Dragons Forever (1988)
(AKA: "Dragon Forever: Cyclone Z")
Director: Sammo Hung, Corey Yuen.
Cast:
Plot: Jackie Leung (Jackie Chan) is a womanising criminal defence attorney who makes a good living and is not too fussy about how he obtains his information. He coaxes two old friends Wang (Sammo Hung) and Tung (Yuen Biao) to help him gather information about a fishery run by Miss Yeh (Deannie Yip) and her niece Mei-Ling (Pauline Yeung) when he is called upon to defend a shady business man (Yuen Wah) who’s factory is allegedly polluting the fishery waters. Things get complicated when Jackie Leung gets emotionally involved with Mei-Ling and Wang falls for Miss Yeh. Then things take a nasty turn when Wang and Tung discover that the factory is secretly producing drugs and Wang is captured by the gangsters. Can Jackie and Tung save their friend and put an end to the drug making?
Review: Directed by Sammo Hung with some assistance from Cory Yuen, this turned out to be the last collaboration to date of the three Brothers; Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, though fans still live in hope that they will get together at least one more time. One of the things that make this such an interesting film is that it gives Jackie Chan a chance to play against type as he plays a confident charmer with dubious motives. Sammo Hung gets to play a romantic, with a wonderful scene where he uses a megaphone to get Deanie Yip’s attention, while Yuen Biao gives the comic performance of his career playing Jackie’s somewhat mentally deranged friend. His unusual outlook on life is one of the films best humour points, while his apartment with the strange tube fish tank and the even stranger giant light switch is simply unforgettable.
The plot is a little uneven, with scenes of drugs that may surprise a few fans but it in no way spoils the film’s overall entertainment value. The running gag of Jackie and Mei-Ling unsuccessfully having a meal together is a little laboured, but it does lead into a few memorable action sequences including the first three way punch up between Sammo, Yuen and Jackie, which is a pleasure to watch, with Jackie taking kicks and punches while spending most of his time trying to keep the other two apart. Then there is the fight on the boat restaurant which is fast and furious with Jackie also getting the opportunity to showcase some great acrobatic stunt work.
Once again Sammo has managed to surround our three stars with an almost endless list of famous faces. Yuen Wah playing the cigar puffing drug lord is both comical and menacing, and is probably one of my personal favourite performances by him. He is surrounded by an array of fighting thugs that include Billy Chow, Phillip Ko, Chin Kar Lok, Fung Hak-On and Chung Faat. We even get Dick Wei thrown in to the action mix in the fight scene that takes place on a boat restaurant. The highlight for me has to be the inclusion of Benny “The Jet” Urquidez as one of the main villains at the drug processing factory. Benny has short fights with both Sammo and Yuen Biao towards the end of the film, but it is the re-match with Jackie that we are all waiting to see, and when it arrives it is not a disappointment. The fight almost matches their brilliant encounter in “Wheels On Meals” a few years earlier. Once again it is choreographed for realism, and these two men under Sammo’s direction know exactly how to make it look like it really hurts.
As in the previous three Brothers film directed by Sammo Hung, it is Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao who get to show off their fighting skills in the all action finale. As well as the Jackie/Benny highlight we also get a cracking fight between Yuen Biao and Billy Chow. With the action taking place in a factory with split levels there is plenty of opportunity for some bone crunching stunts, with Yuen Biao at one point diving through a broken window. Sammo is largely missing from the action due to the story placing him in peril as he is pumped full of drugs by the villains. No doubt this was to enable him to concentrate on work behind the camera. Corey Yuen was brought on board also to help direct scenes when it looked like this film would not be completed in time for the planned New Year release.
We get pretty much what we expect with this film. A blend of comedy, drama and action, with our three male leads having some nice moments, both to show their comedy timing and their incredible martial arts skills. Some of the action in this film is certainly more violent than previous films with the three Brothers, but the all over feel good elation that this film leaves me with only makes it more frustrating that we are long overdue for these three martial arts marvels to make another film together…. And yes………….. Can we have Sammo Hung direct it, please?
Rating: 4.5/5
Director: Sammo Hung, Corey Yuen.
