Shi di chu ma (1980)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Jackie Chan

Writers:

Jackie Chan (writer)
Tin-Chi Lau (writer)

Release Date:

9 February 1980 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Plot:

After failing his fellow students in a Lion Dance competition, Dragon (Jackie Chan) is sent away from his school in disgrace...

Plot Keywords:

Martial Arts | Mistaken Identity | Road Movie | Famous Score | Redemption

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	Dragon
Biao Yuen	...	Sang Kung's Son / Fourth Brother
Pai Wei	...	Tiger
Lily Li	...	Sang Kung's Daughter
Kien Shih	...	Sang Kung
Ing-Sik Whang	...	Kam (as Whong In Sik)
Hark-On Fung	...	Kam's Bodyguard #1 (as Ke An Feng)
Hoi San Lee	...	Kam's Bodyguard #2 (as Li Hai Sheng)
Feng Tien	...	Master
Feng Feng	...	Ah Suk
Mei Sheng Fan	...	Bull (as Mei-Sheng Fan)
Yan Tsan Tang	...	Ah Tsang (as Yim Chan Tang)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Siu Hung Cham
David Cheng
Kang-Yeh Cheng
Wah Cheung
Kam Chiang
Chiang Chou
Benny Lai
Kim Hung Lai
Fa Yuan Li
Chih Hung Ling
Ke Ming Lin
Ying Lung
Mars
Gwa-pau Sai
Tau Wan Yue

Also Known As:

See dai chut ma (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
The Young Master (Hong Kong: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for martial arts violence.

Runtime:

Finland:90 min | Hong Kong:101 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 (original rating) (cut) | Germany:16 (re-rating) (uncut) | Iceland:16 | France:Unrated | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Hong Kong:I | Norway:15 (video premiere) | Spain:T | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Company:

Golden Harvest Company

Trivia:

The fan-fighting scene required 329 takes to complete.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Best of the Martial Arts Films (1990)

Good action and good comedy

Tiger has gone astray and has defected to a rival kung0fu school who are using his skills for evil means. They end up framing Tiger for a crime he didn't commit. The younger of the two orphans, Dragon, messes up in a competition and is expelled until he can clear his brother's name. On the journey much martial arts action, mistaken identity comedy and general adventure is had on the way to a final show down.

Jackie Chans first crack at directing shows he is man of many talents. This film broke every record at the Hong Kong box office and it still stands up today in the world of OTT fight scenes in every Hollywood movie you'd care to mention! The reason this film stands up so well is that it has all the basics of any Chan film.

First off the fight scenes are all very good. They may not look as up to date, but they compare favourably with anything coming out of Hollywood today. The final fight is amazing and is only let down by a really bad dummy stand in at the end! Secondly, and just as importantly, the film is funny! Chan's comedy is bang on target – even 20 years later this is funny. This comedy is mixed nicely with everything else and sits well even within the final 15 minute fight scene at the end.

It does have flaws in that at times the plot is confusing or lost in all the comedy and action – but the plot holds on just enough to get by. But lets be honest, we didn't come here for plot – we came for action and comedy, and it delivers both.

Overall this is no classic but it has been one of my favourite Chan flicks for years, and even after 22 odd years this still stands up as a very enjoyable film with good action and comedy.