This 1994 series tells the tale of Chinese legend Hung Hei-kwun (Donnie Yen), a renowned martial artist and Chinese patriot who opposed the Ching Dynasty. His story features many legendary characters like Wing Chun, Fong Sai Yuk, and I-forget-his-name-The Master Killer. Following in the footstepes of his father, the leader of the Sun Moon Sect which leads the rebellion against the Ching forces, Hung Hei-kwun takes up their cause to defend his families honor as well as the honor of the Chinese people.

Like Donnie Yens other foray into martial themed television, his re-imagining of Fist of Fury, this series gave him a chance to broaden his lead range and explore a character throughout an arc that would total many hours of television.

It is the great stuff of Chinese history and folklore (I use the term folklore since so much of the info is suspect and through the years much was fictionalized). So many great classic kung fu elements are there, Wu Tang, the Sun Moon Sect, Shaolin, scruffy foul martial masters, the beginnings of the Ten Tigers from Kwantung, flying guillotines, masked revolutionaries, corrupt officials and evil monarchs. A classic tale of revolution and revenge.

Now, as far as the action and production values go, like Fist of Fury, it is mired by being a television production. HK TV operates on probably a tenth of the budget of its feature films, and its features are nowhere near as expensive as our modest or low budget US films. Most of the action scenes had to be filmed over the course of a days shooting, often improvised, with cheap props, and Donnie was usually working with non-martial artists, so it is no where near the level of his film work. You'll come across many scenes that suffer from Floppy Rubber Pole Syndrome. However, among these so-so to mediocre fight and training scenes, there are a few instances of neat touches and very nice work. The series was overseen by director Benny Chan (Gen-X Cops, Who Am I?, Man Wanted, Big Bullet); Chan and Donnie bring a certain level of professionalism and care to the production, accomplishing quite a lot despite the hindrances of little time and little money. But, it is a very cheap genre, and that is a limitaiton that may scare off most viewers.

The DVD: Tai Seng. 2 Discs.

Picture: Full-screen, standard. Shot on BETA, the transfer presents the material as good as it can look. The unaware need to bear in mind that HK television is a very low budget affair, well below what we are used to, very soft and, frankly, cheap, comparable to US soap operas from 30 years ago. But, it still manages some nice location and studio shooting with several atmospheric and grand scale scenes.

Sound: Very good tracks, Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS options, plus an English dub, and a Mandarin track, with optional bold English subtitles. Of course, the sound is a little generic, with a forgettable synth score (and even Donnie singing the theme song), but, once again, considering the material the presentation is perfect.

Extras: Chapter Selections--- Trailers --- Making Of Kung Fu Master (11 min) Really nice, clip heavy TVB promo interviews with the principles, and gives a nice glimpse at some moments from the episodes not in this release.--- Audio Commentary with HK film expert Bey Logan. The previous release had both Logan and Donnie Yen doing commentary, which was far more pleasing. While Logan is an insider, over the course of three hours the commentary begins to get a bit thin, especially if you are a kung fu nut. While Logan has a wealth of info, it veers into territiory where most martial fans will find anecdotes they already knew, making it a mixed bag to spend three hours just to get one hours worth of new insights.

Conclusion: Once again this is such selective tastes material. The quality of the production and fight choreography is below the norm even for most kung fu fans. Still, you get some more of the story, so if you liked the previous release this one will just give you more. A very hesitant recommendation for those that know what they are in for.