Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge (1979) (TV)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Don McDougall

Genre:

Adventure | Crime

Plot:

Two episodes of the TV series "Spider Man" edited together and released as a feature. |

Plot Keywords:

Spider-Man | Based On Comic | Sequel | Superhero | Marvel Comics

Cast

Nicholas Hammond	...	Spider-Man / Peter Parker (archive footage)
Robert F. Simon	...	J. Jonah Jameson (archive footage)
Rosalind Chao	...	Emily Chan (archive footage)
Benson Fong	...	Min Lo Chan (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hagan Beggs	...	(archive footage)
Ellen Bry	...	Julie Masters (archive footage)
Michael Chan	...	(archive footage)
Anthony Charnota	...	Quinn (archive footage)
George Cheung	...	Doctor Pai (archive footage)
Tony Clark	...	Joe (archive footage)
Ted Danson	...	Major Collings (archive footage)
Richard Erdman	...	Mr. Zeider (archive footage)
Emil Farkas	...	Karate Thug (archive footage)
Chip Fields	...	Rita Conway (archive footage)
Myron Healey	...	Lieutenant Olson (archive footage)
Michael Mancini	...	Bertino (archive footage)
John Milford	...	Professor Roderick Dent / Jonathan Fleming (archive footage)
Arnold F. Turner	...	Abbott (archive footage)
Suzanne Vale	...	(archive footage)
Peter Wong	...	(archive footage)

Also Known As:

The Chinese Web (USA)

Runtime:

Germany:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Germany:6

Company:

Charles Fries Productions

Trivia:

The movie was originaly two episodes of the 1978 Spider-Man TV series called "The Chinese Web" part 1 and 2, but was edited into a TV movie when the series was axed in 1979.

Movie Connections:

Edited from "The Amazing Spider-Man: The Chinese Web: Part 1 (#2.7)" (1979)

Read the comicbook instead

The Dragon's Challenge cuts back on the wallcrawling, webswinging action of our hero and concentrates on Japanese WWII-inspired political intrigue. How anti-exciting. Don't hire this for your kids because they'll be bored immedietly. Drama and spectacle is few and far between.

It's a boring story poorly told, which shifts to Japan half way through to allow for 20 minutes of sight-seeing (!) obviously funded by the Japanese tourist board.

Ultimately, Spidey simply captures the bad guys and rescues the hostage, who are at the top of a skyscraper, naturally. The political intrigue angle is nicely handled but for a superhero movie, we want supervillains! Evil schemes! Ultimately, the Japanese stuff in the plot is an excuse for kung fu antics that were so much in fashion at the time. A bunch of easily defeated martial artists are no substitute for a good supervillain though, especially ones who can't get within spitting distance of Spidey before he webs them up.

The special affects are fine, and the stunt work is excellent. The wallcrawling sequence with Spidey climbing a huge Japanese skyscraper is the best in the entire series; not only is it an enormous building, but when Spidey gets near the top he turns 90 degrees to check his Spider Tracer device, allowing for some vertigo-inducing P.O.V shots from a stuntman hanging upside down hundreds of feet in the air. Truly impressive stuff.

Unfortunately, considering so much kung fu is promised, Dragon's Challenge lacks action - there is only one proper fight scene - and just a lot of running around. The saving grace, really, is the awesome music, some of the funkiest jazz known to man. Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978) and Spider-Man (1977) are far better, so catch them instead.