JACKIE CHAN PLAYS A 'LEGEND'.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

``The Legend of Drunken Master,'' the 1994 Chinese action film finally released by Miramax with English dubbing, is a great illustration of what made Jackie Chan such a huge star in his native Hong Kong and throughout Asia.

Of course, that doesn't mean it's a great movie.

For fans of martial-arts films, it's the pinnacle, with its near nonstop fight scenes that culminate in a heart-pumping kung fu battle royale staged in an early-20th-century steel mill, hot coals and all.

For moviegoers on the whole, however, this ``Drunken Master'' sequel shortchanges character and plot in order to make time for fight scenes. In turn-of-the-century China, it seems, people did not meet by bowing or shaking hands, but by kicking and punching each other and then exchanging names and other niceties later.

Chan plays Wong Fei-Hung, the wayward but well-intentioned son of a doctor and martial arts master. Wong has learned traditional kung fu but favors so-called drunken boxing, a looser form in which the fighter staggers and reels, throwing his opponent off guard, and then rebounds with precision punches and kicks.

Drunken boxing is supposed to be practiced sober, but Wong sometimes takes it literally, guzzling enough liquor and wine in one scene to kill four beefy frat brothers, and in the final fight gets his fortification from a flammable liquid used to stoke the steel mill fires. (The film probably should be shown with a prominent ``don't try this at home'' disclaimer.)

The character is based on a real Cantonese martial arts hero who died in 1924 at age 77. In his lifetime and since, Wong attained folk hero status as a Robin Hood-like protector of the poor and oppressed. He has been the subject of more than 200 films, each of which has taken liberty with the facts, as does ``Legend'' by depicting him as a young man in the 1910s.

The British ambassador and his cronies are the bad guys here, their offenses including the inhumane treatment of Chinese steelworkers in a British-owned plant and their theft of priceless Chinese artifacts for Western museums and collectors. The latter idea is better executed in Chan's ``Rush Hour.''

No one, Chan included, was cast for his great acting ability, and the voice-overs do not exactly enhance the performances.

Martial arts fans will view the fight scenes as a thing of beauty, but I found most of them redundant, long and incredible for the lack of blood and bruising they produced.

But you have to respect Chan's devotion to his form and his fans as he continuously pushes himself and his stunt team to the limits. In ``The Legend of Drunken Master,'' Chan did the stunts and faced the consequences after the camera quit rolling. I know I'll never look at a bed of hot coals the same way again.

``THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER''

(Rated R: martial arts violence)

The stars: Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, Ti Lung, Lau Ka Leung, Andy Lau, Ken Lo.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Lau Ka Leung. Written by Edward Tang, Tong Man Ming and Yuen Chieh Chi. Martial arts choreography by Lau and Chan.

Running time: One hour, 42 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Two stars

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Photo:

Jackie Chan ignores the stairs and takes the express to ground level in ``The Legend of Drunken Master.''