Half a Loaf of Kung Fu

Starring:James Tien, Man Tai Lee, Ma Wu, Dean Shek, Kong Kam, Jackie Chan, Chung-erh Lung
Director: Chi-Hwa Chen
Studio: Simitar Ent.
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

An early comedic effort from one of today's greatest physical comedians, Half a Loaf of Kung Fu is a parody of many of the melodramatic kung fu movies that were coming out of Hong Kong in the 1970s. The credit sequence sets up the tone as Chan performs a dream sequence full of tongue-in-cheek kung fu moves and visual puns. (Chan's ninja is revealed to be a beggar, his priest chews out a group of monks only to then have to do chores himself, and there's even a reference to Jesus Christ Superstar!) Chan plays Jiang, a hapless orphan who is amiable enough but always getting into trouble. In dreams he is a skilled fighter (with the help of eating spinach à la Popeye), but in reality he's sort of a dope. A kind beggar and an opportunistic traveler with a bad case of gas teach him skills that bring him into the employment of the Sern Chuan Bodyguards, who are protecting a priceless gemstone--the Evergreen Jade. A band of robbers attempts a heist and Jiang and his flatulent friend defeat the crooks in comic style. Originally shelved in 1978 by director Chan Chi Wa (who directed Chan in Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin), Half a Loaf of Kung Fu was released in 1980 after Chan's popularity rose. --Shannon Gee

Customer Reviews:

If I'm lying I'm a son of a ..........2006-11-09

Frustrated by the weak box office returns of New Fist of Fury and Shaolin Wooden Men, Lo Wei gave Jackie Chan creative control over the slapstick comedy Half a Loaf of Kung Fu. With Chan's friend Chen Chi-hwa as director (Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin), Jackie wanted to make a film that was the antithesis of the current martial art dramas that were being shown. Jackie called this movie a "ninety-minute-long practical joke," but Lo failed to find the humor and decided to vault this film and created his own comedy for Jackie the insipid Spiritual Kung Fu. Half a Loaf of Kung Fu would remain unwatched until 1980.

One of the most interesting segments of the film is the beginning which parodies the normal use (at that time) of the main actors showcasing their martial-art ability. He spoofs the Zatochi series, he tries to catch arrows but fails and there is a great scene that has him using a fighting dummy for practice only the have the camera pan away to reveal a mini dummy. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is not as inventive as the starting sequence, though there are many good scenes. The problem is that the plot is not that different from many other films that Lo Wei has done.

Jackie plays Gon Tou, a wandering hungry man in search of a job. He eventually gets a housekeeper position for Mr. Man who houses the witch Lady Mui. He spies on her while she was doing a poison experiment, inadvertently gets his new friend San killed and narrowly flees. After his escape he came across a fight between Se Tai Chung and Lao Yung Lung - the man with the whip. This battle resulted in the death of both and Gon assumed the identity of Master Lao to collect the bounty on Chung. Now Gon is mistaken for a man with fighting skills even though his combatant acumen is very small. He gets beat up quite a bit.

He stumbles across a flatulent beggar (Dean Shek) who teaches Jackie such moves as "Lady Draws Arrow" and the ever impressive "One Finger Stops Mountain" (guess which finger.) Dean is funny in this Cantonese comedic role. Gon is then helped by another beggar (Lee Man Tai) who prevents Lady Mui from killing him. At first the beggar does not want to help Gon anymore, but he acquiesces and will help him if he takes something to Fong Wan. He later meets him at Fung Yu's Stone House with his daughter (Doris Lung) and friend (James Tien.) Together they are protecting the "Thousand Year Jake", which cures any poison, and "Potion of new Life" which is the fountain of youth. Since these are so powerful and priceless many criminals such as Lady Mui, Iron Hand Lui and The Man of a Thousand Faces (Kam Kong) want these. Gon helps Fong while learning more and more Kung Fu.

The plot is a bit chaotic and it ultimately fails as a spoof because so many martial art films have had plots much more ridiculous then this movie. But, it is an important film in Jackie's career because it is a turn from the grim-faced stoic hero that Lo wanted him to be. It is also a funny film with many inventive, though sometimes broad, scenes such as a dream sequence with Jackie becoming Popeye or Jackie reading a manual while fighting. It is also hilarious when Jackie knows that the flatulent beggar is approaching before we even see him. There is also a great reference to Bruce Lee when Jackie uses a wig as nunchucks while making Bruce-like sounds.

