The Legend Of Drunken Master

Widely considered Jackie Chan's best movie, The Legend of Drunken Master (released to the rest of the world in 1994 as Drunken Master II) features what are arguably the fastest, most furious and elaborate (not to mention the most entertaining) fight sequences ever filmed. Chan plays a fictionalized version of Wong Fei-Hung, a real martial arts master and philosophical altruist in the early 1900s who, legend has it, once defeated a gang of 30 men single-handedly, armed only with a bamboo staff. That skirmish is, of course, recreated in Chan's brilliant comedy kung-fu style in this story about taking on colonial European art smugglers trying to export Chinese archeological treasures en masse. Burdened somewhat by the usual bad dubbing of dumb dialogue and stereotyped female leads, this nonetheless an exhilarating, eye-popping martial arts flick with a jaw-dropping final showdown that puts the effects-heavy bouts in The Matrix to shame. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Sept. 15, 2009—Miramax, 102 min., R, $39.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1994's The Legend of Drunken Master sports a good transfer with 5.1 DTS-HD sound. Blu-ray extras include an interview with star Jackie Chan (7 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid Blu-ray debut for an entertaining Jackie Chan vehicle.]