Drunken Master
All actors and roles (10)
All team (19)
Short description
A rebellious young man named Wong Fei-hung is sent by his father to study under an uncle who is a master of kung fu. While the teacher appears to be a slovenly beggar and a heavy drinker, he uses harsh methods to instill discipline in his nephew. After a failed attempt to flee and a defeat at the hands of a professional fighter, the youth returns to his training to learn the secret techniques of the Drunken Fist. He eventually uses these skills to confront a dangerous killer who threatens his father.
Directed by Woo-Ping Yuen, this action-comedy was the first of 13 films in the director's career, followed by Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. The movie stars Jackie Chan in the lead role alongside Yuen Siu-Tien. Produced by Ng See-Yuen through the Seasonal Film Corporation in Hong Kong, the film earned 16 million USD at the worldwide box office.
The movie is well-received by audiences, holding a 7.4/10 rating on IMDb from 47,000 votes and a matching 7.4/10 on TMDB from 1,174 votes. Film critics provided a slightly lower rating of 7.1/10 based on 21 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- In many of the fight scenes, 66-year-old Yuan Xiaotian is doubled by his sons – Yueh Chung-Yan and director Yuen Woo-Ping.
- To achieve the effect of a drunken face, Jackie Chan stood with his head lowered for several minutes to allow blood to rush to his face.
- The box office success of 'Drunken Master' was phenomenal by Hong Kong standards: 8 million Hong Kong dollars during the first run, and by 1979 it broke the box office record previously set by Bruce Lee.
- During filming, Jackie Chan fell from a table to the floor while performing a stunt and injured his eye, nearly losing it. In the hospital, his eye was stitched using electricity (Jackie said: “No needles”). And when the eye healed, it turned out to be larger than the other. The doctor then advised cosmetic surgery.
- Jackie Chan's character, Wong Fei-hung, is a real figure from Chinese history, a martial arts master, healer, and revolutionary. He became a hero of Chinese folklore and has appeared many times in Hong Kong films and television programs. Another character, Su Hai, is also a real historical figure.
- In the dubbed version, Wong Fei-hung was renamed Freddy Wong, Beggar So became Sam Seed, and Yang was renamed Lightning Foot.
- A second training scene was filmed but never released, in which Wong Fei-hung studies additional Drunken Master exercises on the lawn in front of So Hay’s house, with individual Chinese characters representing the basis for each exercise. Despite being cut, a frame from this scene – of Jackie Chan raising his leg while holding a teacup and wine pot – appears on video cassette and DVD covers worldwide. This scene can be seen in the “Hong Kong Legends” DVD release and in the documentary “Cinema of Vengeance”.
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