DRUNKEN MASTER (1978) — He fights like a fool. But hits like a legend.

He trained through pain. He fights through wine. He wins through madness.

Drunken Master (1978) is the film that launched Jackie Chan from rising stuntman to international superstar, blending martial arts mastery with riotous physical comedy in a way the world had never seen before. Directed by Yuen Woo-ping, the movie redefined the kung fu genre—not just as a showcase of skill, but as a playground of style, charm, and sheer chaos.

Set in early 20th-century China, the story follows Wong Fei-hung (Jackie Chan), a brash and rebellious young man with a gift for kung fu—and a knack for causing trouble. After humiliating his father one too many times, Fei-hung is sent away to train under the infamous Beggar So (Yuen Siu-tien), a drunken kung fu master known for his brutal training methods and unorthodox fighting style: the Eight Drunken Immortals.

What begins as punishment turns into transformation. Through pain, humiliation, and barrels of wine, Wong Fei-hung learns to channel unpredictability into power. But just as he begins to find discipline in his chaos, a ruthless assassin named Thunderfoot arrives in town, threatening Wong’s family and forcing him to put his newfound style to the ultimate test.

The brilliance of Drunken Master lies not only in its bone-crunching choreography, but in Jackie Chan’s complete physicality—his ability to turn combat into a slapstick ballet of acrobatics, improvisation, and impeccable timing. Every fight is a dance, every stumble a setup for a counterattack. Underneath the comedy lies real technical artistry, with fights that remain among the most iconic in martial arts cinema.

More than four decades later, Drunken Master endures as a martial arts classic that not only defined a career, but birthed a genre. It taught audiences that kung fu could be fast, furious, and funny—and that sometimes, the most dangerous fighter is the one who looks too drunk to stand.