by Dave Roberts
My parents were very strict about age ratings when I was younger and I developed a love for comedy films which were often the only thing worth watching at my age. Every now and then, my dad would become overwhelmed with the need to talk about a film he loves outside of my age range, and I would end up watching Big Trouble in Little China or Fist of Fury. This whetted my appetite for both Kung Fu and ‘adult’ comedy movies, and in that vein here is a list of what I view to be the best 5 Kung fu comedy movies you must see.
5. Rush Hour (1998)
One of the few ‘western’ kung-fu comedies I actually saw in the cinema, Rush Hour basically introduced everyone in the west to the concept of KungFu comedy and the pairing of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker has long been synonymous with hilarious Kung-Fu for a lot of people. An instant and timeless classic.
4. Project A (1983)
The first time I remember collecting every issue of a magazine was one ‘Hong Kong Legends’ which came with a DVD a month with a classic kung fu movie. The police, navy, pirates and Kung-Fu, was all I needed to hear, and the bar scene was the first time that I ‘got’ old Jackie Chan movies, and I still consider parts of it to be the best comedy fighting in existence.
3. Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002)
This movie is dumb as hell. It’s a high production version of a stupid youtube video, and it doesn’t really hold up to modern scrutiny. But as a teenager, my friends and I quoted this film relentlessly as it picked apart tropes and talked surreal nonsense such as teaching someone kung fu wrong as a joke, so they think bleeding makes them the winner.
2. Shaolin Soccer (2001)
Shaolin Soccer was my first investigation into Stephen Chow and much preferred to Kung-Fu Hustle personally, I was overjoyed with how hilarious Kung Fu Comedy List 2 it was. Over the top and insane, making magical levels of Kung-Fu skills useful to Soccer playing solidified this as one of my favourite comedy and Kung Fu movies. Also the only film about football (Soccer) I am ever likely to enjoy.
1. The Legend of Drunken Master (1994)
The first film outside of the Bruce Lee collection I ever watched in pursuit of Kung Fu movies was the original Drunken Master, and when I came across this sequel later, it felt like the pinnacle of a career that I had little experience of. It has Jackie Chan written all over it, the fighting, farcical nonsense that comes with one of his movies included ludicrously impressive set pieces and great fight choreography. Legend of Drunken Master is iconic, impressive and has a lot of heart.
