the leading man is my tpye

Expected more

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

The one thing that I did not like about the version of the movie that I watched was that it did not have subtitles, it was dubbed, which is really annoying, especially when Jackie Chan speaks with a really bad American accent. It is a shame that one cannot get the SBS subtitle versions on DVD because not only are they really good, in that they are translated by professional translators who are fluent in both languages, you can also read them because they are yellow (as opposed to white, which the Chinatown DVDs use). However, I think I have to put aside my hatred of dubbed movies on what is actually a really good Jackie Chan movie.I guess my favourite part about the movie is this guy who wonders around with a bench, and he uses this bench as a weapon. In fact, they use lots of strange things as weapons, including fans. It makes me now somewhat happy to actually carry a fan around with me in my bag, though, I hope I don't get arrested for carrying a deadly weapon.Anyway, this film is a film about a mistaken identity. Basically at the beginning there is a lion dance contest which turns out has been sabotaged by one of the participants because he has been bribed to throw the contest (and to understand how a dragon dance is a competitive sport, you have to watch the movie). Anyway, after he is discovered, he runs away so Jackie Chan decides to go after him and bring him back. Unfortunately for the other guy (whose name is Tiger) he has been caught up with a bad crowd, and his weapon of choice is a fan. As such the call for the arrest of a man dressed in white carrying a fan goes out, and in walks Jackie Chan, dressed in white, and carrying a fan. This is where the best part of the film occurs, but the mistaken identity is ended up solved, and Jackie then goes on to beat the bad guy, and bring Tiger back to the gym (if that is what the real Catonese name for the place is).The one thing that makes me wonder about films like this is where they are filmed. Hong Kong is a very small place and very densely populated, yet they are able to film films such as this which are set in earlier years and not have some massive sky scraper enter the scene. My suspicion is that it is either in the New Territories (where there are still some traditional Chinese villages) and on the Island of Lantau. I doubt you could do much filming in Lantau now since the island has been connected to the mainland by the Lantau Link and also has a major international airport located on it. However, back when this film was made, the Lantau Link did not exist, and I suspect that Lantau was a sparsely populated island connected to the mainland by ferry. However, if you go to Lantau (which I have done) it is nowhere near as densely populated as the other parts of Hong Kong, unless you are up near the airport, or near Disneyland.

Young Master was JC's first directorial effort and it is definitely a classic amongst his films from his golden age. Full of action (and incredibly impressive action for its time) and great comedic scenes, it's not laden down with too much unnecessary filler; the drama is kept to a minimum and there's no token romance. JC just looks in his prime, an astonishing physical specimen, and his fight/stunt work puts this to great display.As with most classic kung fu cinema, there is a grand finale fight with the main baddie, and young master certainly doesn't disappoint on this aspect...in fact it could arguably be called the best climactic fight in all of HK cinema! The master hapkido kicker Wong In-Sik is more than a match for Jackie's skills, and thus ensues an epic fight that approaches 20 minutes.Whilst not JC's best film in my opinion, it is certainly in his top 10 and will always be a pleasure to re-visit on multiple viewings.

In THE YOUNG DRAGON, superstar Jackie Chan was essentially playing gung fu star Jackie Chan. His antics herein were nothing new (though he would go on to add- quite substantially- to his ouvre over the next two decades) and some of the alleged humor is merely alleged, but it's the fifteen or twenty minute pounding he takes from Master Sik at the end of the movie that makes it absolutely must-see film-making. Chan, it could be argued, is cinema's great martial arts masochist- and his protracted punishment, dished out with a sadist's delight, it seems, has to be seen to be believed. Chan has always been willing to go that extra yard, and his willingness to absorb punishment for the sake of his art is taxed to the limit here. It's brutal, no two ways about it, but it's also vintage Jackie Chan.

In my opinion, whether Young Master is good or not is very difficult to tell. It cannot be compared to Drunken Master, which I'd say is Jackie's finest hour but how well does it stand off then? The negative sides of the film are:1. The plot - We all know that the plot is far from essential in Kung Fu-movies, but there is something about this movie that really bothers me.. I can't really tell what, but the production was haltered several times and it really shows in the finished print. There is just a dull feeling throughout the movie that has nothing to do with the comedy or anything.. I wonder if anyone else feels the same way. Besides, letting Jackie be a top-notch fighter in the beginning just to become the underdog fighter who basically wins by pure luck or by using the surrounding is not very clever.. of course, this has to do with Jackie wanting to change the tone of the action halfway through the production..2. - The misuse of the actors - Honestly, they have Wei Pei and especially my all-time favorite Yun Biu in the movie.. and what do they do? They really waste their talent.. Wei Pei doesn't get a chance to shine, and to be honest, this is probably Yun Biu's worst appearance in a movie ever. Sure he handles the bench really well.. and no, he doesn't have to do the tumbling and flipping all the time to be impressive.. but the fight with Jackie leaves me so unsatisfied3. The camera work - it really lame.. no one can say anything else.. I sometimes believe that I could have done a better job myself..4. The end fight - I've read other peoples' comments about this movie.. and everyone seems to appreciate the end battle with Ing-Sik Whang. I beg to differ.. It's not good.. sure Ing-Sik shows some good kicking.. but Jackie gets to show nothing.. nothing.. not even in the end, when the fight basically looks like a common boxing match.. really.. did Jackie write this was his 9th favorite fight??And the good parts:1. The lion dancing - really good scene.. very beautifully performed2. Some of the humour - yes, sometimes it really works.. and it's intentional :)3. Yun Biu - He is just too cool to ignore4. Yun Biu making a move with the bench - This is one of my favorite "kata" ever performed.. it's right after Jackie also grabs a bench at Yun Biu's home.6. The fan fight - reason alone to watch this movie.. it's probably my favorite Jackie Chan fight ever.. be sure to watch the uncut version though! This is one of the few times that the bad camera work actually boosts the fight scene.. I just love the rhythmic dancing and the beautifully performed movements with the fan.. and the way it ends.. there is just a certain touch to it that is hard to describe.. but I guess this is the kind of fight you either love or hate..So in all.. the movie itself is pretty bad.. but some scenes really raise the entire film and make it a superb way of spending 106 minutes.. (the uncut version where the final fight is even looonger)