Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditsAwards & Reviews
user reviewsexternal reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guidemessage boardPlot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsmemorable quotesDid You Know?
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
box office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsReviews & Ratings for
Heart of a Dragon More at IMDbPro »Long de xin (original title)
| Page 1 of 3: | [1] [2] [3] ![[Next]](http://i.media-imdb.com/f86.gif){kind=small} |
| Index | 26 reviews in total |
8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Excellent Drama and Action From HK's Best, 30 October 2004
Author:
himboy32 (himboy32@yahoo.co.uk) from Newcastle, England
Heart Of Dragon tells the story of Hong Kong SWAT officer Tat Fung who
must juggle a career, a girlfriend and looking after his older brother
Do-Do who is mentally retarded. Tat feels he is beginning to lose touch
with himself so decides to join the navy, but before he can do that he
must straighten things out with both his girlfriend and his big
brother.
Let me begin by saying this has to be the best performance in Jackie's
prolific career,this is the film which made me take him seriously as an
actor. It is such a shame this wasn't a big hit when it first came out.
Jackie and Sammo are the best actors in the film. Sammo plays his
character with such depth and sensitivity,while Jackie does excellently
as the frustrated Tat.
I thought I'd never cry at a Jackie Chan movie but I was wrong. One
scene which got me misty eyed was a scene when Do-Do's tutor begins to
emotionally abuse him,while Tat listens to what is going on from
outside the room.
Another scene is when Tat finally lets his true feelings for Do-Do come
forward anger may be the most raw of human emotions but to let yourself
explode like that is very difficult to pull off, but thats not the
point I began to cry, it was when Tat goes to his room and Do-Do
follows him and apologises for the way he is, I mean wow, talk about
emotionally heavy.
Moving on from the emotional side of the film and commenting on the
action, this has very little action in it until towards the end which I
have to say has one of the best fights in Jackie's career in which he
takes on the amazing and brilliant Dick Wei in a one on one brutal
marial arts fight. This has to be Jackie at his fastest, they exchange
the moves with such quickness I had to go back and watch the fight
again once it was over.
I urge any Jackie Chan or Sammo Hung fan who has not yet seen the film
to go out and get the DVD you do not know what you are missing.
6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
An interesting change for Jackie and Sammo, 4 October 2005
Author:
Shawn McKenna (srmckenna@hotmail.com) from Modesto, California
After several "Lucky Stars" films, Sammo Hung wanted to direct Jackie
Chan in a serious movie. Jackie believed (rightly so) that the Hong
Kong audience would have trouble accepting him in a non-action role.
Sammo was insistent and Jackie acquiesced. With a screenplay coauthored
by Barry Wong and Sammo Hung they ventured forth to create Heart of
Dragon (aka First Mission). This film would be a box office
disappointment though he soon would create one of his best films –
Police Story.
Jackie stars as a CID officer (formally from SWAT) who takes care of
his mentally-challenged 29 year old brother Danny. Danny is an affable
and naive grown-up who is known as Do Do by his child friends. He is so
credulous that even his kid companions use him for nefarious reasons
such as getting into a restaurant or passing off as a parent. He is a
constant drain on his brother Jackie who always has to take care of
him. Jackie is also split between wanting to make his girlfriend Jenny
(Emily Chu who was also in the first two A Better Tomorrow films) happy
and his dream of becoming a merchant marine. Danny is wonderfully
played by Hung who is not afraid to sacrifice his dignity and his body
for this role such as the scene when Danny is looking for a job to be
more self supporting is taken advantage of by a restaurant owner (Wu Ma
who also helped produce this film) who persuades him to act like a
bull, a dog and a snake. Chan's acting is good with occasional forays
into the melodramatic.
Heart of Dragon is an enjoyable but fragmented and uneven film. It
attempts to be a drama, but after half the picture is over it wants to
be action movie. I feel that they did not believe they could create a
full serious picture. The switch in tone of the film is distracting and
hurts the overall feel of the picture. Yet the ending choreographed by
Yuen Biao, though somewhat stereotypical of action film endings, has
one of the most exciting sequences Jackie and Sammo has ever done. So
my feelings are mixed by this change. Golden Harvest also felt that the
audience would not believe a Sammo and Jackie film could sustain a
dramatic pace and ordered two additional fighting scenes for the
Japanese market. These scenes can be found as deleted scenes on the
Fortune Star release.
You could review this film as two separate films. The drama was good
except for periodical bouts of overacting and melodramatic scenes
(though Sammo's character seems quite believable.) The action part of
the film was also good (not counting the opening scene which was
totally unbelievable with Mr. Eyebrows – one of my favorite actors Lam
Ching Ying) but catered to stereotypical scripting. For example Do Do
plays cops and robbers with his kid friends and accidentally scares a
gangster into giving up a bag of jewelry that belongs to local Triad
member the cigar chomping Mr Kin (James Tien.) Mr Kin then, eventually,
kidnaps Do Do to get the eventual climax between CID and Mr Kin and his
men.
