This movie is packed! You’ve got the 3 Hong Kong Martial Arts legends Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and also the American kickboxing legend Benny ‘The Jet’ Urquidez all rolled into one movie!
Dragons Forever is about these 3 men: Jackie Lung (Jackie Chan), Wong (Sammo Hung), and Tung (Yuen Biao). While trying to win a case and get a local fisherie closed for a client, both Jackie and Wong meet the two ladies involved with the business.
Jackie, a lawyer, is working for a factory that is polluting the water throughout the fisherie and trying to win the case for his boss – who is a local crime lord secretly producing drugs at his factory. Jackie meets and falls in love with the cousin of the owner Miss Wen, while Wong tries his best to catch the attention of the owner, Miss Yip. All the while Tung is in the middle causing chaos for both of these guys.
Ever seen a Martial Arts – Romantic Comedy?
That’s basically what this movie is! Sure there’s plenty of fighting and action – but the main story seems to be the funny way Jackie and Wing meet their ‘love interests’ and go above and beyond to prove themselves, with lots of slapstick Hong Kong comedy thrown into the mix.
Even the real struggle between the 3 main characters and the main villian doesn’t truly eventuate until after a falling out between Jackie, Wong and their new found girlfriends as thy try to prove to them that their feelings are more important than the court case or money that originally drove them.
The back and forth action from all 3 leading men is quite funny, as they manage to get annoyed at each other and get into fights (highly precise and acrobatic kung fu fights at that!), all while in the confines of a small bedroom or other unlikely space.
One particularly strange (and totally lame!) part of the movie is when Jackie, in court, asks Miss Wen if she loves him. Reminded that she is under oath, both him and the judge insist she tells the truth and that it’s legally binding. She of course says yes, and Jackie is forced to excuse himself form the trial. A bit of a cheap approach but it fits well with the nature of the movie – further branding it a martial arts (or Kung Fu) romantic comedy.
The Action and Martial Arts
The action is totally stunning. All of the fight scenes have flawless stunts and moves that are so smooth to watch. When you’ve got 3 Hong Kong legends like Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao in the movie you’ve got some of the top stunt men of the genre working together to pull of some really slick moves and physical comedy.
Most of the best action is saved for the end of the movie, when they main ‘good guys vs bad guys’ show down happens. The fights are fast and furious with all characters jumping and weaving throughout their environment and using the best if their Kung Fu punches and kicks.
The appearance of Benny the Jet really excited me. He’s a martial arts legend who can not only fight exceptionally well in the ring, but also perform quite well on screen! His fight with Jackie was done really well – although he wasn’t as acrobatic, his kicks and maneuvers were still top notch. He definitely made an intimidating villain (for an 80’s movie! – shoulder pads – I need not say more?) and I can see why he was used in multiple films.
Would I recommend it?
Yeah… It’s a fun movie to watch and is good if you want to watch a Kung Fu flick that you don’t have to take too seriously. You’ve got some big names in martial arts playing roles in this film, it’s almost worth watching just to see how they mix in the fight scenes. Very light hearted and enjoyable.
Find it on Blu-Ray
No such luck as of yet!
On DVD –
Region 1 (US & Canada)
Dragons Forever on DVD – this is worth an arm and a leg in the US. It’d be cheaper to go Region Free and buy a copy from below.
Region 2 (UK, Europe, etc)
Dragons Forever on DVD
Region 4 (Australia, New Zealand, etc)
Dragons Forever on DVD
Jackie Chan – The Dynamic Collection