The Young Master
Encyclopedia
The Young Master is a 1980 Hong Kong martial arts
Martial arts film
Martial arts film is a film genre. A sub-genre of the action film, martial arts films contain numerous fights between characters, usually as the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often as a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently...

 action film
Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by Hollywood, with Chinese storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural...

 directed by and starring Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...

 as Dragon.

The film is notable for being the first that Jackie Chan worked on for Golden Harvest
Golden Harvest
Golden Harvest is a film production, distribution, and exhibition company based in Hong Kong. It played a major role in becoming the first Chinese film company to successfully enter the western market for an extended period of time, especially with the films of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan...

, and despite being his second film as director (his first was The Fearless Hyena), this is often incorrectly credited as his directorial debut. It was co-written by Chan and King Sang Tang and produced by Raymond Chow
Raymond Chow
Raymond Chow Man-Wai is a Hong Kong film producer, and presenter and was responsible for successfully launching martial arts and the Hong Kong cinema onto the international stage...

 and Leonard Ho
Leonard Ho
Leonard Ho was a Chinese movie producer. He formed Golden Harvest in 1970, with Raymond Chow, after leaving Shaw Brothers. The first movie he produced was A Man Called Tiger from 1973. In 1989, he was nominated for a Hong Kong Film Award for best picture for the movie Painted Faces, which was...

.

As is common with Jackie Chan's films, the fight scenes involve the use of many different weapons including poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

, a rope
Rope
A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...

, fans, bench
Bench (furniture)
A bench is a piece of furniture, on which several people may sit at the same time. Benches are typically made of wood, but may also be made of metal, stone, or synthetic materials. Many benches have arm and back rests; some have no back rest and can be sat on from either side. In public areas,...

es and swords
Swords
A sword is a cutting/thrusting weapon made of metal. Sword or swords may also refer to:* Swords, County Dublin, Ireland* Suit of swords, a suit in Latin-suited playing cards and Tarot decks* SWORDS, a ground-based military robot...

. Dragon Lord
Dragon Lord
Dragon Lord is a 1982 Hong Kong martial arts film directed by and starring Jackie Chan. It was originally supposed to be a sequel to The Young Master and even had the name Young Master in Love until it was changed to Dragon Lord...

is supposedly the sequel to The Young Master and was even originally called Young Master in Love, as confirmed by Jackie Chan in his book
I Am Jackie Chan
I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action is a 1998 Autobiography book written by Jackie Chan with help from Jeff Yang, written before Jackie Chan's success Rush Hour–a special edition of the book was released in 1999 telling events occurring after Jackie's success with the movie. The book tells of...

.

Plot

The school attended by Dragon (Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...

) and his brother, Tiger (Wei Pei) is entered against a rival school in a Lion Dance competition. The school needs to win the prize money to remain open but their star performer, Tiger, is seemingly injured when he falls from a ladder, leaving his brother, Dragon, to take his place. During the competition, Dragon realizes that his brother feigned his accident in order to take part in the competition for the rival school.

The rival school wins the competition, but the truth emerges about Tiger's betrayal and he is exiled in disgrace. Dragon vows to bring back his errant brother so the pair can make amends to their master. Dragon sets off on his mission, but en route is mistaken for a criminal known as The White Fan by local police chief, Sang Kung (played by Shih Kien
Shih Kien
Shek Wing-cheung , better known as Shih Kien, was a Chinese actor from Hong Kong. He is sometimes credited as Shek Kin or Kien Shih...

). Meanwhile, Tiger collaborates with his employers (the rival school) by freeing a dangerous criminal known as Kam (Hwang In-Sik). However, Tiger is later framed for a bank robbery. To stop his brother from being arrested, Dragon promises to apprehend the escapee, Kam.

The movie ends with a furious, brutal fight between Kam and Dragon, in which Dragon sustains substantial damage. At the beginning of the fight, it appears that Kam has the upper hand as he punishes Dragon with blindingly fast punches and kicks. However, after consuming water from an opium pipe given to him by a whimsical old man, Dragon becomes energized and defeats Kam. The movie ends with Dragon returning to his hometown, a hero (albeit one in full body cast from the many injuries he sustained).

