06/20/06 Fearless Dragon

Fearless Dragon (1980), directed by Lei Chu

watched w/ Leslie; VHS (personal copy) @ home

This title was probably the hardest one so far this year for me to find any outside info online about it. I happened across this gem from the old (and now heavily revered due to the tip 'o the hat from the edgy rap group) Wu-Tang collection, when the entire standing store-display was given to me awhile back by my best friend Jason. I've been overdue on catching up to viewing most of these, so I needed a burst of cheesy entertainment for the night. Leslie & I snuggled up to watch a good ol' fashioned, out-of-sync dubbing, ass-kickin', camera-lens-distorted kung-fu fest. This one had all of that, plus a little slaptick comedy (e.g. early Jackie Chan stuff) to boot. Two con artists, Lively Dragon and Crazy Horse, are sent on a mission to retrieve a valuable artifact after it is stolen by a corrupt mayor. Once the wacky duo are wrongly accused of pilfering the treasure themselves, they must fight off all comers to expose the truth. It's completely absurd to watch this type of slapstick kung-fu film, which I know now is totally the point. It's always going to be a decent laugh to see these amazing stunts and displays of martial arts (which is in itself a historical and cultural significance that knows no bounds) reduced to petty farce and crappy English-dubbed voices. It's hard to believe that the ultimate traditions of these lands are just served up as jokes for us to laugh at. Hey, but that's exactly what these guys were going for. It's hard to follow any plot here, compare it to a porno, as your eyes just bounce from action scene to slapstick action scene. Maybe this film, obscure as it seems, does become the precursor to bigger & better efforts of the genre...but I wasn't but mildly entertained by the movie. The end battle scene is quite funny though, and the ending credits come slamming into you like a runaway car from out of nowhere. It's a unique and crazy genre to peg down, but if Ol' Dirty Bastard can condone it, so can I.

2 out of 5 stars