The Legend of Drunken Master

For a long time, I've wanted to see good Jackie Chan films, but I've found his oeuvre impenetrable because he's made, like, a gagillion films. And of course by oeuvre, I don't mind stuff like "Rush Hour," "Rush Hour 2," or dare I say it, "Rush Hour 3." But then I saw this movie listed on Time Magazine's list of the top 100 films of all time, and I thought this might be a good place to start.

As a side note, I wouldn't put too much stock in the Time list. After all, I assume it was compiled at least in part by the ridiculous Time critic who raved about "Superman Returns," which in this critic's opinion was a shockingly terrible movie.

As it turns out, the questionable validity of that list does not detract from the quality of "The Legend of Drunken Master," the story of a drunken boxer who is tasked with recovering a Chinese artifact before the British ship it out of the country. It's all poorly dubbed, although not nearly to the comedic effect of other Hong Kong martial arts films. Of course, dialogue is never the reason to see a movie like this. Rather, we want the action. And while I generally find most action sequences dull and I can take 'em or leave 'em, these fights were some of the more impressively choreographed and executed fight scenes I've ever seen. Though I'm sure films influenced this, I'm equally sure this film directly influenced "Kung Fu Hustle," "Kill Bill: Vol. 1," and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," especially in its depiction of an ax gang and the fight in a two-story restaurant.

Now that I've seen a great Hong Kong Jackie Chan film, I'd like to see another, but I'm still left with the daunting task of deciding which of his other umpteen million films to see.