Ching escapes the massacre but his brother and grumpy old miser of a father are burnt to death in an almighty inferno caused by the killer. Donnie, now homeless, wanders the streets looking for scraps to eat and trying his best to stay clear of the mad assassin. When he helps a very peculiar old man (Yuen Cheung Yan) in a fight with some street acrobats, the grateful old man takes him home to stay with him and his wife.

The two grumpy old Taoists teach Donnie the gentle but deadly art of Tai Chi to prepare him for the maniac killer who is still patrolling the area with the aid of a giant wheel.

Eventually the killer catches up with Donnie, who uses the softly softly approach to tackle this most insane of foes.

Insane, innovative genius from the Yuen brothers plus a brilliant debut performance from Donnie Yen. A classic martial arts movie fro all fight fans.

Donny plays Ching Tao a scholar who gets into a feud with the son of a rich businessman, Wong Tao. When a firework fight leaves Wong Tao's son a gibbering wreck he hires a sadistic hit man to wipe out all of Ching's family. Ching, now homeless, becomes adopted by an odd couple, a puppet master and his wife, who are both experts in Tai Chi. The hit man eventually finds Ching Tao and beats him to within an inch of his life but luckily he manages to escape and is taught Tai Chi by the puppet master as a soft approach to complement his hard style kung fu. Ching Tao is now prepared for the final showdown.

I've yet to see a bad Yuen Woo Ping film and this is a perfect example of his inventiveness when it comes to choreographing fight scenes. While there is no actual drunken style fighting (quite why it was called 'Drunken Tai Chi' is a bit of a mystery) there is a clever mix of styles. The film's climax in particular where Donnie mixes Tai Chi with harder kung fu looks impressive. Donnie also gets to show off lots of spectacular kicking techniques in sequences that, unlike his later films, are not over heavy on the under cranking. There's also two standout scenes where Donnie displays some excellent rope-dart style fighting; first with a paintbrush tied to the end of a rope and in the second he uses a metal whip in a fight with Wong Tao. This is classic stuff.

Between the action there are some crazy slapstick comedy scenes that are genuinely funny. The first time I saw this was in a cinema where the film was being shown without subtitles to a mainly Western audience who were rolling in the aisles during the comedic breaks.

Definitely worth getting hold of.

REVIEW
Most notable as being Donnie Yen's first film and starring role, Drunken Ta Chi is one of Yuen Wo Ping funniest films and possesses all of the elements of a great comedic kung fu epic.

A noticeably young Donnie Yen plays Chin Da, a gifted but impetuous youth who learns the value of hard work and friendship while kicking some serious butt. People can say what they want about Donnie's ego, but the man knows how to perform on screen. If not for his recent success in Hollywood, I could almost say I wish he had been around during the kung fu heydays in the '70's. This is as close as you'll get to seeing this guy perform in a "classic" kung fu film and he does a spectacular job. With a chiseled physique and incredibly fast and flexible kicking, he really stands out. His acting on the other hand is not so good. Yen is a bit stiff and lacks subtlety, something he has improved upon but still hasn't mastered.

Yen's main foil in the film is the delightful Lydia Shum who is the first person to best Chin, despite her large size. This prolific actress gets some great moves and ends up being Chi's savior when he has no where else to turn. Wo Ping's distinctive humor, which is present in all the films he directs is bawdy and may put off some viewers who are sensitive to the likes of fat jokes and all around buffoonery. Yuen Cheung Yan is the crazy puppeteer who has a love/hate relationship with his wife (Lydia Shum). At one point, a painting hangs on their wall which depicts a husband serving his wife. As the story progresses, the puppeteer finally stands up to his domineering wife and perceptive audiences will notice the painting now depicts the large woman serving her husband. Little touches like this run all through the film and make it a delight to watch.

Yuen Wo Ping's greatest asset as a director is his endless creativity. Memorable scenes in the film include Yuen Shun-yi as the Killer Bird, a uni-browed, mute, and Mongo-like assassin who pounds nails into scraps of wood to form a ridiculous-looking rocking horse for his son. Shun-yi played a similar role, although with less depth in Dreadnaught (1981), as a killer out to finish off Yuen Biao. More great scenes include the puppeteer fighting a villain with one of his hand puppets, Yen's break-dance/mime routine and Lydia Shum's unsuccessful attempt to cross a small bridge without going over the weight limit which is pure genius. The Tai Chi training session that the puppeteer puts Chin through is one of the best kung fu training scenes ever seen in film, period. You actually get a rudimentary understanding of Tai Chi while being thoroughly entertained and it fits in with the story remarkably well. Chin prefers the "hard" style but comes to realize that he can't beat a guy who pounds nails into wood so he grudgingly adopts the fluid "soft" movements of Tai Chi which uses an opponent's strength against them.

Drunken Tai Chi is simply a must see film. If not to see Yen's first outstanding performance, then it should be to see Wo Ping filmmaking at its best. Later films would push the envelop further on choreography but to get the best mix of memorable characters, humor, and fighting, this film has it all.

Yuen Woo Ping weaves more choreographed magic into the narrative and allows the entire cast to show what they can do. As is usually the case with Yuen's films, action and comedy are well blended with Donnie Yen showing a surprising aptitude for the latter. Even though Yen has gone on to make a number of films, this remains one of his best and is a reminder, after his disappointing recent efforts, of what he can do.