Spiritual Kung Fu (1978)

 Spiritual Kung Fu (1978) ***/*****

This was once my favorite early era (1976-1982) Jackie Chan movie,  does it still hold up? We'll see. But one of my favorite genre mashups are the Supernatural/(Insert genre) ones. Don't know why, but adding a dash of the supernatural to genres that don't usually have that element, will always get my attention. Action and Kung Fu movies especially. A character flaw I suppose. But anyway onto the movie.

A goofy student is taught a lost martial art style by five ghosts.

 

Drunken Master (1978)

 Drunken Master (1978) ***/*****

Here it is, the movie that signaled the arrival of the biggest Klown-Fu superstar of all time. A movie that was very clearly designed as a showcase for Jackie's inherently lovable clown like persona and physical skills. 

Wong Fei-Hung is a mischievous, yet righteous young man, but after a series of incidents, his frustrated father has him disciplined by a master of drunken martial arts.

Snake in the Eagles Shadow (1978)

 Snake in the Eagles Shadow (1978) ****/*****

Here it is, the movie that begins the upward trajectory of Jackie Chan and lays the foundation for  what was to come. A much more realized version of his slapstick Kung-Fu makes its bow, and several concepts and trademarks soon to be recognized as uniquely Jackie Chan make an early appearance as well.

This can also be viewed as a full scale dress rehearsal for Drunken Master which went into production almost immediately after this one was completed.

An orphan who has been raised at a kung fu school, where he is treated as little more than a dogsbody and practice target for the students, has a life-changing experience after helping an old peripatetic beggar.