The story in Shaolin Drunk Fighter is simple and cliché, but the execution is very good. We have a young main character who becomes a Shaolin monk in order to learn kung fu so he can get revenge on the tyrant Tiger Ko, who killed his family. And then we have his Shaolin master, who's one of the senior monks at the temple. This master, I think his name is Kung, is a great character (and actor). He's sympathetic, he beats a samurai (using a pole against a sword), he always shows up just when he's needed, and most interestingly, he's a monk who frequently gets drunk! It isn't clear whether this is actually part of, or allowed by, his Shaolin philosophy, or whether it's supposed to be a secret, but it seems to be part and parcel of his general philosophy, as he can fight very well with a pole using his drunken style - which his student also learns (although the whole drunken fighting aspect actually only plays a very small part in the movie).
There are also a bunch of ninjas working for Tiger Ko, and they pull all sorts of "magical" stuff, like disappearing instantly, burrowing through the sand, turning into smoke, etc. This doesn't do them much good, though! In fact, the bits of supernatural martial arts do not really play any kind of important role in the story and could easily have been omitted.
Anyway, the student eventually perfects his kung fu at the temple, and sets out to settle his score with Tiger Ko, aided by his master. The final fight is *very* long and very good; lots of entertainment value there for kung fu fans; lots of cool choreography. The way he defeats Tiger Ko at the end, spinning Ko's spear on his pole and sending it back to impale him, is bloody beautiful! Reminds me of something I saw in a comic book from the early '90s, called "Dragon Lines" - a kung fu master returned a thrown sword to its owner by spinning it once around his finger in mid-air! THAT's freakin' cool! :-)
This movie gets from me a rating of a solid 7 out of 10 - almost 8! Its faults consist in some surplus plot lines which never get developed. The Japanese samurai just ends up standing around at the end, and his sister, who apparently pursues the young main character romantically, never actually catches up with him. The ending is, as so often in these movies, very abrupt.
There are also a bunch of ninjas working for Tiger Ko, and they pull all sorts of "magical" stuff, like disappearing instantly, burrowing through the sand, turning into smoke, etc. This doesn't do them much good, though! In fact, the bits of supernatural martial arts do not really play any kind of important role in the story and could easily have been omitted.
Anyway, the student eventually perfects his kung fu at the temple, and sets out to settle his score with Tiger Ko, aided by his master. The final fight is *very* long and very good; lots of entertainment value there for kung fu fans; lots of cool choreography. The way he defeats Tiger Ko at the end, spinning Ko's spear on his pole and sending it back to impale him, is bloody beautiful! Reminds me of something I saw in a comic book from the early '90s, called "Dragon Lines" - a kung fu master returned a thrown sword to its owner by spinning it once around his finger in mid-air! THAT's freakin' cool! :-)
This movie gets from me a rating of a solid 7 out of 10 - almost 8! Its faults consist in some surplus plot lines which never get developed. The Japanese samurai just ends up standing around at the end, and his sister, who apparently pursues the young main character romantically, never actually catches up with him. The ending is, as so often in these movies, very abrupt.
