Over the course of his career, Jackie Chan appeared in front of the camera and microphone in more than 100 films and series. For his early martial arts classics like “The Serpent in the Eagle’s Shadow” and “They Called Him Bone Crusher”, Hollywood blockbusters like “Rush Hour” or “Hidden Strike” and Hong Kong action milestones like “Police Story” and “The Right Arm of the Gods”, which he even staged himself.
The author of this article has seen most of them and has many of them on the shelf – some even in multiple versions. Probably the craziest movie the martial arts legend has ever appeared in is one that even many fans may not know about…
Internationally known as “Spiritual Kung Fu” and “Karate Ghostbuster”Master of all classes II“ is a completely crazy early work by Chan, which he made a few years before his big breakthrough. And what’s more, a misleading package.
DVD and Blu-ray* Although currently available almost exclusively for expensive money, you can currently watch the film as a video-on-demand – for example on Amazon Prime Video – for just a small dollar:
And first one thing: For fans of Jackie Chan, this curiosity is of course an absolute must. Whether you ultimately love or hate the film is another matter. But one thing is certain: it is absolutely unique.
Title confusion: that’s really behind “Master of all Classes II”
In “Masters of All Classes II,” Jackie Chan takes on the role of Shaolin student Lung, who must bring back the legendary book “The Seven Deadly Fists.” Because the work was stolen – and in the wrong hands that could have devastating consequences. Whoever masters the fighting style of the title is virtually invincible…
The film, internationally known as ‘Spiritual Kung Fu’, was distributed in Great Britain as ‘Karate Ghostbuster’ – a not so inappropriate title that certainly does justice to the madness of this work. In Germany, where “Drunken Master” once became “They called him Bone Crusher” and “Drunken Master II” eventually went on sale as “Drunken Master”, however, as is often the case, it was turned into something completely different:
Because “Master of All Classes II” is – just like “Master of all classes III“ – not a continuation of “Master of all classes“! Both ‘sequels’ were made in 1976 under the direction of Lo Wei – and were only renamed after the great success of the ‘first part’, recorded in 1980.
But even though Chan plays completely different characters in all three films, it’s definitely worth checking out the so-called trilogy: Part 1 is Chan’s second directorial effort and remains rightly one of his greatest classics to this day . With the rather weak but historically interesting third chapter he would become the new Bruce Lee at the time – and the middle part of the series is out of this world anyway…
Jackie Chan pees on ghosts
Masters of All Classes II was one of those films that established Chan as a physical action comedy talent. Lo Wei saw the potential in his leading man to combine fun and acrobatics – and he not only gestured like there was no tomorrow, but also brought back memories of the silent film era with his exaggerated facial expressions. Matching: strong stunts, like those once performed by Buster Keaton in the cinema.
While some of his later companions, such as Dean Shek (“Superfighter II”), James Tien (“Action Hunter”) and Yuen Biao (“Miracles”) are seen alongside Chan, the literally witty fantasy comedy burns through, remember the crazy ideas that Lo Wei and screenwriter Pan Lei came up with.
Besides some fight scenes – such as the final battle that is really worth seeing – the focus was mainly on questionable humor, which, coupled with special effects that were new in Hong Kong at the time, ensures that you win in some moments. don’t forget it soon. Whether you like it or not! Of course, we don’t want to reveal too much at this point, but: If you’ve always wanted to see Jackie Chan pee on little ghosts, this is your chance…