museums around the world.

It's an incredibly loose plot, moreso than normal, and obviously has little purpose other than showcasing Chan's incredible talent and sense of humor. Watching him sway unevenly and lean awkwardly against other things for support during a fight provides enough laughs, but Chan's performance gets an extra little nudge from the many different things he drinks to maintain his buzz. The strength of liquor gradually increases until Wong is drinking gasoline and offering hiccups between each bout.

Okay, it may not be much in terms of a great kung fu film, but one scene reminds us of what makes Chinese cinema so awesome. At one point, Wong falls into a pit of burning coals and then quickly gets up and fights his way out. Now, in a Hollywood film he would have fallen onto a green mat and coals and flames would have been added later. Not in China. In China Jackie Chan falls into a pit of flaming coals. It's that simple. It's that awesome. Hollywood has lost its way.

Blu-ray is supposed to mean a new level of resolution and audio clarity. Typically, that definition stands, but The Legend of Drunken Master was given a simple port-job and taken directly from its DVD copy with little upscaling treatment to speak of. The picture flickers and even warps at some moments. This isn't the next generation of movie watching, this is an instance where if you've bought the DVD you needn't bother with a Blu-ray copy until they've gone back to the negatives. If you don't own the movie yet and want to complete your Jackie Chan collection, buy it on DVD for $5 from a bargain bin.

It's almost criminal to release a film like this in the condition that it's in. The Blu-ray technology boasts a reputation that Disney knows for a fact isn't fulfilled on this disc. They want you to buy and placate your hi-def cravings with a placebo effect. If the movie's case is blue then it must just be you.

Blu-ray Extra Features:

There's a single extra feature and it's an interview with Jackie Chan. Interviews with Jackie Chan are always fun to watch. The man has a great sense of humor and loves talking about his experiences in film. So try it out.

1/5 Where is the original language?
  by Michael Shear (Chicago, IL)
This is completely ridiculous... I have been waiting TEN YEARS for a domestic release with the original cantonese and when they rerelease this CLASSIC they release the same horrid DUB. Why even bother to release this?

4/5 Jackie Chan and the brilliantly exhaustive action sequences make THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER a classic
  by allangiven.com
For those unfamiliar with Jackie Chan outside of his work in American films such as the RUSH HOUR franchise or SHANGHAI NOON and its subsequent sequel, THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER will prove to be the perfect gateway into the brilliance of Chan's Hong Kong based films, and will absolutely astound audiences with the fight choreography. In THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER Chan plays Wong Fei Hung, a simple man who when traveling with his father, tries to avoid paying taxes by hiding the ginseng root they had purchased on their expedition in the luggage of an embassy worker. When a mysterious stranger tries to steal the package out of the luggage hold of the train, Chan battles him, only to later find out that his ginseng package was inadvertently switched with an identically wrapped box containing a stolen precious Chinese artifact of a jade seal. Chan soon finds himself in the middle of a plot to loot historical Chinese artifacts to display in British museums, and it is up to him to fight to preserve his cultural heritage.

The fight sequences in THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER are second to none, and choreographed by Chan and his stunt team, they beautifully depict a stylized kung fu at a frenetic pace that is simply spectacular. What is amazing is that the fight sequences are not just relegated to a few places within the movie, but rather comprise almost the film in its entirety, with scenes of dialogue interspersed in between. The fact is though, the fights never become tiresome or repetitive, but rather create an almost balletic means to convey the essence of the story, and allow each individual's nuances of character to be displayed by their distinctive fighting style. Chan's character practices Drunken Boxing, a style based on a staggering center of balance and a loose and flexible body, and Chan's choreography for this style further develops his character's own internal battles and the relationships he has with his own father, thus allowing the fight choreography to become paralleled with that of the screenplay in its ability to define character and drive the story forward.

What is astounding with the action sequences in THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER is their sheer length, with fights lasting for many minutes within the larger context of an action segment, allowing one to build upon the other. American audiences are normally geared to seeing intense action sequences like these presented with a breakneck succession of editing cuts, all spliced together to heighten the sense of peril and to engage the audience until the final payoff. The editing though in THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER does not follow this pattern, but rather is set up for long takes to allow the movement and the action taking place within each frame to build the film's action tempo and to expedite the pacing. This then means that all of the stunt people involved have a staggering number of choreographed moves to remember along with specific marks to hit while maintaining an unparalleled level of technical proficiency within the sequence. This is best evidenced in the scene where Chan is confronted by an endless stream of bad guys from an axe-wielding gang as he is trapped on the second floor of a building. With adversaries coming at him from the staircase leading below and pouring in from ladders leading to the windows along every wall, Chan's choreography in this fight scene marks a monumental achievement in action films, and further shows how brilliant Chan is at incorporating every day items such as tables or benches into his choreography.

