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Drunken Master 1 or 2?


Righteous Master

Which is better film Drunken Master of Legend of the Drunken Master?  

3 members have voted

  1. 1. Which is better film Drunken Master of Legend of the Drunken Master?

    • Drunken Master
      33
    • Legend of the Drunken Master
      39


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gravedigger666

Maybe I really should watch it again....and sequel too....from what I remember hjl was nowhere as sinister in dm like in eagles shadow.

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Morgoth Bauglir

HJL was more sinister in Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. I was a scared little guy when he was holding that eagle claw behind his back waiting for Jackie to show him where his teacher was. I thought the choreography was way better in DM, but I like Snake in the Eagle's Shadow's story more than DM's. Overall I consider the movies even.

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gravedigger666

Hwangs looks definitely appears more scary in Snake.That red dress and pigtail gave me creeps when saw movie as a kid.Tino Wongs Mantis Fist character is also brilliant.

Highlight in DM for me is scene jackies aunt demonstrates some flexibility in market place.

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Morgoth Bauglir

THat's one of the reasons why I like Drunken Mantis more than Drunken MAster. The lady with the legs gets a lot more action.

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Chinatown Kid

I like the fight scenes in Drunken Master better than Eagle's Shadow and Dance of the Drunk Mantis because HJL gets to show off his kicks more in DM, but that's just me and my kicking preference for ya. :D

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I'd say I watch DM2 more frequently, I love the action, the co-stars (Anita Mui, Ti Lung, Ken Lo, Lau Kar Leung all gave memorable performances), the acting, the blend of comedy & drama, the music (from the uncut cantonese version), definitely one of my favorite movies.

But the original DM is kind of a sentimental favorite for me. I first saw it as a poor quality bootleg betamax video back in the early eighties at the recommendation of my first martial arts teacher. I told him I'd seen Jackie Chan in The Big Brawl & wasn't all that impressed, but Anthony (my kung fu teacher) had met & been impressed with Jackie in person in Hong Kong, & he wanted me to see some of Jackie's better work. I was basically blown away by DM; I was a Bruce Lee fan, that was how I became interested in martial arts, but Jackie was absolutely great in his own unique way in DM, brilliantly different from Bruce, definitely one of a kind. I've been a Jackie Chan fan ever since.

So I guess they're both favorites for me for different reasons. By the way, wouldn't a real special edition of DM2 on dvd be nice? We've heard about deleted scenes (fight scenes shot by Lau Kar Leung in his style, the original closing shot), I have a poor copy of a Japanese Jackie Chan TV special shot during the filming of DM2, Bey Logan has said he'd love to do an audio commentary track for it, I wish such a thing could become a reality.

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Original DM as 2 is more undercranked. The original means a lot more to me as it was my first Shape. HJL 70% legs 30% arms what do I need to say about him in that film. Thing I dislike about both is Wong Fei Hung as a comedy IMO WFH films shoudnt be comedies. So I watch them not so much as WFH films similar with the way I watch 'Bruceploitation' not as Bruce Lee films.

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Both are great films and are hard to compare, they're really not even trying to be the same kind of movie.

The original gets my vote though, for the aforementioned reasons. I prefer '70s movies over '90s ones and not having Simon Yuen makes DM2 feel like something is missing, (training sequences I guess). Also, the lack of wirework in the original. And the music is more fun, plus it has the best version of 'The General's Mandate' ever.

I do love Anita Mui though! And the costumes, sets and cinematography in the sequel were more elaborate. Weaker villains though, by far.

P.S. Holy sh!t, I've seen DM2 a dozen times and never realized that was Ti Lung playing Wong Kei Yin! He looked awful!

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TripMasterMunky

Yeah I've never been able to see how people can enjoy the 2nd more than the original. But as another said, I guess they're just 2 different films. I prefer classics 70 flicks, so DM1 is a clear winner to me. I don't really care for DM2 that much really.

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ShaOW!linDude

This is a toughie. I love them both. But I'll with DM. I really ought to re-watch it. I watched DM2 again about a month or so ago.

