Revenge of the Drunken Master (1984) User Reviews

Goofy Drunken Master spoof - with added ninjas

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 24 August 2016]

REVENGE OF THE DRUNKEN MASTER is less a sequel to the Jackie Chan hit and more of a random spoof of it. It was made by Godfrey Ho, who never seemed to sit still in the 1980s, churning out martial art flavoured film after martial art flavoured film. He was a money maker more than a film maker, but a lot of his films provide surprising - if cheesy - entertainment. This film follows the template of DRUNKEN MASTER in having a young student mentored by a crazy old drunk guy, although with it being a Godfrey Ho film and all, a pack of 'blood ninjas' are added to the storyline. Plus a young woman and a bounty hunter, who are involved in a rather dubious rape sequence which is out of place in the production.

There's a lot of action here, some of it quite acceptable, as well as a lot of goofy humour. The main character is played by one Johnny Chan, who seems to have been manufactured for this movie because he certainly wasn't heard of before or after. He has some skill with an acupuncture kit and one of his bizarre hobbies is shooting people in a specific spot that makes them burst into laughter. It's that kind of movie, and the absolutely terrible English dubbing either adds further to or detracts from the already surreal experience, depending on your taste for it.

bad, and unnecessary

[winner55 · 1/10 · 23 June 2006]

Around 1980, the name Godfrey Ho was attached to a series of low-comedy action films starring an actor with the unlikely name Elton Chong". Although no masterworks of the genre, they remain surprisingly entertaining films for those with a high tolerance for silliness.

It is altogether unclear why Ho (or whomever) would want to make a film that would attack Jackie Chan's Drunken MAster, the film that legitimated the making of comedy-action films in Hong Kong. But that's what this is, a savage attack on the Chan film (the imitation Chan who stars in this movie learns to cause his opponents to laugh themselves to death - a pointless gimmick in any genre).

Along with all the flaws one expects from a Godfrey Ho film of this period - no continuity, no motivation, incomprehensible plot line, irrelevant and unbelievable characters - the film suffers from two unforgivable faults that effectively make it unwatchable: the fight scenes stink, and the comedy isn't funny.

Pointless.

another one

[kkiller · 1/10 · 6 February 2003]

this is a below average martial arts films which is worth watching for the comedy value due to the part where a pair of symbols are used as weapons. Thats it really there is much to say about this film it lacks in every department because the martial arts are not that great either and with all movies of this type the dubbing as BAD

Great ending. As funny as acupuncture!

[danklewis · 2/10 · 22 January 2006]

"This film is great! I watched it with some friends and we thought it was proof that a film doesn't have to see commercial success to be a hit!" ...is what I would love to be able to say about this film. In the words of the film itself "you are very very bad!" I went to see an unlicensed acupuncturist once so generally agree with the moral of the film though.

i'd include a spoiler, but the lack of plot makes this very tricky. overall, a cinematic disaster.

quotes; 'you're not a leper at all!' 'you're beautiful, and i bet you're nice too' 'have you ever seen a naked man's body?' 'you couldn't break a piece of straw.'

cameos in dubbing; Micheal cane x3, harold bishop, steve erwine, benjamin netinyahoo, yoda.

Disgrace to all kung fu movies

[sarasbubby · 1/10 · 2 January 2021]

This isnt good at all makes no sense and the fight scenes stink this is a disgrace to the original movie starring Jackie Chan they should be ashamed of themselves for even attempting this movie...

Consistently entertaining old-school kung fu oddity!

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 22 April 2006]

The evil Blood Ninjas are out to kill the Drunken Master and his students. Drunken Kid escapes with his girlfriend but is pursued by the Ninjas, and also by a mysterious bounty hunter clad in white.

What at first appears to be a fairly routine old school kung fu film eventually becomes a more memorable affair thanks to some crazy comedy and a few truly bizarre scenes. Director Godfrey Ho has taken a well worn basic plot and filled it with enough martial arts wackiness and original touches to ensure that the proceedings never become boring.

Witness the wonders of acupuncture kung fu: our hero, Drunken Kid, is a dab hand at acupuncture as well as Kung Fu, and is able to make people laugh uncontrollably with a well-aimed needle.

Tremble at the sight of the evil leader of the Blood Ninjas: his chair fires arrows, he has a one-eyed gimp, and he uses flying cymbals to attack his enemies.

Scratch your head in confusion at the relationship between the bounty hunter and his female companion: he rescues her from bandits, proceeds to rape her, and yet somehow becomes the object of her affection.

Laugh out loud at the dubbing: I am sure one of the characters was voiced by Zippy from Rainbow!

