User reviews

After several "Lucky Stars" films, Sammo Hung wanted to direct Jackie Chan in a serious movie. Jackie believed (rightly so) that the Hong Kong audience would have trouble accepting him in a non-action role. Sammo was insistent and Jackie acquiesced. With a screenplay coauthored by Barry Wong and Sammo Hung they ventured forth to create Heart of Dragon (aka First Mission). This film would be a box office disappointment though he soon would create one of his best films – Police Story.

Jackie stars as a CID officer (formally from SWAT) who takes care of his mentally-challenged 29 year old brother Danny. Danny is an affable and naive grown-up who is known as Do Do by his child friends. He is so credulous that even his kid companions use him for nefarious reasons such as getting into a restaurant or passing off as a parent. He is a constant drain on his brother Jackie who always has to take care of him. Jackie is also split between wanting to make his girlfriend Jenny (Emily Chu who was also in the first two A Better Tomorrow films) happy and his dream of becoming a merchant marine. Danny is wonderfully played by Hung who is not afraid to sacrifice his dignity and his body for this role such as the scene when Danny is looking for a job to be more self supporting is taken advantage of by a restaurant owner (Wu Ma who also helped produce this film) who persuades him to act like a bull, a dog and a snake. Chan's acting is good with occasional forays into the melodramatic.

Heart of Dragon is an enjoyable but fragmented and uneven film. It attempts to be a drama, but after half the picture is over it wants to be action movie. I feel that they did not believe they could create a full serious picture. The switch in tone of the film is distracting and hurts the overall feel of the picture. Yet the ending choreographed by Yuen Biao, though somewhat stereotypical of action film endings, has one of the most exciting sequences Jackie and Sammo has ever done. So my feelings are mixed by this change. Golden Harvest also felt that the audience would not believe a Sammo and Jackie film could sustain a dramatic pace and ordered two additional fighting scenes for the Japanese market. These scenes can be found as deleted scenes on the Fortune Star release.

You could review this film as two separate films. The drama was good except for periodical bouts of overacting and melodramatic scenes (though Sammo's character seems quite believable.) The action part of the film was also good (not counting the opening scene which was totally unbelievable with Mr. Eyebrows – one of my favorite actors Lam Ching Ying) but catered to stereotypical scripting. For example Do Do plays cops and robbers with his kid friends and accidentally scares a gangster into giving up a bag of jewelry that belongs to local Triad member the cigar chomping Mr Kin (James Tien.) Mr Kin then, eventually, kidnaps Do Do to get the eventual climax between CID and Mr Kin and his men.

As a complete concept, the film does not work as well as the sum of the parts. The film also has the problem of transitioning from action to drama to action then back to drama again. Then there is the problem with the horrible "electronic" music playing in the background. But many of the parts are quite excellent. People who are expecting a "Jackie Chan" film will be disappointed with the exception of the deleted scenes and the excellent ending. I was disappointed because I saw that they could have made a more compelling drama or at least a more fluid piece. However, there is much to enjoy with the film, as if I had not said it enough, especially the ending.. Notes: other character actors in the film are Fung Hark On (portraying another slimy character), Yuen Wah and Corey Yuen (both who grew up with Jackie Chan, Sammo and Yuen Biao as part of the Seven Little Fortunes.)

"Long de xin" has Jackie's character (Tat) on the CID (Criminal Investigation Department). This is no "Police Story" though, and Chan is portrayed as just another member of the squad. His main occupation though, is looking after his mentally-disabled brother (Dodo, or Do-do), played decently by Sammo himself. Tat is constantly being called away to help out his brother, and the crime-fighting scenes in the film take a long time to develop.

This film has all of the ingredients that I look for, but it failed to impress me as much as it might have. First of all, Sammo direction is usually brilliant and progressive, in this film however, it seems that most of his creative energy went on his character-acting - and I must say, the scene about Jackie's leaving is particularly impressive. This moment, with it's heart-wrenching display of frustration, anger, and love is as memorable as any of the fight scenes in the film. Chan here is a brilliant dramatic actor, and it took Sammo to get it out of him I suppose.

Yuen Biao, as action-director, does a great job. And the final fight scene is particularly brutal and snappy. But, I can't help but wonder how much better this film may have been if Biao was given an on-screen part - I can see many that may have suited in retrospect.

The film does it's best to balance the drama and action, but I think this is it's main area of failure. There are none of those clever edits that Sammo is usually known for that make for brilliant transitions between contrasting scenes. Here, we sit through some repetitive and redundant scenes that (yet again) display Dodo's vulnerability as much as common man's inhumanity. (Actually, I was just realising how much trouble the children cause for Sammo - even his closest friends are doomed to hurt him). The first few times are good, the rest were trying.

