Dragons Forever
- Made: 1988
- Format: VHS
- Release Date: 18/01/1999
- Company: Missing In Action
- Length: 90 minutes
- Picture: Widescreen (Subtitled) or Full Screen (Dubbed)
- Extras: Trailer
- Classification: 18
Director:
Sammo Hung
Cast:
Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Benny ' the Jet' Urquidez
This late 1980s film is the last one of the six movies to feature the '3 brothers' of Jackie, Sammo and Yuen Biao together (I think most fans are hoping that they get back together for another film). These 3 formed part of the "7 little fortunes" who all grew up together at Master Jim Yuen's Peking Opera academy. In this film Jackie plays a successful lawyer with women on his mind all the time, Sammo is a quick fisted arms dealer and Yuen Biao is a loopy, child-like burglar.
Ok in this films I personally don't think the plot is really all up to that much. Jackie is working on a tricky case (in between chasing any piece of skirt he can) and enlists the help of his two friends Sammo and Biao who are unaware of each other's missions. To be honest this film is largely a vehicle for the talents of the 3 friends.
This film is reported to have been rushed through to meet the important Chinese New Year deadline in 1988. This sort of shows through in the jerky story line. Anyway Jackie is working for the bad guy (Yuen Wah) whose chemicals plant is destroying the environment. In court he finds himself falling in love with the prosecutions star witness and decides to go against his client.
Ok so that is the basic plot, but what we get is in this film is the 3 friends acting it out with enough slapstick action to grace a couple of Marx brothers films. There is also a whole lot of time spent on a romantic plot where Jackie goes after the witness lady and Sammo chases his next-door neighbor who is also involved in the case. Ok ok as you might have guessed by now the story is not one of the strongest out there. What you do get in this film is the interaction between the 3 brothers and a fair share of action. There is a brief but good fight in a nightclub, and then an excellent scene on a ship. Jackie demonstrates all of his astounding maneuverability as he leaps and vaults his way around the ship.
The real standout fight comes at the end when all three break into the chemical plant to see what really goes on there. What we find is really is that the factory is a front for a drugs processing factory (shock, horror). Luckily there are loads of bad guys/henchmen around to fight and the factory provides an excellent location for all 3 to leap, flip and kick their way around. Billy Chow (Fist of Legend, Pedicab Driver) and Benny 'the Jet' Urquidez (Wheels on Meals, Grosse Point Blank) are the excellent cast of bad guys to be beaten up. The end fight sees the rematch of Jackie and Urquidez from the film Wheels on Meals. This is an excellent end fight, that gets pretty brutal.
Overall this film has some lame bits like the love story that are not all that good. Actually this part of the film did not go down too well with Jackie's huge Far Eastern audience. The idea of him as a womanizing yuppie lawyer was not popular. Anyway in summary what you do get from this film is some really good action and the unbeatable combination of Jackie, Sammo and Yuen Biao. I would recommend this film quite highly.
Matt