Product Details

• Actors: Jackie Chan, Chung-erh Lung, Jeong-Nam Kim, Chih-ping Chiang, Kang Chin
• Directors: Chi-Hwa Chen
• Writers: Jackie Chan, Ming Chi Tang
• Producers: San Min Lu, Wei Lo
• Format: Color, EP, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Simitar Ent.
• VHS Release Date: November 11, 1997
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304725019
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #669,102 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

An early comedic effort from one of today's greatest physical comedians, Half a Loaf of Kung Fu is a parody of many of the melodramatic kung fu movies that were coming out of Hong Kong in the 1970s. The credit sequence sets up the tone as Chan performs a dream sequence full of tongue-in-cheek kung fu moves and visual puns. (Chan's ninja is revealed to be a beggar, his priest chews out a group of monks only to then have to do chores himself, and there's even a reference to Jesus Christ Superstar!) Chan plays Jiang, a hapless orphan who is amiable enough but always getting into trouble. In dreams he is a skilled fighter (with the help of eating spinach à la Popeye), but in reality he's sort of a dope. A kind beggar and an opportunistic traveler with a bad case of gas teach him skills that bring him into the employment of the Sern Chuan Bodyguards, who are protecting a priceless gemstone--the Evergreen Jade. A band of robbers attempts a heist and Jiang and his flatulent friend defeat the crooks in comic style. Originally shelved in 1978 by director Chan Chi Wa (who directed Chan in Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin), Half a Loaf of Kung Fu was released in 1980 after Chan's popularity rose. --Shannon Gee

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Funny Fu, June 11, 2001

By 

MattLB (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Half a Loaf of Kung Fu [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Your enjoyment of this film will probably depend on how many traditional martial arts films you've seen before, as it attempts to poke fun (pretty successfully) at the cliches of such films.

Chan plays a young man lacking any Kung Fu skills, but possessing highly developed chaos skills. Everywhere he goes he inadvertantly causes people to die and as the film progresses he builds up quite a list of enemies. After a chance encounter with an old beggar (who is naturally also a Kung Fu master) Jackie gets the chance to learn some Kung Fu, but only if he does an errand first.

The errand turns out to be protecting a transport of treasure (by the beggar's nephew) from bandits. Chan's bumbling results in the nephew getting near fatally injured so the exasperated beggar gives him a book of Kung Fu to learn from. Within about a day Chan is an accomplished martial artist. This is fortunate as all the bandits decide to attack at once and the inevitable mass fight at the end occurs.

Very funny in places (like when Chan, in mid-battle, rips the fake moustache of one of the cheesy bad guys) but offering more to the veteran martial arts fan than a newcomer.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A kung-fu parody!, August 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Half a Loaf of Kung Fu [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Being a huge Jackie Chan fan and catching up with times when he made certain movies and why he made those movies, I felt compelled to write reviews for all of the ones that I've seen. You see, this movie was made when Jackie first realized that kung fu movies were too serious and didn't have enough comedy in 'em, so he tried to make fun of 'em with this parody. This is a funny movie. In opening sequence you see him attacking a wooden dummy, and then when the camera pulls back you see that it's a short (maybe less than 1 foot tall) dummy. Jackie stars as a guy that is out to prove that he's a kung fu master, put all he could do is acrobatics and gymnastics. There are plenty of funny scenes, like when he gets beaten up by a group of guys and finds some spinach. He gobbles it down and the "Popeye the Sailorman" music plays. Then Jackie beats up the bad guys. I like funny kung fu flicks, but I gave this one a four instead of a five because it was a parody that made fun of a genre instead of adding comedy to it, which Jackie does in later movies.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorites of Jackie's earlier movies, July 8, 2001

By 

Yoshitsune (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Half a Loaf of Kung Fu [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Half a Loaf of Kung Fu" is probably one of my favorites out of Jackie Chan's earlier movies. There are several funny fight scenes, and the actual Kung Fu is pretty decent. The movie is not at all serious as it is poking fun at movies in the genre that came out around the same time. I would definitely recommend this movie to any fan of Jackie Chan.