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Drunken Master

Drunken Master

List Price: $14.94
Your Price: $13.45
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Make sure you buy the right version!
Review: An amazing Jackie Chan classes. However, beware of anyone selling this title cheaper that mentions it has a "different cover but same movie." That is the "Front Row" DVD and does not have nearly the same quality as this Columbia release nor does it have the features this disc does.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A mediocre martial arts classic
Review: True, it's the original Drunken Master, true, some parts are funny, but the graphics on this DVD were AWFUL! They didn't even do anything to enhance it, so it looks just like the cheesy 70's flick it is. The fight scenes are cool at times, but they are very long, as is the whole movie. It's not exactly the most exciting martial arts movie I have ever seen either.

A very young Jackie Chan plays a karate student with lots of talent, but also a lot of laziness and a tendency to misbehave. His angry instructors sentence him to training with and old man who has earned a reputation for being cruel and injuring his students. Jackie Chan tries to escape, but to no avail. After much ineffectual hassling with this old man, Jackie agrees to let him teach him the art of Drunken Boxing. It is a culmination of styles taken from eight different gods, which can only be done when - you guessed it - drunk. Jackie, however, refuses to learn the style of the eighth god because she is a woman, which later turns out to be a bad move. (He does, however, make a good ladylike impression of her :) that was one of the funny parts) He gets in a lot of fights along the way and in the end winds up fighting for his father's honor.

Overall, don't expect it to be absolutely action-packed or hilarious, the jokes are the kind you may smile at but don't laugh out loud. Again, the graphics are the worst I have ever seen. However if you can appreciate an old martial-arts classic, go for it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: another problem besides unstable vocal track...
Review: I am disappointed in this release of one of my old favorites.

Its good points: the action sequences have not been accelerated after the fact (like they were in the old VHS versions that have been floating around movie rentals for years). The difference this makes is interesting. It's nice to see the fight scenes at actual speed, which I had only seen on a good projected print years ago. I actually do miss the faster version at certain points, where many moves now look a little too gentle, and where I can actually see the actors not making contact. All the same, I prefer seeing the normal-speed fights that were no doubt seen in the initial, unaltered theatrical release.

Its BAD points: My copy of the DVD also switches from Cantonese to English randomly - annoying enough by itself...

But what really annoys me the most is a small visual edit near the very end of the film. I am certain this is a recent edit that did not appear in the VHS versions that I have seen, or in the celluloid version that I saw in a theater. What is more, the change makes no narrative sense, and the new scene becomes quite awkward as a result. Without revealing anything more, I will say that it seems to be an editorial decision on the part of someone who felt that the film sends the wrong message. Nevertheless, it is an act of corporate censorship. It mangles the climactic fight scene, in my opinion, and it is simply intolerable on principle alone. There also seem to be some changes to the dialogue throughout the film (in the English subtitles and dubbing), apparently in order to tone down the basic premise of the film.

It is not Columbia/Tri Star Pictures' place to decide what is not suitable for me to see, nor to censor Yuen Wo Ping's directorial decisions, goofy though they may be.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: DVD has problems...but what a movie!
Review: First of all, that 3 stars is for the DVD, not the movie itself. This is one of my all time favorite Jackie Chan movies, and I've been looking for a decent, uncut, wide-screen version for 3 years. I thought this was it. Unfortunately, as others have stated, there is a serious problem with the Chinese audo track. The story I've been told is that the only Cantonese track available had gaps in the dialogue, so the manufacturers simply inserted the English dialogue in the holes. Brilliant. Another Hong Kong masterpiece butchered by American distributors.

That being said, this is Jackie Chan at his youthful, mischeivous, exuberant best. The story is pure Hong Kong kitcsh, that's true, but if you're a Chan fan it's loads of fun, especially if you've only seen his big American releases. If you're a Kung Fu fan, you'll be delighted by the drunken boxing style. The audio commentary by Jeff Yang and Ric Meyers is both informative and entertaining. And this version is uncut, replacing about 20 minutes of footage that was missing from my cruddy VHS copy of this film. The picture is crystal clear, and if you don't mind English dubbing, you will be delighted with this DVD.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great, except for the audio problem
Review: This is a really good DVD. Great picture for its age, great movie, great commentary by Ric Meyers. However, the audio problem that everyone is running into with the Cantonese track is supposedly due to the bad audio master that the company got the material from. Apparently, some of the audio was in such poor shape that they couldn't leave it on and instead replaced it in all these weird places with the English dub track. That's what I read from one reviewer website at least. Take that info or leave it. But still worth having.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Worst DVD I've ever bought!
Review: I really really like this movie... I really do. Too bad the DVD is omg horrible! First of all, the language switches from Cantonese to English repeatedly throughout the disk for no reason at all. Secondly, the subtitles are extremely poor. Third, the special features are... well, there are none! Besides a flashy trailer of Time and Tide with cool music, this disc is a piece. So let's recap... the audio track is broken, the subtitles are WAY off, and the DVD is junk. Yes, don't buy it... ever.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Must for any Jackie fans.
Review: This was one of Jackies early movies but the DVD has been remastered to crystal clear quality. However beware, the audio dubbing has been also re-done and this really takes away the original charm of the movie.Some of the famous lines said in the original has been replaced by insipid dialogues in the remastered version. I would rate this movie as one of Jackies best, but to keep in your collection, please go buy the original VHS, or chinese released DVD, with the original dialogues.
Also in the DVD, the chinese sub-titles keep coming on and going off. No matter what i try, and in any player, the subtitles keep appearing and disappearing at regular intervals.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Don't tamper with a classic!
Review: This version has been tampered with,much to my disappointment. It's still worth buying though.I watched this film back to back with the Wu Tang Clan's release of Kung Fu of the 8 Drunkards,which has tons of extras and dynamite fight scenes.I also suggest getting the Wu' release of Shaolin Drunkard,which was directed by Yuen Woo Ping also.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Great film, but one MAJOR technical problem...
Review: This is a great martial arts movie, and Jackie Chan's first huge success. The fighting is FANTASTIC and there are over a dozen fights in the film. There's also some awesome training sequences, which really show off Jackie's ability and the true art of drunken boxing.

I was mega-excited to see this release in widescreen, remastered crystal clear picture AND the original Chinese audio(the bad English dubbing is optional if you'd like).

That's were the problem comes in... the DVD Chinese audio seems to switch off randomly in between scenes, and instead plays the English dub. You'll watch the film and mid sentence the Chinese will become English! The English plays for a little while then goes back to Chinese! This happens throughout the film.

If you watch the movie on English dub, there are no problems. Still, the overall experience is really hurt. I've read this same problem posted in other reviews, so its definately a problem with the manufacturer. How does a problem like this get through quality assurance testing???

Without the problem, I'd give this 5 stars... too bad because this is a really great film.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: It is but it isn't the same movie!
Review: Well, you would have to imagine how excited I was to hear Drunken Master (The real version) was coming out on DVD. I pre-ordered it to ensure my copy, it was delived...what movie is this the dialog is totally different. Those devotees of the genre and this movie in particular are familiar with the famous line Jackie gives Thunderfoot at their second meeting "Each man, 1 way; Each horse, 1 stance; Each church, 1 buddha; Each master to his own technique" and the music return is CLASSIC and nothing less. In this digitally remade, remastered pseudo Drunken Master that classic line is reduced to "So you think that you're the only master here, well let me tell you, my drunk gods don't mess around nobody can fight like they do" HUH? I was appalled! Remember Sam Seed, the name of the old drunk master his name is changed to So high(phonetic) leave it in the store don't tarnish the memory!


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