R E V I E W :   Drunken Master II 

Reviewed 2/28/01 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

Background 

Thakral / 1994 / 102 minutes
Directed by Liu Chia Liang
Written by Edward Tang Ging Sang, Yuen Gai Chi, Tong Man Ming

The first Drunken Master brought Jackie Chan stardom in 1978. Sixteen years later, at the age of 40, Chan returned to the role of Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-Hung. It was the first "old school" or traditional kung fu film he had made since Dragon Lord in 1982.

The film was released theatrically in Hong Kong in February 1994 and was a huge commercial success. Many fans rank this in the top two or three films of Jackie Chan's career. It received a belated theatrical release in the United States in October 2000.

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

Plot: To avoid paying expensive customs duty, Wong Fei-Hung hides ginseng in another railroad passenger's luggage. The ginseng gets mixed up with another package, and Wong Fei-Hung is soon involved in trying to thwart a plot to sell Chinese national treasures to the Western world. Along the way he must learn lessons from his strict disciplinarian father and wacky stepmother.

Performances: Ti Lung, as Wong Fei-Hung's father, gives the only believable performance. Both Jackie Chan, as Wong Fei-Hung, and Anita Mui, as his mother, mug for the camera uncontrollably. It doesn't help that Chan is playing a character who should be about half his age, and Mui, as his stepmother, is actually younger than him. If they ratcheted down their antics a bit, it might help the dramatic elements of the film mesh better with the plentiful comedic and action elements.

Production: The traditional Chinese musical score by William Hu is fine. Liu Chia Liang is the director of record, but at some point during the long filming process he was reportedly fired and Jackie Chan took over the direction. Another director also worked on the film, although he remains uncredited. The martial arts sequences are superb, perhaps the best I've seen - kinetic and mesmerizing, a tribute to the performers, choreographers, directors, and editor (Peter Cheung Yiu-Chung). Problems arise between the fights, however. Despite three screenwriters, it seems that little thought was given other than, "we need something to bridge these great fight scenes and say something about Chinese culture." The first 20 minutes seem a bit slow. But, oh, those last 80 minutes!

Rating: Category II for too many kicks, punches, and crunches to count. Some of the fights get a bit bloody.

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

Look: The disk is letterboxed at 1.85 to 1, which is the incorrect aspect ratio (should be 2.35 to 1). That means some of the action at the side of the frame is missing, and none of the compositions are framed correctly. Sadly, the source print is as dirty as I've seen - a nearly continuous stream of dirt and speckles are evident throughout much of the film. Black levels are adequate, colors are not always rendered correctly, and fleshtones rarely look natural.

Sound: I listed to the Dolby Digital 5.1 Cantonese audio track and it sounded fine. Most of the audio is confined to the front speakers (it sometimes bounced from the center channel to the right front channel). The other audio track provided is DD 5.1 Mandarin.

Subtitles: The English removable subtitles are white with a thin black backing. They are easy to read, although a number of mistakes are obvious (but not overwhelming). The other subtitles provided are simplified Chinese.

Features: The menu is available in Chinese only (play, chapters, languages, subtitles). Eight chapters are listed in the chapter menu. When first starting the disk, trailers are played for Thunderbolt, Big Bullet, and Future Cops.

Buy, rent, or pass?

Buy. Despite my disappointment with the DVD quality, the incorrect aspect ratio, and inconsistencies in tone within the movie, I can't keep myself from watching it over and over again. (And it's far superior to the previously-released VCD version.) Some who can tolerate dubbing (ugh) and the rescored American music may want to skip this Thakral edition and pick up the forthcoming Buena Vista release. All others: seek out and possess!

 

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