Master of Zen (1994) is an ambitious attempt to tell about Bodhidharma, the Zen Buddhism prophet who defined many Zen practices, helped with the combination of Zen principle and martial arts, and who as a religious figure is loosely comparable to Muhammed, in that the two reached a level of enlightenment and imparted their knowledge to others.

The Film: Derek Yee, probably best known as a director (Viva Erotica, Full Throttle), takes on the task of portraying Bodhidharma, and director Brandy Yuen (In the Line of Duty 3, Sword Stained with Royal Blood), of the famous Yuen Clan which includes his better known director siblings, Corey Yuen Kwai (Fong Sai Yuk 1&2) and Yuen Woo-Ping (Iron Monkey, Fire Dragon), helms the picture.

The film bounces across some of the highlight stories that are known about Bodhidharma, from his Indian Prince beginning, to his travels in China to spread the word to Buddhist monks, to his meditation for nine years in a cave outside the Shoalin Temple, and, finally, accepting a few disciples to continue his teaching before disappearing. Unfortunately, this film is not close to Gandhi or the Greatest Story Ever Told. In typical Hong Kong fashion, the film melds several styles, bits of philosophy, action, and humor, however it never really nails the biographic or religious note it should. Its a rather poor telling of what is known of Bodhidharma, wanting to somehow be both respectful but also exploitative by making him the 'Butt-Kicking Religious Icon'. It takes this route with many of the tales, sort of like a Davey Crokett bio mainly wanting to focus on his awesome bear fighting ability. Now, with a mythic figure, this could be somewhat understandable, and there are many fantastic stories about him (Such as, he cut his eyelids off so he wouldn't fall asleep while meditating. This is why all drawings of Bodhidhamra, who usually looks like a combination of Bluto and Lee Van Cleef, have big bug eyes.), but in Master of Zen's case it is clearly an attempt to spice up the proceedings, inject some adrenaline into it. And that is not exactly very reverential to the man or subject matter, which brings me to my second point...

The fundamental problem with making a movie involving Zen is, unlike the parables of the Bible, Zen parables are not especially rousing. Bible stories are filled with action, sex, wonder, and many exciting elements, whereas Zen parables are much more cerebral, very succinct, and cryptic if taken in quick doses. In the bible you get David and Goliath; in Zen you get a master and his teacup. In other words, they can translate quite horribly on film, becoming dull in execution, after all, the hinge of Zen philosophy is nothingness, and that's not exactly something that you can impart on a film viewer very well, especially a Hong Kong audience probably expecting more kung fu than philosophical discussion. So, this makes the film a failure, because as a biography it is very faulty, as a philosophical film its dull and not very informative, and as an action film its not very rousing and contrasting to the rest of the film.

Conclusion: Now, having said all that, it is still a interesting curiosity. Films attempting such an epic scale (despite bad wigs) and subject, are always interesting even as utter failures. And let's face it, Hong Kong being a very commercial film industry does not take chances like this very often. The lowbrow stuff, like the short bits of action and the humor does help one get over the yawning moments (Such as, the monks only discover Bodhidharma in the cave because they stopped inside it to urinate). Being a lover of Chinese martial history, just seeing a mention such things as where the one-armed fighter movies and the reason monks pray with one arm, came from...well, it got me giddy. So, it's a colossal wreck, a flawed footnote in HK film, but the curious will rubberneck anyway.

DVD Quality: Despite its high MSRP, the World Video DVD is a barebones, lower rung Hong Kong film transfer. There is wear on the widescreen picture and a few jumps, not dynamic at all, a C- grade deal. The sound is okay, once again, no superior effort, just enough to be acceptable. Chinese and Mandarin, with default white English and Chinese subs on the film print, so they get cut off during long exposition and disappear into white backgrounds. You get a whopping three chapter stops, menu page, and no other extras. Those familiar with Hong Kong DVDs will recognize it as your standard middling, lackluster effort, and considering how the film flopped, there isn't any likely restoration or Special Edition of the film coming soon, so this will have to suffice.