PLOT:
After many years of wandering, Sam Seed returns home to find that his wife has adopted a son. Sam dislikes the lad and tortures him mentally and physically. Devastated, the boy runs away and takes a job in an inn, where he meets Rubber Legs and his student. He overhears that they are looking for Sam Seed and want to kill him, making Rubber Legs' northern Drunk Mantis Boxing supreme. Foggy returns home to warn Sam Seed, who is then injured by Rubber Legs. Sam sends Foggy to a sickness Teacher for herbs to cure him, and the doctor teaches him a dreaded style called Sickness Boxing. Now, armed with this sick form of fighting, Foggy is ready for Drunk Mantis.

THOUGHTS ON THE MOVIE:
Yuen Woo Ping directed this 1979 movie, which stars Hwang Jang Lee and Simon Yuen. With that said, that should be enough of a selling point for any classic kung fu movie fan that has yet to see this. Well, it was enough for me. I rented this movie before, the Video Asia DVD, which for those of you familiar with that "Insta-Action" feature, can also be considered to be "Insta-Crap". This highly faulty feature can have the movie jumping from chapter to chapter, and makes enjoying any movie a chore. When this happened to me during my viewing of the rental DVD, I immediately stopped it, and refused to watch it this way. I since then have always wanted to watch a decent version of this movie. Soulblade, the European company had released this movie remastered, widescreen, and with a load of extras. When I first heard about this, I was very excited and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. At the time of its release, I also took notice to the negative comments on Kung Fu Fandom regarding this release, mainly complaints about the aspect ratio of the movie, and it being improperly set, which displayed it with a "squished" look. I also read a few people posting with 'fixes' that can easily be made by changing a setting with the DVD player and/or TV. So much time has passed since this, and I figured enough is enough already, I must see this movie NOW! I took a gamble and went ahead and placed an order for the Soulblade release and to my surprise, I saw nothing wrong with the aspect ratio, the picture quality, or anything in general regarding this release. Keep in mind that I do not have a widescreen TV, the picture was more of a 1.85:1 ratio then the suggested 16:9 widescreen enhanced. Needless to say, I was a happy camper.

This movie starts off so "classic". Simon Yuen also is shown from the start, displaying his "Southern Form" of drunken boxing, playing the legendary character, Sam Seed. We also immediately see Hwang Jang Lee, all 'Silver Foxed' out, looking like a classic kung fu movie villain with his white wig, white eyebrows and white mustache displaying the "Northern Drunk Boxing" technique, as the character, Rubber Legs. All this is being shown while a narrator is speaking and explaining the origin of the two characters and styles. CLASSIC beginning, I was already in kung fu movie heaven. Then what follows, is another classic way to start a kung fu movie, a fight during the opening credits, and this one had Hwang Jang Lee and Corey Yuen taking out a Sam Seed look-alike. Without even getting into what the actual story is about, I already can say that this movie is a instant Must Have as well as a Must See, just based on what I described so far, and that's not even the best of it. This movie has a very strong beginning as well as an end, the only thing that brought me down, and somewhat slowed the pacing of this film came towards the middle. We see immediately after the first battle between Simon Yuen and Hwang Jang Lee, a meeting and interaction sequence between the two characters "Foggy" and the "Sick Fist Master". It was a bit confusing and dragged on a bit. While there was some decent and creative choreography that took place during this meeting of the two, it was a bit slow and I could of honestly did without. Although during the end fight scene which Foggy was involved, we see how important this meeting actually was. I will not let that middle sequence take away from the fact that this was a very enjoyable movie, that truly deserves a place in any kung fu movie collection.