The fight scenes between these strange happenings are also pretty good, and the action comes thick and fast. Revenge of the Drunken Master is perfect post-pub entertainment and is recommended for all fans of martial arts madness.

Dialectics

[foolfm · 10/10 · 14 November 2004]

I couldn't disagree with the other commenter more. For a start the dubbing on this film is pure genius, i don't know what the voice over people were on but i want some. SOME SPOILERS----The blood Ninjas want to terminate the drunken fist gang, The leader of the Blood Ninjas is a hard man with a one eyed gimp as a sidekick (very symbolic). So they try to hunt down the drunken master with no success.

So they look for the Drunken kid instead. Also looking for the Drunken Kid is a patriarchal, misogynist, law man.

Drunken kid hides in a leper colony where he finds the drunken master living in the dirt (message). He improves his Drinking skills, then goes of to rescue his girl from the blood ninjas clutches.

And fails miserably, and then gets panned...

Until, the mysterious law man comes to his aid. With their powers combines the two opposites "come together to form thunder" and defeat the Ninja boss.

How can anyone say the martial arts in this are no good. Eagle Han, man, he's one of the best. And being let in on the drunken fists stone body technique, opened my eyes to the structural composition of Eastern Martial arts. hmhm Great film with some great reasons for being.

Another eccentric Kung Fu freakout from the estimable, Godfrey Ho!

[Weirdling_Wolf · 7/10 · 12 January 2023]

Much, if not all, of the outlandish entertainment found within a frequently nonlinear, creatively kooky, Joseph Lai/Godfrey Ho fight flick is the distinctly high probability of marvelling at mayhemic, multitudinously madcap, martial arts sequences, stridently silly slapstick comedy, glaringly absurd dialogue, predictable Sifu slaughter, bemusingly eccentric music cues, melodramatic slo-mo clinches with ingenuous, teary-eyed pig-tailed ingenues, grim-voiced, gravity-defying Ninjas, and in this especially uproarious instance, Godfrey Ho spoils us Kung Fools rotten with the additionally insane incongruity of a delightfully bizarre interlude, wherein a wholly inept 'fake' hopping vampire mysteriously accosts 'Drunken Kid' (Johnny Chan) for motives obscure??!! Aye! 'Less' is clearly a bore in, Cut N' Paste champion, Godfrey Ho's hyperbolic ouvre!

The somewhat maverick use of an off-camera training montage adds additional singularity to, Godfrey Ho's playful, dizzyingly episodic Kung Fu chaos! Granted, Johnny Chan's ceaseless mugging as the buffoonish, Jackie Chan-lite 'Drunken Kid' becomes tiresome; whereas, Eagle-Han ying's dynamic, steely sinewy performance as the stern, white-clad bounty hunter proved impressive, and I sincerely hope to see the slick-looking 'Blood Ninja Gangsters' again, as they were pretty dope! While many of the fights lacked finesse, the pronounced weirdness quotient abounding within 'Revenge of The Drunken Master' proved deliciously distracting! The climactic showdown is beautifully bonkers, and the inventive usage of razor-edged cymbals as a Flying Guillotine-type weapon was a fabulously goofy conceit, and, yet, I'm still not entirely sure how to interpret the palpably odd belly Button mysticism bit, but, hey, it certainly gave me something new to think about!

Fun low budget martial arts comedy

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 22 August 2019]

The leader of the evil Blood Ninjas is determined eliminate the Drunken Master and all followers of his martial arts; this includes Drunken Kid; an acupuncturist who with a single needle can make people burst into laughter. This may be for an hour, a day or for the rest of the person's life. Also after Drunken Kid is policeman dressed entirely in white. Over the course of the film Drunken Kid and the Policeman fight each other and the Blood Ninjas on several occasions. If that weren't enough Drunken Kid is trying to protect the woman he loves and the policeman is constantly followed by a woman he rescued.

The first thing that must be stated is that this has nothing to do with Jackie Chan's 'Drunken Master' films; it is clearly just cashing in on them. There isn't even any drunken fighting just regular, highly choreographed fighting. When that is combined with a laughable English dub one might expect a terrible film but strangely I found it surprisingly entertaining. The story may not have been the strongest but the numerous fight scenes were rather fun and there were lots of laughs to be had. The villain was comically evil; he even had a one-eyed midget as a sidekick/pet who speaks like a mad scientist's 'Igor' might! Certain details are problematic; the way the policeman forces himself upon the woman he rescues then we are expected to we are expected to believe she loves him is the most obvious of these... and probably explains the UK-18 certificate; I don't think anything else would push it over 15. The acting seemed decent enough, although with a dub it is hard to judge that well. Overall this is hardly a must see but it is a fun watch if you enjoy martial arts comedies.