The Movie
In the smoke-filled, post-college, pre-homeowning days of my mid-20s, Jackie Chan's Drunken Master II (renamed The Legend of Drunken Master years later for its theatrical release in the US) was legendary in and around my packed apartment. While the big, bombastic stunts of Chan's earlier efforts like Police Story and Armour of God never failed to wow, they really couldn't compare to the brilliant simplicity and blink-and-miss-it choreography spilling off of an old bootleg VHS whose label read, if memory serves correctly, "Drunked Muster 2."
For fans of straight mano a mano combat, sans wires, sans effects, the final twenty minutes of Drunken Master II contain the most memorably jaw-dropping martial arts battle in the history of HK cinema. It is the pinnacle of old-school martial arts -- Kung Fu Theater elevated to an artform
It should go without saying, though, that The Legend of Drunken Master is not the same film that I and my roommates adored so much. It's supposed to be, mind you, but somewhere in the process of renaming and horribly dubbing the film, replacing the score, neutering the sound effects, and removing the last few comical (if not terribly politically correct) minutes, the magic of Drunken Master II was unquestionably lost. And sadly this Blu-ray release does nothing to bring that magic back.
The Picture
To merely say that this is the best the film has ever looked isn't saying much. The 2.35:1 transfer is a marked improvement over the 2001 DVD. Contrasts are improved, as are black levels, but in truth, this is rather faint praise. The image is still decidedly flat, and black levels never can quite compete with the letterboxed bars at the top and bottom of the frame. Edges are soft, but thankfully unenhanced. Colors are fairly well saturated if somewhat subdued, and skin tones are inconsistent at best. Detail is lacking, and the tired old print needs a bath, a boo-boo kiss, and a Band-Aid in more than a few spots. All in all, the image is about what you'd expect for a fifteen-year-old, low-budget Hong Kong film.
The Sound
As with the 2001 DVD release, The Legend of Drunken Master makes its way to Blu-ray without its original Cantonese soundtrack. It should be noted, though, that even the original Cantonese was a less-than-stellar dub for which Chan didn't even provide his own voice. Sad but true.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack included here (incorrectly listed as Dolby TrueHD in the menus) is quite frankly overkill, considering the source material. The track is loud, though hardly dynamic, with sufficient bass, but little impact. The mix leans heavily on the front channels, so much so that when effects do venture out into the surrounds, it comes off as forced and clumsy. Dialogue is crystal clear, but given the poor quality of the voice acting (Chan's being the rare exception) I'm not entirely sure that's a selling point.
The Extras
The only actual bonus feature included here is a holdover from the Miramax's original DVD release: a six-and-a-half minute standard-definition featurette by the name of "Behind the Master: An Interview with Jackie Chan." There isn't a lot of substance to the interview -- Chan spends much of the time congratulating himself in his own adorable way for the film's choreography, and makes plenty of cool sound effects along the way -- but it's worth a watch for fans. The only other extras are Sneak Peeks at Adventureland, Lost: The Complete Fifth Season, and The Proposal, along with promotional clips for Miramax Films and Disney's Blu-ray catalog.
Final Thoughts
The Legend of Drunken Master is an interesting beast. On the one hand, its completely revamped soundtrack robs the film of much of its impact, completely throwing off the tempo of some of the greatest fighting scenes ever committed to film. On the other, the original Cantonese track was cheap and weak, and lacked the unmistakable voice of its star. So it's a little hard to wag a finger at Miramax for failing to include it here, especially since several small scenes were cut from the film in preparing it for Western audiences.
Sadly, for now, no definitive edition of the film exists on DVD or Blu-ray. Import DVDs with the original Cantonese are unfortunately cropped to 16:9. And if there's a release on the horizon that corrects that mistake, it somehow managed to slip under my radar.
The best I can say is that this Blu-ray certain represents the best the film has ever looked, and probably ever will. But I'm not sure that makes it worth picking up for anyone other than the hardest of hardcore Jackie Chan fans -- ironically, the ones most likely to be perturbed by its shortcomings.
Product Details
- Actors: Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, Ti Lung, Felix Wong, Lau Kar-Leung, and Andy Lau
- Director: Chia-Liang Liu
- Audio Format/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (French), Dolby Digital 2.0 (Spanish)
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, and Spanish
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rating: R
- Studio: Miramax/Disney
- Release Date: September 15, 2009
- Run Time: 102 minutes
- List Price: $39.99
- Extras:
- Behind the Master: An Interview with Jackie Chan
Also available as part of "The Ultimate Force of Four" Blu-ray Boxed Set.