The fighting of the film is much more traditional, with the exception of the nunchuck wig, than Jackie's later films. But there are some good shots, especially the ten-minute ending fight scene. There is also a nice teaming of Dean and Jackie towards the end that was fun to watch. Overall, I like the film. It was better than the early Jackie Chan movies, though not as good as his later films. If you are a Jackie Chan film and have not seen it, then there is a good chance you will like it -- as long as you like flatulent beggars and goofy plots.

ORIGINAL IS BETTER.......2006-02-05

If you want UNCUT ORIGINAL version, ALWAYS look for ORIGINAL LICENSED Production. NOT US Release. Its a foreign film, it should not be US version to begin with~! HELLO!!!?? Why settle for LESS with US Version where they edit and cut so many excellent scenes especially with Jackie's Fighting Scenes. And US Release ruins the speed and sound as well. I have been collecting Jackie Chan's movies both HK and US Release Version for quite some time now. I found HK Version to be MUCH MORE in enjoyable, and HIGHER in Quality. American Market always like to "Americanize" and "Control". Regional Code Regulation thing is one of the example to CONTROL the Market. Why not let everyone enjoy the same HK Original Release move the same way ENTIRE WORLD enjoys it ?? No one makes Hollywood American movies to "French version" or "Chinese Version" ~! This what Americans are doing~! Well, enjoy the cheap "American version" then~! LOL

One of my favorites of Jackie's earlier movies.......2001-07-08

"Half a Loaf of Kung Fu" is probably one of my favorites out of Jackie Chan's earlier movies. There are several funny fight scenes, and the actual Kung Fu is pretty decent. The movie is not at all serious as it is poking fun at movies in the genre that came out around the same time. I would definitely recommend this movie to any fan of Jackie Chan.

Chop Sockey action flick........2001-07-08

Jackie Chan stars in the first kung fu parody ever. The film was very witty, and had some good fights.

Jackie plays a happy-go-lucky wanderer, who is hopeless at kung fu. When he is employed by a group of people to help them protect the 'Emerald Jades' and 'Soul Pills', Jackie calls on a kung fu master to help him.

I quite enjoyed this film, and I think you problbly will to.

Funny Fu.......2001-06-12

Your enjoyment of this film will probably depend on how many traditional martial arts films you've seen before, as it attempts to poke fun (pretty successfully) at the cliches of such films.

Chan plays a young man lacking any Kung Fu skills, but possessing highly developed chaos skills. Everywhere he goes he inadvertantly causes people to die and as the film progresses he builds up quite a list of enemies. After a chance encounter with an old beggar (who is naturally also a Kung Fu master) Jackie gets the chance to learn some Kung Fu, but only if he does an errand first.

The errand turns out to be protecting a transport of treasure (by the beggar's nephew) from bandits. Chan's bumbling results in the nephew getting near fatally injured so the exasperated beggar gives him a book of Kung Fu to learn from. Within about a day Chan is an accomplished martial artist. This is fortunate as all the bandits decide to attack at once and the inevitable mass fight at the end occurs.

Very funny in places (like when Chan, in mid-battle, rips the fake moustache of one of the cheesy bad guys) but offering more to the veteran martial arts fan than a newcomer.

Half a Loaf of Kung Fu
Average customer rating:
Half a Loaf of Kung Fu

Manufacturer: Passion Productions
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Martial Arts | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Killer Meteors

ASIN: B0002HS17U

Product Description

This Film showcases many of Jackie Chan's acrobatic fighting styles.

Average customer rating:

If I'm lying I'm a son of a ...
ORIGINAL IS BETTER
One of my favorites of Jackie's earlier movies
Chop Sockey action flick.
Funny Fu

Half a Loaf of Kung Fu
Starring: Dean Shek , Jackie Chan , James Tien , Man Tai Lee , and Ma Wu
Director: Chi-Hwa Chen
Manufacturer: Simitar Ent.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: 6304652747
Release Date: 1997-10-22

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

If I'm lying I'm a son of a ..........2006-11-09

ORIGINAL IS BETTER.......2006-02-05

One of my favorites of Jackie's earlier movies.......2001-07-08

Chop Sockey action flick........2001-07-08

Jackie Chan stars in the first kung fu parody ever. The film was very witty, and had some good fights.