Many viewers though may be waiting for the "big stunt" that normally is the cornerstone of a Jackie Chan picture, such as when he slid down the side of a twenty-one story building in WHO AM I?, but in THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER Chan actually focuses more on the subtlety of character, working hard to instill within Wong Fei Hung a uniquely signature style when he is performing his Drunken Boxing. Even moving at lightning speed in the fight scenes, Chan still maintains his facial expressions that are congruent with his character, and thus the Drunken Boxing does become the central highlight in regard to the stunts of the film and are simply a delight to watch. To satisfy those wishing to see outrageous stunts though, there is a fire sequence during the epic final battle that modern audiences may most likely dismiss as CGI, but if one watches the outtakes during the closing credits, it will be seen that Chan is of course crawling across actual fire.

While THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER does deal effectively with some poignant themes at its heart, such as the effects of imperialism and the overwhelming desire and necessity to hold on to one's cultural identity, Chan always works hard to imbue his characters with an underlying humor, and here there is no exception. Chan's Wong Fei Hung has some very funny moments, especially as he begins learning the balance necessary between consuming large quantities of alcohol and still being able to perform his drunken style effectively. Chan also plays beautifully off of the hilarious Anita Mui who portrays his step-mother, Mrs. Wong. The relationship between the two helps provide some great moments of comedic relief and serves to punctuate the action sequences throughout the film.

With trademark Chan humor and with its absolutely stunning fight sequences, THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER shows Jackie Chan at his best and will appeal to even those who are generally not interested in standard martial arts movie fare.

For the Blu-ray release of the film, there is unfortunately not much at all in the way of bonus features. The only extra included is a six minute documentary entitled "Behind the Master: An Interview with Jackie Chan." The interview in itself is decent, but it just recycles the behind the scenes footage that was already shown during the film's closing credits. With such amazing action sequences, it would have been great to see some more featurettes specifically focused on what goes into the choreography and filming of them. Instead, Chan simply states that in one action sequence that lasts for only six minutes on screen, the filming took close to four months. Despite its lack of bonus features though, THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER is still an iconic movie that should be included in everyone's Blu-ray collection.

3/5 Blu-ray: Not the best PQ, missing Chinese audio, not the original cut - A definite upgrade from the original US DVD
  by Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California)
In 1978, Jackie Chan's "Drunken Master" (or Jui Kuen) was an exciting film that is considered a classic and help popularize the drunken boxing style of martial arts which has been copied on various video games and other films. Over 16 years later, Chan returned for "Drunken Master II" (Jui Kuen II) which was not a direct sequel but followed the character with the same name, Wong Fei Hung.

For those not familiar with the name Wong Fei-hung (or Hong), the real man lived from 1847 through 1924 and was a master of the no-shadow kick, drunken boxing, the lion dance and Hung fist. The character has been explored in a number of films which include the Jet Li "Once Upon a Time in China" films and for Jackie Chan in the "Drunken Master" films

The film revolves around a man named Wong Fei Hung who travels with his father (a doctor) and a student named Tsao via train after obtaining more medicine to bring back home. But because they must pay duty fees for the items they bring with them, Wong would rather not pay for them (despite his father telling him to) and hides his items through one of the non-Chinese travelers luggage, hoping to retrieve it later on the train (the non-Chinese and the rich Chinese are separated in a luxury style train cabin away from the Chinese travelers who happen to be packed in like sardines.

But as Wong Fei Hung goes to retrieve the item, he discovers another man trying to take the item out of the luggage. We then see that the item the man takes, looks exactly like the item that Wong had. A fight ensues and the older man who is a Chinese loyalist named General Fu (Liu Chia-liang) manages to easily dodge and defend all of Wong's attacks and even calls Wong a traitor (which he has no idea why he is being called that).

Eventually, after the chaos ensues, Wong is able to retrieve the item but it appears that the old man accidentally took Wong's item (a ginseng root) and Wong took the item that the old man was trying to get, which appears to be an old Chinese ancient artifact and now the foreign traveler who own the luggage along with Chinese military are searching the whole train for it. Fortunately, a Counter Intelligence Officer (played by Andy Lau) manages to save Wong from being caught.

We learn that the artifact is part of Chinese traditional artifacts being taken by the British Consul and Chinese gangsters out of the country and now they are after Wong and want the artifact back.