My reasoning is the physicality of the DM. That's not to say the physicality of DM2 is subpar because it's not by any stretch of the imagination. But I detest wirework especially to perform overextended postures that the body cannot physically support. To me, that element of fake-ness undermines the efforts of the choreography. If you can't do jump spinning kicks or barrel rolls through the air then don't do them.

There are elements of each film I'd like to incorporate in the other. Chan's stunt choreography from the 2nd would be nice in the 1st. The training sequences and greater classical display of drunken boxing in the 1st should have a more prominent display in the 2nd. The end fight in the 2nd is good but, yeah, Chan gets drunk on industrial alcohol and just goes nuts.

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Part one form me cus its the 1st jackie chan film i ever saw about 26 years ago!

Finales is awesome in part 2 tho but part one edges it for me

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gwailosforever

Drunken Master 2 all the way.... and I'm not a newbie to the genre either. I have much love for old school kung fu films, but DM2 is just perfection (for me) at every level.

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DM2 - the first time I saw it (luckily the original cut), I was utterly blown away at the fight scenes and how well they were choreographed. I was in that weird giddy state where I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing and was just laughing uncontrollably. Granted I've seen a lot since then, but I'll never forget that first viewing.

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Seriously it's tough to say, but maybe not. Drunken Master II is a better made film overall but Drunken Master has some great fight scenes and obviously is less dependent on the wires. On the other hand part 2's fight scenes are so top notch as is the rest of the movie in general where you can forgive some of the wire usage in it.

Then again, Dance of the Drunken Mantis has Yen Shi Kwan, so there is that to consider too.

Let's just all agree that Snake in the Eagles Shadow is better than all three.

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Kennedy Il Sung

Drunken Master II, I just prefer the fights, the look of the movie, and the story over DM. I still love both but I prefer DM II.

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Guest Yi-Long

Sheldonflawed.jpg

... if, however, you meant to say Drunken Master 2, which is the only right option you should offer considering 'Legend of the Drunken Master' is a poor westen version of a modern-day classic cantonese masterpiece, then I would choose that option!

While Drunken Master is a great movie, I personally might slightly favour Snake in the Eagle's Shadow over it, and Drunken Master 2 is better than both of them.

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This thread is a trick question as it's under 'Classic Martial Arts Cinema 1928-1985' you can only vote for the original DM :tongue:

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kungfuandcoffee

Can I vote for "Story of Drunken Master"??? Errr. Maybe not. The original gets my vote.

My knowledge of Jackie's films is lacking, I will admit.

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"Kung Fu And Coffee" - Humorous Reviews of Mostly "Not-Classics" - Always Free / Never Decaf - http://www.youtube.com/user/kungfuandcoffee / Talk to me on Twitter / Facebook / Email

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I haven't read the other posts in this thread so I don't know if this has been mentioned before but Drunken Master and Drunken Master 2 were made in different eras of HK film making.

They are so different, it's impossible to choose one over the other. Even in fun.

Drunken Master is a great funny film with a great feel to it. Great locations, great fighting and training scenes. Old school style. Beggar So is missing from DM2 so that's a big difference right there.

I find Drunken Master 2 to be quite dull overall. The final fight scenes are sweet but the banter between Jackie and Anita Mui, who's supposed to be his mother figure yet she's about the same age as him just annoys me. I just don't buy it.

I think it's Jackie's age that made it not work for me. He looked too old for that role.

:xd:

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Cognoscente
On 3/10/2008 at 6:15 PM, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

"Well that may have more to do with the period than the director. As you might remember, Jackie Chan did after all direct Young Master and Dragon Lord a couple of years after, which isn't exactly any better than Drunken Master, in cinematic terms." by ENDSANG
 

Are you shittin' me? Look at the ideas, unique touches, choice of shots, camera work, editing etc. that Jackie put into those movies, I urge you to watch them again!

Jackie made Yuen Woo-Ping look dated with those two movies. It was only when Yuen directed Drunken Tai Chi that he was literally up to speed with Jackie.

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