Plot: What’s it about?
This film doesn’t have the most original storyline and in truth, I think you can tell from the title which movie(s) it is lifting material from. But the action is good and the movie is very humorous, so it all sort of levels out in the end, I suppose. A Shaolin master has been killed and in a strange twist, his own students were behind the crime. Now the kung fu master’s son, Lao Chung (Gordon Liu) makes a run for it, in an effort to avoid the same fate that his father suffered. He wants to take revenge for the murder of course, but he knows his skills aren’t powerful enough, not to the extent to defeat all the responsible students. But when he runs into a mysterious hermit, he might have found the path to his ultimate redemption. The old hermit schools him in the rare art of Drunken style kung fu, which will be very hard for the students to defeat. So now Lao must train very hard and once that ends, he will look toward those killers, to settle the score once and for all.
This is not a good martial arts film in the traditional sense, but man if you like offbeat, crazy kung fu, The Shaolin Drunken Monk is a must see release. In truth, the acting, storyline, and characters are weak at best, but this flick delivers where it counts, action and good times. So you’ll have to turn off your brain, but once you do, kung fu lovers will find a lot to like with this picture. As usual on these old school flicks, the English dub is very poor and of course, adds a ton of humor to the experience, which is good in this case. The voice actors seemed either sedated or on crack, which as you can imagine, makes for a most unusual experience indeed. I did laugh a lot with this movie and I don’t know if that’s the intended outcome, but I think fans of wacky martial arts flick would be well served here also. Gordon Liu (Return to the 36th Chamber, Dirty Ho) is the star name involved, but his performance is not his typical work, though still very enjoyable. This is a wild and wacky adventure to be sure and while this disc is less than reference, the low price and fun movie make it more than worth the cash, so don’t hesitate.
Video: How does it look?
The Shaolin Drunken Master is presented in a full frame transfer. A few of the fight scenes seem to be cropped here, but not enough to ruin the experience, just lessen it a shade. The print looks stricken with flecks and scratches, but you can see all the action, so don’t assume this is unwatchable. I liken this to a brand new VHS edition, as the image is less than the usual DVD standards, but looks more than decent enough. A few scenes look pretty bad, but most look more than stable and when compared to other editions, I have no real complaints. There is a nice level of consistency however, as both night and day sequences look equal, which is a surprise, but a very welcome one.
Audio: How does it sound?
As I mentioned above, this disc only offers an English dub and at that, one of the strangest ones I’ve heard. The voice talent is offbeat and varied, with very unusual results, to say the least. But from a technical standpoint, this is a decent enough stereo option, as far as stereo tracks are concerned. The vocals are clean enough and sound effects are hilarious, this is chop-socky audio work to the hilt. I don’t think this track will be used to showcase home theaters across the nation, but given the materials, I think it works well enough.
Supplements: What are the extras?
As with all three releases in Tai Seng’s Master Killer Collection, this disc contains an audio commentary with Ric Myers, who is a Hong Kong cinema expert. Myers has a lot of background to reveal about the film, as well as hilarious comments on the film’s weaker points. You can tell Myers likes this movie and sees the comedic value, which adds a lot to the commentary session, I think. If you’re a fan of this or other bad martial art movies, then don’t miss this track!!
