The Story: Two martial masters, Pang and Fei, set up rival schools, proposing that their respective styles, Wing Chun or Shaolin 5 Style Fist is superior. The shady Master Tein (Philip Ko Fei) sends two of his students (saying they are his "sons") to train under each man, offering a cash incentive to the master whose style proves most superior. Secretly, Master Tien wants to learn the secrets of the two styles so he can beat the masters and avenge his brother Yang Wei (Lee Hoi Sang) who was defeated and humiliated by them. The two students run across a local roustabout, the self trained Kung Fu Ching (Stephen Tung Wei), who also begins to train with both the masters. Not wanting another person in the kung fu world proficient in both styles, they drive him out of both schools. Luckily, Ching befriends Fei Jai/Fat Pow (Sammo Hung) a martial master who begins to train Ching in his tricky style. When Master Tein feels he has mastered Pang and Fie's forms and his brother along with some Manchu warriors arrive, it is up to Ching and Fei Jai to stop them.

The Film: Overall a mediocre kung fu comedy, Incredible Kung Fu Master (aka The Kung Fu Master, 1979) is saved by the abundant talent and roster of notable names.

In front of the camera: The acrobatic Stephen Tung Wei starred in such films as 18 Fatal Strikes, Golden Mask, Mask of Death, and has a fantastic career as an action director on such films as Mars Villa, Mister Vampire Part 3, As Tears Go By, Magnificent Warriors, Twin Dragons and Hardboiled. Of course there is Sammo, whose resume as one of the premiere HK visionaries I shouldn't have to mention, but I'll go ahead and say Prodigal Son, Warriors Two, Dragons Forever and Winners and Sinners, just to name a few. Main villain, Lee Hoi Sang (who as far as looks are concerned, I consider the Lee Van Cleef of kung fu) was a stunt performer and actor, who went to Peking Opera School with Lam Ching Ying, appearing mainly as villains and henchmen in such films as Shaolin Mantis, Warriors Two, Descendant of Wing Chun and Last Hurrah for Chivarly. Secondary villain is Philip Ko Fei, Dreadnaught, Angel Mission, Boxers Omen, Killers ROmance, 8 Diagram Pole Fighter. The two bad students/"brothers" are Chung Faat, Encounters of the Spooky Kind, Magnificent Butcher, Pedicab Driver and one-eyed character actor Dia Sai An from many films like 10 Magnificent Killers, Jade Claw and Four Invincibles. Sammo, Jackie, Yuen stunt team cohort Mang Hoi, Zu Warriors, Yes Madam, Buddha Assassinator has a small role (no pun intended).

Behind the camera: First time director Joe Cheung would go on to do Mask of Death, work in comedies again with Stephen Tung Wei and Sammo like Pom Pom and Pom Pom and Hot Hot, as well as direct Chow Yun Fat in Flaming Brothers. You couldn't ask for a better star trio of action directors- Leung Kar Yan Sleeping Fist, Knockabout, Thundering Mantis, The Victim- the legendary Lam Ching Ying Mister Vampire 1,2&3, Prodigal Son- and finally Yuen Biao Righting Wrongs, Wheels on Meals, Peacock King, Zu Warriors, On the Run, Once Upon a Time in China.

Why the film doesn't work is due to a very weak story, lack of action, and comedy that dominates most of the film. For the first 45 mins its largely uninteresting with lots of nonsense. Jokes that fall flat, like Sammo ripping off some street corner con artists, or his fooling the evil spying students teaching them a fake silly kung fu technique that involves wagging your butt in the air. Insultingly stupid structure like a flashback that occurs to a scene we saw 30 seconds before, and awkward editing like the last minute appearance of the main villain. By and large the narrative/logic gaps stretch out like the Grand Canyon and for most of the film there is little amusing or exciting enough to make you forgive it.

However the film is saved by the performers, particularly in the last half of the film, filled with training scenes and the final fights. Stephen Tung Wei's acrobatic skills are really fun to behold, splits, cartwheeels off his head, and while despite his good looks and physical skills, he doesn't have the charisma/acting skills of a Yuen Biao or Jackie Chan, he is a decent lead. Sammo of course provides some of the best moments, including an amusing duel with a spear-wielding baddie, in which Sammo uses a pole which "gets longer as he fights"... get it? The training scenes between Sammo and Stephen aren't exactly Drunken Master good, but contain some memorable stuff like Sammo oiling the floor and not feeding Stephen until he can walk across it. The final fights are great. Stephen and Sammo must take on an acrobatic troupe of Mongols that looks like some kind of Cirque De Soleil nightmare. Lee Hoi Sang proves to be a good villain and does stuff like the 'Swirling Ghosts of Llama', which video game fans will no doubt recognize as Zangief from Street Fighter's whirlwind punch.... It is a film that could be infinitely better if the first 2/3rds were punched up. Largely it is tepid, with a good finale, and worthwhile to die-hard kung fu fans for its notable credits on and offscreen.

The DVD: This Ground Zero DVD apparently is fussy/glitch ridden. Their recent wave of releases have had problems on some players. Read on to find out... The menu is hosted by a Wu Tang Clan member, you have the unfortunate/fortunate (depending on your sensibilities) of listening to him say "Yeah, we back again... We bout' to show you some all the wall features... Dont get slapped with the kung fu grip, aiiieeeeght?" every single time you access the extras. Picture- Considering GZ's sources are usually tape, this was a surprise. The aspect ratio has been 'squeezed', roughly along the lines of its original 2:35:1 fit into a 1:85:1 widescreen. It's wrong and funny looking, beats cropping, and no doubt Sammo is pleased that he has been instantly Jenny Craiged by the transfer. Most likely, this transfer was taken from a laserdisc, and is actually pretty sharp and shows good color. There is some wear, lines and specks on the print but its not horrible (especially by older kung fu standards). It is a little too dark, Tung Wei training at night is rather hard to see, but as far as GZ's usual releases this is a marked improvement and one of their better discs. Sound- Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono English dub. Overall the entire audio track is swimming in distortion. The music booms and is muffled, and the voices hiss, during the action both become lost in the clatter. Its a begrudging disappointment, but the sort of thing some kung fu fans can look past since its pretty normal to run across bad audio in the kung fu world. The voice actors are mainly British, and poor Chung Faat is saddled with one of the worst dubs I've heard because it is stilted, like an asthmatic reading a telegraph- "Then... we... can... learn... their best." Extras- While the movie played fine... Every Single One of the Extras Features FROZE. Secrets of the Underground- FROZE--- Cast and Crew Bios + Bonus Fights. While I could access the text to the bios (Sammo Hung, Lee Hoi San, Stephen Tung Wei, and five bonus fights), the bonus fights themselves for every person- FROZE--- 18 Fatal Previews for other GZ titles- FROZE--- GZ info, weblinks, previews, and Wu Tang info- FROZE.

Conclusion- Normally I'd give this an instant 'recommended', its one of GZ's better transfers, a fair film, and usually they offer low cost discs with good extras, but seeing as how this disc was technically a failure, an seems to have a glitch- Until GZ fixes the problem, I'll have to give it a hesitant 'rent it'.