Kung-Fu Classic starring the undisputed Godfather of Martial Arts Action-Comedy Jackie Chan in a no-holds-barred fight fest like none other!Hong Kong action pioneer Yuen Woo-ping (The Matrix; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and martial arts superstar Jackie Chan burst onto the scene in 1978 with a one-two punch of kung fu masterpieces, and it was the second of these, Drunken Master, with its Keatonesque slapstick and flawlessly choreographed fight scenes that would leave the biggest impact.Jackie Chan plays Wong Fei-hung (a legendary Chinese folk hero who has also been portrayed on screen by Jet Li, Gordon Liu and Donnie Yen amongst many others), who is punished for his frequent troublemaking by being forced to study under the martial arts master Su Hua Chi (Yuen Siu-tien), notorious for his drinking as much as he is for leaving his students crippled. Wong proves himself an adept pupil, but his new skills are soon put to the test when his own father is targeted by a brutal assassin (Hwang Jang Lee, Snake in the Eagle s Shadow).Frequently ranked as one of the greatest martial arts films of all time, Drunken Master revolutionised modern action cinema, and the Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK in a new Dual-Format edition.FEATURES: Definitive transfer from 4K digital restorationThe original complete Cantonese soundtrack, rarely heard on home videoAlternate English and Mandarin audio optionsNewly translated English subtitlesAudio commentary by Hong Kong film experts Ric Meyers and Jeff YangVideo interview with Jackie ChanNew video interview with film scholar Tony RaynsNew video appreciation by director Gareth Evans (The Raid film series)Deleted sceneOriginal trailerPLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by Michael Brooke and archival imagery
Drunken Master (Chinese: 醉拳; lit. 'drunken fist') is a 1978 Hong Kong martial arts comedy film directed by Yuen Woo-ping, and starring Jackie Chan, Yuen Siu-tien, and Hwang Jang-lee.[1] It was a success at the Hong Kong box office, earning two and a half times the amount of Yuen's and Chan's previous film, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, which was also considered a hit.[2][3]
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It is an early milestone of the kung fu comedy genre, and helped make Jackie Chan famous in Asia. The film popularised the Zui Quan ("drunken fist") infused with unique animal fighting style. In 2017, it was ranked number 3 on GamesRadar's list of 50 greatest kung fu movies of all time.[4] It spawned an official sequel, Drunken Master II (1994), and several spin-offs. It had a significant cultural impact, inspiring numerous later films, music, manga, anime and video games.
Beggar So has a reputation for crippling his students during training so Wong flees from home in an attempt to escape his punishment. Penniless, Wong stops at a restaurant and tries to con a fellow patron into offering him a free meal. As Wong was about to leave after his meal, he discovers that the man is actually the owner of the restaurant. He fights with the owner's lackeys in an attempt to escape. An old drunkard nearby is drawn into the fight and helps him escape. The drunkard turns out to be Beggar So (who is known in some versions of the film as Sam Seed, So-Hi or Su Hua-chi), the Drunken Master. Beggar So forces Wong into his brutal and rigorous training programme, but he flees again to avoid the torturous training and runs into the notorious killer Yim Tit-sam (known in some versions as Thunderfoot or Thunderleg) by accident.
Yim is known for his "Devil's Kick", a swift and deadly kicking style which has never been defeated. Wong provokes and challenges him to a fight and is soundly defeated and humiliated. He makes his way back to Beggar So and decides to commit himself to the Drunken Master's training program. The training resumes and soon Wong learns Beggar So's secret style of martial arts, a form of Drunken Boxing called "The Eight Drunken Immortals", named after the eight xian that the fighting style references. Wong masters seven of the eight styles with the exception of Drunken Miss Ho's as he feels that her style of fighting is too feminine.
