Veteran Hong Kong producer and director Tsui Hark, the man responsible for uniting former NBA re bounder Dennis Rodman with action star Jean-Claude Van Damme for his American directing debut, DOUBLE TEAM, followed by KNOCK-OFF (also w/ Van Damme) and producing some of HK's top fantasy gems of all time, presented this story about a young Chinese martial artist (Li) from Hong Kong who travels to the United States in hopes of finding his master, Uncle Tak (played by Yuen Wah, the Landlord in KUNG FU HUSTLE) but learns that he was badly beaten in a fight by a former American student named Johnny (Light Welterweight World Kickboxing Champion, Jerry Trimble) who's obsession with being the # 1 fighter in L.A. leads him to terrorizing martial arts dojos across the state. While Tak recovers from his injuries, Li tries to settle his differences with him while preparing for an all-out kung-fu brawl against Johnny and his group of students in order to regain his master's lost honor.

Shot on location in L.A., THE MASTER was sort of what RUMBLE IN THE BRONX was with Jackie Chan where a Chinese kung-fu expert travels to a crime ridden area in America to achieve a simple goal while encountering thugs and impressing people with his combat methods. He teaches an entire Police Force healing secrets as if he was instructing a Tae Bo class, trains a Latino gang kung-fu to help them beat off bad guys and fighting an American martial artist to save his master and the other hostages held by Johnny's students. The plot was a simple one that seemed to have been constructed to allow room for non-stop fight action.

One of the film's greatest achievements were the nicely choreographed fight scenes, courtesy of co-star Yuen Wah who incorporated traditional kung-fu and weaponry. The fancy wire work or computer generated effects were put aside so the fights would be believable and realistic as possible. Yuen Wah revealed his incredible kung-fu specialties against a group of fighters on a building rooftop. He uses close-range takedowns, Wu Shu-oriented butterfly kicks, acrobatics and other fight moves to show audiences that he's a true master of the art. Jerry Trimble exchanges blows with Jet Li on more than one occasion but the one-on-one finale features Trimble using Tae Kwon Do to execute his cinematic footwork while dealing with Li's counter attacks, fast-flowing jabs and Wu Shu kung-fu. In addition to that fight, Li gets his leg stuck in a circular pipe handle but is still able to pull off kung-fu.

Li helps his newly-befriended Latino gangster wannabes fight off Johnny's posse (two of them who were played by stuntman/martial artist Steven Ho-Liu Kang's brother in MORTAL KOMBAT, ART OF WAR 2, and Ju Jitsu expert Stefanos Militsakakis- BEST OF THE BEST 2, MAXIMUM RISK, DAREDEVIL) before facing off against Johnny on top of a car.

Yuen Wah was known for his recent role as the Landlord in Stephen Chow's KUNG FU HUSTLE but is probably remembered best by fans as the man one who caught the apple in ENTER THE DRAGON and doubled for Bruce Lee in some of the sequences. He also had a small role in Chinese CONNECTION (aka FIST OF FURY) as the Japanese who taunts Lee by telling him to walk like a dog. He was a regular in old-school kung-fu flicks produced by the legendary Shaw Brothers (recently saluted by Quentin Tarrantino in KILL BILL VOL. 1's opening).

THE MASTER was originally made in 1989 but it still wouldn't earn a then-unknown Jet Li his crown to superstardom. The film was delayed until 1992 because Li and Tsui Hark were unaware of what was to come that year when they collaborated again to launch ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA, which was a box-office success and Li's ticket to superstardom (in Asia).

To help capitalize on Li's fame in America, THE MASTER finally got an international DVD release in 2002 by Miramax Films to give viewers the chance to witness the stunning talents of this kung-fu master.

World Karate Champion and Tae Bo excercise founder Billy Blanks made a quick-second cameo as a gang thug but unfortunately, he didn't do any fighting which was a disappointment. The reason why the filmmakers didn't let him fight will be a mystery but with his martial arts skills (shown in countless B-grade Hollywood movies), he should have fought someone but instead, he's depicted as an unknown extra. Too Bad.

Other than those factors, THE MASTER was a decent fight-flick that went underrated in the States but deserves a full view because it was one of a few modern kung-fu movies to feature lightning-fast, raw and street-effective kung-fu while Jet Li unravels himself in attack mode like Tony Jaa did in ONG-BAK and THE PROTECTOR acting as the kung-fu special effect.