Jackie Chan’s one issue with Drunken Master had a huge influence on the plan for the sequel. Directed by Yuen Woo-ping and released in 1978, the original Drunken Master movie was a huge hit at the Hong Kong office. Today, it’s thought of as one of the martial arts actor’s best films.
Drunken Master played a major role in launching Jackie Chan’s acting career in Hong Kong. The martial arts comedy developed a lasting reputation as one of the genre’s best. Its popularity led to the studio behind the movie deciding to produce a sequel nearly two decades later. In 1994, Golden Harvest released The Legend of the Drunken Master, which put Chan back in the starring role. In both movies, the actor played Wong Fei-hung, a heavy-drinking kung fu expert who employs a “drunken style” of Chinese martial arts.
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What Jackie Chan Didn’t Like About Drunken Master’s Story
In Drunken Master, the main character’s consumption of alcohol was integral to the plot. Similar to how drunken boxing works in other kung fu movies, Chan’s Wong always fought at his best when in an intoxicated state. So in a sense, Drunken Master pointed to there being a positive side of heavy drinking. In his autobiography, Never Grow Up, Chan explained that he was “horrified” at this element of the story upon rewatching the movie. He felt that Drunken Master was essentially teaching people to fight drunk. According to him, he corrected a “mistake” from his past by ensuring that The Legend of the Drunken Master (also known as Drunken Master II) delivered a better message.
How Drunken Master II Fixed The Original Movie’s Message
As Chan notes in Never Grow Up, Golden Harvest’s Drunken Master II doesn’t take the same approach to drinking as its processor. While Wong continues to use drunken boxing in the sequel, the movie doesn’t make light of his drinking. In fact, it draws attention to his addiction and the problems it’s caused for both his family and health. He even loses a fight because of it. Unlike the original film, The Legend of the Drunken Master forced Wong to face the unfortunate consequences that come with this lifestyle in real life. Not only was he hurting himself, but the people around him were suffering as well.
Wong ultimately decided to give up alcohol for good, but the threat of losing to the main villain in Drunken Master II’s final fight led to Jackie Chan’s Wong Fei-hung using drunken boxing one more time. But instead of this scene being depicted as Wong simply relapsing, the moment was interpreted as a form of sacrifice. The hero understood the personal toll drinking would take on him if he broke his vow not to drink. Following his victory, it was learned during the movie’s ending that drinking had resulted in permanent brain damage. While this served as a sad conclusion to his two-movie arc, it also paid off his story in a way that didn’t brush off his previous mistakes.
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