DRUNKEN MASTER

Few actors have had the substantiated success of Jackie Chan. With a large number of movies to his name, he has only continued to grow in popularity. While many people in America are familiar with his newer movies like “Police Story 1-4,” “Rumble in the Bronx,” “Who Am I,” and especially his big American breakthrough “Rush Hour,” it is his older movies that built him as not only and actor, but as a master in the art of movie-martial-arts. Drunken Master is the finest example of Jackie’s earlier efforts.

Before Drunken Master, Jackie had made a series of ultra low budget, movies. With thin plots, weak acting, and unusual camera angles, they left a lot to be desired. While fans, such as myself, love these older movies to death, they were never going to make Jackie into the star he is today. Then one person came into Jackie’s life that changed all that for good. Woo-ping Yuen. A year before Drunken Master he directed Jackie in his first real success, “Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978).” Woo-ping brought something lacking in older Chan movies, style. They returned together the next year and made Drunken Master, and Jackie Chan never looked back.

Drunken Master does not have the most original or most important story you are ever going to hear. The budget, while higher then some of his older movies, still leaves a little to be desired, and it shows with the film quality and limited set designs. So why does this movie work so well? It is fun. Unlike many of the movies of the time, it never takes itself seriously until the very end, and by that time we are already drawn in enough to not care about the cheese. The actors all do great work in playing their parts, even if they are not the most fleshed out roles. The action is amazing. Woo-ping has proven himself time and time again as the master of fight choreography. His success with movies like Drunken Master, “Tai-chi Master,” “Iron Monkey,” and “Matrix” has made him a highly sought after talent in America. The fights in Drunken Master sparkle with energy and fun.

If you have found yourself enjoying many of Jackie Chan’s modern movies and whish to check out some of his older stuff, Drunken Master is a great place to start.

Disc: This is the “Front Row” release of Drunken Master on dvd. The best thing that can be said about the dvd is that it is letterboxed. The video is obviously just a transfer from a tape. From the start you can see distortion in the signal. There are moments of grain, and the picture is always faded. The only reason this is not a total wash out is because it far exceeds the tapes that are on the market. For the first time I have been able to watch the movie with some sort of consistency in video. Knowing the source element is not the best, and that the tapes on the market are all but unmatchable, and the fact that this dvd can be had for 10 bucks, I can recommend it. There is nothing else better in Region 1.

The sound is clean, but nothing to shout out about. I was pleasantly surprised that there was not much hiss and distortion. It is a dub, and the actors at times seem like they are on drugs, but it still works out just fine.

There are no extras on the disc, just chapter stops.

This movie gets on a scale of 1 to 5

Picture:1 Sound:2 Extras: 0 Movie:4