Dragons Forever [VHS]

It's another day and I have yet another great Jackie Chan movie. This time it's the Golden Harvest film Dragons Forever, originally released in February of 1988 and directed by Sammo Hung and Corey Yuen. The is an action comedy movie starring the previously mentioned Jackie Chan as well as his chums Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. Jackie plays a lawyer involved in a court case which involves a chemical plant killing off the fish in a local fishery. The problems with the two have twists and turns, ending in another fantastic all star brawl.As far as the legendary kung fu trio goes, this is one of the best films I have seen them in. Not only is the action sequences of the highest quality, but the actual characters and the comedic writing is really well done. There's so many great jokes and character moments through out, it had me laughing my way through the movie. It's very well paced too with very little in between these comedy moments and all the fight sequences. There's many quality fights here but the final one (featuring Benny Urquidez) is easily the best of the lot. It's all very energetic and hard hitting with some great falls and bumps.The music through out the movie isn't very good. It sounds like the entire thing was produced on a very tacky synthesiser. There's lots of cutesy sounding melodies, too much fake string sections and fake orchestral motif's. It's pretty cringe worthy and thankfully, I managed to ignore it throughout the entire film. With that said, it's nothing unusual for these sorts of movies and I've grown use to it. The music was done by James Wong Jim and he was not winning any awards for this one.The version of the film I purchased was the excellent 88 Films release. This version of the movie looks fantastic. It's very sharp looking and has been remastered very well. There's three versions of the film here, I personally watched the original Hong Kong print. But there is also two other including the Japanese cut (98 mins) and a European (94 mins) cut for those who want them. There's a lot of extras including plenty of audio options, lots of interviews, behind the scenes footage and outtakes. Lots of stuff for fans of the trio to watch.Of all the films I have bought from the 88 Films collection, this is easily my favourite one so far. It might change when I watch the other I have but this was still a hilarious, high energy fist pumping movie. I couldn't recommend it more.

I thought I'd seen all the hits already, but I read about this gem from another review of one of Jackie Chan's movies. He only stars in this one, it was directed by Sammo Hung, but worry not, if you liked Police Story, you'll like this too. It's a tight action film about a lawyer who is unusually capable of handing your ass to you, never mind his 'friends'.They really don't make them like this anymore, simple, straightforward, fun films that aren't too self-involved. No, just a great action movie to watch with others.EDIT: Having seen far more kung fu movies in the recent months, I would like to apologize for not giving the appropriate respect to Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. Hung's directorial talent is on full display in this movie, and you should also see his other great efforts, such as Encounter Of The Spooky Kind and Millionaire's Express. Yuen Biao has become one of my favourite actors and I just love seeing his cute school-boy charm on screen, he leads in Righting Wrongs and Prodigal Son. These three, (including Jackie), only starred together in 3 movies; My Lucky Stars, Wheels On Meals, and this one, each better than the last.

can't go wrong with jackie.

I hadn't watched Dragons Forever since it came out on DVD, so thought I would upgrade to this steelbook edition from 88 films. The steelbook comes in a nice and sturdy card slipcase, with both the discs on the inside right and a folded up poster of the cover art on the inside left. For the price, I think 88 films should really have included the booklet that came with their limited edition, but that's a minor gripe.The film itself is beautifully remastered. I watched the extended version on disc 2 but it's been so long since I watched the original version that I didn't notice which were the extra scenes. After an opening that now seems very politically incorrect (not that it bothers me) the film becomes a lot of fun, with far more comedy than I remembered and Yuen Biao's character being especially silly and annoying. However, the action more than makes up for this, though it is unevenly spread out throughout the film and often played for laughs, particularly when Sammo, Jackie and Yuen are together. But when the action gets serious, it's seriously good. The yacht and factory scenes are highlights with the big ticket being Jackie taking on an evil-looking Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. So good, I skipped back and watched it again. These are masters of martial arts at the top of their game.I don't think the packaging really justifies the price, but rewatching the film cemented its place in my memory as one of my favourite Jackie Chan movies and it looks fantastic on Blu-ray, with an informative commentary and nice set of interviews on disc 1.

Arrived safe and sound, very good transfer!

I like this, funny and fight

This has to be the best Jackie chan film I’ve seen ever.

Good film good fights good story. Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao are amazing in this. Plays in English language dubbed. Region 2 very happy