Dragon Strike (1982)

The adventures of a restless martial arts student called Dragon, who, while constantly pursuing a girl, gets involved in the affairs of a gang of thieves.

Director:

Jackie Chan

Writers:

Jackie Chan, Jack Maeby (english adaptation) (as J. Maeby)

Stars:

Jackie Chan, Mars, Michael Wai-Man Chan

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jackie Chan	...	Dragon
Mars	...	Cowboy
Michael Wai-Man Chan	...	Tiger (as Hui-Min Chen)
Shirley Yim	...	Alice (as Sidney Yim)
Ing-Sik Whang	...	The Big Boss
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Chang	...	Cowboy's Father
Kang-Yeh Cheng	...	Ah Dee
Wah Cheung	...	Smuggler
Cam Clarke	...	Dragon's Father (voice)
Tyler Dean	...	(voice)
Fung Feng	...	The Referee
Hark-On Fung	...	The Killer King (as Ke-An Fung)
Jessica Gee-George	...	(voice) (as Jessica Gee)
Gam-Kong Ho	...	The Commentator
Kang Ho	...	Referee

Storyline

The adventures of a restless martial arts student called Dragon, who, while constantly pursuing a girl, gets involved in the affairs of a gang of thieves.

---

Plot Keywords:

student | gang | martial arts | written and directed by cast member | kung fu | 

---

Genres:

Action | Comedy | Sport

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for martial arts violence

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese English

Release Date:

21 January 1982 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Dragon Lord

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

Authority Films,Golden Harvest Company,Lo Wei Motion Picture Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 94 min (dubbed)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of Chan's complex scenes involved a Jianzi game requiring many takes for a single shot. This movie went over budget and took twice as long to shoot as was originally planned due to Chan's many retakes of shots to get them exactly as he wanted them. The opening bun festival scene was originally intended to end the film, but was moved, as Chan wanted a spectacular opening to the film. The final fight scene, which takes place in a barn, also featured elaborate stunts, including one where Chan does a back flip off a loft and falls to the lower ground.

---

Goofs

Around 1h19m (the barn fight scene), Cowboy (Mars) gets kicked off the loft by the Big Boss (Ing-Sik Whang). Dragon (Jackie Chan) is situated near the middle of the ladder. Just as the Big Boss kicks him in the back, the next cut shows him at the top of the ladder.

---

Crazy Credits

Scenes of out-takes from the action scenes play under the credits.

---

Connections

Featured in Jackie Chan: My Story (1998)

User Reviews

A necessity for Chan fans

This film has to be viewed in the right frame of mind. First, the central father-son relationship makes it pretty clear that the film was intended as a prequel to his Wong Fei Hung film "Drunken Master" (ideas from this film recur in "Drunken Master II), and not "Young Master"; that Chan backed away from this plan and renamed the characters indicates that he himself was not convinced the material was coming together properly; and, indeed, the film conveys a sense of being incomplete; for instance, the romantic relationship around which half the plot turns is left utterly hanging at the end of the film. "Young Master", from the same period, also feels underdone, but at least all its central threads are tied together at the end. This film feels as though Chan wrestled with the plot and characters trying to find his central theme, only to abandon the effort, possibly due to time and budget.

Or perhaps the film is simply over-ambitious. This is an important turning point film in Chan's career, because he commits himself to development of the central character above all other concerns - which is why there's such a lack of kung fu throughout the film. Chan wants to make an historical romantic comedy that just happens to have kung fu in it. But both the historical element and the romantic element come across as little more than plot-twists.

That leaves us with the comedy. Since Chan's concern is character-development, the comedy is largely character driven - as in the conflict between Chan's character and his best friend, an argument over a girl. But there's plenty of slapstick as well. Frankly, I find the comedy amusing enough to forgive the incompleteness of the plot.

This film represents an effort on Chan's part to find a viable formula that he can use and develop over time. It doesn't quite work, and Chan would only find that formula after abandoning the historical elements of his earlier films, with the making of the contemporary action comedy "Police Story". But going back to view this film is still very informative as to how Chan worked his way through the historical genre, and perhaps why he abandoned it.