This is a film that is worth watching for some great highlights, but it's not a film that I can imagine enjoying start-to-end, over and over like so many other of Sammo's directorial gems. Sammo and Chan's dramatic acting are the real winners in this film.

A pretty good, though slow drama, Jackie proves himself as an actor, and Sammo pulls off the part of the handicapped brother beautifully. It's very somber and pretty sad, with a really violent fight at the climax when Jackie and his cop friends go to rescue Sammo. Jackie even buries a machete in some poor sap's neck! If you want a good serious battle, check out Jackie vs. the awesome (and underrappreciated) Dick Wei at the finale....I've always enjoyed this guy as his usual cool as ice villain! Not bad, but vastly different from most of Chan's work...

Heart Of The Dragon can be described as Rain Man with martial arts, which is not a bad description, although this was actually made several years before. Made around the time Jackie Chan was churning out loads of great films, such as Police Story, Project A, Wheels On Meals and Dragons Forever, as well as poorer but hugely successful efforts like the 'Lucky Stars' films, this movie has somewhat been ignored, which is a shame, as it's a brave attempt at something a little different.

For the first 50 mins or so, this is mostly a drama, but both Jackie Chan, playing a character who is initially none too sympathetic, and Samo Hung, as his mentally challenged brother, give amazingly strong performances. There are laughs [such as when Chan is walking around holding his brother's hand saying to people "he's my brother" in case they might think they are gay],but there is also a great deal of sensitivity and honesty, climaxing in a powerful scene where Jackie almost breaks down in sheer fustration in front of Samo.

After this the film suddenly becomes an action movie, but the transition is not badly done, and, as if to reward patient action fans, the film climaxes with what is quite simply one of the best staged fight sequences EVER, a small masterpiece of choreography, editing and lighting. Jackie is as vicious as Bruce Lee ever was here, he's never been meaner.

There are two extra fight scenes which exist, but in most places they were removed from the film to emphasise the drama. Indeed the other elements of the film are so good that it can exist perfectly well without them. Of course there are a few silly touches, including TWO montages with the sentimental theme song, and Dick Wie's eyebrows! Generally a fine film, though.

The first half of "Heart of Dragon" is essentially a tearjerker (with occasional light moments): Jackie Chan is a lot more serious than usual, and Sammo Hung gives an un-self-conscious and honest performance as the mentally handicapped Dodo - he is forced to do the most ridiculous things and does them without any apparent embarrassment. The second half is a rather complicated crime caper, and the stunts, fights and chases are top-notch. Sammo doesn't get to do any fighting, of course, though he takes quite a few brutal hits. Jackie is in great form, and in typical HK-cinema tradition the villains can certainly hold their own in a fight. The total result is one of Jackie's best films, because the comic, the dramatic and the action-packed moments all work on their own terms. (***)

This isn't the sort of movie they should make. It's just tedious and boring. The acting is fine, it has some moments of real emotion. But seriously we want to see less tears and more chop socky from these two guys. The rating on here seems to be from the Jacky Chan fanboi club and if you watch this for what it is it's just a pretty bad film.

Heart Of Dragon tells the story of Hong Kong SWAT officer Tat Fung who must juggle a career, a girlfriend and looking after his older brother Do-Do who is mentally retarded. Tat feels he is beginning to lose touch with himself so decides to join the navy, but before he can do that he must straighten things out with both his girlfriend and his big brother.

Let me begin by saying this has to be the best performance in Jackie's prolific career,this is the film which made me take him seriously as an actor. It is such a shame this wasn't a big hit when it first came out.

Jackie and Sammo are the best actors in the film. Sammo plays his character with such depth and sensitivity,while Jackie does excellently as the frustrated Tat.

I thought I'd never cry at a Jackie Chan movie but I was wrong. One scene which got me misty eyed was a scene when Do-Do's tutor begins to emotionally abuse him,while Tat listens to what is going on from outside the room.

Another scene is when Tat finally lets his true feelings for Do-Do come forward anger may be the most raw of human emotions but to let yourself explode like that is very difficult to pull off, but thats not the point I began to cry, it was when Tat goes to his room and Do-Do follows him and apologises for the way he is, I mean wow, talk about emotionally heavy.

Moving on from the emotional side of the film and commenting on the action, this has very little action in it until towards the end which I have to say has one of the best fights in Jackie's career in which he takes on the amazing and brilliant Dick Wei in a one on one brutal marial arts fight. This has to be Jackie at his fastest, they exchange the moves with such quickness I had to go back and watch the fight again once it was over.

I urge any Jackie Chan or Sammo Hung fan who has not yet seen the film to go out and get the DVD you do not know what you are missing.