As a complete concept, the film does not work as well as the sum of the
parts. The film also has the problem of transitioning from action to
drama to action then back to drama again. Then there is the problem
with the horrible "electronic" music playing in the background. But
many of the parts are quite excellent. People who are expecting a
"Jackie Chan" film will be disappointed with the exception of the
deleted scenes and the excellent ending. I was disappointed because I
saw that they could have made a more compelling drama or at least a
more fluid piece. However, there is much to enjoy with the film, as if
I had not said it enough, especially the ending.. Notes: other
character actors in the film are Fung Hark On (portraying another slimy
character), Yuen Wah and Corey Yuen (both who grew up with Jackie Chan,
Sammo and Yuen Biao as part of the Seven Little Fortunes.)
8 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Touching drama, unusual Chan fare but climaxing in one of the greatest fight sequences EVER, 4 October 2004
Author:
DrLenera
Heart Of The Dragon can be described as Rain Man with martial arts,
which is not a bad description, although this was actually made several
years before. Made around the time Jackie Chan was churning out loads
of great films, such as Police Story, Project A, Wheels On Meals and
Dragons Forever, as well as poorer but hugely successful efforts like
the 'Lucky Stars' films, this movie has somewhat been ignored, which is
a shame, as it's a brave attempt at something a little different.
For the first 50 mins or so, this is mostly a drama, but both Jackie
Chan, playing a character who is initially none too sympathetic, and
Samo Hung, as his mentally challenged brother, give amazingly strong
performances. There are laughs [such as when Chan is walking around
holding his brother's hand saying to people "he's my brother" in case
they might think they are gay],but there is also a great deal of
sensitivity and honesty, climaxing in a powerful scene where Jackie
almost breaks down in sheer fustration in front of Samo.
After this the film suddenly becomes an action movie, but the
transition is not badly done, and, as if to reward patient action fans,
the film climaxes with what is quite simply one of the best staged
fight sequences EVER, a small masterpiece of choreography, editing and
lighting. Jackie is as vicious as Bruce Lee ever was here, he's never
been meaner.
There are two extra fight scenes which exist, but in most places they
were removed from the film to emphasise the drama. Indeed the other
elements of the film are so good that it can exist perfectly well
without them. Of course there are a few silly touches, including TWO
montages with the sentimental theme song, and Dick Wie's eyebrows!
Generally a fine film, though.
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
The Two Musketeers..., 23 December 2007
Author:
Guardia from Brisbane, Australia.
"Long de xin" has Jackie's character (Tat) on the CID (Criminal
Investigation Department). This is no "Police Story" though, and Chan
is portrayed as just another member of the squad. His main occupation
though, is looking after his mentally-disabled brother (Dodo, or
Do-do), played decently by Sammo himself. Tat is constantly being
called away to help out his brother, and the crime-fighting scenes in
the film take a long time to develop.
This film has all of the ingredients that I look for, but it failed to
impress me as much as it might have. First of all, Sammo direction is
usually brilliant and progressive, in this film however, it seems that
most of his creative energy went on his character-acting - and I must
say, the scene about Jackie's leaving is particularly impressive. This
moment, with it's heart-wrenching display of frustration, anger, and
love is as memorable as any of the fight scenes in the film. Chan here
is a brilliant dramatic actor, and it took Sammo to get it out of him I
suppose.
Yuen Biao, as action-director, does a great job. And the final fight
scene is particularly brutal and snappy. But, I can't help but wonder
how much better this film may have been if Biao was given an on-screen
part - I can see many that may have suited in retrospect.
The film does it's best to balance the drama and action, but I think
this is it's main area of failure. There are none of those clever edits
that Sammo is usually known for that make for brilliant transitions
between contrasting scenes. Here, we sit through some repetitive and
redundant scenes that (yet again) display Dodo's vulnerability as much
as common man's inhumanity. (Actually, I was just realising how much
trouble the children cause for Sammo - even his closest friends are
doomed to hurt him). The first few times are good, the rest were
trying.
This is a film that is worth watching for some great highlights, but
it's not a film that I can imagine enjoying start-to-end, over and over
like so many other of Sammo's directorial gems. Sammo and Chan's
dramatic acting are the real winners in this film.
