Spiritual Kung Fu

{{Infobox film

| name = Spiritual Kung Fu

| image = Spiritual Kung Fu poster.jpg

| caption = Theatrical poster

| director = Lo Wei

| producer = Lo Wei

| writer = Pan Lei

| starring = Jackie Chan
James Tien
Dean Shek
Yuen Biao

| music = Frankie Chan

| cinematography = Chan Wing-shu

| editing = Vincent Leung

| distributor = Lo Wei Motion Picture Company

| released = {{Film date|1978|11|23|df=yes}}

| runtime = 97 mins

| country = Hong Kong

| language = Mandarin

| budget =

| gross = {{estimation}} {{US$|842,386|link=yes}} (Asia)
210,579 tickets (overseas)

}}

Spiritual Kung Fu ({{zh|t=拳精}}) (Quan Jing) is a 1978 Hong Kong martial arts comedy film directed and produced by Lo Wei. The film stars Jackie Chan, James Tien, and Dean Shek. The film features Yuen Biao as one of the Master of the Five Fists martial arts, and Chan was also the film's stunt co-ordinator. The film was also known in some other dubbed language releases as Karate Ghostbuster.

Plot synopsis

Yi-lang (Jackie Chan) is a smart-alec martial arts student at a Shaolin Temple. An anonymous thief steals a book from the library which teaches a potentially fatal style of Kung Fu. Yi-lang, along with a group of five other monks, is punished for not stopping the thief, but his bravery leads to him signing up to defend a supposedly haunted portion of the school.

Upon discovering the ghosts, who are masters of a supposedly lost style of fighting known as The "Five Style Fists", Yi-lang offers himself as a student, masters the form and uses it to progress quickly through the ranks of the school. In order to defend the school against the very thief who stole the book from its library, Yi-lang demonstrates his new style and defeats the invading troupe, with a little help from his five spiritual masters.

Cast

Jackie Chan as Yi-lang
Kao Kuang
Dean Shek
James Tien
Yee Fat
Wang Yao
Jane Kwong
Hsu Hong
Chui Yuen (uncredited)
Peng Kang
Li Hai Lung
Li Chun Tung
Yuen Biao (uncredited)
Wang Kuang Yu
Li Chnig Fu
Wu Te Shan
Chung Wai (uncredited)

Production

Along with Dragon Fist, Spiritual Kung Fu was filmed in early 1978. As Lo Wei's studio was running out of money, they shelved both films due to cost-cutting measures and Chan was loaned out to Seasonal Films for a two-picture deal. Whilst there he made Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master with Yuen Woo-ping.{{cite web |title = Jackie Chan |work=Biography |publisher=Ng Kwong Loong (JackieChanMovie.com)|url=http://www.jackiechanmovie.com/profile/biography/bio.htm |accessdate = 2007-07-09 }} The success of these two films at the domestic box office prompted Lo to give belated releases to Spiritual Kung Fu (late 1978) and Dragon Fist (1979).{{cite web |title= Randomhouse.com |work=I Am Jackie Chan - Filmography |url=http://www.randomhouse.com/features/iamjackiechan/excerpt_films.html |accessdate = 2008-10-17 }}

Spiritual Kung Fu was Lo Wei's response to Chan's earlier attempt at blending comedy with kung fu in the film Half a Loaf of Kung Fu. The supernatural elements of the film were brought to life by some early examples of Hong Kong special effects. Much of the scripted comedy in the film centred on Chan's exaggerated facial expressions and reactions to his ghostly teachers.

The "Five Style Fists" kung fu style is based on the Five Fists (Animal) Pattern, one of the early Martial Arts practiced at the Shaolin Temple, as discussed in Qiu Yue Chan Shi's book "The Essence of the Five Fists". This system contains Dragon, Tiger, Snake, Crane and Leopard / Panther styles.

Box office

During its Hong Kong theatrical run, Spiritual Kung Fu grossed {{HK$}}2,397,558{{cite web |title=Spiritual Kung Fu (1978) |url=http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=5936 |website=Hong Kong Movie Database |accessdate=19 June 2020}} ({{US$|{{#expr:2397558/4.68 round 0}}|link=yes}}).{{cite web |title=Official exchange rate (HK$ per US$, period average) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/PA.NUS.FCRF?end=1978&locations=HK&start=1977 |website=World Bank |year=1978 |accessdate=7 December 2018}} Upon its 1982 release in South Korea, it sold 80,440 tickets in Seoul,{{cite web |title=영화정보 |trans-title=Movie Information |url=http://www.kobis.or.kr/kobis/business/mast/mvie/searchMovieList.do |website=KOFIC |publisher=Korean Film Council |language=ko |accessdate=26 August 2019 }} equivalent to an estimated gross revenue of approximately {{Currency|{{#expr:0.080440*3000}} million|KRW|passthrough=yes}}{{cite book |last=Park |first=Seung Hyun |title=A Cultural Interpretation of Korean Cinema, 1988-1997 |date=2000 |publisher=Indiana University |page=119 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ilEeAQAAMAAJ |quote=Average Ticket Prices in Korea, 1974-1997 [...] * Source: Korea Cinema Yearbook (1997-1998) * Currency: won [...] Foreign [...] 1982 [...] 3,000}} ({{US$|{{#expr:241320000/731.08 round 0}}|link=no}}).{{cite web |title=Official exchange rate (KRW per US$, period average) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/PA.NUS.FCRF?end=1982&locations=KR&start=1981 |website=World Bank |year=1982 |accessdate=7 December 2018}} Combined, the film grossed an estimated total of approximately {{US$|{{#expr:512299+330087}}|link=no}} in East Asia, equivalent to {{US$|{{Inflation|US|0.842386|1978|r=1}} million}} adjusted for inflation.

In France, the film sold 130,139 tickets upon release there in 1983.{{cite web |last1=Soyer |first1=Renaud |title=Jackie Chan Box Office |url=http://www.boxofficestory.com/box-office-jackie-chan-c24779784 |website=Box Office Story |date=4 February 2014 |language=fr |accessdate=1 July 2020}} This adds up to a combined {{formatnum:{{#expr:80440+130139}}|}} tickets sold overseas in Seoul and France.

Versions

The film was made with the intention of releasing in Mandarin in early 1978 but shelved. Prior to its belated theatrical release late that year, a Cantonese soundtrack and some small edits were made. It wasn't until 1980 that the film was finally given a release with the original Mandarin soundtrack.
Two Chinese versions of the film have surfaced to date. The most notable difference is during a scene depicting temple duty. In one version (synced in accordance with the Mandarin soundtrack), Yi-Lang is knocked unconscious with an attack to the back of the neck. In the other version (synching with the Cantonese soundtrack), he is knocked out with poison from a burning joss stick; this has caused issues on home video due to mismatched audio/visual.
The Korean theatrical version contains a completely different opening.