The Last Dragon (1985)
A young man searches for the "master" to obtain the final level of martial arts mastery known as the glow. Along the way he must fight an evil martial arts expert and rescue a beautiful singer from an obsessed music promoter.
- Michael Schultz
- Louis Venosta
Rating: 6.4/10 by 249 users
Alternative Title:
Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon - US
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 49 minutes
Budget: $10,000,000
Revenue: $25,754,284
Plot Keyword: martial arts, kung fu, kidnapping, pop singer, pizzeria, limousine, martial arts master, martial artist, martial arts training, martial arts school, kung fu master, damsel in distress, harlem, new york city, tv host, hero's journey, child martial arts, exhilarated
With "The Last Dragon" it really depends on when you saw it. If you saw it as a child in the 80s, well, it's crazy good. It's Chinatown excellent. It's one of the most beloved movies of your childhood and it lingers into your adult years with a heavy dose of nostalgia. Honestly though, if you are walking into it now...it's a bit dated and in the cheesiest possible way. But then, even in the 80s it was trying hard to be cheesy, just, unlike it's peers, some of the cheese didn't age well. Fortunately though, it holds it's own in that little notch, the Black-Fu subgenre of blacksploitation, and it holds its own in the funnest possible way. The Bad Guys are over-the-top and hysterically so. The hero is brilliantly naive and pulls off the wang chung with an ease that is convincing for a kung fu movie. It's choreographed extremely well for the budget, making the action believable and blends seamlessly into the humor and cheese. If you watched it as a child in the 80s, it will remain on of your absolute favorite films. If you're seeing it for the first time, well, it's not exactly timeless, you won't love it as much, but there is still enough there to amuse you and keep you entertained, it's still worth the time to watch.
