Review of Dragon Lord

Introduction

Here we go with another Jackie Chan film. The last one I saw was the under whelming The Tuxedo. Now however it`s time to hark back to a more classic era of Hong Kong film and an early Chan movie. Dragon Lord was made back in 1982 and this was truly around the rise of the martial arts star. Having proven himself with Drunken Master and The Snake in the Eagles Shadow he continued to carve out his position in HK film. This film however is not so much a martial arts film as drama, comedy and action rolled together with some kung fu.

Chan however is not any kind of expert and resembles the everyday man. He`s a bit lazy and gets up to mischief with his best friend Bull (Mars). Instead of studying they`re running around looking at girls and generally just fooling around. While out hunting pheasants, they stumble across someone running from gangsters. These gangsters it seems are stealing and selling off valuable Chinese artefacts. Dragon and Bull get involved in preventing this from happening but it won`t happen without a fight.

As befits most Hong Kong Legends titles, this DVD comes complete with a Bey Logan commentary, more on that later. Time to roll up the sleeves...

Video

Presented with a 2.35:1 widescreen enhanced video transfer, the film looks fine throughout. Of course there are the usual blemishes and odd occurrences of dirt, but don`t let this put you off since it doesn`t impact on the film. There were no digital artefact problems to be seen anywhere either. The colours seem solid and detail is fair. There are some scenes where colours are noticeably softer but it doesn`t appear too much of a problem.

Audio

You have a choice of either DD5.1 English dub or DD5.1 Cantonese. I stayed with the latter and it sounds okay with no major problems creeping in. Dialogue and sound in general were concentrated at the front and though hiss is apparent, it`s not bad enough to spoil the film. Nice exaggerated kung fu sounds too.

Features

Easy to navigate animated menus with a few extras:

• Trailer Gallery - UK Promotional Trailer (1:36) and Original Theatrical Trailer (4:17). Both are widescreen enhanced and spill the guts of the film.

• Interview Gallery - The Fall Guy: An interview with leading co-star Mars (29:47) (subtitled), The Insider: an interview with production manager Louis Sit (9:41); The Master Returns: an interview with villainous co-star Wong In-sik (11:55). Mars talks about his upbringing in the Peking Opera House and life in the HK film industry back in the 80s compared to how it is now. Very interesting. The Louis Sit and Wong In-sit interviews are good to watch too. All interviews are widescreen enhanced though optional subtitles would have been a nice addition for the English interviews.

• Audio commentary with Bey Logan - This man needs no introduction and all in all produces some of the best and most consistent audio commentaries around. You get a history lesson along with anecdotes and as much information as you can take. Excellent stuff, as always, and worth a listen.

• Further Attractions - Trailers for a few other HKL DVDs.

Conclusion

I like Jackie Chan and I like quite a few Jackie Chan movies. While I prefer martial arts based Chan films, Dragon Lord, which isn`t a kung fu film, still provides some enjoyment. What his character lacks in kung fu skill, he more than makes up for with pure athleticism and moves that are incredibly balletic. You should see some of these scenes as they`re incredible! The villain from The Young Master, Wong In-sit, reprises his villainous role here too and there`s a great fighting scene between Jackie and Wong In-sit.

Story wise it`s simple enough and funny but isn`t the most original or compelling of stories. However, let`s face it, you don`t go out of your way to have a great story with a Hong Kong action film, do you? Some of the comedy works well in the early part of the film, but you are left wondering when the story will move on. Thankfully in this 92-minute film there`s not too long to wait. The action set pieces here are memorable and worth watching a few times, as is the brilliant shuttlecock match. There`s a nice long final fight too. Oh, and a side story about girls is in there.

Not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. It`s enjoyable with some good extras and the usual brilliant Bey Logan commentary, Dragon Lord is, at the very least, worth a rental.