I quite enjoyed this film, and I think you problbly will to.

Funny Fu.......2001-06-12

Your enjoyment of this film will probably depend on how many traditional martial arts films you've seen before, as it attempts to poke fun (pretty successfully) at the cliches of such films.

Customer Reviews:

Sweet and sour, my friends.......2002-02-11

This two pack may seem like two similar films, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

You see, there is a big difference between these two dvds. While "Spiritual Kung Fu" is very very good, "Half a Loaf.." is godawful.

"Spiritual.." is by far the best Kung Fu movie I have ever seen, and I'd like to think I've seen a good amount. Jackie Chan is funny, innocent, serious, clever, and ultimately arse-kickin' all at once. The final fight scene and the scene where Jackie fights 20 temple guards with sticks at the same time are amazing fight scenes. You can have your flashy special effects in the Jet Li and Ang Lee and Brandon Lee flicks, but you still can't match Jackie's real ultimate power in this film.

"Half a Loaf" is cat s**t. There is little fighting, no storyline to speak of, and the dvd itself makes a horrible coaster. Just don't even bother with it and keep it on your shelf just to make your dvd collection look more vast.

"Spiritual" gets 4 stars, but "Half a Loaf" gets somewhere around 1 1/2.

Buy this for Jackie's sake.......2001-12-05

A nice collection of movies. A few of the old-world pony tailed martial arts movies. You can see a yound Jackie Chan maturing throught these movies.

About the DVD's I should say that the Pan & Scan is shabbily done with too much zoom, so that it makes us miss the action most of the time. You feel as if the person on screen is fighting with himself. The audio is also a bit weak. However I think it is due to the quality of the originals itself rather than the DVD mastering.

As is common knowledge, Fearless Hyena is a classic. Great action, nice storyline and good tempo. The movie video is better too as it is a recent movie than the others, which have some faded screens, especially Spiritual kung fu.

I couldnt comment on FH II however as I bought a used colleciton and this movies was not there. Reading from the other reveiws I gather that Iam not missing much.

Spiritual kungfu is a funny movie if you can accept ghosts acted out by guys dressed in white with red/blue/purple wigs !!!

Half a loaf of Kung fu is a poor effort to be funny but some of the action is good.

To kill with intrigue has some great action and amazing talent from most of the actors/actresses in the movie. But Jackie looks like someone else with an ugly ponytail wig and different facial make-up.

New fist of fury is to be considered a extra or bonus thrown if you buy the five pack. The movie doesnt merit anything else other than being a Jackie chan movie, and is nice to own one of his early days movies.

Early Jackie Gems.......2001-04-29

I have the VHS videos of all the films on this DVD. Please don't make the mistake that Jackie actually LIKED doing Lo Wei films! Except for Fearless Hyena 1, which Jackie directed, he loathed them. He was under contract to Lo Wei and only broke away when he signed with Golden Harvest and made the breakthrough martial arts film, Young Master. The Lo Wei films in this collection are very badly done (except for Fearless Hyena and perhaps Half a Loaf of Kung Fu, which was an attempt by Jackie to "break away" from the martial arts mould). But they are all worth seeing, just to view Jackie "in embryo". His martial arts skills and stunts are as amazing as ever. So grit your teeth at some of the comedy and storylines - and just enjoy Jackie!

A collection of jackie's best and worst, but a good bargain.......2000-08-14

This collection in my opinion is a great bargain at 55 bucks and is a must have for any jackie chan fan. Despite Fearless Hyena 2, To kill with intrigue, and new fist of fury are all pretty bad films. The great fearless hyena and the entertaing half of loaf of kung fu and spiritual kung fu make this collection worth buying for the avid jackie chan fan as jackie show off his trademark comedy/kungfu and charm.

DVD:

DVD List

DVD

DVD

John Wayne

Go Fishing Masterclass : DVD

Roger Dodger [2003] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Hamlet

Emma Bunton - Take My Breath Away