Meanwhile, back at home, we get to see how Wong's stepmother (played by Anita Mui) tends to bail her stepsons from trouble but when those looking for the artifact steal from his mother's friend and even hit his mother in the face, Wong must used the forbidden fight of Drunken Boxing and also drinking alcohol which helps boost his attacks. But when he break his promise to his father, he learns a lesson by being beaten by his father and thrown out to the street when intoxicated, the Chinese gangsters beat him up to send a message that the want the artifact.

Will Wong be able to protect his family, his friends and even his land from the enemies without breaking his father's ultimatum of never to fight or get drunk again?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"The Legend of the Drunken Master" is one of those releases that one will either love or really hate. First, let's discuss the picture quality. Picture quality is probably the best that this film has ever been seen. The High Definition 1080p (2:35:1) definitely brings out the film with much clarity but by no means is it perfect. You will see occasional dirt and scratches and there are some scenes where either there was change in camera lens but sometimes the film is not consistent at times. With that being said, fans of the film will definitely enjoy learning of how good the picture quality is and because the first version of this film that I owned was a VHS and then an uncut HK VCD, it's great to see the film with so much detail. But for those expecting the best from Blu-ray, you may not exactly be pleased but it is an upgrade from the original DVD release.

As for the audio quality, this is where things begin to look murky and it all depends on the viewer. Audio is provided in English 5.1 DTS-HD (48kHZ/24-bit) and French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital. For the most part, lossless audio definitely shows major improvement during the action sequences and utilizes the surround channels. Meanwhile, the English voice dubbing can be understood but Jackie Chan's English voice over is sometimes hard to understand. But the biggest surprise is that there is no Cantonese/Mandarin audio track. So, for those who prefer to watch Asian films in their natural language will be upset to know that it was not included.

Second, it's important to let people know that this is the edited version of the film done back in 2000. The music was changed, the special effects were changed and the original ending had a significant scene cut out.

With that being said, for those who don't mind the English dub, were familiar with the 2000 DVD release and don't mind that the film was edited for the US, will definitely find the picture and audio quality to be much, much better than the original DVD release. The picture quality is shows quite a bit of detail and despite the film being made in 1994, there is no sign of excessive DNR (digital noise reduction), the film looks way better than it ever has. The audio is also much better than the previous DVD and there is a good use of the surround channels. But if you want the original Chinese audio, unfortunately, you will not find it on this release.

Subtitles are presented in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"The Legend of Drunken Master" comes with the following special feature:

* Behind the Master: An Interview with Jackie Chan - (6:35) Jackie Chan talks about how he always wanted the film to come out in the US and talks about the stunt choreography of the film.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"The Legend of Drunken Master" is absolutely vintage Jackie Chan at his very best. Jackie Chan is literally amazing to watch as the Smooth, fluid choreography is just outstanding and absolutely wonderful to watch in High Definition. But those battle sequences are just amazing to watch and the fight scenes, especially earlier in the film with Chinese loyalist General Fu (Liu Chia-liang) was just incredible.

Also, impressive was to see the latest Anita Mui (who was the equivalent to music artist Madonna in Hong Kong) and both she and Jackie Chan had awesome chemistry onscreen, even in this film despite Chan being much older than Anita, but everything seems to work quite well. As for Andy Lau's appearance, it was quite a short role. And for Shaw Brothers fans, you can catch the veteran Ti Lung playing Wong Kei-ying.

Again, I want to make it clear that this film has its best looking transfer to date on Blu-ray. Picture quality is very good but not great. But what it all comes down to is the viewer and what they want are expecting from this film.

For those wanting the 2000 English dubbed dialogue, you're going to get an awesome lossless track on Blu-ray as the film's lossless audio is utilizing the front, center and surround channels quite well during the action scenes.

But for those who have been waiting for the uncut release, let alone a release that would include the Cantonese or Mandarin audio, you're not going to get it on this Blu-ray release. And this is a major blow for those who have been hoping that with a Blu-ray release, they would be getting the version they have waited so long for. Even watching the final scene, a viewer is left wondering why it ends quite suddenly with no appearance from Jackie Chan but the truth is that Dimension cut that scene out (the original ending with Jackie Chan is a bit shocking but I'm not going to spoil it for you) because it was deemed in appropriate.

So, needless to say...it's going to be a love or hate release among fans. As a fan of the film, one can either wait and hope that an import uncut release of the film makes it to Blu-ray. Or perhaps maybe purchasing this latest release with the better picture quality, better lossless audio but for the most part only in English, French and Spanish (no Chinese audio dialogue) along with the revisions made back in 2000.

Personally, I want an uncut version with its original Chinese language (ala lossless audio) included and unfortunately, I didn't get it with this release. Otherwise, for those who don't mind the revisions or the English dub, this Blu-ray release of "The Legend of the Drunken Master" is the definitive version to own for now.