Rev Fat Dragon

Enter the Fat Dragon (1978)

Director: Sammo Hung

Cast:

Plot: Ah Lung (Sammo Hung) is a simple county pig farmer who constantly daydreams about his kung fu idol Bruce Lee. When his uncle needs some help running a market stall restaurant he is sent to the big city to help. When Ah Lung gets there he finds city life is dangerous and has to use his fighting skills to defend his uncle and his new friends against various street thugs. When one of his new female friends is kidnapped he has to go up against a ruthless business man and his bodyguards to save her.

Review: After the tragic early death of Bruce Lee Hong Kong Cinema became obsessed with finding a replacement for him. This obsession led to countless imitators and look-alikes who tried to mimic Bruce with varying degrees of success. The films were knocked out cheaply, but none of the imitators could really develop any screen presence. In 1978 Sammo Hung made “Enter The Fat Dragon”, the perfect homage to Bruce Lee that easily puts all the other imitators in the shade. Sammo may not have the same build, but his charisma and his physical abilities are never in question in this film with a plot that is similar in many ways to Bruce Lee’s “Way Of The Dragon”. Where Sammo shines is not only does he have the uncanny ability to mimic Bruce’s fight moves and mannerisms, but he has the charm and acting skills to make this a comic performance to remember and love. Unlike many imitators, Sammo had actually worked with Bruce Lee on “Enter The Dragon” and there was a strong rumour at the time that Bruce had to prove his martial arts credentials to Sammo before he could gain his respect. Bruce Lee achieved this quite effortlessly and many times since Sammo has slipped into a homage to Bruce Lee in other projects.

As for “Enter The Fat Dragon”, here we have a film that quite cleverly has the opening credits sequence run over one of Ah Lung’s fantasies. The boat punting in Hong Kong harbour where he fantasises is straight out of “Enter The Dragon” with Frankie Chan providing a music score that mimics Lalo Shifrin’s original. From this moment on you know you are about to see something special.

There is a nice touch when Sammo gets the opportunity to put down all of the Bruce Lee imitators when he is hired as a film extra and gets to fight a fake Lee, actually telling him how bad his impersonation is while effortlessly beating him up. Telling him he needs to improve his abilities before he ever tries to copy his idol again.

The quality of the support cast is never in question when the likes of Yuen Biao and Mang Hoi are playing two of the street thugs. Eric Tsang makes a brief cameo, and the eagle eyed amongst you will notice that Lam Ching Ying is amongst the extras during the film making sequence. For the final fight at the end we have Lee Hoi Sang almost unrecognisable, made to look like Jim Kelly (From “Enter The Dragon”) with black make up and wild afro, plus the always impressive Leung Kar Yan who gives Sammo the fighting highlight of the film.

I must say that this film was only Sammo Hung’s second directorial effort but it looks like the work of a far more experienced film maker. It manages to have some genuinely funny comedy moments mixed in with some impressively choreographed fights by Sammo Hung, Fung Hak On and Huang Ha. The film pays loving attention to detail as it takes elements from the films of Bruce Lee to add humour for film buffs. The only shame is that this film is not readily available on DVD so is not available for general viewing. I searched for this for months before I finally got a copy. The time has now come for this classic to get a fully restored and digitally cleaned up release. Please.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review by D. M.
Pics by Klara

For bigger pictures please click on thumbnails

For more photos visit the Enter the Fat Dragon Photo Album

"I'd love if the audience remembered me.
Everything about my movies, my characters.
Don't forget me.
I'm happy that you guys don't forget me.
I love you."
(Sammo Hung)