Meanwhile, Yim Tit-sam is contracted by a business rival to kill Wong's father. Wong's father fights with Yim and is defeated and injured by him. Wong and Beggar So arrive on time and Wong continues the fight with Yim. Beggar So promises not to interfere in the fight. Wong employs the new skills he has learned and outmatches Yim's kicking style. Yim then resorts to his secret technique, the Devil's Shadowless Hand, which is too fast for Wong to defeat. Wong confesses that he did not master the last style so Beggar So tells him to combine the seven styles and create his own version of the last style. Wong follows the instruction and discovers his own unique style of Drunken Miss Ho, which he uses to overcome the Shadowless Hand and finally defeats Yim.
Not all films that feature the Zui Quan "Drunken Fist" style (or variations on it) can be considered as imitators of the Drunken Master films. Films such as Drunken Monkey (2002) may feature a drunken style of kung fu, and in the case of The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), the same principal star, but they have a fundamentally different plot and sufficiently different title to separate them from Drunken Master.
66CIVIL WAR HISTORY not receiving a fuller measure of political and civü rights undoubtedly prompted a decline in zeal. Based extensively upon archival records and other documentary materials, the volume gives abundant evidence of thorough research. Occasionally, as in the treatment of the Battle of New Orleans, the author allows details of overall campaigns and battles to somewhat obscure the role of the Negro troops. Yet as a whole, this study is a worthwhile contribution to the history of Louisiana, the Negro , and the American militia. L. Moody Simms, Jr. Illinois State University Twelve Years a Slave. By Solomon Northrup. Edited by Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. Pp. xxxvii, 273. $7.50.) In 1841, Solomon Northrup, a free Negro of Saratoga Springs, New York was deceived into accompanying two individuals to Washington, D.C. supposedly to find temporary employment as a musician in a circus company. To his horror, Northrup was drugged, thrown in a slave pen, whipped viciously, and sold to the New Orleans slave market. After twelve years of unremitting toü as a bondsman in Louisiana, a sympathetic Canadian communicated with Northrup's friends in the North and secured his freedom. From this remarkable story, David Wüson, a New York lawyer, collected Northrup's impressions and wrote a popular slave narrative , first published in 1853. More than just a personal adventure, the book is replete with perceptive observations on the environment of slavery in the Deep South. Northrup conveys the diversity of character he encountered in the plantation society; he does not depict all the slave proprietors as viUains, nor the slaves uniformly as heroes. His first master, a kind-hearted Baptist preacher, is described with affection, but Northrup refers to the brutal and drunken Master Epps with deep hostüity. With the overseers he is less discriminating, indicating that their requisite qualifications are "utter heartlessness , brutality and cruelty". It is the system, says Northrup, that makes many masters and overseers violent and indifferent to human suffering. Northrup portrays some slaves as obsequious and almost totally unaware of the meaning of freedom. "Brought up in fear and ignorance as they are", he says, "they wül cringe before a white man's look". But many slaves displayed strong, zealous personalities, described most vividly in the tragic case of Patsey, an ebullient, industrious girl whose spirit was broken by a brutal whipping. Some slaves became rebellious, planning escapes or insurrections (Northrup, himself, once flogged his overseer and fled into the swamps). Northrup leaves no doubt about the slaves' hidden feelings. If the white man could gain the Negro's confidence, says Northrup, he would learn that 99 percent of the bondsmen harbor an intense desire for freedom. Under pressure to duplicate the colorful prose style of Harriet Beecher Stowe, David Wüson wrote an embeUished narrative that sometimes appears stilted. He presents Northrup eloquently in the first person singular, using the plantation vernacular for other characters in the story. The editors have done a fine job supplementing the narrative with an interesting description of the trial of the kidnappers and numerous footnotes which attest to the accuracy of Northrup's account and provide background on the people and places mentioned in the book. Offering the balanced observations of an individual who entered bondage educated and aware of the benefits of freedom, the reissue of Twelve Years a Slave should be welcomed by students of American slavery. Robert Brent Toplin Denison University ... 2ff7e9595c
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