COMEDY: WAS IT FUNNY?
If there exist a movie that features Simon Yuen, and does NOT have any comedy in it, I would do anything to see this one of a kind film. The comedy in this movie, for the most part, was actually funny. The comedy of this movie that I did not find particularly funny involved none other then Dean Shek. He played a character known as "Money Bags", in which was running a bank, and looked as if he was keeping peoples deposits for himself. He actually did a rap (poem), which in return, had Simon Yuen busting his own freestyle too, but to me, it just wasn't very funny. There were plenty of funny moments involving Sam Seed and Foggy, not to mention Sam Seeds wife. Even if you are not a fan of 'Funny-Fu', this movie should not be missed.

HOW'S THE ACTION?
The action in this movie is so unbelievably creative, as well as entertaining, that I can not think of the last movie that I've seen, that had such enjoyable choreography. Hwang Jang Lee and Simon Yuen's two fight scenes alone, are worth the price of admission. This movie featured wall-to-wall fighting, and even some "drunken boxing" training sequences. If you are an action junkie, and don't mind a little humor mixed in, boy will you enjoy this movie. Don't just take my word for it, take a sneak peak by watching the video clips listed below. I bet after you view them, you will be ordering this movie as quickly as you can, you won't be sorry.

"BLOODY" GOOD OR NOT?
I do not recall seeing very much blood at all during this movie, besides the bloody teeth scene at the start of the film and a spot or two at the end.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
The whole cast gets my vote for standout performance. Even though we all know that Simon Yuen is doubled during his fight scenes, he still is a very enjoyable character to watch. Hwang Jang Lee, Cory Yuen, Yuen Shun Yi, and Linda Lin, all had solid kung fu performances, and this movie would not have been the same if any of them were missing from the cast. Actually maybe Yuen Woo Ping should get the award, after all he was the action choreographer and the director of this genre masterpiece.

RENT, BUY, OR PASS?
Buy, Buy now.

AUDIO CLIPS, VIDEO CLIPS, SCREEN CAPS:
See Reviewer's Site.

KUNG FU CLOCK:
Total Length of Movie: 91min 05sec
Total Length of Action: 30min 09sec

5 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD OR SHOULDN'T BUY THIS MOVIE:

1. You SHOULD buy this movie if you are a fan of creative and highly entertaining kung fu movies.
2. You SHOULD buy this movie if you are a Hwang Jang Lee fan, as "Rubber Legs" he really explodes on the screen.
3. You SHOULD buy this movie if you are a fan of 'Drunken Fist' movies.
4. You SHOULD buy this movie even if you do not enjoy comedy with your kung fu, there is enough solid action to make up for it.
5. You SHOULD buy this SOULBLADE DVD, as it is the ultimate version of this movie, with loads of extras and quality restored picture presentation.

Sam the Seed (Simon Yuen) returns home after many years travelling to find that his wife has an adopted son, Foggy (Yuen Hsin Yi). Sam takes an immediate dislike to the boy, refuses to teach him kung fu and subjects him to mental and physical abuse until Foggy runs away from home and takes a job in a tavern. While working at the inn Foggy overhears the plottings of the film's villain 'Rubberlegs' (Hwang Jang Lee) and his student (Corey Yuen) who are looking for Sam so they can eliminate him. Cue much fighting.

This film has everything a kung fu movie should from an engaging story, charismatic performances, amazing training sequences and mind-blowing kung fu action. Yuen Woo Ping really set a new standard with the choreography here, especially for Hwang Jang Lee's character who combines Drunken fighting with Mantis fists and his trademark kicks of which I have to say are shown to the fullest effect here. Other highlights include Simon Yuen and Hwang Jang Lee's tavern fight involving cups (one of those 'fighting without fighting' gigs) and Corey Yuen's spear fight with Yuen Hsin Yee. An all-time classic.

REVIEW:
An official sequel to Drunken Master (1978)? None other than Yuen Wo Ping himself directs Dance of the Drunk Mantis. And even without the help of Jackie Chan, the cast proves that a film can do just as well. The film continues the Drunken Master line of films as the second film in the series (third if you count Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow) and is just as good, if not better. With names like Corey Yuen, Hwang Jang Lee and Simon Yuen you cannot possibly go wrong. The lead is even played by real-life son of Simon Yuen, Yuen Shun Yi. And his other son, Yuen Chun Wei doubles Simon Yuen for the stunt work. As such, Dance of the Drunk Mantis provides heaps of enjoyment and features one of the most talented casts available at the time.

