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KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS (1979)
Ground Zero Entertainment
96 Minutes
Directed by Wu Ma
Produced by Shuai Yo Feng and Cheng Wu Yung
Written by Hsiang Mei Lung
Cinematography by Tu Tung Ching
Fighting Instructions by Chen Mu Chuan
Music by Chou Fu Liang
Cast: John Chang, Dean Shek, Sabrina Sai, Choi Chuk Guen, Nick Cheung, San Guai
Video: Full Frame (1.33.1)
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: None
Packaging: Keepcase
Chapter Stops: 7


Wu Ma went from being a regular Shaw Brothers performer to a powerful director in a very short time. One of his earliest (and best) efforts was the THE WATER MARGIN (1972), in which Wu Ma co-directed with Chang Cheh. It was such a hit that the Mountain Brothers returned again in ALL MEN ARE BROTHERS (1975). Ma learned a lot with his partnership with Chang Cheh, and went at it solo to direct NAVAL COMMANDOES (1977), ALONG COMES A TIGER (1977), and THE HEROES (1980), with Ti Lung. Wu Ma’s later pictures were mostly goofy martial arts comedies, as evidenced by the likes of KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS (1980). It was during this time that DRUNKEN MASTER (1979) was popular, so all the independents were doing their own version of that surprise hit. Wu Ma recruited the charismatic Meng Fei for the heroic lead. Meng Fei proved his box office potential in films like PRODIGAL BOXER (1972), INVINCIBLE KUNG FU TRIO (1978), and BOXER’S ADVENTURE (1979). Then Ma brought the busy Chen Sing on board as the chief antagonist. The cast is rounded out by many other familiar performers such as the former Shaw Brothers mainstay, Lung Fei. Kung Fu fans will remember him from RETURN OF THE CHINESE BOXER (1975), SEVEN GRANDMASTERS (1978), and SHAOLIN KUNG FU MYSTAGOGUE (1976). Kao Chiang starred in THE EIGHT ESCORTS (1980), HERO TATTOOED WITH NINE DRAGONS (1981), and SEVEN COMMANDMENTS OF KUNG FU (1979). Ma Cheung is featured as a villian; he appeared in numerous Kung Fu movies such as BEST OF SHAOLIN KUNG FU (1976), MASK OF DEATH (1979), and CHALLENGE OF DEATH (1980). Hong Kong movie veteran Lui Ming is the Drunken Master. He played similar roles in SNAKE CRANE SECRET (1978), SHAOLIN BROTHERS (1977), and THE CAVALIER (1978). Lu Yi Lung from TEN BROTHERS OF SHAOLIN (1979) and MISSION OVER EAGLE CASTLE (1981) plays the corrupt Officer Tan.

Chang Fung (Meng Fei) is an orphan who was taken in and raised by his bitter Uncle (Kao Chiang) and his daughter, Tong Tong. Together the three of them make a living working in the Uncle’s restaurant. One day, local bullies disturb Chang Fung enough that he seeks the teachings of a martial arts master. Since Chang can’t afford lessons, no teachers accept him. Chang hooks up with a drunken former master, Wu Sing (Lei Ming), who is so cocked he mistakenly teaches Chang the unbeatable 8 Immortals style—a form reserved for the martial arts elite. In the crowded town square, Chang meets up with con artist/gambler Monkey (Wu Ma) and they clash with the local citizenry. In defending himself, Chang uses the 8 Immortal style, which is recognized by a gang member (Ma Cheung). The gang member rats out Chang to the corrupt Officer Tan (Lu Yi Lung). Immediately, Tan realizes that Chang must have been taught by Wu Sing, the only man alive who knows the style. Tan and his benefactor Mr. Pei (Chen Sing), have unfinished business with Wu Sing, and have been unable to find him for years. Mr. Pei orders Tan to find Wu Sing at any cost. Back at the restaurant, a group of thugs refuse to pay the bill, and Chang wants to teach them some manners. His Uncle tells him to chill out, when suddenly a sexy female martial artist named Pei Yu (Sze Ma Yu Chiao) appears and beats the men into submission. Over the next few days, Pei Yu develops a fondness for Chang.

