Discuss The Legend of Drunken Master
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Reported Problem for The Legend of Drunken Master
posted by VinootilsSTAFFMOD on March 1, 2021 at 4:56 PM
Item: The Legend of Drunken Master
Language: en-US
Type of Problem: Incorrect_content
Extra Details: Hello the correct original translated title of this film is Drunken Master II.
This is the original poster https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81gaP34-icL._RI_.jpg
This is the Hong Kong Movie Database entry http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=7798&display_set=eng
"Drunken Master II" refers to the original 1994 film. "Legend of the Drunken Master" refers to an alternate US cut that released in 2000 with different music, dialogue, and editing. It is not the original title for the film, nor the correct one. https://archive.is/20030327011631/http://www.newmoanyeah.com/2002-reviews/021102_dm2_vs_legend.php.
A simple look at the Wikipedia page should clear this up as well, particularly the Home Media section. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunken_Master_II
Reply by Banana
on April 27, 2021 at 7:54 PM
Do you believe there was an earlier English language release?
Reply by Lorenzol
on May 24, 2021 at 11:09 AM
There was an earlier US release as "The Legend of the Drunken Master" was used by Miramax, who owned the North American rights at the time.
The proper name should be Drunken Master II and with the new Blu-ray release by WB Archives, this has been corrected here in North America. Since there's no distinction between the original film and the edited and cut version by Miramax, the title should be similar to the original version.
Reply by lilmanjs
on November 7, 2021 at 1:29 AM
Drunken Master II is the English title that shows up on the opening credits during the original cut of the movie under the Chinese language title for the movie. Drunken Master II is the official English title, and what it has been since its 1994 release. It has been pointed out in this thread that the title The Legend of Drunken Master is the title of a re-edited, and re-scored version of the movie that came out in 2000 in the USA only.
Reply by Vinootils
on November 7, 2021 at 9:24 AM
The 1994 release says "Drunken Master II" on the title card. This is a Chinese movie. "Legend of the Drunken Master" is the closest thing to the first "English release," because it was horrendously remade and English-dubbed for American audiences. It's a different title because it's a different movie. "Legend of the Drunken Master" is an alternate version of the original Chinese movie. They are not the same movie, and they are referred to under different titles.
Drunken Master II is the original, unedited, Chinese language film.
Legend of the Drunken Master is the sillier US cut. Significant changes include: new title, English dubbing, new score, new sound effects, re-edited fight scenes, made-up kung-fu names, deleted references to Drunken Master 1, deleted references to Chinese mythology. In modern US releases, WB Archives has replaced the much-maligned US version with the original "Drunken Master II".
To refer to both movies as "Legend of the Drunken Master" is misguided and a strong disservice to the original film. If anything, they deserve two separate listings because they are two separate movies. All official sites refer to this as only "Drunken Master II" because that is the correct name of the original film. Please refer to the links below, as well as the many other informed commenters asking for this change.
Film title card from original 1994 release: https://hkmdb.com/db/images/movies/7798/DrunkenMasterII+1994-221-b.jpg
Amazon: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81gaP34-icL._RI_.jpg
WB Archive Collection: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KZEsUi--ouY/YLWc6tKW02I/AAAAAAAAcpM/vigA6tGnkBUkcnnda5iu-ymVTpGwe5nbACPcBGAsYHg/s0/Drunken%2BMaster%2B2%2Bfront%2Band%2Bback.jpeg
Hong Kong Movie Database: http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=7798&display_set=eng
Difference in the versions: https://archive.is/20030327011631/http://www.newmoanyeah.com/2002-reviews/021102_dm2_vs_legend.php
Difference in the versions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunken_Master_II#Home_media