Film

The Incredible Kung Fu Master

Name: The Incredible Kung Fu Master
Genre: Action, Comedy
Released: 1979
Cast: Stephen Tung Wai, Sammo Hung, Lee Hoi-Sang, Phillip Ko Fai, Paul Chung Fat

Martial arts action
Light-hearted

A 1979 Hong Kong kung fu comedy where a young martial artist trains in two styles simultaneously, only to find himself caught between feuding masters and hunted by a deadly rival. It's equal parts slapstick and spectacular action—a film that knows when to make you laugh and when to make you gasp. Perfect for anyone who loves the playfulness of old-school Hong Kong cinema.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love old-school Hong Kong kung fu comedies where the punches land with a grin, and you enjoy watching a scrappy student's training be as funny as it is physical.

Skip it if you want a tight, serious martial arts drama, since the plot is light and the comedy plays broad, with silly tonal swings that some viewers will find grating.

What it asks of you: A brisk ninety minutes with little patience for slow setup, so the training and rivalries move quickly and you must keep pace with physical gags and fights.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Police Story1985

Jackie Chan at peak physical comedy, throwing himself through impossible stunts while cracking jokes. The film balances brutal fight sequences with genuine laugh-out-loud humour in ways that feel earned, not forced. Pure joy.

But The plotting is thin and the pacing occasionally drags between action beats. Some of the comedy lands harder than others depending on your tolerance for slapstick.

Drunken Master1978

Jackie Chan's breakthrough, where he learns an unorthodox fighting style from a drunken master. The action is inventive, the chemistry sparkling, and it captures that sweet spot where kung fu films stopped being entirely serious. A genuine classic.

But The drunk-fu gimmick wears thin if you're not charmed by it early. The plot exists mainly as connective tissue between fights.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin1978

Gordon Liu's training montage is the template that launched a thousand imitators. Disciplined, inventive sequences of martial skill being built from scratch, with genuine narrative weight. Iconic and deeply satisfying.

But It's more straight-faced than Incredible Kung Fu Master—the tone is earnest rather than comedic. The second half shifts focus in ways that lose some momentum.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Incredible Kung Fu Master

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Kung Fu Hustle2004

Both films treat kung fu mastery as something joyful rather than tragic, mixing comedy with genuine skill, and using feuding martial traditions as the engine for the whole story.

Stephen Chow's film is a love letter to 1970s kung fu cinema that somehow works in live-action comic book logic. It has the same playfulness, the same joy in multiple fighting styles clashing, but filtered through kinetic digital filmmaking. Hilarious and gorgeously choreographed.

But The tone shifts wildly between slapstick and sudden violence; some find it jarring rather than charming. Heavy reliance on CGI might feel antithetical to the practical action you loved in the original.

Prodigal Son1984

Sammo Hung both directs and stars, playing a cocky fighter humbled by a real master. The action is precise, the character work sharp, and Sammo's physicality at his peak is breathtaking. He brings warmth to every scene.

But The opening third is slow while it establishes the protagonist's arrogance. Some viewers find the tone uneven between comedy and violence.

The Young Master1980

Jackie Chan plays a devoted student caught between temple politics and a criminal underworld. It's got everything—acrobatic action, genuine comedy, a plot that actually holds together, and Jackie doing all his own stunts with infectious enthusiasm.

But The second half loses some narrative focus. The villain is cartoonish in ways that don't always serve the story.

Five Shaolin Masters1974

Five masters escape Shaolin and teach their styles to new students. It's an earlier example of the 'multiple teachers, competing styles' setup, with excellent fight choreography and genuine stakes. Feels like cinema history.

But The film is slow to build momentum. Picture quality can be rough on streaming. The dubbing is very much of its era.

Executioners from Shaolin1977

A couple must train their son in secret martial arts while hiding from killers. It's got real dramatic weight underneath the action—parental love as motivation, sacrifice as theme. The fights are inventive and the family dynamic genuine.

But The opening is quite dark and the tone can be grim. Long stretches without action might test patience if you're seeking pure spectacle.

Disciples of the 36th Chamber1985

A spiritual successor to 36th Chamber with excellent training sequences and real humour. The student becomes a teacher theme gives it weight, and the action choreography is sharp and inventive throughout.

But It relies on audience familiarity with the first film. Some comedy bits feel broad. The pacing in the third act loosens.

Once Upon a Time in China1991

Both centre on Hung Gar kung fu as a living tradition passed between generations, and both have a protagonist learning from multiple masters, but this one asks what martial arts mean when history is actually at stake.

Jet Li as Wong Fei-hung, a real historical figure, battling foreign invasion while mastering Hung Gar kung fu. It's sweeping and serious, with action sequences that are genuinely beautiful. Iconic film that defined a generation of martial arts cinema.

But It's far more dramatic and historically grounded than a 1979 comedy romp. The politics can feel heavy-handed. At 134 minutes, it demands patience.

The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter1984

Sammo Hung explores what it means to preserve and teach a martial art when everything else is lost—the same question of lineage and tradition that drives Incredible Kung Fu Master, but stripped of comedy and treated as tragedy.

A devastated family must reconstruct their martial tradition while seeking vengeance. It's formally brilliant—long takes of precise choreography, a visual language entirely built from fighting. Absolutely hypnotic if you're attuned to it. Sammo Hung directed.

But This is arthouse action cinema. Virtually no dialogue, minimal plot, built for people who find beauty in movement itself. If you want narrative momentum, you'll be bored.