Reviewed by: Gaijin84 Date: 07/26/2011 Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: STSH Date: 10/30/2010 Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 04/12/2010 Riding high off a wave of success with movies like Drunken Master, Jackie Chan made the move into the director's chair with 1982's Dragon Lord. Perhaps falling prey to Chan's patented sense of perfection, the grueling shooting schedule (which includes a sequence that took about 3000 takes to complete) seemed to eventually take its' toll on the cast and crew, resulting in a stunningly average martial arts picture that's really for major Jackie fans only. Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 11/04/2008 Summary: Worth a viewing Jackie Chan has made a career full of terrific films. This one, like many of his early films, has its moments. Not his best work, you can sense the struggle to match the success of Young Master. At best, he learned from the experience. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. Worth a viewing, for a history lesson. Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: dandan Date: 03/04/2007 Summary: young, but not masterful... lung (jackie chan) and chin (mars) have been friends since childhood, but find their friendship tested when they fall for the same girl, lai (suet lee). still, their fall out doesn't last too long when they take on a gang who are trying to smuggle priceless treasures out of china... this is often thought of as a sequel to 'young master', on occassion it even bears the title 'young master in love', and it has an almost identical cast: a sequel it is not. the film loses a lot of the raw energy that made 'young master' so great, even whang in-shik's appearance as the leader of the smugglers cannot boost it to the levels that 'young master' reached. the narrative is extremely messy and starts sub-plots with no interest in following them through and just ends up being a string of scenes, with no sensation of a rounded piece. what is also a let down, is the action; where successfully mixed 'young master' mixed comic and brutal confrontations, which were executed in fine style, 'dragon lord' has a couple of low standard (comparitively) fights and a couple of choreographed set pieces. it's highlight is the game of shuttlecock football, which is excellent. on the whole, it is a pretty weak piece.

Reviewed by: cal42 Date: 06/27/2006 Summary: Cal in "Dragon Lord isn't crap" scandal Chinese artefacts are being stolen and sold off by a crime gang led by Whang In-Sik (I don’t recall him actually having a name in this one!). Two naughty kids by the name of Dragon (Jackie Chan) and Cowboy (Mars) get unwittingly involved and attempt to put an end to the dirty dealings. After the humbling experience of filming US flop BATTLECREEK BRAWL, and the excesses of YOUNG MASTER, you would have thought Jackie would have come out with something a little more restrained. Instead, tales of a five hour original running time and a scene that took 2,900 takes puts an end to such speculation. No matter how you look at it, 2,900 takes to get a shot of a shuttlecock being kicked into the back of a net is decadent and excessive. Sure, it looks good, but no shot is worth that much effort. Further compounding the problems is the universally acknowledged fact that DRAGON LORD went into production with an unfinished script (and if you believe co-star Mars, no script whatsoever). This is generally regarded as the worst of Jackie’s own directorial efforts in the 80’s. I don’t agree – personally, I believe that dubious honour should go to POLICE STORY 2, which was fantastic in places but altogether too dark for a Jackie Chan film. Detractors point to the film’s scatterbrained approach, lack of plot and structure, and dearth of actual Kung Fu. Actually, if the film really did have a five hour running time at one point, it does a better job of hiding the fact than YOUNG MASTER. To everyone who hates this film, I offer a case for the defence. This film is probably the first where Jackie really puts his life on the line for the sake of his art. There are some great shots throughout where he’s willing to fall from high places to the hard ground below with no safety measures whatsoever. The bun-game at the beginning, for example, contains a shot of him falling from the top (about 20 feet in the air at a conservative estimate) all the way to the bottom in one shot. Also, in the finale, Jackie and Whang In-Sik are atop the top floor of a cornmill, where Jackie attempts to pull them both off. In the out-takes (presented here for the first time in a Jackie Chan film, courtesy of his experiences of working on CANNONBALL RUN), we see it all go wrong, and Jackie falling painfully to the ground below. Secondly, the rooftop scene is a blast. It’s just so much fun to watch, and ends in a great sight gag. Even here, we see Jackie doing what most action stars in the west wouldn’t dare to attempt in one take – climbing a rope all the way to the top of a building. Thirdly, the relationship Dragon has with Cowboy (or Bull, depending on which version you watch) is quite beautiful in its child-like innocence. When they fall out early on, the scene where they are reconciled without talking about their quarrel is quite touching, and actually very plausible. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, they carry on like nothing happened. Fourthly, the shuttlecock scene, for all its excesses, is still great. Jackie had seen that the Hong Kong film industry had fixated itself on DRUNKEN MASTER, and made a conscious effort to make something different. At least it was innovative, and I still say it’s good fun to watch. Admittedly, you wouldn’t need to go to such lengths to shoot such a scene now as you could CGI the shuttlecock, but the authenticity is starkly refreshing today in this computer generated world we live in. Actually, you could probably shoot the principle photography in an afternoon nowadays. Fifthly, the film’s score is delightful and bouncy. Once in your head, it’s hard if not impossible to shift. Whenever it plays during the film, I can’t help but smile. Lastly, the finale with Mars and Jackie against Whang In-Sik is exciting and gives us a chance to see Mars do his stuff as himself (rather than as a stuntman). He performs a pretty nifty fall from the top of the cornmill, spinning and landing on his back. Actually, Mars took some considerable punishment for this film. In the part where Jackie lands on him, he injured his shoulders and apparently couldn’t lift his arms above his head for four months. Talk about suffering for your art. Of course, the gag needed more than one take to get just right… So there you have it. Hopefully I’ll convert some die-hard DRAGON LORD haters out there, or at least persuade some to take another look at this under-rated fun-packed film. Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: pjshimmer Date: 04/26/2003 Summary: Not one of Chan's best A few things differentiate Dragon Lord from most Jackie Chan movies: 1. Unusually little martial arts here. 2. Jackie's martial arts doesn't improve. In most of his other films, he learns something new half way through, but not here. 3. The story is very slowly paced. As one can see, this is not a very good action movie. I personally welcomed the change, like the 10 minutes devoted to cock-sack (??) and first 5 minutes to the egg contest. [6/10]

