Cast:

Jackie Chan

Ti Lung

Anita Mui

Ken Lo

Chin Kar Lok

Andy Lau

Liu Chia Liang

Action:

Jackie Chan

Liu Chia Liang

Producer:

Leonard K. C. Ho

Director:

Liu Chia Liang

Jackie Chan

Score:  

DRUNKEN MASTER 2

AKA:  The Legend Of Drunken Master || Drunken Master II

Year: 1994    Reviewer: Phil Mills

This sequel to one of Jackie Chan's first hit movies was made at a time when the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung had been played to death, but somehow it still manages to recapture the old magic.  Chan reprises his role as the young Fei Hung who uncovers a plot by a local gang to use a foundry to smuggle out Chinese antiques.  However, Fei Hung has been forbidden to drink by his father (played here by veteran actor Ti Lung) but must do so in order to defeat his opponents in a climactic finale.

Despite slightly incoherent plot elements (due to difficulties on the set between Chan and director Liu Chia Liang who later left the production) the action in this film is almost unsurpassed.  The final duel between Chan and super kicker Ken Lo has been talked about for years and remains one of the most captivating fights ever committed to the Jade Screen.  Those of you that worried that a sequel could never live up to the first can rest at ease because this is one of those rare occasions where it surpasses the original.  This truly was a fond return to classic kung fu movies for Chan and, considering he was approaching his 40th birthday, contains his best fight choreography and performance to date.  This is every fan's favourite J.C. movie and if you only want to see one Martial Arts film in your life, then this is the one must-see movie.  What are you waiting for?  Buy it today!

Distributor:  Thakral

Region:  0 (NTSC)

Running Time:  102 mins

Video: 

Letterboxed at 1.85:1 (reformatted from what was originally 2.35:1) with an average picture quality.  Luckily the cropping does not affect the film in any way and although there are a few speckles and blemishes present, this is still a perfect way to own this film.

Audio:

Cantonese and Mandarin DD 5.1 mixes with English and simplified Chinese removable subtitles.

Extras:  

- Mandarin dubbed trailers for 'Thunderbolt', 'Big Bullet' and 'Future Cops', all of which play before the menu appears

Notes:

The menu is in Chinese only - the first option is to play, the second for chapters, the third is for language options, and the fourth for subtitles.

Distributor:  Dimension/Disney

Region:  1 (NTSC)

Running Time:  102 mins

Video: 

Digitally remastered anamorphic widescreen, in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The transfer is very clear, however, on further inspection some print damage is still apparent and some scenes are slightly soft. A definite improvement on the R0 version, but HKL would have done a better job!

Audio:

DD 5.1 English dub only (and French on Canadian version) with English removable subtitles. The original soundtrack was not bought, so a new score and soundtrack are apparent as well as English voice actors. Ironically, this version has Jackie's real voice unlike the original Cantonese track, but unfortunately, the fight scenes lack the powerful sound FX of the original.

Extras:  

- A self glorifying interview with Jackie Chan which is very poor considering it's such a brilliant film

- Twelve trailers for various Dimension releases of Jackie Chan and Jet Li films.  Most notably 'Supercop' (aka 'Police Story 3'), 'Fist of Legend', 'Twin Warriors' (aka 'Tai Chi Master'), 'Operation Condor' (renamed from 'Armour of God'), 'Operation Condor 2' and 'Project A'.  Oddly enough the 'Legend Of Drunken Master' trailer is not amongst them.

Notes:

This re-release of 'Drunken Master 2' has the closing epilogue from the film removed.