Just How Many Wong Fei-Hungs Are There?

     I am in a martial arts type of mood!  I been at work talking with a fellow co-worker and the conversation ended up on martial arts films and martial artists.  The guy I was chatting with was very much uninformed when it came to these two subjects.  i went into explaining about Bruce, Jackie, Jet, Donnie and Tony, among some others.  So it naturally got me wanting to rewatch a few.  To start my trek across the kung fu nation I chose Drunken Master from 1978 starring Jackie Chan.
     First thing is first though, and I must say if you are looking for the modern day Jackie then you are in the wrong place entirely.  The Jackie I am talking about is the good one when he was pretty young still and wasn't influenced by Americas uninspiring fight flicks.  Do not get me wrong I still like Van Damme and the early Seagal films but China, and the rest of Asia for that matter did it best, by far!
     I have one prerequisite when it comes to my Asian films.  And that is I prefer them to be in their natural, or original language and have subtitles.  It is my honest opinion that every Asian movie that has English dubbing has been turned into a comedy, no matter what type of film it is.  In the case of Jackie Chan films, he likes them to have a comedic style infused in them so I can stand his films with dubbing.  Not like them but at least stand them.
     There is no one I know that watches a martial arts film for the story either.  Most of them are just about the fighting and this one is no different.  
     What I will say is that Jackie Chan is a spectacle to watch.  His fight scenes are so entertaining because of his addition of the slap stick comedy style he adds to it.  Also, not to mention that he likes to use all the surrounding environment, whether it is a ladder or a chair or a table, he uses it to some very comedic means or uses them to defeat his opponents.  There aren't too many artists out there today that can do drunken boxing very well but Jackie is not one of them.  Even when he isn't supposed to be drunk he does it well and when he is supposed to be he is even better.
     Although this is the first part of a series of films it is basically an origin story showing the viewer how his character learned drunken boxing.  So, we only see the style in maybe the last half hour or so of this film but it is well worth it.
     Jackie Chan truly is a master...albeit a drunken one, but a master none the less.  Now, onto The Legend of Drunken Master!