| Drunken
Master is a film that, following Snake in the Eagle's Shadow
(1978) (made with the same ensemble cast and director Yuen
Woo Ping), consolidated Jackie Chan's position as the new
Hong Kong kung fu action star of the late 1970s. Set in the
late 19th century, Chan plays the great Chinese hero Wong
Fei Hung as a loveable young rogue who is always getting into
fights or embarrassing his family. Eventually his father decides
the only way to make a man of Chan is to send him for training
with an old drunken drifter played by Yuen Siu Tien. Just
as they did in Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, the pair make
a fine double-act, though this time there is much surreal
entertainment to be had from the older man teaching the younger
the fine art of drunken kung fu. Learning to fight like the
Eight Drunken Gods before the final confrontation with Hwang
Jang Lee causes Chan considerable problems, though Yuen Siu
Tien simply fights better the more he drinks. Yuen Siu Tien
would reprise the role in his final film, Magnificent Butcher
(1979) yet with Chan he finds a perfect blend of slapstick
comedy and creatively staged action which makes Drunken Master
a genuine kung fu classic.
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