Customer Reviews

Taoism Drunkard

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Now first of all the picture quality is very good. Not remastered but the print was not damaged at all, just some scratches and speckling. The subtitles are actually ALL readable. After seeing the first person's review I was expecting not to be able to follow the story at all but I literally was able to read all of the subtitles except for the occasional word that was cut off by the sides. But since the movie is close to being perfectly letterboxed that issue only happens about 9 or 10 times.

Now the movie is a super wierd taoist flick that was a series of 3 movies that Yuen Woo Ping did. This movie was actually directed by Yuen Cheung-Yan. I haven't seen 'Miracle Fighters' but I can say this movie is not quite as good as 'Shaolin Drunkard'. The action is actually better but the story drags a lot more than 'Shaolin Drunkard'. Yuen Chat-Yor once again plays the young Taoist master and lives with his Grandma in their trap filled house. The Old Devil(Yuen Shun Yi) is on the loose and Chat-Yor is going to become the head priest and take down Old Devil. Yuen Cheung-Yan again plays the Taoist Drunkard who has got all kinds of tricks up hsi sleeve. So basically the story does struggle quite a bit but manages to remain fun and clever throughout the movie. The final battle with Old Devil definitely tops it off well. Don't expect great kung fu, just great weirdness. And of course beware of the Watermelon monster or whatever that thing is.

Don't sleep, the funniest kung fu flick if all tiiiiiiime! Get involved ASAP, you will not be dissapointed. This is an awesome flick by the Yuen brothers, including Yuen Wo-Ping, of Matrix fight choreography fame.

This review is copies from badmovies DOT org. I could put it in my own words, but this review says it all! Also you'll want the old DUBBED VHS edition of this film, as the subtitled one on DVD isn't quite as fun without the hilarious english voice overs.

The Characters:


(Work with me here, there were NO credits)
Cha Le and Jun - Virgin boy who is becoming a monk, she is the girlfriend who won't give it up.
Old Devil - Powerful evil spirit, he has this cannonball which spits out mini cannonballs. Rat Face and Cha Le finally defeat him.
Rat Face - Alcoholic with a face like some rodent, he uses very powerful Kung Fu though.
Granny - Cha Le's grandmother, she is a powerful martial arts witch. I think the actor was a man. Killed by Princess.
The Watermelon Monster - This thing is a riot! It's a giant toothed cannonball!
Princess - Cult leader, very pretty and her sash is deadly. Ends up enslaved to Old Devil and killed by Cha Le.
Fat Chick and Shining Knight - Princess' cultists, Fat Chick has this weird "antenna" hair style.





The Plot:




I was entirely unprepared for this movie, it is a confusing but hilarious roller coaster of Kung Fu mayhem! Words can hardly describe the number of crazy kicks, punches, and special weapons you are treated to. And now for the equally absurd plot. Rat Face is tasked with finding a virgin male born on the 15th of August to perform a temple ritual. Cha Le (a virgin born on the 15th of August) is learning the art of being a martial arts using witch from his manly grandmother. He must retrieve the "secret document" from a hidden room, reaching it involves many dangers, and The Watermelon Monster guards the script. Princess and her cult often collect money from people, they can be very violent about not contributing. Old Devil wants the "secret document" to gain more power or something. The situation comes to a head at the temple ceremony where Rat Face and Cha Le must battle Old Devil. Confused? Watching it won't help - but you will be laughing and asking, "What just happened?" over and over (keep the remote handy for rewind). Never in my life have I seen so many people being pulled or suspended by wires, or stuffed dummies being thrown against walls, etc... ...and The Watermelon Monster, who in the heck thought this thing up? You really have to see this movie my friends, even if you don't like fu flicks.


Things I Learned From This Movie:


Kung Fu defies all laws of physics, Einstein knew E=whatever the Shaolin monks decide.
Paper is a terrific insulator against fire.
Fat women fight by spinning or falling on you.
Asian girls say, "I want to cuddle." instead of, "Hump my brains out." but the result is the same.
Ladies: don't have sex in your deceased husband's tomb with the new boyfriend.
Getting a wine gourd jammed up your ass hurts.
Wearing a penis suit does not increase your fighting prowess and is likely to result in bodily harm.
Kung Fu requires ventriloquism.
People need their teeth in the afterlife.
Alcoholics never make it as wine tasters.
The Devil is susceptible to being smacked with 4X4's. (As in a piece of wood.)

Rather spend your money on a different version of this film. The film itself is great, provided that you enjoy the type of humor which is showcased .. but seriously how could you not love the watermelon monster (aka the banana monster).
But the product is very flawed. My first complaint is the subtitles. I would have preferred the movie to be dubbed, as that is in the spirit of such old kung-fu movies to have them move their lips without the correct words coming out. But I can deal with subtitles, or at least properly executed subtitles, which these arent.
First of, there is the lack of black background for the white subtitles so they become completely unreadable every time there is a white or other light color in the scene. Secondly, at times you have to be a very fast reader to be able to get everything, since the subtitles have a tendency to disappear very quickly. Third, not everything in this movie is subtitled, so at times people are talking without subtitles. Fourth, the english used for the subtitles arent exactly what you could call perfect english, as there's many times where flawed english is showcased.
Now if all the problems with the subtitles wasnt enough, the sound is enough out of sync to irritate the hell out of you (or at least me). A good kung-fu fight isn't the same if you cant here the hits and kicks, which you can't on this DVD. In the kung-fu fights the sound of a hit is first heard directly after one of the people have been hit, and that tendency continues all through the movie.
Throw in the lack of bonus material (as the only bonus material is trailers) and there is absolutely nothing to appease me.

My verdict is that this DVD shouldnt be bought, and people who really want this movie (which I did) should rather look for other releases of this movie, since the movie it self is definately worth seeing.

This is one of the best movies ever made.
One of the funniest if not the funniest kung fu movie I have ever seen.
The only thing that could of made it better and would of been a perfect movie is if they dubbed it in English by British people like other kung fu movies. Subtitles were very hard to read and went by quickly most of the time.
But it was still a great movie. Some of the funny scenes were:

1. Banana Monster which actually looked like a melon or eggplant. He guarded the Writ. Banana Monster used these weird metal tentacles to grab the breasts of opponents. It also would lunge towards the opponents crotch trying to bite the penis off.

2. One fight scene a guy used what is called "machine kung fu". I think he said he learned it from his mom. Breakdancing music all of a sudden was playing and he started doing breakdancing kung fu.

3. The overweight Chinese lady fighting looked hilarious. She would do these weird spin moves and one time she landed on a guy and flattened him into some mud. She also had these hair braids sticking out like antennas.

4. One fight scene this guy was backed up towards the wall and he started walking up the wall backwards all the way to the ceiling.

5. Bong Smoking Grandma - One of the main character's grandmother (played by a guy) fought the devil guy with a huge bong. She would smoke it and use the smoke to make her not visible and also blew some stuff out of it that was lit. Also she used a huge over-sized sword that you couldn't even wrap your hands around in another fight scene with the devil guy.