Enter the Dragon vs. Drunken Master

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2 comments

As much as I enjoy Drunken Master, it can't hold a candle to Enter the Dragon

Drunken Master's fun, but there are so many flicks from around the same year that do the exact same thing just as well or better. It'd be forgotten if it weren't Jackie.

I wouldn't put Drunken Master up there with the very best of Jackie's, but it's good shit. Isn't "It'd be forgotten if it weren't Jackie" kind of an odd thing to say? It's a Jackie Chan movie. Jackie Chan is what makes Jackie Chan movies so great. Admittedly, there's better old-school stuff out there. But Jackie brings his usual charm and Master Yuen's choreography was pretty damn good. Throw in Hwang Jang Lee and you've got a winner on your hands. Personally, I'd put it up against any of Bruce's movies. But then again, I'm not his biggest fan.

"Isn't 'It'd be forgotten if it weren't Jackie' kind of an odd thing to say?" By this point being a goof who nearly breaks his neck for people's amusement wasn't really his trademarked "thing", he was just another capable kung-fu film lead. That doesn't reduce the film, but it's more a martial movie of its time that happens to have Jackie than a "Jackie film". (That's part of its charm, really.)

True, it wasn't his thing yet. But I'd say Drunken Master (and Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, along with it) was certainly the start of it. Regardless, I'd rather watch a well-choreographed movie of the same period than Bruce's stuff. Loved his philosophy, loved the intensity he brought, but you never feel like he's in any real danger. There's almost never any competition. I'd rather watch something like Monkey Kung Fu.

bruce lee

OOF, wasn't expecting this one... I looove Drunken Master, but I think I have to give this one to Lee.