The Legend of Drunken Master
Short description
Wong Fei-hung, a young martial artist skilled in drunken boxing, returns from a shopping trip with his father when a mix-up leaves him holding a package that belongs to someone else. The parcel contains an imperial seal, one of several Chinese treasures that foreigners are trying to smuggle out of the country. This draws Fei-hung into a dispute between the smugglers and those determined to keep the relics in China, and he must use his fighting style to protect the seal while dealing with his father's disapproval of both the danger and the drinking that powers his technique.
Lau Kar-leung directed the film, which followed a run of martial arts pictures he made from the mid-1970s onward, including The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter. Jackie Chan stars as Wong Fei-hung, with Ti Lung as his father Wong Kei-Ying, Anita Mui as Ling, and Lau Kar-leung himself appearing as Fu Wen-chi. Edward Tang, Kai-Chi Yuen and Man-Ming Tong wrote the screenplay.
Produced in Hong Kong on a budget of about 10 million dollars, the film took roughly 12 million dollars worldwide. It holds a rating of 7.5 on IMDb from around 51,000 votes and the same figure on TMDB from a much smaller base, while a critics' rating of 7.4 from 80 reviews places it close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- During the filming of the movie, a serious conflict occurred between director Lau Kar-leung and Jackie Chan. Lau believed that more realistic Hung Gar style fighting should be added to the film, while Chan understood that his fans preferred the Drunken Style. As a result, Lau left the filming, and Chan took on the directorial duties in the final fight scene.
- A fight between Jackie Chan and Hu Sung Pak was originally planned for the end of the film, but Sung Pak frequently sprained his ankle. As a result, Chan was forced to train his personal bodyguard, Ken Lo (performing numerous stretches and fast kicks), for three months to take on the role of Sung Pak.
- Approximately four months of filming went into shooting the final seven-minute fight scene. Chan said that to shoot three seconds of a good film, it takes one day of filming.
- A third film followed the sequel, but without Jackie Chan.
- The Hong Kong version of the film has a runtime of 102 minutes, the American version – 99 minutes.
- Jackie Chan had to fall onto burning coals twice. The first time, he felt he "couldn't catch the right rhythm."
- The scene where Jackie fights in a restaurant against a large number of opponents with axes was copied into the game "The Matrix: Path of Neo".
- The film was released in the United States under the title "The Legend of the Drunken Master."
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
