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Drunken Master 1: 5.3 out of 10

Starring: Jackie Chan

This is the predecessor to the film released in American theaters this year “Legend of Drunken Master”. Made a number of years ago, this movie has the look of a chop sockey style film. The choreography seems slightly choppy for Jackie and the production quality is not too great. There are some interesting moves in the fights and the training scenes, but you have to have a sharp eye to catch some of them.

The story follows a young student of the martial arts, Wong Fei Hung (or in the American version, Freddie Wong) who gets in a fight with a bully and beats him up in town. Fei Hung’s father can’t handle him, and sends him to train with the famous martial arts teacher Sam Seed (undoubtedly a name concocted by the American release company). Sam seed is notorious in the martial arts world for his hard-core methods and he uses them to whip an undisciplined Fei Hung into shape. After a confrontation with an assassin, in which he gets his ass kicked, Fei Hung goes back to Seed to continue his training. Sam teaches him the secret Drunken style which, not surprisingly, he uses to defeat the assassin in the end.

I SUGGEST YOU WATCH FOR: The training scenes contain some very difficult looking sequences. In one of them, Jackie stands over sharpened spike in his horse stance with his arms outstretched weights around the wrists. And the crowning touch, teacups filled with steaming, boiling water on his shoulders and head. (Note: the special effect in Chinese movies that produces steam coming out of teacups is…. Guess what, real boiling water!) There are some other practices in the movie that look at least as difficult as this; you have to see it to know what I mean.

THE BEST FIGHT: Fei Hung vs. the bullies. Jackie fights a group in the town close to the beginning that is worthwhile. It showcases some of Jackie’s skills from back when he was a few years younger.

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