Reviewed by: Wurms Date: 07/21/2002 Summary: Classic Jackie This is the semi-sequel to The Young Master. It has pretty much the same cast as The Young Master. You get to see a lot of Mars in this one, as he is Jackie's best friend in this movie. There are some great moments like the sporting events they play. The first one is like Rugby, but with a twist. You have to climb a huge dome scaffold thing. Lots of stunt work here!!! Second is a game of "shuttlecock". Its a mix of Soccer and Lacrosse in a way. Use your feet to pass and shoot with the little game ball (the shuttlecock). But you get tossed to the ground by the opponents, and there are tiny nets like LaCrosse. Some good choreography, and this is a fun part to watch in the movie. Unfortunately for this movie there are pretty much no fights in the movie until the end. And the end fight is watching Wang Inn Sik (the bad guy from Young Master) beat up Jackie and Mars. Some very nice stunts in this last fight. Mars looks like he got beat up good for this one. The fight is long and exicting though. This movie is enjoyable if you go into it not expecting the great Jackie fights we are use to. Although it does drag on a bit in the middle. 3/5 Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 01/12/2002 Summary: Okay, but very slow Dragon Lord was one of the earlier Jackie Chan movies where he attempted to get a more international approach and making 'comedy kung fu' movies. This didn't work out that well. Some parts are funny, but most of the story is very slow paced and if you cut out all the rubbish, there is only about 20 minutes of this that is any good, and the final fight lasts a good 20 minutes...not even superman can fight that long! If you compare this to Young Master (which has a lot of the same cast), which was done about the same time (just afterwards I beleive) there was a big improvment. Rating (out of 5): 2 (This rating is based on the year & genre, so don't think it's based as a comparison on new releases etc.)

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 05/05/2001 Summary: Ummm.......... A old Jackie movie which unfortunately bored me!! Just compared to todays standards, this movie doesn't have much!! There is a little comedy and action is ok and the ending........disappointing, i thought the movie would continue one after tha last fight!! Unfortnately compared to todays standards, this movie ain't that watchable nowadays. 3/10

Reviewed by: dragyn Date: 03/31/2001 Summary: Martial Sport Extravaganza Jackie Chan claimed that when he made "Dragon Lord", he was attempting to try something new; something that would be different, and stand out from all the run-of-the-mill chop-socky flicks that dominated the Hong Kong movie industry at the time. To do this, he used sports to replace the more traditional martial-arts-based action. The result was not a box office hit, and many critics dislike the distinct lack of hand-to-hand combat. However, the skillfully choreographed "shuttlecock" games are a treat to watch as Chan and his team of stuntmen fall and tumble over one another in brilliant mayhem. The games used in the film were in fact invented by Chan. At the end of "dragon Lord", Chan gives in, and once again resorts to using far more traditional action when he pits himself against Wang Inn Sikk, a Korean exponent of Hapkido. Wang Inn Sikk's hard, grounded martial arts possess a very different flavour to the elastic, acrobatic, comedic style favoured by Chan. Definitely a fight worth watching. (6/10)

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/08/1999 Jackie Chan innocently becomes involved in a plot to sellhis nation's treasure, and a normally sleepy southern Chinese town is turned inside-out. Directed and co-written by the master of kung fu comedy, Jackie Chan, Dragon Lord is packed with the kind of fast and furious fun and action that comprises a kung fu classic. [Reviewed by Rim Films Catalog]

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/08/1999 An old style kung fu movie aimed at the comedy side. However it features a too small amount of fighting and stunts to be rated as a classic. It does contain some laughs though. (4/10) [Reviewed by Dave Warner]

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/08/1999 A master of the martial arts and his friend fight to prevent the sale of treasures from the Forbidden City in this fairly routine martial arts actioner. (2/5) [Reviewed by Elliot's Guide to Films on Video]