Tan forces the owner of the building to close down the restaurant. With no place to go, Chang, Uncle, and Tong Tong go into seclusion. Chang tries to get a job to sustain his Uncle who has fallen ill. Monkey and Pei Yu search high and low for Chang and his family. Monkey finally finds Chang, and together they stumble onto Wu Sing. An assassin (who had been following them) intrudes and threatens to wipe them all out. Chang manages to defeat the bear-like mountain of a man. Chang tells Monkey to go look out for his Uncle and Tong Tong while he stays to train with Wu Sing. Tan captures Monkey and demands he take him to find Wu Sing. Meanwhile, two fighters called the Silver and Gold Tigers kidnap Uncle and Tong Tong from their hiding place. While escorting Tan through the woods, Monkey gives him the slip and goes to warn the old master. Upon hearing the news of the kidnappings, Cheng goes to Mr. Pei’s restaurant. There he beats up the lackeys and demands to know the whereabouts of his family. The beaten men promptly spill the beans and Chang heads over to the nearby waterfall where he finds Tan preparing for battle. Tan is nimble and powerful but doesn’t stand a chance when faced with the 8 Immortals style. Pei Yu finds the Silver and Gold Tigers and demands they release Chang’s relatives. They tell her that her father who ordered them to commit theses heinous acts and to take it up with him—Pei Yu’s father happens to be the villainous Mr. Pei. She confronts him at their expansive villa and he tells her that he forgives Chang. Mr. Pei wants her to bring him to the villa so he can apologize to him. She goes back into the forest and finds Chang polishing off the Silver and Gold Tigers. She tells Chang that her father wants to apologize to him, and they returns to the villa. They arrive to find Mr. Pei waiting for them; but not to apologize—only to beat the life out of Chang!

Wu Ma certainly has a firm knowledge of direction, performance, and general filmmaking, but his sense of humor sure got the best of him here. Whatever positive qualities KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS has (and there are many), they are drowned out by some of the most annoying buffoonery ever committed to celluloid. It’s hard to believe that this is the same talented individual who gave us THE HEROES (which is currently available from Tai Seng) that same year! THE HEROES was a thoughtful, dramatic tale of self-sacrifice with a permeating aura of doom and dark atmosphere throughout. Gone is the assured direction of THE HEROES or ALONG COMES A TIGER, replaced with a pure carnival atmosphere. To his credit, when the dramatic elements kick into gear in the last half hour, the movie becomes devoid of humor, but by then the damage is done. Wu Ma does deliver some ironic tragedy irony in the conclusion, yet the viewer can’t help but imagine more foolishness to offset this. Basically, the director took the amusing aspects of DRUNKEN MASTER and amplified them times ten. If he was aiming for over-the-top, he exceeded that by leaps and bounds. Technically, the direction is there but the story and cohesiveness is certainly lacking. One surprising aspect of this sophomoric Kung Fu comedy is the bodycount factor. Meng Fei has no compunctions about using 8 Immortals style to maim and kill his opponents; hence the large amount of violence and bloodshed.

Before you think KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS is a total waste, consider the efforts of Meng Fei. As this film is a rip-off of DRUNKEN MASTER, Meng Fei must carry the weight of the Jackie Chan role. Both men are charismatic indeed, but Jackie most certainly is more of a goof. Jackie also uses an overstated acrobatic style of fighting from his time in the Peking Opera. Meng Fei, on the other hand, is more of a real martial artist and less of an entertainer. His movements are much more realistic than Jackie, even in the depiction of made-up styles like the 8 Immortals. In every movie about Drunken Boxing, the young disciple masters the style by imbibing large amounts of alcohol and stumbling all over the place and not feeling his opponents blows. In KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS, Meng Fei doesn’t touch a drop—his instructor does all the drinking. The styles he uses are variations on popular Shaolin techniques like Mantis Fist, Eagle Claw, etc. Except for the final battle with Chen Sing, the fights in the movie are rather short and one sided in favor of Meng Fei. Speaking of Chen Sing, he’s only in the movie for about 10 minutes. He probably filmed all his scenes in one weekend. Still, the conclusion would not be the same without him. I would have preferred to see his face and villainy all through the picture. The other supporting players like Lung Fei and Ho Yu Ming do very well (except for Wu Ma, whose character is merely comedy relief, anyway).

SIGHT

KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS was released theatrically in the 2.35.1 aspect ratio. Ground Zero presents the film in a cropped 1.33.1 version. The print itself suffers from scratches, white spots, and wear. Yet, the sharpness and colors are fully saturated (and at times over saturated, especially the reds). The image is similar to Ground Zero’s TWO CHAMPIONS OF DEATH, very colorful with deep blacks and good contrast. KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS has some good cinematography going for it, especially the scene where Meng Fei battles Ho Yu Ming in front of a large waterfall. For a low budget independent, the movie also offers some good production values that the transfer capably reproduces. The fight choreography is very tight in the full frame transfer, but the fights don’t loose their impact because of it. The transfer for KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS is better than average, barring the source element imperfections and the graininess.

