Lung Ti - The White Dragon! A powerful fighter and wielder of a silver spear, Lung Ti aids in the rebellion against the ruling Mongol Emperor of China. Though he dies in battle, he takes nearly one hundred enemy soldiers with him to the great beyond.

Ok, I think I have it all figured out. After hours of deliberation, I've come to a conclusion that this film was released in 1973. Now, you're probably wondering why I even had trouble with this alleged fact. Well when I first began looking for a little background information on this film, I visited several sites and noticed that there were a few conflicting release dates for Blood of the Dragon. I've seen one website claim that it came out in 1978, and yet another that said 1976. Well, after much debating, I'm going to go along with the Internet Movie Database and say that this film was indeed released in 1973! Finally, I can sleep better at night! In any case, Blood of the Dragon is a great martial arts flick and a total blast to watch. Yu Wang (also known as Jimmy Wang Yu and Wang Yu) is a veritable one-man army and lights up the screen with his amazing kung-fu skills! In this movie, Yu Wang portrays a powerful fighter called The White Dragon.

The films opens abruptly with White Dragon battling a man named Ma Chin. The two engage in a pretty impressive battle but White Dragon comes out on top after "breaking the power" of Ma Chin's magic sword! (This movie had me in its grasp after the first line of dialogue was uttered. You can check out that magical quote in the Memorable Lines section below.) The animated opening credits then kick in and we get to hear some rockin' 70's guitar music by Flood. (I've heard plenty of complaints about this music, but I totally dig it!) After the credits we meet the film's first two characters, Mr. and Mrs. Yang... oh wait, never mind. Mere moments after we learn their names, the married couple is accosted by a group of men, led by the evil Kang Fu. Mr. Yang manages to escape on horseback (with a sword through his chest) while his wife holds off their assailants. Mrs. Yang dies in battle but her husband manages to make it to a nearby town of Pei-ping, where he soon dies.

As fate would have it, a young beggar by the name of Ni Chiu discovers the dying man. With his final breaths, Mr. Yang gives Ni Chiu the task of taking a bamboo tube to a local Chinese Prince named Ma Tung. But before his quest even begins, Ni Chiu has the bamboo tube taken from him by Kang Fu. Luckily for Ni Chiu, the White Dragon (a.k.a. Lung Ti) is watching this take place while he rests above in a tree. Kang Fu and his cronies pick a fight with White Dragon and are easily bested by the white-robed fighter. Kang Fu returns the bamboo tube to Ni Chiu and flees back to his superior, the Prime Minister. In the meantime, White Dragon and his young comrade band together and set out to give Prince Ma Tung the mysterious bamboo tube. Now already, we've had three great fight scenes in the film and each one has been better than the last. The choreography in some of these fights is simply amazing and the effects used are the classic old-school type (i.e. reversed footage, usage of trampolines, etc.). They sure don't make them like this anymore. Ah, the good ole days!

Anyway, our hero and the street urchin soon come to Prince Ma Tung's palace and a fight soon breaks out before they can deliver their item. It turns out that Ma Tung is the son of Ma Chin, the magic sword-wielding gentleman whom we saw in the opening minutes of the film. Apparently Chin, after losing to the White Dragon, was consumed with grief and shame and killed himself. Ma Tung also happens to have a magic sword of his own and ends up (literally) stabbing the White Dragon in the back. Now terribly wounded, Lung Ti, the mighty White Dragon, has young Ni Chiu cling to his back to slow the blood flow. Amazingly, White Dragon continues to defend himself with ease while the child hangs on for dear life. Having enough, Lung Ti leaps onto a horse and escapes. In a later scene in which White Dragon is nursing his wound by a stream, we learn three important things. Number One: The wound on his back is worse than expected. Number Two: The bamboo tube contains a list of rebels that are fighting against the Mongol Emperor. Number Three: Prince Ma Tung is the leader of the rebellion, and his name is at the top of the list. Because of this, White Dragon praises him as a true patriot, much to the chagrin of Ni Chiu! (How can you say he's a patriot?! He stabbed you in the back!)

In the meantime, Kang Fu has reported back to the Prime Minister and now the Mongols are dead-set on hunting down White Dragon. Led by Golden Leopard (Hahahaha!), a trio of Mongol soldiers keep watch on the Inn of the Fiery Dragon where White Dragon was originally seen by Kang Fu. Eventually Lung Ti arrives on the scene and despite his wound, easily impales the three Mongol lackeys on his silver spear. Inside, Lung Ti battles the cowardly Golden Leopard and sends the lowly soldier tumbling out the front door. Moments later, the evil Prime Minister shows up and marches into the Inn and challenges The White Dragon. Again, the heroic Lung Ti proves that he is unbeatable and sends the whimpering Prime Minister (a.k.a. The Premier) packing. Seeing as how the specially named villains and their legions of inept fighters are no match, they all decide to wait for the dreaded General Tai (a.k.a. The Red Wolf)!

Now around this point the movie really slowed down and fight scenes were at a minimum. Though I was thoroughly enjoying the film, I began to drift a bit and my eyelids got heavy. But as always, I pushed onward and continued watching the movie. The remainder of the plot is rather simple to tell you the truth. Ni Chiu manages to escape the Inn of the Fiery Dragon but is captured outside by the vile Kang Fu. Ni Chiu leads his captor to the town of Pei-ping and as luck would have it, Ma Tung just happens to be out and about. (This was definitely sheer luck on Ni Chiu's part.) After a quick kung-fu scuffle, Ma Tung kills Kang Fu and then questions the young lad about The White Dragon. Ni Chiu reveals to the stubborn Prince that Lung Ti actually admires him and believes that Ma Tung is a patriot. Apparently this is enough to win over the once vengeful prince and they shortly arrive at the Inn and administer some medicinal aid to Lung Ti's worsening wound.

