The Prodigal Son (1981)

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I do not like the majority of kung fu movies I have seen in my life and have always felt many of them do not deserve the recognition they have received. Recently one of the movies i have seen which fits under this profile is 'Master of the Flying Guillotine'. I do not like that movie and yet many people do. This is another movie that many people like, but unlike the others I feel it deserves it's attention and even more so, because it is a very entertaining movie with great fight scenes, comedy, dialogue, characters, and sets! Basically this movie is a win/win firing off on all cylinders- my only complaints are that it ended and maybe there are 1-2 things I would have changed or done differently but overall if you want to watch a good Chinese martial arts film with a great English dub and want to be entertained I say look no further! I just hope you understand some of the jokes in this movie because some are lol funny, and others will make you scratch your head, but you have to take it all into context and realize that the WHOLE movie is a comedy with great action and a good storyline involved, so basically if you see something weird it is SUPPOSED to be that way and it's not that way and it's similar to kung-fu hustle in that sense, though I would prefer watching this movie if i had to be given one on an island because for me it has more value throughout.

Most kung-fu movies either have no story and great fight scenes or horrible fight scenes and a solid story. It's not often you come across one that has a great story and some of the best fight scenes ever made. The Prodigal Son is one of Sammo Hung's best movies. Lam Ching Ying's use of Wing Chun is exceptional. Very reminiscent of Bruce Lee's training videos. This movie presents Wing Chun in it's real form, direct and in your face. The 2 fights that are of exceptional mention are Lam Ching Ying against Frankie Chan and Yuen Biao vs. Sammo Hung (when his daughter calls him to beat Yuen). Tactful and beautifully choreographed for the first fight. Blazing speed and non-stop action for the second. All in all, the best Wing Chun movie ever made. If you like this movie, you should also check out "Warriors 2" with Sammo Hung, Cassanova Wong and Liang Jia Ren (Knockabout).

I saw the Prodigal Son today, and I must say that it wasn't a waste of time, it was actually fairly entertaining. However, the Prodigal Son wasn't a great film, its fights weren't overwhelmingly stunning, but its plot was very good and interesting.The story was about a rich kid whose parents pay fees for all the kung fu fighters in their area to be defeated by their son. One day, the kid meets a real kung fu master who tells him the truth, the kid becomes very disappointed with everybody. Therefore, he demands that the kung fu master take him as his pupil, however , the kung fu master refuses to take him as his pupil for some reasons. Later on, the bad guys appear, and the kung fu master agrees to take him as his pupil.The Prodigal Son has some good jokes and cheesy kung fu fights along with bloody fights. Morever, there is even a good scenes which contains ninjas. I can certainly recommend it to fans of kung fu cinema, however, there are better movies out there. 6/10

Simply the best (and most accurate) display of Wing Chun kung fu. Good plot, good action, and also a historical fictional account of Wing Chun kung fu as well. Wong Bah Bo (played by Sammo Hung), Leung Yee Tai (played by Ching-Ying Lam) and Leung Jan (played by Yuen Biao) are all Wing Chun figures. Wong Bah Bo and Leung Yee Tai were members of the Red Junk Opera Troupe who taught Leung Jan. Leung Jan was Yip Man's sitaigung (sifu's sifu) as Yip Man studied under Chan Wah Sun (Leung Jan's student). The most intriguing connection in all of this is that Bruce Lee was also a student of Yip Man (considered by many as the modern grandmaster of Wing Chun). If you like this movie, you might want to check out 'Wing Chun' starring Michelle Yeoh. It's also a historical fictional account of Yim Wing Chun (after which the style was named).