Two Drunk Worlds: The World of Drunken Master (1979) Review [Cinematic Vengeance Boxset]

Director: Joseph Kuo

Notable Cast: Jack Long, Lung Fei, Mark Long, Chen Hui-Lou, Lung Tien-Hsiang, Li Yi-Min, Jeannie Chang, Yu Sung-Chao, Chien Te-Men, Simon Yuen

 

In the martial arts cinema landscape, one could easily argue that there are films “pre-Drunken Master” and “post-Drunken Master.” Not only in the general combination of kung fu and comedy but in the sheer amount of knock-offs that arrived on the scene after the massive success of the Jackie Chan and Yuen Woo-Ping masterpiece. Although there are plenty of forgettable ones, there are also a handful of these films that impress on a surprising level. And then there are those films that fall right down the center - like The World of Drunken Master. 

 

Featuring some of the same kung fu comedy as its namesake would imply, this cult classic of the genre does a lot of things right and then promptly follows them up - or proceeds them - with some baffling choices. As a whole, it’s hard not to love the sheer entertainment present in the film with its relentlessly paced latter half and strangely long developing character work of the first half, but it’s also a film that doesn’t quite reach the loftiness of the originator. 

 

Thundering Mantis, The (1980) / Born Invincible (1978)

THE THUNDERING MANTIS (1980)

Director: Teddy Yi Wing-Cho

Notable Cast: Leung Kar-Yan (Beardy), Cheng Feng, Eddy Ko, Wong Yat-Lung, Chin Yuet-Sang, Lee Kwan, Fang Mian, Ma Chin-Ku

Also known as: Thundering Mantis, Mantis Fist Fighter

After seeing Sleeping Fist, it seemed only natural to revisit Thundering Mantis for review. It has the same director and two so the same stars and, generally speaking, I remember it being a better film overall. Those comparisons are legitimate too. The first two-thirds of Thundering Mantis even retain some of the same tone and fun, off the cuff vitality. Beardy plays an arrogant kung fu student who crosses the Jade Horse Gang while trying to prevent them from bullying, but to defeat their boss he will have to go to the older hermit and his trouble making grandson (played once again with the over energetic screen stealing appeal by Wong Yat-lung) to learn Mantis Fist. There are plenty of hijinks along the way as our main hero learns to be more attentive to his friends and it features plenty of strongly choreographed fights and the balance of action to drama to comedy is decent. There is even a sequence where the young kid gets plastered and tries to fight some thugs…so I guess that counts as humor. It falters in a few ways to really establish some secondary characters that could have built up to add to the emotional impact of the film, like his old teacher’s daughter who seems poorly utilized considering she has a fight sequence in the credits. However, the film is efficient in its narrative and has just enough silly slap stick humor and impressive fights to make the more mundane parts of the story entertaining.