Has there ever been an action star as incompetently competent as Jackie Chan's Wong Fei-hung from The Legend of Drunken Master (now available on NETFLIX INSTANT)? Probably not.
Has there ever been a higher-octane, more action-driven film that still manages to maintain its absurd innocence and charm and is as much straight-up fun is this one? Doubtful.
Is there any way to watch the clip below and not love it? Gosh, I sure hope not.
From a land where honor and tradition reign, comes the legend of a martial-arts hero unlike any other -- the "Drunken Master" -- who can turn just one drink into devastation and humiliation for his enemies. His technique is fast, furious... and powerfully funny. The film that propelled Jackie Chan's particular blend of kung fu and comic action to international superstardom
Awesome. And it doesn't even feature the drunken fighting style that made the film famous.
OK, one more question? Is this the worst English dub ever? And does it (inexplicably) find a way to make the film even better in spite of its seeming incompetence? Sort of like its star?
Yup.
Here's what Roger Ebert had to say (and I think he's pretty much dead-on):
Jackie Chan's "The Legend of Drunken Master" is quite simply amazing. It involves some of the most intricate, difficult and joyfully executed action sequences I have ever seen. If you have any interest in seeing a Jackie Chan martial arts film, then this is the one to see. Filmed in 1994 but not given a wide North American release until now, it is considered by those who have seen most of Chan's 70-plus films to be one of his two or three best.
The original Drunken Master, of which the 1994 film is a sort-of reboot, is available on CRACKLE-free-with-ads. Worth checking out, though not quite up to this one's brilliance or absurd levels of fun. Oh, and this recommendation was pretty much Matt Singer's idea, as part of the ever-enjoyable, frequently-informative "Filmspotting: Streaming Video Unit (SVU)" podcast, so you should listen to the mid-April episode, for sure. And also the podcast itself, which is a bi-weekly enterprise. And one of my go-to-casts.
