Product Details

• Format: NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: ALL
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (233 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000065KDF
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,343 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Legend of the Drunken Master" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Jackie Chan was 40 when he stepped back into the role of young Wong Fei Hung in this sequel to his 1978 breakthrough comic hit, Drunken Master. In the ensuing years the character, one of China's most popular folk heroes and a cinematic staple for decades, had been taken up as a quiet, introspective healer by Jet Li in the first three films in the fabulously popular series of films Once Upon a Time in China and in the more comic Last Hero in China. Chan returns Wong Fei Hung to the mischievous youth of the original film, an impetuous rascal with the skills of his healer/martial arts master father (Ti Lung of A Better Tomorrow) and the impulsiveness of his conniving, fun-loving mother (Anita Mui). Comic mix-ups and misunderstandings land Wong in the middle of a plot by British smugglers stealing Chinese treasures and enslaving local workers in an iron foundry. This mad mix of slapstick comedy, energetic action, and melodrama offers some of Chan's finest fight scenes, a series of tightly choreographed, highly acrobatic skirmishes that build in intensity to the battle royal in the foundry where Wong dodges coal carts, parries sneak attacks, and crab walks through red-hot coals while taking on a succession of comers. Though 20 years older than his character, Chan pulls it off with grace, energy, and youthful vigor. --Sean Axmaker

From The New Yorker

Jackie Chan in mint condition, fighting off an axe gang with a wooden bench in each hand. Colonial China as a place where even friends greet each other with a bit of fist play. These are the hallmarks of a classic kung-fu film. What surprises are the finely wrought scenes of Chinese daily life (the market, the train, the school courtyard) and the sprightly comic performance of Anita Mui as a mah-jongg-obsessed wife. Chan made this film in 1994 as an homage to "Drunken Master," the 1979 film that turned him into a star, and the final twenty-minute fight scene inside a steel mill is considered one of the genre's high-water marks. For this rerelease, the dialogue has been dubbed into English, and the mismatched mouths take you back to the Saturday-afternoon double features of days gone by. -Michael Agger
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Blu-ray: Not the best PQ, missing Chinese audio, not the original cut - A definite upgrade from the original US DVD, September 15, 2009

By 

Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Legend of Drunken Master [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

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.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best Martial Arts Film ever made, May 20, 2000

By 

Louis K. Stevens (Plainfield, NJ: Gilliam's TKD Academy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drunken Master 2 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I know some of you will disagree and say that Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon", or Jet Li's "Fist of Legend" was the best ever made but I would have to disagree. While Bruce Lee was the best Martial Artist ever, his movies were average in regards to their fight choreography.No one could ever touch him in his films. The fight choreography in "Drunken Master 2" was incredible. It was realistic because there were almost no wire stunts involved and the fight scenes were fantastic. The fight scene with Jackie and Liu Chia Liang (Lau Kar Leung) in the beginning was pure poetry in motion. The final fight scene was fifteen minutes of pure adrenaline pumping action. Unique choreography makes this movie a classic. Unlike Jet Li's characterization of Wong Fei Hung, Jackie makes Fei Hung seem more human and vulnerable. Nobody could ever touch Jet Li in the "Once Upon a Time in China" series. Plus some of the moves just look so ridiculously fake. "Fist of Legend" is Jet's best movie because it isn't as fake and he actually has to fight hard to win. However, it is still only the second best film ever made. Not to criticize any other reviewer, but since when does the ability to do 540's and 720's and Butterfly kicks make a martial art film great? I have been involved in Martial Arts for over a 20 years and would love for someone to try to fight me using those kicks. While they look fancy in forms competition, they mean nothing in a real tournment fight and even less in a real street fight. This film is without a doubt the best Jackie Chan film ever and the best ever made. (At least until Jackie and Jet team up to do a film as has been rumored)

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of Jackie Chan!, May 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Drunken Master 2 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Not only does this movie raise the bar for fighting choreography, but it has so many other facets that make it a movie to be appreciated by movie lovers of all genre's. I won't dwell on the martial arts aspect. There have been plenty of reviews that have addressed the fact that this movie's fight scenes mark the greatest efforts of a martial arts wonder like Jackie Chan. There is no single martial arts talent in the West that can even compare to Hong Kong greats like Jackie. I would prefer to point out that unlike most martial arts pictures ( and unfortunately this includes some of Jackie's too) this picture has a quality story and great characters too. So much so that I have seen people who can't stand martial arts pictures really enjoy this one. Viewers will be amazed by the martial arts ability while they laugh at the antics of Jackie playing the young mischievous Fei Hung and Anita Mui playing his equally mischievous step-mother. This movie truly represents the range of Jackie's acting ability from humor, to penitant, to unbridled anger. All in all, a movie to be appreciated by everyone.