The Young Taoism Fighter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

The Young Taoism Fighter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 29, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Two Taoist Tales collection from Eureka! Entertainment.

While it might arguably help viewers to know something about Taoism in order to (no religious pun intended) divine some context in the two films Eureka! Entertainment has aggregated under the title Two Taoist Tales, it may not be strictly necessary for any number of reasons. First of these is the frank admission in some of the supplements that anyone looking for some kind of "authentic" accounting of Taoism in either of these films had probably best keep looking. Perhaps more importantly, and frankly perhaps even more hilariously, is the fact that even Taoist scholars often can't agree on exactly what Taoism is "all about", as evidenced by any number of online "analyses" that can come to almost confoundingly different conclusions about what is alternately termed a "religion" or a "philosophy". Adding into the "comprehensibility maelstrom" both of these films offer is the fact that as commentators Mike Leeder and Arne Venema mention, in a kind of linked follow up to some of their jokes in a commentary included on The Miracle Fighters, another relatively recent Eureka! release of a film often cited as a progenitor for both of these films, there may have been a "controlled substance" or two (or three) in regular use by the filmmakers, resulting in an unabashed hallucinogenic ambience that may either intentionally or unintentionally short circuit any attempt at rational reactions. Somewhat interestingly, there's actually a fourth film that is often lumped in with the two in this set and The Miracle Fighters, 1983's Shaolin Drunkard, which may augur a future release from Eureka! Entertainment.

if Taoism Drunkard offered a central character with the not exactly heroic penchant for over drinking, The Young Taoism Fighter offers a central character who isn't above cheating a little (or maybe a lot) to attain his goals. Both of these focal men link these two otherwise only tangentially related films courtesy of a conceit whereby the very flaw that afflicts the character turns out to be a motivating point in the plot. Ko Sang (Yuen Yat- choh) is initially introduced as a kind of lazy disciple who wants to fast forward past all of the acolyte bits to attain mastery, without putting in the requisite work. Ultimately, he falls into an alliance of sorts with female ninja type Li Chien Ngo (Hilda Liu Hao-yi), who is in true classic martial arts film style attempting to avenge the death of her master.

That sets the pair up to battle the film chief antagonist, a murderous clan leader named Fu Luen (Yen Shi-kwan). The Young Taoism Fighter is probably not quite as manic as Taoism Drunkard, but it still relies on silly slapstick and other schtick which may make it variably appealing to different people. That relentlessly frenetic pace that propels a lot of Taoism Drunkard is pretty much missing in action (in more ways than one) in this outing, though considering how ultimately exhausting Taoism Drunkard can be, maybe that's ultimately not a totally bad thing.

The Young Taoism Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Young Taoism Fighter is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka! Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Eureka tends not to provide a ton of technical information on their releases, and that's once again the case here, with the insert booklet only offering "viewing notes" (somewhat hilariously mentioning the wrong aspect ratio) and calibration advice. The back cover's sole comment is a minimal "both films are presented on Blu-ray for the first time ever from brand new 2K restorations". This is a more consistent looking transfer than Taoism Drunkard, without as many huge swings in grain resolution as I mentioned in the review of the other film in this set, despite this film also having quite a few old style optically composited effects. On the minus side, it may be arguable that the palette here looks just a bit wan when compared to the most florid moments of Taoism Drunkard, though there are still many times throughout this presentation where color pop appealingly, especially in some of the outdoor material. Occasional shots look like they were done with intentional soft focus, and detail levels understandably ebb in such moments. There are probably a few more noticeable examples of anamorphic squeezing toward the edges of the frame in this presentation than in Taoism Drunkard.

The Young Taoism Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Young Taoism Fighter offers LPCM 2.0 Mono audio in either Cantonese or English. Unlike the audio presentations on Taoism Drunkard, which to my ears were pretty similar despite the obvious language differences, there's a noticeable falloff in amplitude and fullness when toggling to the English language track after listening to the Cantonese. That's not to suggest that the Cantonese track is a model of overwhelming fidelity, since it shows some of the same anomalies I discussed in the review of Taoism Drunkard, with a tendency toward coming close to distortion in the most hyperbolic moments, as well as the same general boxiness. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Young Taoism Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng


• Audio Commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema


• James Mudge on The Young Taoism Fighter (HD; 10:35) is an appealing companion piece to the Mudge piece on the other disc in this set, with Mudge discussing things like the evident box office implosion this film suffered, which Mudge mentions may have something to do with what he calls its "slapdash" quality.


• Original Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:54)

The Young Taoism Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

You kind of get a "sugar high" off of Taoism Drunkard, and that makes following up quickly with this film probably unavoidably a bit of a "crash and burn" exercise, though this film's relatively more straightforward narrative may easily appeal more to many than the other film in this set. Technical merits are generally solid, and probably more consistent than Taoism Drunkard, and as with the other film, the supplements, including two interesting commentaries, are enjoyable, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.