|
DRUNKEN
MASTER
AKA:
Drunken Monkey In The Tiger's Eyes ||
Eagle Claw, Snake Fist
And Cat's Paw
Year:
1978 Reviewer: Tony
Ryan
Following
on from Jackie's first ever hit film 'Snake
in the Eagles Shadow', and still on loan to Seasonal
Films, 'Drunken Master' is the movie that made a man renowned
for film failures into a true star.
This
is one of many portrayals of Chinese legendary figure Wong Fei
Hung (Freddy Wong in the dubbed version!) more recently made
famous in the first 3 'Once
Upon A Time In China' films, as well as having been played
by Tse Man, Gordon Lau Kar Fai, Chiu Man Cheuk and Kwan Tak
Hing in various other productions. Not forgetting Jackie in
the fabulous and superior 'Drunken
Master 2'.
Jackie
plays the character with tongue firmly in cheek as a
rebellious teenager sent to learn discipline and the style of
the Eight Drunken Gods from Beggar So (Yuen Siu Tien). Siu
Tien was the father of the film’s director Yuen Woo Ping,
and made the role of Beggar So, an old travelling drunkard,
his own. Film buffs may recognise a very similar character in
the excellent 'Magnificent
Butcher' played by Fan Mei Sheng. That role was also
supposed to be played by Yuen Siu Tien but he passed away when
production began. This explains why Siu Tien’s face is on
the cover of the Megastar DVD.
'Drunken
Master' in its uncut form, is action packed showing Jackie at
the peak of physical agility. His lengthy fight against super
kicker Hwang Jang Lee in the final reel is a wonder to behold
in terms of physical grace, even if the choreography is a
little slow. My favourite scene sees Fei Hung take on the
"King of Sticks", as it is superbly choreographed,
the fastest in the film, and is also quite funny.
The
movie is showing its age in the rhythmic pace of some of the
action, meaning it gets 4 stars instead of 5, but was a
groundbreaking film setting Jackie Chan on the road to huge
success. No one who claims to be a Hong Kong action cinema fan
or a true Chan fan should be without a copy of this movie,
especially now the truly excellent region two Hong Kong
Legends DVD is available.
|
