The Kung Fu Master
1994; directed by Benny Chan

A condensation of the first third of a 30-episode ATV series, Tai Seng's version of The Kung Fu Master spans two DVDs and clocks in at almost three and a half hours. While the length will most likely take its' toll on your butt if you try and take it down in one sitting, it does allow for a more complete presentation of the original product, and thus ends up being more successful than Tai Seng's previous series re-issuings like Fist of Fury.

The Kung Fu Master tells the story of Chinese folk hero Hung Hei-Kwun, who is credited with establishing the Hung Gar style of kung fu. The TV series concentrates on the period after Hung learned martial arts from a Shaolin master. Returning to his home village, he finds matters in chaos due to the brutal rule of the Manchurians. After defending one of his friends, Hung becomes a local hero and decides to open a martial arts school, much to the chagrin of his father (Poon Chi-Man) and the local general (Lo Lieh). Complicating matters further is the Sun Moon Sect, a group of revolutionaries who may or may not be allies to Hung.

As you might guess, with a running time over 200 minutes, the story gets more dense than that, but Tai Seng's edit does a good job in condensing down the full series and still making it something that most viewers shuld be able to follow with no problems. Matters are helped along by the acting; with a mix of relative newcomers and old veterans, it can sometimes be hard to create compelling characters, but director Benny Chan works well in allowing the actors to create something out of their roles. The acting -- as with many Hong Kong television series of the time -- can be a bit melodramatic, but overall, viewers should grow to like the characters and thus actually care about their fates, which is key in a release like this with so much story to it.

There are some technical issues present here, mostly due to the medium. Hong Kong television series, even the longer ones like this, have even smaller budgets than films. But for what he had to work with, Benny Chan creates a fairly good-looking product. Even though the series was shot on video, the cinematography and editing is solid, with Chinese countryside vistas providing some stunning backdrops. The soundtrack is, for the most part, obviously cobbled together from other sources, such as Conan the Barbarian, but overall, it instills the proper sense of pomp and pacing.

Action-wise, there's plenty of fighting on display here. As you might expect, the standout is Donnie Yen (who also directed the action scenes), but most of the supporting cast holds their own in the kung fu department as well. If there is a fault to be found in the brawls, it's Donnie Yen's overuse of camera tricks (most notably undercranking) that plagued much of Yen's work during this period. It's nothing at all that ruins the presentation, but it does become awfully annoying at times and hurts what ends up being a very solid, if very long, kung fu picture.

RATING: 7

DVD Information

Tai Seng's 2-DVD set is a pretty solid product. The picture is about as good as you can get for something shot on video, while the remixed soundtrack provides some nice punch for the fight scenes. Extra-wise, there is a selection of trailers for other Tai Seng products, a short "making of" featurette, and two commentaries. The one featuring Ric Meyers, Bobby Samuels, and Frank Djeng is passable, but the one of real interest to fans is the one with Donnie Yen and Bey Logan. Yen and Logan are good friends, and it shows on the commentary, which is fast, fun, and informative.

The DVD is available from Amazon.