 

SOUND

Here is where the disc excels. The audio is pseudo-Dolby Digital 5.1, derived from the original mono sound elements. Don’t expect true stereo fidelity or even the decent DD 5.1 that old school HK imports have (such as DUEL TO THE DEATH or MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER), but it certainly beats the usual dull mono presentation. Dialog is full and clear. The martial arts sound effects don’t move around in the soundfield, yet the sounds are clear with a dose of reverb. Bass response is low. The background noise and distortion in the DD 5.1 soundfield is non-existent. The music of Chou Fu Liang blends together with the audio effects and the dialog for a satisfactory presentation. One problem is that the sound field is good enough to magnify the annoying bits of cheeky goofball humor and extremely bad dubbing. The end result is that it could quite conceivably give you a headache. The sampling used by Wu Tang Clan in the menus is very strong and rich. And if you don’t like rap, that could give you a headache, too.

FEATURES

When you load up the DVD, Wu Tang Clan member Rza greets you on the New York City subway system (they don’t call these discs the Wu Tang Underground Collection for nothing!). The entire DVD navigation system resembles the NYC subway, so if you are familiar with mass transit, you’ll have no problem getting around the multitude of features on this DVD. From the Secrets of the Underground Menu, you can view the Wu Tang Clan music video. Secrets of the Lyrical Chamber is some more rhymes from the group. Hand to Hand with Rza also allows you to bask in the Kung Fu street wisdom of rapper Rza as well as an interview with U-GOD. Movie-wise, there is a Bio page with brief overviews of Meng Fei and Chen Sing. From these Bio pages, you can jump to their respective fight scenes in KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS. There is another sub menu called Ground Zero which holds trailers for GZE’s urban films BLAZING, GANGSTRESSES, VICIOUS CIRCLE, SLIM SHADY, & more. And of course, we have the 18 Fatal Trailers. Most of these trailers are full frame and run 1:04, some are widescreen as indicated below.

  • SHAOLIN DRUNK MONKEY (1.33.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • SNAKE STRIKES BACK (1.33.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • OVER THE WALL (1.66.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • STRIKE OF THE MANTIS FIST (1.33.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • ONE FOOT CRANE (1.33.1, Mono, 1:03)
  • EAGLE FIST (1.33.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • SHAOLIN VS. NINJA (1.33.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • SHAOLIN VS. LAMA (1.33.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • 10 BRONZEGIRLS OF SHAOLIN (1.33.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • BEST OF SHAOLIN KUNG FU (1.66.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • 5 VENOMS VS WU TANG (1.66.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • 9 VENOMS (1.33.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • FIGHT AMONG THE SUPERS (2.35.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • GOOSE BOXER (1.85.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • MYSTERIOUS FOOTWORK (1.33.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • CHESS BOXING VS. BUDDHIST FIST (1.85.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • SHAOLIN CHASTITY KUNG FU (1.33.1, Mono, 1:04)
  • ENTER THE INVINCIBLE HERO (1.33.1, Mono, 1:04)

CONCLUSION

Some Kung Fu fans get off on Ninja movies. Others dig Bruceploitation flicks. And there are those who love nothing more than to watch DRUNKEN MASTER rip-offs. If you fall into that last category, then you’ll be in bad-movie heaven with KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS. Seriously though, the movie can become quite overbearing for folks of low tolerance levels like myself. On the positive side, Meng Fei is pretty good and technically the film is well presented. This is an auspicious release for the Wu Tang Clan, who reportedly love these drunken comedies like SHAOLIN DRUNKARD, KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS, et al. The supplemental material for the feature itself is a little slim, but fans of the Wu Tang Clan will be blown away by the content and presentation of the WTC material. For the more discriminating Kung Fu collector who can’t justify spending the money on drunken absurdities, may we recommend INCREDIBLE KUNG FU MASTER or SNAKE SHADOW LAMA FIST?

 

KUNG FU OF EIGHT DRUNKARDS is available from HKFlix.com

 

-- Tony Mustafa

Movie:

3.0
Video:

3.5
Audio:

3.5
Extras:

3.0
Overall:

4.0


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