While the two patriotic fighters make amends (White Dragon is pretty much a forgive and forget kind of guy.), the Mongols surround the Inn with over fifty fighters (including all of the colorful villains we've come to love, like The Evil Prime Minister, Golden Leopard, and General Tai). Prince Ma Tung escapes out the back and wipes out any Mongols that dare to get in his path. Meanwhile, White Dragon exits out the front and challenges the bulk of the Mongols to battle. For a good half hour, these two hack, slash, stab, impale, and skewer every single enemy in sight. The choreography in these scenes is incredible and the action is almost non-stop. The Mongols are practically falling like dominoes and our heroes aren't showing any major signs of fatigue. As the battle winds down, Ma Tung escapes and a one-on-one fight commences between Lung Ti and General Tai. (I wonder if that's some sort of Asian symbolism? White Dragon vs. Red Wolf?!)

Lung Ti is extremely tired at this point, and his wound has opened up once again. Despite these problems, he fights valiantly against General Tai. Though Tai has a sword that can suddenly become a whip (if you've seen Brotherhood of the Wolf you'll know what I speak of), and the ability to suddenly launch a volley of small ninja stars, he loses the battle and is impaled by the spear of the White Dragon! Inside the Inn, Ni Chiu and the previously unmentioned Ms. Yan notice that the fighting has stopped. They run outside and see Lung Ti, standing triumphantly amidst his fallen enemies. As they run up to him, they suddenly realize that he's standing dead on his feet (rather than living "the life of a Mongol whore"). The mighty White Dragon collapses to the ground and his young friend and vague love interest weep over his bloody body. The movie ends suddenly and Flood's awesome "White Dragon" rock theme comes pouring out as the credits roll.

As far as kung-fu films go, Blood of the Dragon ranks very high in my book. While age hasn't been kind to the film, it's still extremely fun to watch. "Jimmy Wang Yu" is fantastic as Lung Ti (The White Dragon) and creates the only complex character in the film. After his fight with Ma Tung, he ponders over his life and comes to the conclusion that he has been too proud and has wronged many people. (All of that and he apologizes to Ni Chiu after shoving the kid into the stream.) Unfortunately, that's the only character development we get. I would've really enjoyed learning more about most of the characters (including the Ms. Yan, played by the extremely cute Chiao Chiao). The storyline to the film is pretty basic (i.e. non-existent) and the viewing audience isn't provided with any closure to the entire rebellion subplot. What happened to Ma Tung once he reached his palace, and did he lead an uprising against the tyrannical Mongol Emperor? We may never know. But who cares about the storyline, because the real reason to watch this movie is for the kung-fu battles!

This is the film's biggest strength and it delivers a good dose of action with some amazing fight choreography. In an age where wire-stunts and computer animation can allow actors to do just about anything, it's a breath of fresh air to see how special effects were done back in the seventies. (Old school!) By using a variety of camera and editing tricks, the film's heroes and villains manage to accomplish superhuman feats with little or no effort. Well I think I've endorsed this movie enough (the final battle is the centerpiece of the film and is a must see for lovers of classic kung-fu films), so I guess I'll talk a little about the quality its DVD release(s). Like many martial arts films that were dubbed and released in America, this film suffers from a horrible pan-and-scan transfer. While I have seen worse, I would love to see this movie in it's original widescreen ratio. I can't even begin to imagine how much I'm missing without my precious widescreen!

(And for those of you that are sneering at the mere mention of "widescreen," I only have this to say: It's better! So deal with it!) On top of that, the picture is quite blurry, but watchable (which leads me to believe that the DVD transfer was taken from an old VHS tape) and the sound is very tinny throughout the movie. I've seen quite a few release of Blood of the Dragon for sale on Amazon and Movies Unlimited, but I have no idea if any of them boast a good, clean transfer of the film. The copy I obtained for this review came in a bargain boxed set that I got at Wal-Mart a few years back for fifteen dollars. (The set also includes Breathing Fire, Edge of Fury, and Snake-Crane Secret.) Personally, I love this film and highly suggest that you watch it. Perhaps one day in this digital age, we'll get to see it fully cleaned up, in its original widescreen format with 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Is that really asking for too much?

• Beginning - Hahahaha! The spell of your magic sword has been broken... by me!
• 5:33 - I swear, ninjas literally grew on trees back then.
• 7:15 - Hat Fu! Hahahaha! (Mr. Yang knows Kung Lao's signature move from Mortal Kombat.)
• 16:30 - Hahahaha! White Dragon can spit grape seeds with deadly, pinpoint accuracy.
• 19:50 - So did White Dragon break the spell of Kang Fu's magic ball n' chain?
• 22:00 - Blood of the Dragon: Fellowship of the Bamboo Tube
• 26:50 - RANDOM ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST A SERVANT!
• 37:30 - I'm waiting for the Chinese national anthem to start playing at any second...
• 49:35 - White Dragon impales a trio of Mongols with his spear!
• 58:54 - How the hell did Ma Tung block those throwing stars?!
• 64:50 - The Death of Kang Fu.
• 76:00 - Dawn of the White Dragon.
• 77:05+ - The film's climactic battle!
• 93:27 - White Dragon swings General Hai around like a ragdoll... wait, he is a ragdoll!
• 95:15+ - The End Credits.
  Review posted on December 18th, 2004.

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