Heart of the Dragon (1985)
AKA “Heart Of Dragon” “First Mission” (1985)
Director: Sammo Hung
Cast:
Plot: Ted (Jackie Chan) is a frustrated rookie C.I.D. officer who dreams of one day joining the Merchant Navy and going to sea. His dreams are dashed as he has to take care of Danny (Sammo Hung) his mentally ill brother who is constantly getting into trouble. He thinks that if he can marry his girlfriend Jenny (Emily Chu) it will give him the freedom to escape his life with his brother for a while, but when Danny accidentally takes possession of some stolen diamonds he is kidnapped and Ted and his C.I.D. friends must unlawfully go up against a gang of ruthless criminals to get him back alive.
Review: Rarely has a film split critics and fans as much as this one does. On its original release it did poorly at the Hong Kong box office and the critics were far from kind to the finished film. Fans of both Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung have conflicting opinions on this, and even the distributors in different parts of Asia had different cuts of this film with action scenes added in some places to satisfy local audiences. Personally I love this film. Not only was it a complete change of pace for both stars, but it also manages to contain so many cameos by famous Hong Kong action stars that it would take all day to name them all. Also, due to Sammo and Jackie’s dedication to getting the drama elements right, Yuen Biao (Who sadly doesn’t appear at all in the film.) was brought in to take charge of the action with the reliable assistance of Lam Ching Ying, Meng Hoi and Cory Yuen. This may not be an action packed affair, but what there is has so much power it is jaw dropping especially during the building site finale where there is so much realism that for me this has a side of Jackie’s fighting that I wish had been used in more films.
Sometimes inaccurately referred to as the Chinese “Rain Man”, this film actually pre dated that film by three years, although this didn’t get to be seen widely in the USA, nor the rest of the world until after American Oscar winner’s huge success. For me, this film is all about performance, and even though it does contain some stunning action, the strength of this film lies with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Barry Wong has scripted a strong emotional drama that never gets overly sentimental giving Jackie a chance to show dramatic depth rarely seen at this point in his career while Sammo gives a truly exceptional and believable performance. I have never had any doubts about Sammo’s ability to pull off a straight dramatic role and here he gives one of his finest performances. An early scene where they walk hand in hand through the streets has some amusing moments as Ted embarrassingly tells everyone they pass that it’s OK for them to be holding hands because they are brothers, suggesting that onlookers may be thinking they are gay. The awkwardness of the relationship at this point in the film changes as the story progresses, and by the end of the film we see that Ted no longer cares what others may think because the strong bonds of family love have changed his outlook. One thing that this film does show quite well is the general attitude towards the handicapped. Throughout the film Danny is mistreated, sometimes by the people who are supposed to be helping him. A serious message, and one that may be the reason why some viewers did not embrace the film.
I have already mentioned a strong supporting cast, and we get something rare in this film that was a particular pleasure for me. During the opening scenes we have Ted and his group doing a training manoeuvre which gives us the opportunity for two great martial arts exponents to face each other. Yes, we get a short exchange between Jackie and Lam Ching Ying. Something that I really enjoyed as these two have never faced off before or since. Lam, with wild eyebrows, plays the SWAT team commander who has a lot of respect for Ted and this becomes evident as the film progresses. Also on hand we have Meng Hoi, Peter Chan, Chin Kar Lok and Yuen Wah playing members of Jackie’s CID team, with Melvin Wong playing their Inspector. Amongst the array of bad guys we have Chung Faat, Fung Hak On and James Tien, with Dick Wei once again providing his fighting skills as Jackie’s main opponent in the climatic action sequence. My main quibble again falls with the female co star Emily Chu. Her performance is fine, and her scenes with Jackie are totally convincing, but she ends up being under used with all the focus falling on the relationship between the brothers.
For stunt fans we have a few of note. One that sticks out with me is where Chung Faat makes his escape from a house being raided by the police by jumping through an upstairs window onto a canopy. He then bounces off that onto his back on the top of a car. Perfectly timed and completely unexpected when it happens. Strangely enough this stunt wasn’t doubled by Yuen Biao as I expected, but it was in fact done by Chin Kar Lok. There are some car stunts later during a chase sequence, most of which are done by Blacky Ko and his stunt team, but the majority of the impressive physical stunts take place at the building site. Powerful and often brutal, the frenetic action sequence ends with an explosion that sends over half a dozen stunt men into free fall down the outside of the building. Extremely dangerous and also quite stunning and no doubt a logistical nightmare for the stunt co-ordinator.
There are so many different versions of this film that exist with extra action scenes added, but I have to admit that this review is based on the Hong Kong Legends DVD version which is the closest to the original cinema release. The Japanese version has two extra action sequences that can be viewed as extras on this disc. Nice to see, but I can understand why they were not in the original film. This is primarily a drama with a few excellent action scenes, and that is the way I like it. This may not be regarded as a classic action film by Jackie or Sammo’s standards, but it is well made with some beautiful cinematography by Arthur Wong and as a well acted drama with some punch this is still recommended viewing. A heartfelt film that as a director Sammo Hung should be very proud of, despite its initial lack of commercial success.
