Drunken Master
Drunken Master and also known as Drunken Master The Beginning Chinese: 醉拳; lit. 'Drunken Fist and Jui Kuen' is a 1978 Hong Kong martial arts comedy film directed by Yuen Woo-ping. The film features much of the same crew as Yuen's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow released earlier the same year, including lead actors Jackie Chan, Yuen Siu-tien, and Hwang Jang-lee; although narratively unrelated, Drunken Master bears similarities to Snake in the Eagle's Shadow in its story and style.
| Drunken Master | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 醉拳 | ||||||
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| Directed by | Yuen Woo-ping | ||||||
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| Produced by | Ng See-yuen | ||||||
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| Cinematography | Chang Hui | ||||||
| Edited by | Pan Hsiung | ||||||
| Music by | Chow Fu-liang | ||||||
| Distributed by | Seasonal Film Corporation | ||||||
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Running time | 110 minutes | ||||||
| Country | Hong Kong | ||||||
| Language | Cantonese | ||||||
| Box office | US$16.5 million (est.) | ||||||
Drunken Master was a large success at the Hong Kong box office, earning two and a half times the revenue of the already-successful Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. It is considered an early milestone of the kung fu comedy genre that established Jackie Chan as one of Asia's most popular actors, and popularised the Zui Quan ("drunken fist") infused with a unique animal-fighting style. In 2017, it was ranked number 3 on GamesRadar's list of 50 greatest kung fu movies of all time. It spawned an official sequel, Drunken Master II (1994), and several spin-offs. It had a significant cultural impact, inspiring numerous later films, music, manga, anime and video games.