Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 7, 2017

Well Go USA might want to bolster its Blu-ray bulwarks, at least if the press release accompanying two linked HBO releases is any indication. While it might not be immediately apparent based solely on the releases themselves, HBO Asia has partnered with China Central Television to offer what HBO is calling “HBO Asia’s very first Chinese language productions and their first approach to the martial arts genre”. That may be perceived as a warning shot over the bow of other production entities (including Well Go USA) who have long focused on such genre offerings, but here’s the really interesting part: while this subtext is (again) probably not immediately apparent on the surface of things, these first two offerings from HBO Asia are only two stories based on the so-called “Ten Tigers of Canton”, a group of martial arts fighters who lived during the 19th and 20th centuries in the Guangdong Province, at least partially during the Qing Dynasty. That might suggest that HBO Asia has more than simply two offerings in the pipeline, and this could be a new franchise of sorts. The fact that HBO is venturing into a genre fairly far removed from some of its other, ostensibly more highbrow, offerings is at least one indication that the Asian market, whether for film or television properties, has become so huge that it simply can’t be ignored anymore. That is also an indication that either of these first two made for television offerings may be too geared toward Asian audiences to fully resonate with us adrenaline junkies on this side of whatever pond separates us from Asia. Both films have a melodramatic quality that I would liken to whatever the Asian equivalent of a telenovela might be, and neither seems particularly concerned with rendering an accurate historical perspective on their characters. That said, the films have sporadically energetic fight choreography (both are executive produced by Corey Yuen), and occasionally compelling plot points that at least partially overcome some pretty clunky writing and at times overwrought performance styles.

The fact that Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So has both “drunken” and “master” in its title will no doubt remind many fans of the legendary Jackie Chan vehicle Drunken Master, and while Chan’s character in that film, Wong Fei-hung, did indeed hail from the Guangdong Province, he himself was not one of the Ten Tigers of Canton. Wong Fei- hung’s father, Wong Kei-ying, was one of the Ten Tigers of Canton, and as a matter of fact his (supposed) story is told in the other HBO Asia release coming out concurrently with this one, Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying. Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So’s titular character So Chan (Jun Sao) is from a wealthy family and seems to have a secure future, especially after he’s chosen as a leading martial arts scholar, but one questionable decision ends up denying So Chan an imperial appointment and instead sets him on a perilous course where he’s forced to collaborate with the Beggar’s Sect, a group of ragtag fighters who ultimately help So Chan reclaim some of his rightful standing.

The first section of Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So would seem to be following in Jackie Chan’s redoubtable footsteps by approaching its content from a whimsical and flat out comedic standpoint. All of the military scholars have been assembled at court so that the child emperor can name the new leader. A nefarious eunuch named Song Fok-hoi (Ming Yang Jiang) wants his kind of brain dead acolyte to be named to the position, but a competing faction is pleased when the emperor names So Chan as the winner. Unfortunately, So Chan has broken away from the main party to find some food, which is when he encounters an elderly practitioner of the drunken fist technique (in a plot point that really is never explained—why is this guy in the dining hall, already hiding under a table, when So Chan gets there?).

So Chan’s moment of indiscretion gives Song Fok-hoi a reason to have So Chan arrested, and soon enough the badly pummeled would be military scholar finds himself exiled and seriously injured. In another elision that isn’t very artfully handled, So Chan ultimately ends up with the Beggar’s Sect, although the film is weirdly truncated and seems to skip over some interstitial material (for a moment it seems like So Chan is actually going to leave the Beggar’s Sect, but then just as quickly, he’s back there again, in one of several jumps in this film which made me think there is material left on the cutting room floor somewhere).

There’s nothing that unexpected that ensues, despite a couple of over convoluted “twists”, and the film plays out in typical overheated fashion, including with the predictable love interest in tow. What’s kind of odd about this feature, aside from its lurching narrative issues, is that the fight scenes are actually not that numerous. Things start out relatively energetically, with a well staged fight in the dining hall, but after that the set pieces are not as numerous as some genre fans might be expecting. Also a bit oddly, the film’s seeming humorous bent all but disappears after the first couple of sequences, and things become deadly serious, something that may in fact invite unintentional laughs since so much of the dialogue plays like something out of a not very well written soap opera.

Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of HBO with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This appears to have been digitally captured and it generally boasts a very well detailed if rather smooth looking image. Production values are generally fairly high, with costumes especially looking rather resplendent in high definition, with fine detail offering precise looks at some of the intricate designs that are woven into some pieces (look at the incredible bead work on the hat in screenshot 3 accompanying this review for a good example). The palette looks like it's been toyed with at various times, and in fact several sequences look a bit desaturated or at least pallid. There are some brightness and contrast variances that seem to have little to nothing to do with the actual environments being filmed. The long interior sequence which opens the film, for example, looks almost artificially brightened, with much less secure contrast than the bulk of the presentation. Some special effects, notably some CGI when Beggar So is in jail, looks fairly soft in comparison to the general sharpness of the rest of the transfer.

Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mixes in both Mandarin and English. Amplitude on the English track is upped a bit in comparison to the Mandarin track, but otherwise fidelity and general balance levels are similar if not actually identical. The dialogue in this film can be on the risible side, and so it's really of no major consequence whether the actors' lip movements match what's being said, though I found the English voice actors to be even more overheated than the native Chinese speakers.

Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements of any kind on this bare bones release. As can be seen in screenshot 20, there isn't even an option for Scene Selections on the Main Menu.

Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm frankly not quite sure what to make of this first offering from HBO Asia. The film is certainly not anything approaching an historically accurate biographical motion picture, and its weird tonal shift from a somewhat buffoonish opening to a much more melodramatic, even florid, presentation thereafter tends to make those dramatic tendencies seem pretty laughable themselves, however unintentionally. The fight choreography is generally quite good, but is a bit more sporadic than some may be expecting. Technical merits are generally very good to excellent for those considering a purchase.