Rating: 4.5/5
Director: Sammo Hung
Cast:
Plot: Ted (Jackie Chan) is a frustrated rookie C.I.D. officer who dreams of one day joining the Merchant Navy and going to sea. His dreams are dashed as he has to take care of Danny (Sammo Hung) his mentally ill brother who is constantly getting into trouble. He thinks that if he can marry his girlfriend Jenny (Emily Chu) it will give him the freedom to escape his life with his brother for a while, but when Danny accidentally takes possession of some stolen diamonds he is kidnapped and Ted and his C.I.D. friends must unlawfully go up against a gang of ruthless criminals to get him back alive.
Review: Rarely has a film split critics and fans as much as this one does. On its original release it did poorly at the Hong Kong box office and the critics were far from kind to the finished film. Fans of both Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung have conflicting opinions on this, and even the distributors in different parts of Asia had different cuts of this film with action scenes added in some places to satisfy local audiences. Personally I love this film. Not only was it a complete change of pace for both stars, but it also manages to contain so many cameos by famous Hong Kong action stars that it would take all day to name them all. Also, due to Sammo and Jackie’s dedication to getting the drama elements right, Yuen Biao (Who sadly doesn’t appear at all in the film.) was brought in to take charge of the action with the reliable assistance of Lam Ching Ying, Meng Hoi and Cory Yuen. This may not be an action packed affair, but what there is has so much power it is jaw dropping especially during the building site finale where there is so much realism that for me this has a side of Jackie’s fighting that I wish had been used in more films.
Sometimes inaccurately referred to as the Chinese “Rain Man”, this film actually pre dated that film by three years, although this didn’t get to be seen widely in the USA, nor the rest of the world until after American Oscar winner’s huge success. For me, this film is all about performance, and even though it does contain some stunning action, the strength of this film lies with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Barry Wong has scripted a strong emotional drama that never gets overly sentimental giving Jackie a chance to show dramatic depth rarely seen at this point in his career while Sammo gives a truly exceptional and believable performance. I have never had any doubts about Sammo’s ability to pull off a straight dramatic role and here he gives one of his finest performances. An early scene where they walk hand in hand through the streets has some amusing moments as Ted embarrassingly tells everyone they pass that it’s OK for them to be holding hands because they are brothers, suggesting that onlookers may be thinking they are gay. The awkwardness of the relationship at this point in the film changes as the story progresses, and by the end of the film we see that Ted no longer cares what others may think because the strong bonds of family love have changed his outlook. One thing that this film does show quite well is the general attitude towards the handicapped. Throughout the film Danny is mistreated, sometimes by the people who are supposed to be helping him. A serious message, and one that may be the reason why some viewers did not embrace the film.
I have already mentioned a strong supporting cast, and we get something rare in this film that was a particular pleasure for me. During the opening scenes we have Ted and his group doing a training manoeuvre which gives us the opportunity for two great martial arts exponents to face each other. Yes, we get a short exchange between Jackie and Lam Ching Ying. Something that I really enjoyed as these two have never faced off before or since. Lam, with wild eyebrows, plays the SWAT team commander who has a lot of respect for Ted and this becomes evident as the film progresses. Also on hand we have Meng Hoi, Peter Chan, Chin Kar Lok and Yuen Wah playing members of Jackie’s CID team, with Melvin Wong playing their Inspector. Amongst the array of bad guys we have Chung Faat, Fung Hak On and James Tien, with Dick Wei once again providing his fighting skills as Jackie’s main opponent in the climatic action sequence. My main quibble again falls with the female co star Emily Chu. Her performance is fine, and her scenes with Jackie are totally convincing, but she ends up being under used with all the focus falling on the relationship between the brothers.
For stunt fans we have a few of note. One that sticks out with me is where Chung Faat makes his escape from a house being raided by the police by jumping through an upstairs window onto a canopy. He then bounces off that onto his back on the top of a car. Perfectly timed and completely unexpected when it happens. Strangely enough this stunt wasn’t doubled by Yuen Biao as I expected, but it was in fact done by Chin Kar Lok. There are some car stunts later during a chase sequence, most of which are done by Blacky Ko and his stunt team, but the majority of the impressive physical stunts take place at the building site. Powerful and often brutal, the frenetic action sequence ends with an explosion that sends over half a dozen stunt men into free fall down the outside of the building. Extremely dangerous and also quite stunning and no doubt a logistical nightmare for the stunt co-ordinator.
There are so many different versions of this film that exist with extra action scenes added, but I have to admit that this review is based on the Hong Kong Legends DVD version which is the closest to the original cinema release. The Japanese version has two extra action sequences that can be viewed as extras on this disc. Nice to see, but I can understand why they were not in the original film. This is primarily a drama with a few excellent action scenes, and that is the way I like it. This may not be regarded as a classic action film by Jackie or Sammo’s standards, but it is well made with some beautiful cinematography by Arthur Wong and as a well acted drama with some punch this is still recommended viewing. A heartfelt film that as a director Sammo Hung should be very proud of, despite its initial lack of commercial success.
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 Heart of the Dragon Photo Album
For more pictures visit the Heart of the Dragon Photo Album