Cast

  • Jackie Chan
    Jackie Chan
    Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...

     - Dragon Lung
  • Yuen Biao
    Yuen Biao
    Yuen Biao is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist. He specialises in acrobatics and Chinese martial arts and has worked on over 80 films as actor, stuntman and action choreographer...

     - Sang Kung's son / Fourth Brother
  • Tien Feng
    Tien Feng
    Tien Feng is a Hong Kong actor for 60 years. He left for Hong Kong from Taiwan and started his career...

     - Master
  • Feng Feng
    Feng Feng
    Feng Feng was a veteran Hong Kong actor. He began his career as a leading man in 1946. An accident in 1949 left the left side of his face paralyzed, but, while no longer able to attract leading roles, he enjoyed a long career as a character actor, appearing in films alongside such stars as Jackie...

     - Ah Suk
  • Wei Pei - Tiger
  • Shih Kien
    Shih Kien
    Shek Wing-cheung , better known as Shih Kien, was a Chinese actor from Hong Kong. He is sometimes credited as Shek Kin or Kien Shih...

     - Sang Kung
  • Lily Li
    Lily Li
    Lily Li is a Hong Kong actress.-Filmography:* State of Divinity * Centre Stage* The Young Master* Disciples of the 36th Chamber* Shatter* Shaolin Mantis* Challenge of the Masters...

     - Sang Kung's Daughter
  • Hwang In-Shik
    Hwang In-Shik
    Hwang In Shik is one of the foremost Korean hapkido teachers today. A great popularizer of the art in Asia through his work in the Hong Kong based films of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Angela Mao, he is known nevertheless as one the top teachers of the art and was eventually awarded a 10th degree...

     - Master Kam (as Whong In Shik)
  • David Cheng - Master Kam's son
  • Yue Tau Wan - Cross Eye
  • Bruce Tang Yim Chan - Ah Chang
  • Mars
    Mars (actor)
    Mars , born Cheung Wing Fat is a Hong Kong actor, action director, stuntman and martial artist. He is one of Jackie Chan's best friends.-Early life:...

     - (extra) (uncredited)

Theme song

The theme song played over the closing credits
Closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...

, "Kung Fu Fighting Man" was the first song recorded and performed by Jackie Chan. He has since gone on to release many records, and has performed the theme songs on many of his films.

Records

  • The film was the highest box office draw of its day beating previous box office records set by Bruce Lee
    Bruce Lee
    Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...

     and establishing Chan as a Hong Kong cinema's top star.
  • The fan-fighting scene in this movie required 329 takes to complete due to the intricate choreography.
  • The climactic showdown between real life Chan and hapkido
    Hapkido
    Hapkido is a dynamic and also eclectic Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, techniques of other martial arts, as well as kicks, punches, and other striking attacks...

     master Hwang In-Shik
    Hwang In-Shik
    Hwang In Shik is one of the foremost Korean hapkido teachers today. A great popularizer of the art in Asia through his work in the Hong Kong based films of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Angela Mao, he is known nevertheless as one the top teachers of the art and was eventually awarded a 10th degree...

     in the original release of this film was approximately 15 minutes long, reputedly the longest fight scene in any kung-fu movie to that date. Subsequent releases of the film have edited this scene down for time.

Versions

There are two main versions of the film currently available, one being the 106 minutes (NTSC/film speed) Hong Kong cut and the 90 minute international cut.
A Taiwanese video featuring footage missing from both the Hong Kong and international cuts was also released.

However, even this version is not definitive - the original version of the film that Chan handed over to Golden Harvest
Golden Harvest
Golden Harvest is a film production, distribution, and exhibition company based in Hong Kong. It played a major role in becoming the first Chinese film company to successfully enter the western market for an extended period of time, especially with the films of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan...

was reportedly three hours in length. This had to be re-edited, so over 70 minutes of footage was cut during the first edit.
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