Drunken Master

"You watch out or you'll have a body with no ass!" As badly dubbed threats go, this one delivered to Jackie Chan (who is himself dubbed over by a guy with a distinctly British accent) is gluteus to the maximus. One of the premiere releases on Columbia TriStar's new Destination Films home video line, the 1978 Drunken Master, directed by Yuen Wo Ping (fight choreographer for The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) stars the Buster Keaton-ish kung fu master Chan as Wong Fei Hong--who is a) your basic indolent brat son b) tossed into the rather sadistic training arms of his uncle, who teaches him the "drunken boxer" style of kung fu, so that c) he can fight off an assassin hired to kill his father. Needless to say, breadth of character and depth of plot are not the big draws here; rather, watching a buff Chan kick some serious bootie and stagger through the many comic stances and moves of drunken boxing (including a hilarious feminine persona) make this a reasonably enjoyable romp through a chop socky classic. On DVD, of course, viewers have the option of forgoing the badly dubbed soundtrack, but then they'd be missing have the fun. For those who know not to expect the comparative polish of 1994's acclaimed sequel The Legend of Drunken Master (which enjoyed a good commercial run in the U.S. in 2000), this will be a welcome divertissement. A strong optional purchase. (R. Pitman)