Hu xue tu long zhi hong tian xian jing

I was searching through an old video store and i found this film on DVD... for 50p! I bought it expecting the film to be so cheesy and crap that it would probably be totally unwatchable. I mean, what can you expect for 50p? But after watching it, i was pleasantly surprised. The acting isn't great, the story is quite predictable and half of the film is subtitled, but there are some great shoot-outs and excellent martial arts fight scenes.

Being a martial arts movie fan i probably enjoyed this more than the average movie geek would, but all in all i found this a good, watchable martial arts movie and i would recommend it to any martial arts-action movie fan.

I give this film a 6/10 - better than average, but nothing special.

Lam Kwok-Ching was an inspector in the Royal Hong Kong Police Force but now he has retired and intends to live in Toronto with his wife and son. They have been living with family in New York so he flies there to meet them. He hasn't been there long when he is spotted by triad members who assume he is on a case looking for them. The FBI are investigating the triads and see one of their suspects trying to kill Kwok-Ching. When they learn who he is they want him to help their investigation. He doesn't want to get involved but when his family are in danger he has little choice. The investigation will have him travel to Puerto Rico and see him confronting the man who killed his partner eight years previously.

This early nineties Hong Kong action film is different to most that I've seen in that none of it takes place in Hong Kong or China. The fact that our protagonists is dealing with both Chinese people and Americans means that it is in a mix of subtitled Cantonese and English. There is plenty of solid action; much of this is somewhat over the top, notably scenes where Triads shoot up his in-laws home and a raid on a police station. The action is a mix of shootings, explosions and best of all martial arts. There isn't too much gore but there is some, most memorably in a scene where a villain is killed with a ceiling fan! The story is solid enough, although nothing too surprising, and the cast does a solid enough job. Overall I'd say that while this might not be a must see it is well worth watching if you like Hong Kong action and like the novel settings.

Opening (bizarrely) on a night flight with cop, Ray Lui, looking over his retirement plan before blowing smoke into the sleeping American beside him, one can only wonder what to expect from this 90's Hong Kong actioneer set in NYC. After he lands, we are instantly introduced to its strong cast with HK stars such as John Sham, Mark Cheng, Alex Fong, Jackson Lou, Patrick Lung and Yvonne Hung Yung, as well as many other recognisable faces.

Director Tony Leung Siu Hung - the same guy who brought us the fun US based Gary Daniels project, Bloodmoon (along with Superfights and much more) provides some nice moments in this gangster flick, with pretty sweet action and very nice stunt work. I do like the mix of the raw Hong Kong style energy in the Stateside setting. The majority of the Hong Kong stars speak incredibly good English which makes me wonder why this kind of cross-over didn't happen more often with the team involved...

John Sham (Winners and Sinners) is brought in for some comedy relief, but doesn't shy away from the action either. I've always been a big fan of the handsome Ray Lui. He is great as a leading man with the looks and the acting chops, and even holds his own in the action department. The American co-stars are actually quite decent, and not as annoying or as bad at acting like most other Westerners would be in HK films of the 90's.

While it offers little in originality to other Hong Kong triad action flicks of that period, Guns Of The Dragon is certainly not boring. Within about 10 minutes, we are thrown right into the thick of it when triad trio Mark Cheng, Jackson Lou and Alex Fong happen to see ex-cop Lui, in Manhattan. From there, the rest of the film is full on action as he (along with his family), try to survive. Cue lots of violent gun fights, painful looking stunts, car chases, and martial arts fights that don't disappoint!

I really like American Dragon. Fans of the A Better Tomorrow trilogy and Hong Kong's heroic bloodshed genre will lap it up, and its definitely one of director Leung's more mature and polished productions...

Overall: Underrated and action packed, it would be nice to see American Dragon (aka Guns Of The Dragon) cleaned up and getting the audience it deserves!