Cast:
Plot: Jackie Leung (Jackie Chan) is a womanising criminal defence attorney who makes a good living and is not too fussy about how he obtains his information. He coaxes two old friends Wang (Sammo Hung) and Tung (Yuen Biao) to help him gather information about a fishery run by Miss Yeh (Deannie Yip) and her niece Mei-Ling (Pauline Yeung) when he is called upon to defend a shady business man (Yuen Wah) who’s factory is allegedly polluting the fishery waters. Things get complicated when Jackie Leung gets emotionally involved with Mei-Ling and Wang falls for Miss Yeh. Then things take a nasty turn when Wang and Tung discover that the factory is secretly producing drugs and Wang is captured by the gangsters. Can Jackie and Tung save their friend and put an end to the drug making?
Review: Directed by Sammo Hung with some assistance from Cory Yuen, this turned out to be the last collaboration to date of the three Brothers; Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, though fans still live in hope that they will get together at least one more time. One of the things that make this such an interesting film is that it gives Jackie Chan a chance to play against type as he plays a confident charmer with dubious motives. Sammo Hung gets to play a romantic, with a wonderful scene where he uses a megaphone to get Deanie Yip’s attention, while Yuen Biao gives the comic performance of his career playing Jackie’s somewhat mentally deranged friend. His unusual outlook on life is one of the films best humour points, while his apartment with the strange tube fish tank and the even stranger giant light switch is simply unforgettable.
The plot is a little uneven, with scenes of drugs that may surprise a few fans but it in no way spoils the film’s overall entertainment value. The running gag of Jackie and Mei-Ling unsuccessfully having a meal together is a little laboured, but it does lead into a few memorable action sequences including the first three way punch up between Sammo, Yuen and Jackie, which is a pleasure to watch, with Jackie taking kicks and punches while spending most of his time trying to keep the other two apart. Then there is the fight on the boat restaurant which is fast and furious with Jackie also getting the opportunity to showcase some great acrobatic stunt work.
Once again Sammo has managed to surround our three stars with an almost endless list of famous faces. Yuen Wah playing the cigar puffing drug lord is both comical and menacing, and is probably one of my personal favourite performances by him. He is surrounded by an array of fighting thugs that include Billy Chow, Phillip Ko, Chin Kar Lok, Fung Hak-On and Chung Faat. We even get Dick Wei thrown in to the action mix in the fight scene that takes place on a boat restaurant. The highlight for me has to be the inclusion of Benny “The Jet” Urquidez as one of the main villains at the drug processing factory. Benny has short fights with both Sammo and Yuen Biao towards the end of the film, but it is the re-match with Jackie that we are all waiting to see, and when it arrives it is not a disappointment. The fight almost matches their brilliant encounter in “Wheels On Meals” a few years earlier. Once again it is choreographed for realism, and these two men under Sammo’s direction know exactly how to make it look like it really hurts.
As in the previous three Brothers film directed by Sammo Hung, it is Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao who get to show off their fighting skills in the all action finale. As well as the Jackie/Benny highlight we also get a cracking fight between Yuen Biao and Billy Chow. With the action taking place in a factory with split levels there is plenty of opportunity for some bone crunching stunts, with Yuen Biao at one point diving through a broken window. Sammo is largely missing from the action due to the story placing him in peril as he is pumped full of drugs by the villains. No doubt this was to enable him to concentrate on work behind the camera. Corey Yuen was brought on board also to help direct scenes when it looked like this film would not be completed in time for the planned New Year release.
We get pretty much what we expect with this film. A blend of comedy, drama and action, with our three male leads having some nice moments, both to show their comedy timing and their incredible martial arts skills. Some of the action in this film is certainly more violent than previous films with the three Brothers, but the all over feel good elation that this film leaves me with only makes it more frustrating that we are long overdue for these three martial arts marvels to make another film together…. And yes………….. Can we have Sammo Hung direct it, please?
Rating: 4.5/5
Review by D. M.
Photos by Klara
Photos by Klara
For bigger photos please click on thumbnails
For more pictures visit the Dragons Forever Photo Album