Unfortunately, there is very derivative look and feel to the film, due to the whole "drunken master" element. But to be honest, it seems like a totally new and exciting idea. Hwang Jang Lee and Simon Yuen’s roles are actually different from previous ones while remaining just as entertaining. Their personalities have been changed slightly, with Hwang Jang Lee being more reserved while Simon Yuen is a much crueler teacher. The unmistakable Yuen Wo Ping humor is also very evident and adds a great deal of fun to the film.

At the start of our story we see the evil Rubber Legs and his assistant beat up a Sam Seed look-alike who claims to be a family member of the man they are looking for. With him dispatched, it’s time to move up the family tree. But Rubber Legs isn’t any villain, he’s a master of both Northern Drunken Fist and Mantis style. His rival is, of course, none other than the Southern Drunken Fist master, Sam Seed (Simon Yuen). Rubber Legs’ student is played by Corey Yuen and he’s the first one to discover that our hero, Foggy (Yuen Shun Yi), knows a bit of Drunken Fist. Foggy’s Drunken Fist isn’t very good though and the villains decide to keep him alive so that he can lead them to his master. When Northern and Southern rivals finally meet, Sam the Seed isn’t capable to defend himself and goes into hiding. In the meantime, Foggy starts training from Sam the Seed’s brother after Sam had given up on teaching the young hero. With the Sickness style Foggy is finally able to stand up against Rubber Legs and his student, with a bit of help from his two former masters that is.

What a great film this is. Seasonal Films had once again outdone themselves with this classic. The fights are really long and varied. From Linda Lin Young’s acrobatic performing skills to Yuen Shun Yi's excellent portrayal of Drunken Boxing. And what would a film be without a scheming idiot? That role is played perfectly by Dean Shek Tin in another one of his typecast roles. Simon Yuen as the hard-handed teacher arguably provides the best role in the film, even overshadowing that of Yuen Shun Yi. In the classic battle of cups, Sam Seed and Rubber Legs go at it from across a table until they finally end up fighting all over the room. Hwang Jang Lee fans must be aware though, he doesn’t kick much in this film. His hands are his weapons and while he uses them well a few kicks wouldn’t have been a bad idea.

Dance of the Drunk Mantis is a must see for all classic kung fu fans, and that’s not something I say very easily! If you’ve only seen Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master, you’ll be in for a nice surprise.

After years of wandering the countryside, Sam the Seed returns home only to discover that his wife has adopted a son in his absence. After an earlier misunderstanding, Sam takes an instant dislike to Foggy, the son, and teases him mentally and physically. Foggy can stand no more and deeply upset, he runs away. While working at a restaurant, Foggy overhears a plan to kill Sam the Seed by the fearsome Rubberlegs who intends on being the supreme Drunk Mantis Boxing Champion. Although he rushes home to prevent it, Foggy is unable to stop his adopted father from being seriously injured, but the two do manage to escape. During frequent visits to a peculiar kung-fu fighting doctor (who sleeps in a coffin!) to obtain medicine, Foggy learns a new form of kung-fu. Now armed with this 'Sickness Boxing', Foggy awaits the final battle with Rubberlegs.

Although not up to Drunken Master 2 (what film could be!), Dance Of The Drunk Mantis is still a great film. Yuen Woo Ping and his brothers fill the film with stunning 'drunken' conflicts and duels. Simon Yuen makes a welcome return as Sam the Seed and his real-life son Yuen Hsin-Yee makes a very sympathetic Foggy. The trio of stars is complete with the legendary Hwang Jang-Lee as Rubberlegs, continuing to stun the audience with his legwork. A worthy follow-up to a worldwide favourite.