PICTURE: Letterboxed at 1.85:1 (reformatted from what was originally 2.35:1) with an obvious grainy look to it throughout. There have been some attempts to clean it up though and there aren't all that many speckles or scratches. Sadly the cropping does distract from some of the scenes with the tendency to cut off people who are important to the dialogue.

SOUND: The worst aspect of this disc is clearly the sound as it does not include the original Cantonese soundtrack and is replaced with the choice of either Mandarin or English dubbed mono tracks. This could be forgiven if it still had the same camp English dub that was present throughout VHS releases but for some reason it has been redone with some of the worst voice actors I have ever heard.

TRAILERS: The original English language theatrical trailer as well as a montage of clips from the film put to a dramatic theme tune. There are also UK promo trailers for 'Snake In The Eagle's Shadow' and 'New Dragon Gate Inn'.

TALENT FILES: Written Biographies and Filmographies for Jackie Chan and Yuen Woo Ping.

EXTRAS: These include an amateurish interview with Ng See Yuen, a deleted scene (although I'm not sure if this was only omitted from International releases due to its use of Chinese characters on screen) and an exert of Hwang Jang Lee's kicking skills as seen in 'Hells Wind Staff'. Ultimately, a disappointing early effort from HKL but still the best way to currently own this film on DVD.

I'm sure most Hong Kong film fans will have seen this but just in case; Jackie plays a young Wong Fei Hung who, unlike the traditional portrayal of a folk-hero, is a lazy and troublesome upstart. When Fei Hung's father realises that his son is completely out of control he sends for his brother Sam Seed (Yuen Siu Tien), a master of drunken kung fu, to administer guidance and discipline. Wong Fei Hung endures months of grueling training which comes in handy when he comes to his father's aid to save him from the assassin Thunderfoot (Hwang Jang Lee) in the film's breathtaking climax.

Even after 22 years Drunken Master is still one of the most impressive martial arts movies ever made. Packed full of top-notch fight action from start to finish it never drags and the mixing of comedy with the action keeps it entertaining. The training and fight sequences not only showcase Jackie's kung fu skills and athleticism but also those of the supporting cast including Hwang Jang Lee who is once again perfectly cast as the villain with amazing kicking techniques.

Medusa have again taken the time to produce a disc that is high on quality. The picture is excellent for a film of its age. Seasonal Films haven't really kept their films in the best conditions but you wouldn't know it after Medusa's remastering and clean up process. There are still occasional blemishes and scratches but these are barely noticeable and certainly don't interfere with the viewing experience. The digital mastering has also been handled extremely well with very few artifact or pixellation problems that have plagued MIA's discs.

Probably the only thing that is going to cause objections as far as the picture is concerned is the cropping of the film from its full aspect to anamorphic16:9. Many have commented on this in the news group but it doesn't really bother me that much as all of the fight action takes place in the centre of the screen. There are no fight sequences that have been rendered unwatchable as a result of the reframing.

The only scene where I did spot a problem was in Chapter 6 (Unexpected Visitors). This is the scene that follows Jackie's fight with a woman at the market. Jackie returns home to find the woman as guest and that she is actually well acquainted with his father. As the woman recounts the story of the fight Jackie is at right of screen and so only half of his face is visible losing the full effect of his facial expressions as he cringes.

Medusa have said that the choice of 16:9 as a format was made as a compromise but maybe a better compromise would have been to have a two sided disc with full screen on one side and 2:35.1 on the other. Still this is only a small complaint and it certainly wouldn't stop me from wanting to own this disc.

The other area that seems to have caused arguments is the choice of Mandarin as the 'Original Language' soundtrack with subtitles. Personally I've always preferred Cantonese but as the films were not made synch-sound I suppose it doesn't really matter as it's difficult to say what the original soundtrack actually is. Again English is provided as an alternative and both soundtracks appear to be mono (although the music accompanying the menus is in stereo).

Like Snake in the Eagle's Shadow there's a whole host of extra features on the disc that include the original English theatrical trailer (in original aspect ratio), a music promo, a photo gallery (with 12 pictures), biographies and filmographies. The interview with Producer Ng See Yuen is the same as that on the SITES disc (which is a bit of a shame). There's also deleted footage of Jackie being taught Drunken Style kung fu and another Hwang Jang Lee kicking showcase which is actually a clip from the climax of Hellz Wind Staff.

Other points of interest may be the animated menus and the fact that although there's no indication on the cover this is actually a region 0 disc.

Rating 5 out of 5 for the film, 4 out of 5 for the disc.

Jackie Chan definitely shines in DRUNKEN MASTER. The movie is funny and has a lot of action. After seeing this movie only on very cheaply made VHS tapes, the HKL DVD is amazing. This is not to say it's perfect, but considering the age of the film and the materials HKL had to deal with, this is a great DVD.

The picture quality is the best I have seen for this movie. The colors are good and vibrant. The black levels are also well done. The print has been restored but there are still some forgivable imperfections. One very important thing to note is that this movie is cropped to 1.78:1 from its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. There are some scenes where this is more noticeable than others. If have a player that lets you "zoom out" you can lessen the effect a little.

The audio selection is either Mandarin mono or English mono. I watched the movie with the Mandarin selection all the way through and parts with the English soundtrack. Considering the age of the source materials, the Mandarin soundtrack is acceptable. It isn't perfect but it it does the job. The English dub is functional. The names have been westernized which sounds odd. Absent is the original Cantonese soundtrack. Due to the badly damaged source materials, HKL decided it was better to restore the also damaged but not as bad Mandarin track. This is another compromise with this DVD but it is understandable considering the situation.

The subtitles are easily read and are spelled correctly. My only minor complaint is that the names of the characters are westernized a bit . The subtitles are very similar if not an exact duplicate of the English dub. This detracted from the movie a bit.

The extras are pretty good. The interview with producer Ng See Yuen is interesting. The deleted scene is OK. It's something that's nice to see as an extra. My favorite is the biography for Hwang Jang Lee.

Even with its shortcomings, this is still a good DVD. The movie itself is great. The fight sequences are never boring and there is always some comedy in them. If you are worried about the cropping and missing Cantonese track, just consider that at this time, this is the best this film has ever looked. Now interestingly enough, I came across this over at Bullets 'n Babes. It appears that there may be a re-release in the future. You may want to hold off a little while before buying this one. It may just get even better