The Master

Before I begin, let me get across everyone's complaint: the acting is horrible...from the white actors. It is far worse than the dubbing of old school kung fu movies (although I prefer the dubbed dialogue of old kung fu movies to many movies made today, the dialogue is more quotable). But come on, what type of person would watch a low-budget kung fu movie and expect good acting?

The plot is right out of an old kung fu movie: Rival kung fu masters duking it out to see who is better. Jet is a fish-out-of-water who gets involved.

The fights are why we see this movie...right? The fights are well-choreographed. Very little (if any) wires are used. Jet Li, Yuen Wah, and Jerry Trimble look very impressive. He actually is better in this movie than in stuff like Romeo Must Die, Hitman, Swordsman II, and Dr. Wai. The last fight is very cool, one of his best overall. Overall, a pretty good movie...just don't expect much.

This is Jet Li's last film of the 80's. That means it's his last film before directors and producers started putting him on wires way, way too much. Of course, the acting is horrible. This is a straightforward martial arts movie of the 80's.

The plot is simple enough. Jet comes to America to find his old teacher, and gets involved in the conflict between the master and another student. Nothing special there. What is special is the fight scenes. Jet Li is awesome in this movie. He shows off his acrobatic talent and agility w/o wires. His abilities are simply amazing. Jerry Trimble is impressive as the American student, and Yuen Wah does well as the master. The choreography is pretty good overall, and the final fight between Jet and Jerry is one of Jet's finest in my opinion.

Jet's career in the early-mid 90's largely involved wire-fu, which is why this film is worth seeing. You can watch a young Jet Li w/o wires in his prime. I give it a 7/10.

OK obviously if you're expecting something smooth and seamless, you ain't gonna find it here. But it's a low-budget kung fu flick - You love it because You Love It! So, that said I am amazed no one has mentioned how funny this one really is. If you love the cheesiness of kung fu this is a must-see. Fight scenes are excellent but what really got me through it was the terrible 80s stereotypes everywhere. The hairstyles, the background music, the Mexican guys who befriend Li's character. It's great just alone for its "schtick" appeal. We all remember the 80s and this one shows us why they were so darn funny.

I checked this out because I wanted to see Jet Li and Jerry Trimble go at it. And for the first hour of the movie, I was disappointed with a slow-moving, mediocre action film. But, man, was I in for a treat that last half hour or so - specifically the final fight scene (where Li and Trimble REALLY square off) which delivered all the goods I was expecting, and then more. Viewed on one of the old "Jet Li Collection" DVDs that Dimension released in the early 2000s, so poor video quality and an awful dub were expected and didn't detract from, what turned out to be, an overall above average martial-arts films, solidified by the engaging final act and a powerhouse fight scene.

Also, Trimble's mullet must be noted. That thing was mighty.

In "The Master", one of his earliest and relatively little-seen flicks, Jet Li is basically placed in a fish-out-of-water situation: he comes from Hong Kong to America (knowing only a few words of English) to visit his old kung fu teacher, is followed everywhere by three Mexican small-time crooks who want him to teach them the martial arts, and tries to protect his teacher's shop from a gang led by a rival kung fu master. The main problem with the film is that it lacks urgency: much like the bad guy in Jackie Chan's "Thunderbolt", the villain has no real motive for his actions apart from wanting to prove that he is "the best". To put it in his own words: "When I finish with you, I'll go to China and beat all the kung fu teachers there!". But it has some pretty funny moments (watch Jet describing his experiences on his first day in America), great (if sometimes brief) fight sequences, and even a warm message about interracial friendship and acceptance: those Mexicans may seem like silly stereotypes at first, but if you think about it, the movie shows how people can overcome the barriers of their different races and languages to work together and help each other. (**1/2)