Too many casual martial arts fans refer to Sammo Hung as “Jackie Chan’s friend.” This is so wrong. He’s not like Rob Schneider whose cinematic career can be summed up as “Adam Sandler’s friend.” Sammo was Sammo all on his own. Sammo was the one who fought Bruce Lee in the opening of Enter The Dragon. Sammo was a major Action Director and actor long before his pal Jackie Chan broke out. Most importantly, Sammo was a major writer-director without having Jackie Chan attached to the projects. Over the last few months, Arrow Video has been releasing the movies Sammo directed in the late ’70s and early ’80s. This retrospective allows Sammo to be seen a serious force in Hong Kong cinema beyond acting. He truly did it all on the screen. Now one of his masterpieces from that era is getting a Blu-ray upgrade. The Prodigal Son is deservedly considered one the best films from the era when martial arts dominated Hong Kong cinemas.
Leung Chang (Wheels On Meals‘ Yuen Biao) is the King of Kung Fu in his town. Every day this master of martial arts has to take down another challenger. Doesn’t matter if he’s having lunch or a stroll down the street, thugs come at him. He’s like a superhero as he chops down all comers to keep his town safe from these ruffians. Leung Chang seems unbeatable. What he doesn’t know is that he’s winning all the fights because his rich father has been paying people to show up and take a fall for his kid. A Chinese Opera troupe comes to town and three of Chang’s friends sneak backstage to see the lead actress. She rejects their advances and when they try to get rough with her, she proves able to not merely defend herself, but bust them up. She even holds one down and gives him clown makeup to remind him that he’s a fool. Turns out the actress is Leung Yee-tai (Magic Cop‘s Lam Ching-ying), a master of Wing Chun fighting. They rush off to get Leung Chang to stop Yee-tai. However, the actor knows that Chang is a phony who has been deceived all this time. Yee-tai proceeds to kick Chang into a puddle of grease paint. Chang goes back to his father having learned the horrible secret that his fighting is a charade. Dad apologizes by buying him the Chinese Opera Troupe and sends his son off to learn from Yee-tai. The rich boy and the actor don’t get along, but one night things change when the nobleman Ngai Fei (Outlaw Brothers‘ Frankie Chan) arrives for the show. But Fei isn’t there to be entertained. He’s looking for a great fighter to face off against. He wants a piece of Yee-tai. The fight gets paused which leads to Fei acting like he’ll be back for a makeup date. Instead Fei’s men cause destruction to the Troupe. This leads Chang to have to not only learn Wing Chun from Yee-Ti, but they travel to meet a master of a unique technique (Sammo Hung). Can he really become the real Kung Fu King or will he always be a rich boy wannabe?
Sammo co-wrote the script with Barry Wong. While Wong would have a short life, he was working around the clock in the ’80s and early ’90s before his death in 1991. His name is on the scripts for Winners and Sinners, Yes, Madam, Mr. Vampire, Operation Condor, Twin Dragons and John Woo’s Hard-Boiled. The Prodigal Son works so well with Sammo and Barry giving us two characters with serious twists. Chang’s self-delusions of his greatness set everything up nicely. Yee-tai fools everyone into thinking he’s really a woman and nobody has a clue about his fighting skills. Lam Ching-ying shaved his eyebrows for the role. Sammo gives himself a twist by not appearing as one of the leads. He doesn’t show up until late in the film, but makes an immediate impact with his ability to write a letter from rather dangling positions. He is as unorthodox of a teacher as you’ll see in a martial arts film. He seems set up to contrast with the direct style of fighting that’s Wing Chun taught by Yee-tai.
There are two versions on the disc. Not sure what the differences are between the Theatrical Release and the Home Video Release since both are 104 minutes and 42 seconds. Whichever version you choose, you’ll be getting an amazing tale and an introduction to Wing Chun. The Prodigal Son lets us know that Sammo Hung did so much more in filmmaking than being a supporting character actor.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The colors are quite vivid especially during the scene when an attacker ends up painted as a clown. The audio is DTS-HD MA mono dubs in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English for both versions. You’ll hear all the fighting action. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng & Robert “Bobby” Samuels gives us context for the film and what was going on in Hong Kong cinema at the time. It’s always great to hear Frank visit my living room. Bobby Samuels lived and trained with Sammo Hung so he has great insight on the writer/director/star. There are tales of other actors. Frank explains the red nosed characters.
Audio Commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema opens with them doing the Golden Harvest theme. They are excited to talk about the film. They point out that the Cantonese title of the film translates to The Prodigal Son. They get into how this is the prequel of Warriors Two.
Wing Chun 101 (30:01) has Frank Djeng interview Wing Chun sifu Alex Richter at his dojo. Richter runs City Wing Tsun in New York City. He gets into how he set up the place in Manhattan. The place has been successful enough that they expanded to a second floor. We get a tour.
The Heroic Trio (26:54) reunites Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Frankie Chun back in 2002. Sammo gets into how he decided to make a film featuring Wing Chun and then came up with the script idea.
Life Imitating Art (27:14) has Wing Chun instructor Guy Lai getting into the mastery of the techniques. Sifu Austin Goh and Jude Poyer joins him. This was made in 2002. He gets into the methodology. Wing Chun only has eight basic movements that are combined in various patterns.
Alternate English Credits (1:46) is the opening and closing credits. Sammo Hung is listed as Samo Hung.
Trailer Gallery includes the Cantonese Theatrical Trailer (4:38), English Theatrical Trailer (2:15) and the US Home Video Trailer (1:48).
Image Gallery are about two dozen press photos and posters including an English poster with the film called Pull No Punches.
Arrow Video presents The Prodigal Son. Directed by Sammo Hung. Screenplay by Sammo Hung and Barry Wong. Starring Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Lam Ching-ying, Frankie Chan, Chan Lung, Chung Fat, Dick Wei and Wai Pak. Running Time: 105 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: September 12, 2023.
