“Dragon Fight” Korean DVD Cover
AKA: The Defector
Director: Billy Tang
Cast: Jet Li, Dick Wei, Stephen Chow Sing Chi, Nina Li Chi, Steven Ho, Mark Williams
Running Time: 98 min.
By JJ Hatfield
Viewed as a film, “Dragon Fight” is not very good. However, all is not lost if you are a Jet Li fan, or fond of martial arts films. This is a kind of blending of Jet the Chinese excellent citizen and Jet’s desire to gain a following in the U.S. This movie is unique because it has little to no wire fu and thera-tubing. All action, and the action is good enough to carry the movie.
Jet plays “Jimmy” and is one of the members of a martial arts company performing in the U.S., San Francisco to be exact. I swear, every outdoor shot had a large backdrop of “the bridge” – over and over and over. Enough, we know where you are supposed to be, okay? When it’s time to leave for home, Tiger (Dick Wei) decides it’s time to head for greener financial pastures but manages to screw up his defection and Jimmy ends up on the run because he is a murder suspect. In trying to find safety in the U.S., he runs into Andy (Stephen Chow). He helps Jimmy get around in SF while Jimmy helps him deliver groceries for the shop Andy’s father owns. Chow is very young here and has not yet established himself as a comedian or an actor. He does not exhibit the confidence he carries now. It shows you though why he has gone so far in the industry. Meantime, Tiger has managed to establish himself high in the local gang world of SF (The bridge! The bridge!) in approximately 68 hours. We are just supposed to believe his ability to inflict major painful injuries to human bodies allows him to advance quickly in the SF gang organizations.
Things are not going too bad until Jimmy knows he is going to have to face his old friend Tiger in a fight in order to be cleared of charges. Let me amend that. Face Tiger his old friend AND about 30 other guys. The end fight is definitely the best and is worth waiting for and still no gravity defying amazing beyond human footage. That’s worth three points by itself! Things happen so Jet has to fight. Some events are just silly but it works because of Jet’s appearing to understand the game even if the audience is a tad confused. But Jet comes through and makes this a movie to have. It reminded me of the incredible martial artists who used to do it all by themselves.
Jet is young here and a Master in numerous forms, especially Wushu, agile and full of confidence, at least about his amazing abilities. The plot is barely there but it’s enough to make sure Jet shows his stuff and it looks damned good! This movie tends to come and go in availability so get it while you can.
JJ Hatfield’s Rating: 6/10
I finally got through watching this one recently, having been alerted to the fact that it did in-fact receive a legitimate DVD release in Germany (under the title of ‘The Defector’), and after waiting for over 15 years since it originally came on my radar, it was definitely worth it.
Sure, the plot is pretty lame (we seem to be in the same alternate dimension U.S. that the likes of ‘A Better Tomorrow II’ takes place in), but to see Jet Li in his prime letting loose in a contemporary setting is worth the price of admission alone. Made the same year as the similarly U.S. set ‘The Master’ (the only difference being Tsui Hark’s movie was shelved for 3 years), ‘Dragon Fight’ just edges it in terms of fight action, thanks to some lightening fast exchanges and high impact blows.
Having Dick Wei onboard as the villain certainly helps things as well, and the eventual one-on-one between him and Li doesn’t disappoint. Pitting wushu against Wei’s lethal kicks couldn’t have been easy to pull off, but under Wei’s action direction (why did this guy only choreograph 3 movies!?) it makes for an aesthetically pleasing showdown. Well worth tracking down!