Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

daworldismine half a loaf of kung fu was made before snake in the eagles shadow, so technicly this is the first of jackie chan's action comedies, and while it isn't as good as 'snake in the eagles shadow', it is an enjoyable movie none the less, it offers some funny comedy and good fight scenes, even though some of the humour is very immature, but as an early showcase for jackie chan's style of movie making, half a loaf of kung fu is a fine place to start. and i recommend it to people that want to check out his early work, just don't expect 'drunken master' cus this is a whole different kettle of fish, even jackie chan says this movie is worht a watch, who am i to argue, i recommend

Scottytrotts What was great about this movie is the fact that it blended martial arts action, a serious plot, and hilarious comedy perfectly, and it is one of the few films that did it as good as this one did. You had all these different parties and clans from guards of a highly valued property, to the iron palm clan, to street thugs, to the famous Poison Clan, and of course the training instructor and his pupil that teaches Jackie Chan through out the movie, all of these different clans and parties that displayed such a wide variety of styles that you rarely find in martial arts films. Then there's the plot of the film which follows Jackie Chan as a common street bum trying to make his way in life and hopes to become a great kung fu expert, that finally gets the chance to make this dream come true, but also comes across a party of government men that are protecting a special property that he ultimately joins to protect from all these different gangs that leads to a final, huge, battle between the different parties. and then comes in the comedy which surprising worked very very very well, with such moments as when Jackie comes to the aid of one of his female friends during the big finale and tries to act tough and show off against his opponent but gets punched down the side of the hill, and then sitting up with his back in pain going "Damn you" and when Jackie is facing off against a man his master dubs, the man with a thousand faces, and decides to climb a tree to escape his opponent with the man yelling at him to come on down and Jackie chuckling back "you come on up" all this is what makes Half A Loaf Of Kung Fu such a great movie

Shawn McKenna Frustrated by the weak box office returns of New Fist of Fury and Shaolin Wooden Men, Lo Wei gave Jackie Chan creative control over the slapstick comedy Half a Loaf of Kung Fu. With Chan's friend Chen Chi-hwa as director (Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin), Jackie wanted to make a film that was the antithesis of the current martial art dramas that were being shown. Jackie called this movie a "ninety-minute-long practical joke," but Lo failed to find the humor and decided to vault this film and created his own comedy for Jackie the insipid Spiritual Kung Fu. Half a Loaf of Kung Fu would remain unwatched until 1980.One of the most interesting segments of the film is the beginning which parodies the normal use (at that time) of the main actors showcasing their martial-art ability. He spoofs the Zatochi series, he tries to catch arrows but fails and there is a great scene that has him using a fighting dummy for practice only the have the camera pan away to reveal a mini dummy. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is not as inventive as the starting sequence, though there are many good scenes. The problem is that the plot is not that different from many other films that Lo Wei has done.Jackie plays Gon Tou, a wandering hungry man in search of a job. He eventually gets a housekeeper position for Mr. Man who houses the witch Lady Mui. He spies on her while she was doing a poison experiment, inadvertently gets his new friend San killed and narrowly flees. After his escape he came across a fight between Se Tai Chung and Lao Yung Lung – the man with the whip. This battle resulted in the death of both and Gon assumed the identity of Master Lao to collect the bounty on Chung. Now Gon is mistaken for a man with fighting skills even though his combatant acumen is very small. He gets beat up quite a bit.He stumbles across a flatulent beggar (Dean Shek) who teaches Jackie such moves as "Lady Draws Arrow" and the ever impressive "One Finger Stops Mountain" (guess which finger.) Dean is funny in this Cantonese comedic role. Gon is then helped by another beggar (Lee Man Tai) who prevents Lady Mui from killing him. At first the beggar does not want to help Gon anymore, but he acquiesces and will help him if he takes something to Fong Wan. He later meets him at Fung Yu's Stone House with his daughter (Doris Lung) and friend (James Tien.) Together they are protecting the "Thousand Year Jake", which cures any poison, and "Potion of new Life" which is the fountain of youth. Since these are so powerful and priceless many criminals such as Lady Mui, Iron Hand Lui and The Man of a Thousand Faces (Kam Kong) want these. Gon helps Fong while learning more and more Kung Fu.The plot is a bit chaotic and it ultimately fails as a spoof because so many martial art films have had plots much more ridiculous then this movie. But, it is an important film in Jackie's career because it is a turn from the grim-faced stoic hero that Lo wanted him to be. It is also a funny film with many inventive, though sometimes broad, scenes such as a dream sequence with Jackie becoming Popeye or Jackie reading a manual while fighting. It is also hilarious when Jackie knows that the flatulent beggar is approaching before we even see him. There is also a great reference to Bruce Lee when Jackie uses a wig as nunchucks while making Bruce-like sounds.The fighting of the film is much more traditional, with the exception of the nunchuck wig, than Jackie's later films. But there are some good shots, especially the ten-minute ending fight scene. There is also a nice teaming of Dean and Jackie towards the end that was fun to watch. Overall, I like the film. It was better than the early Jackie Chan movies, though not as good as his later films. If you are a Jackie Chan film and have not seen it, then there is a good chance you will like it -- as long as you like flatulent beggars and goofy plots.

kefka_killer After viewing this movie, which was purchased for six bucks, I'm really not sure what to say. There were times where I felt like turning it off, but there must have been some subliminal messages telling me not to. I'm still shocked I watched the whole thing. The fight scenes are ok, they get better as the movie progresses, the plot/script on the other hand...oh man. I think they just made it as they went along and as they were filming random people were like "hey can I have a part?" and the director was like "sure, you are now Man with Scythe, and your motivation is that Jackie Chan killed your son and know you want to kill him, so you are just gonna be walking around and happen to meet Jackie who has just completed his training where he learned all but three of his techniques from reading a book." All in all I think everyone should see this movie...once.