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Chan’s “The Legend of Drunken Master” is jaw-dropping in every sense of the word. The way the film showcases its action sequences is nothing short of elaborate, complex, and executed far beyond one’s imagination. If you are interested in Chang’s martial arts films, then this one is a must watch. It was produced in 1994, but it was not widely appreciated in North America until now. People who have watched most of Chang’s 70 films consider this to be one of his best, along with 2 others.
A few years back, I did a seminar at the Hawaii Film Festival where I compared the physical comedy of Chan and Buster Keaton. While doing so, some martial arts fans handed me pirated versions of the film on Hong Kong laser discs because they wanted me to watch the final fight sequence of the film. They were right. The final fight sequence of this film is the most perfect of all. After watching this jaw dropping fight sequence, the audience would hardly have any astonishment left to feel. This feat is what sets a new record in masterful filmmaking.
Before I get into details, here are a few general points:
1. Most of Jackie Chan’s movies only have basic and simple plots that serve only to string together the action sequences. The characters are superficial, the dialogue is nonsense syllables at best, and the highlights of the film do not take place at the end, but rather during the outtakes, in which we see Jackie being terribly and quite cruelly hit, set on fire, dropped, and so on. The man seems to spend half of his life on some kind of hospital bed where fire extinguishers are aimed at him.
- At least half the duration of the film is devoted to violence, although it is surprisingly innocent, harmless violence such as unlike many of the brutal and ugly action picture films that are made in Hollywood. There are villains and heroes, and a fight needs two sides, but everyone on both sides is in fabulous shape and appears to be fighting for the sake of having fun. Interspersed with the action, Jackie is broadening broad comedy jokes. For one to give this film a rating of R suggests that they have absolutely no idea what’s going on.
- The enjoyment of the fighting sequences can be found not in witnessing hits being thrown, but in observing their skills and the intricate skill involved. Chan himself regularly does little throwaway things like sprinting up walls or twisting and jumping into train windows.
- The main thing is that Chan and most of the other actors perform the majority of stunts themselves. There are indeed special effects and camera perspectives that are good and editing makes it seem like things happen in ways those of us less knowledgeable about the hood know they did not. But when Jackie Chan in this film gets his free fall into a burning pit of coal, in a nutshell, that is indeed so. Burned coals are actually burning and Chan insist on doing the stunt three times until he got it right. (The third time was when he burned himself and got those nasty scars you can still see on his arm).
Chan was 40 when “The Legend of the Drunken Master” was made, and despite being in great shape, he is approaching the age where he would prefer to direct and produce these films instead of starring in them. Sadly, it is all academic now since computerized special effects have rendered his physical skills almost useless. When you see bodies soaring through the air in “The Matrix,” you don’t think about computers. You simply accept it. But what Chan does, he is, more or less, one way or another, actually doing.
This movie is the kind of nonsense we have come to expect from Chan, who fights with ambassadorial criminals trying to get away with national treasures from China at the very beginning of the movie. The movie’s title Chan’s islands hints at the old saying ‘stealing when drunk’ gives one a fighting chance. Chan fights some laughable physical action while ‘drunk’ (he seems to be able to lean over at impossible angles during most of his action sequences). The sets have almost become sculptures, the camera work is beautiful, and Chan’s brawl with his bodyguard Lo Ken (who took over for an injured actor) is one of the longest and most elaborate fight scenes ever captured on camera.
Jackie Chan transcended his initial asian audience due to his action style films, which were usaully boxed into his dry comedic persona. Hollywood was late to the party. Jackie Chan’s films contain a signature glee that is pure and raw. These films reflect his child like self. Some people adore him, while others would never click on his movies; they think they know his style of action screwy comedy films. In any event: Chan does belong to the same section of movie legend as other real-life doers such as: Buster Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks Sr, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Jackie Chan.
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