These comments are based on watching the English dub of the version titled 'Master with Cracked Fingers'.
Young Jackie wants to know how to do martial arts but his father has forbidden him from fighting. He secretly trains with an elderly master who he originally assumes is a beggar. The training is tough but he grows to become highly skilled. Jackie is working as a waiter when he crosses a group of minor gangsters. He easily beats them but his father is far from pleased; not only that the gangster's boss is furious and orders his men to beat Jackie. Things escalate and ultimately the gangsters burn Jackie's house with his father inside. Inevitably Jackie will ultimately face the man responsible. Before that though his master fights a rather camp landlord who has been pressuring Jackie's employer.
When I watched this I didn't realise that what I was watching wasn't the original film but an edit with many scenes changed it does explain why it was a bit messy at times. The main story is simple enough to follow but certain scenes seemed out of place; most notably the opening scene with a moustache twirling villain who is virtually forgotten till Jackie has to fight him in the final scene there is some explanation that he killed Jackie's real father in that opening scene and the man who raised him was a friend of his father. There is plenty of fighting; this is fun enough but it is obviously so highly choreographed that at times it looks more like a dance than a fight. There is a fair amount of comedy; sometimes it is funny other times it is too forced; more than once I suspected that a gag was added to the dub that wouldn't have been in the original version. Having Jackie Chan play a character renamed 'Jackie Chan' might have seemed a good idea when this dub was made but I found it to be a distraction. One scene that is just weird and would have been best left out features Jackie as a child being forced to strip naked and climb into a bag containing snakes. The cast are okay; Siu Tin Yuen is probably the most impressive as Jackie's Master; Jackie Chan does a decent job but few people watching this would guess that the person we are watching here would go on to be a global star. Overall this is entertaining enough and is worth watching if you enjoy cheesy old martial arts films.
Young Jackie wants to know how to do martial arts but his father has forbidden him from fighting. He secretly trains with an elderly master who he originally assumes is a beggar. The training is tough but he grows to become highly skilled. Jackie is working as a waiter when he crosses a group of minor gangsters. He easily beats them but his father is far from pleased; not only that the gangster's boss is furious and orders his men to beat Jackie. Things escalate and ultimately the gangsters burn Jackie's house with his father inside. Inevitably Jackie will ultimately face the man responsible. Before that though his master fights a rather camp landlord who has been pressuring Jackie's employer.
When I watched this I didn't realise that what I was watching wasn't the original film but an edit with many scenes changed it does explain why it was a bit messy at times. The main story is simple enough to follow but certain scenes seemed out of place; most notably the opening scene with a moustache twirling villain who is virtually forgotten till Jackie has to fight him in the final scene there is some explanation that he killed Jackie's real father in that opening scene and the man who raised him was a friend of his father. There is plenty of fighting; this is fun enough but it is obviously so highly choreographed that at times it looks more like a dance than a fight. There is a fair amount of comedy; sometimes it is funny other times it is too forced; more than once I suspected that a gag was added to the dub that wouldn't have been in the original version. Having Jackie Chan play a character renamed 'Jackie Chan' might have seemed a good idea when this dub was made but I found it to be a distraction. One scene that is just weird and would have been best left out features Jackie as a child being forced to strip naked and climb into a bag containing snakes. The cast are okay; Siu Tin Yuen is probably the most impressive as Jackie's Master; Jackie Chan does a decent job but few people watching this would guess that the person we are watching here would go on to be a global star. Overall this is entertaining enough and is worth watching if you enjoy cheesy old martial arts films.