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
8 out of 10, 5 July 2001
Author:
dragon ma young (DrAgOnMaYoUnG@aol.com)
not an action movie! a heart felt drama that had me(yes me) in tears. there is action at the end, but that wasnt even needed. this great drama is about jackie helping his retarded brother through thick and thin or something like that. bring some tissues and dont see it with the guys, cause its a sad one.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
I enjoyed it, 9 November 2002
Author:
Kim
I enjoyed this movie, but that's because I'm a big fan of Jackie Chan, so if your not, it may not be a good idea to go and see it. Also, this movie is for those who like martial art movies no matter the quality or when it was made, and where. It was set in Hong Kong, made is the 80s obviously, but is also set in the 80s. So high quality can not be expected, and if you can look passed it it can be an enjoyable movie. This movie is about a guy who's a police officer (Jackies character) who takes care of his mentally ill brother. They set up the brother relationship in this movie pretty well, and Jackies acting goes a little bit passed what most people are used to. (I've seen many of his movies and it's the first time I've ever seen him cry) This movie is not funny like many of his movies out there, but its not to serious either. There two pretty good fight scenes, one right in the first 2 minutes of the movie, and one near the end. There are small brawls in between, but they are not really big. The movie is mostly story though, so the fighting is pretty much what I said it was. So if your looking for action packed Jackie Chan movie, this is probably not it. But if you are a fan, and want to try something maybe a little different then what you are used to, then this one may be a good one to see.
3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Brilliant, 8 November 2004
Author:
Ukhammer1987 from Mülheim, Germany
Well i must say this was one film i will never forget.just saw it the
other day again and i must say "Brilliant".How it shows you how to love
a family member and always stick up for them.Of course the film is
funny but also sad the way they always pick on Sammo. I would still say
this is one of the best movies of all times. Well i can say that.I have
got nearly all of Jackie's films and can say this is in the top 5 So
that was my comment hope other people think the same as me so farewell.
UK
3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Again, good in a serious role..., 20 June 2001
Author:
rutt13-1 (rutt13@yahoo.com) from IN, USA
A pretty good, though slow drama, Jackie proves himself as an actor, and Sammo pulls off the part of the handicapped brother beautifully. It's very somber and pretty sad, with a really violent fight at the climax when Jackie and his cop friends go to rescue Sammo. Jackie even buries a machete in some poor sap's neck! If you want a good serious battle, check out Jackie vs. the awesome (and underrappreciated) Dick Wei at the finale....I've always enjoyed this guy as his usual cool as ice villain! Not bad, but vastly different from most of Chan's work...
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Hard Hitting, 3 May 2007
Author:
djishema from United Kingdom
This is a very well thought out Jackie Chan drama. Its got a high
tension storyline and action which you would expect. Its all about
Jackie abandoning his plans to go sailing to look after his retarded
brother (Sammo Hung) who keeps getting in to a whole heap of trouble.
While playing with a toy gun with his kid friends, Sammo stops a
robber, who just recently got away from Jackie in a house raid.
The bad guys find Sammo and take him to their base while Jackie goes
against all stops to get his brother back safely.
There is not to much action in this film more drama, but well worth
watching if your a fan of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, and get your
tissues ready for the end!
Excellent 10 Stars!!! Go Jackie Go!!! :D
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
No slam-bang action movie, 25 January 2007
Author:
Don Bendell from Germany
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
"Jackie Chan plays a cop torn between taking his dream job aboard a
ship and staying to take care of his semi-retarded brother (Hung).
Things get a bit more complicated when Hung inadvertently steals some
Triads' loot and the gang (led by Dick Wei) seeks revenge.
If you're expecting a slam-bang action movie in the vein of Chan and
Hung's other movies where they teamed up (like Dragons Forever), you
may be disappointed. The majority of the movie is a serious drama as
Chan tries to help out his brother -- there's even a part where Chan
breaks down into tears. However, both Chan and Hung do a good job and
it makes the story believable. The supporting cast also does well:
Emily Chu plays Chan's long-suffering girlfriend, Lam Ching-Ying is
Chan's captain and Yuen Biao has a small role as one of Chan's cop
buddies.
Action and martial arts fans don't need to fret too much, though. The
last half-hour of the movie is jam-packed with action. It almost seems
a bit out of place, but hey, I'll take a Sammo Hung-directed Jackie
Chan action sequence any day of the week. Heart of Dragon's only big
misstep is its ending -- it's done with a musical montage which seems
to be so popular in HK films. It really wraps up nothing and feels more
tacked-on rather than a proper ending."
| Page 1 of 3: | [1] [2] [3] |
Related Links
| Plot summary | Amazon.com summary | Ratings |
| Awards | External reviews | Plot keywords |
| Main details | Your user reviews | Your vote history |
Copyright © 1990-2012
IMDb.com, Inc.
Terms and Privacy Policy under which this service is provided to you.
An 
company.