Drunken Master II

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Drunken Master II
Drunken Master II DVD cover
Directed by	Lau Kar-Leung
Produced by	Edward Tang Eric Tsang
Written by	Edward Tang Tong Man-Ming Yun Kai-Chi
Starring	Jackie Chan Ti Lung Anita Mui Lau Kar-Leung Felix Wong
Distributed by	Golden Harvest United States: Dimension Films
Release date(s)	1994 (Hong Kong)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Budget	$2,000,000
Preceded by	Drunken Master
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Drunken Master II (traditional Chinese: 醉拳二; Cantonese Yale: Jui Kuen II) is a 1994 Hong Kong kung fu film directed by Lau Kar-Leung and starring Jackie Chan as Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung. It was released in North America as The Legend of Drunken Master in 2000.

The film is is a follow-up to Chan's 1978 film Drunken Master, directed by Yuen Woo-ping, but not a direct storyline sequel.

1 Plot
2 Distribution
3 Reception
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot

The story concerns the misadventures of Wong Fei Hung as he accidentally becomes involved with the affairs of the British consul, who is smuggling ancient Chinese artifacts out of the country. Wong Fei Hung battles the henchmen of the consul using the Zui Quan ("Drunken Boxing") style of martial arts. An added twist is that Wong Fei Hung becomes a more powerful fighter by consuming alcohol. But when he consumes too much alcohol, he becomes very sluggish, drunk, and unable to fight.

The film ends with a fight scene lasting over 10 minutes against Ken Lo, who was one of Jackie Chan's bodyguards. The fight has been compared (favorably) to Chan's fights against kickboxer Benny Urquidez in Wheels on Meals and Dragons Forever.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Distribution

Of all the films in Chan's back-catalogue that received North American theatrical distribution, Drunken Master II was cut the least, with only 35 seconds of footage being removed. The cut was made to the concluding scene of the Hong Kong print, and showed Wong blinded and mentally crippled as a result of drinking industrial alcohol during the film's ultimate fight. Played for laughs, the scene was considered to be in bad taste by the American distributor, Dimension Films.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to the cut, however, there were other significant changes made to the US release including the change of title (to Legend of Drunken Master), an English-language dub (Chan dubbed himself), and a new musical score. The re-dubbed soundtrack also meant that sound effects were different, in some instances completely altering the rhythm of the fight scenes.^[1]

The original region 0 DVD release of the film is the only home video release which is entirely uncut. However the aspect ratio is cropped to 1.78:1 from the original theatrical 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

The Australian (region 4) and Japanese (region 2) release featured the same cuts and re-scoring as the US release. The region 3 release retained the original music, but the film was cut further.

The film has never received a release on DVD in Europe, and no DVD preserving the original aspect ratio and the uncut version of the film with the original audio track have been made available to date.

[edit] Reception

[edit] Critical reception

Roger Ebert, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of a possible four:

"When I did a seminar at the Hawaii Film Festival several years ago, comparing the physical comedy of Chan and Buster Keaton, martial arts fans brought in their bootleg Hong Kong laser discs of this film and told me that I had to see the final 20-minute fight sequence. They were correct. Coming at the end of a film filled with jaw-dropping action scenes, this extended virtuoso effort sets some kind of benchmark: It may not be possible to film a better fight scene."^[2]

. In Entertainment Weekly, Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the film an A- grade and wrote:

"A half dozen years after its Asian release, and over two decades after the original Drunken Master made Jackie Chan a star in Hong Kong, The Legend of Drunken Master may be the most kick-ass demonstration yet, for the majority of American moviegoers, of what the fuss is all about: To many aficionados (who know the video as Drunken Master II), this 1994 favorite, remastered and dubbed in "classic" bad Chinese-accented English, showcases Chan in his impish glory, dazzling in his ability to make serious, complicated fighting look like devil-may-care fun."^[3]

TIME Magazine listed Drunken Master II as one of the "All-TIME" best 100 films as chosen by TIME's movie critics Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel:

"The most important and entertaining star of east Asian cinema, Jackie Chan survived a boyhood in a punishing Peking Opera School, and his early screen days as "the next Bruce Lee" to create his own genre of martial-arts comedies. . . . Jackie starred in, and directed, many wonderful action films in his pre-Hollywood days. This one can stand at the peak".^[4]

James Berardinelli was one of the less fervent reviewers:

"The Legend of Drunken Master is pretty typical Hong Kong Chan fare - five superior action sequences with a lot of failed comedy and mindless drivel padding out the running length. Most of the expository and character-building scenes fall into one of three categories: (1) inane, (2) incomprehensible, or (3) dull. The tone is also wildly inconsistent. Some sequences are laced with slapstick comedy while others are acutely uncomfortable as a result of torture and the nearly-abusive disciplining of a grown child by a parent. (Differences in culture make the latter seem more incongruous to American viewers than to Chinese movie-goers.) So it's up to the action to redeem the film - a feat it succeeds at, at least to a point."^[5]

[edit] Box office

Drunken Master II was an enormous success in Hong Kong, grossing HK$40,971,484 during its theatrical run. The success was somewhat surprising, considering reports of tension on the set between Chan and Lau Kar Leung, and that the 90s kung fu-vogue had more-or-less passed.

Six years later, Drunken Master II was released in 1,345 North American theaters as The Legend of Drunken Master. This slightly re-edited version received rave reviews, but it made only US$3,845,278 ($2,865 per screen) in its opening weekend, on its way to a US$11,555,430 total.