I love the whole movie except the last half an hour. The ending ruined the experience. Jackie Chan is very good. He has a big brother but small in brain. It has a remake in Hindi, Jaan se pyara, Govinda did both roles. The actions are good. If I compare both Jackie Chan and the brother, I can't remember the name, both did very well. Don;t watch it with the whole family, a kissing scene with several kisses makes it R rated. Otherwise an enjoyable stuff. Recommended 60%.

Jackie Chan plays a cop in Hong Kong. He has a brother (Sammo Hung Kam-Bo) who has the mind of a 4 year-old and Jackie is frustrated with trying to do his job and keep his brother out of trouble. Mostly it's a losing battle. Later in the film, the brother accidentally gets in trouble with the mob and it's up to Jackie and his friends to come to the rescue.

Jackie Chan and his frequent collaborator Sammo Hung Kam-Bo star in this very bizarre film. Despite these two martial arts stars being in the film, it's really not exactly a martial arts film. It's supposed to be an uplifting family film, action/cop movie and comedy all rolled into one. If it sounds like this is an impossible combination, you are right--and the film really doesn't work very well. The biggest problem, however, is that Sammo is supposed to be mentally retarded and his role alternates from occasionally being sensitive to mostly being a very broad comedy--with Sammo playing the part with as much subtlety as a nudist at a Baptist picnic! Now I noticed that a lot of the reviewers liked it--so be it. But I also know that it will offend folks--especially if they have developmentally delayed family members. In the film, they mostly are to laugh at--and that's very sad. Its a shame, as SOME of the issues between them are compelling--but mostly it's pretty awful. There also isn't any sort of a clear ending--just a weird montage that makes no sense. Obviously a bizarre misfire and not a particularly pleasant film to watch unless you LIKE laughing at Sammo's antics.

By the way, if Sammo isn't potentially insulting enough, look for the scene where he and his young friends are playing 'Jesus and the Assassin'. What were they thinking?!

I enjoyed this movie, but that's because I'm a big fan of Jackie Chan, so if your not, it may not be a good idea to go and see it. Also, this movie is for those who like martial art movies no matter the quality or when it was made, and where. It was set in Hong Kong, made is the 80s obviously, but is also set in the 80s. So high quality can not be expected, and if you can look passed it it can be an enjoyable movie. This movie is about a guy who's a police officer (Jackies character) who takes care of his mentally ill brother. They set up the brother relationship in this movie pretty well, and Jackies acting goes a little bit passed what most people are used to. (I've seen many of his movies and it's the first time I've ever seen him cry) This movie is not funny like many of his movies out there, but its not to serious either. There two pretty good fight scenes, one right in the first 2 minutes of the movie, and one near the end. There are small brawls in between, but they are not really big. The movie is mostly story though, so the fighting is pretty much what I said it was. So if your looking for action packed Jackie Chan movie, this is probably not it. But if you are a fan, and want to try something maybe a little different then what you are used to, then this one may be a good one to see.

This abysmal Chan/Hung vehicle is a poorly thought-out attempt at drama which will not sit well with most fans of Chan's usually high-octane mix of action and comedy. The plot concerns a mentally challenged "gentle giant"(Hung) and his able-minded/bodied brother(Chan)who must sacrifice his freedom to care for his reliant sibling. What attempts to be a drama is marred by Hung's ridiculous portrayal of a mentally challenged adult as being nothing more than a gigantic baby, complete with overalls and a giant swirly lollipop. The movie attempts to generate sympathy for Hung's character while simultaneously deriving all of its humor from his various misadventures, a mix that left this viewer cold. The DVD version is dubbed so poorly that all attempts at drama seem to come from training at the Shatner school of acting. The movie limps along for over an hour before there is a significant plot developed involving gangsters, stolen jewels, and the eventual kidnapping of Hung. Then begins the movie Chan fans have come to expect, with fantastic stunts, fights and chase sequences. In this movie it is a case of too MUCH, to late. The over the top action Chan is famous for seems here to be ridiculously out-of-place in contrast to the slow moving, "tear-jerker" attitude of the preceding two-thirds of the film. Add to this mish-mash an annoyingly repetitive musical score and not one, but TWO separate scenes of Hung's naked buttocks, and you have the makings of the "must NOT see" film of the year.

This is one of Jackie Chan's most serious movies and one of his best. Jackie Chan plays a Hong Kong cop who gives up his dream of sailing around the world to take care of his mentally retarted brother (played by Samo Hung who won an award for this role.) Samo is kidnapped after accidentally getting mixed up in a gang war and of course Jackie has to save him. Less action then the usual Jackie Chan movie but the action that is there is quite good. Be warned there are some real tear-jerker scenes in this movie. Jackie Chan fans this is a must see. The only disappointment is you never get to see Samo Hung display his martial arts talent.

They are: - the initial "CID vs. SWAT" extravaganza with the cheap electronic soundtrack as the background (the scenes with all that acrobatic stuff are useless here - they have guns, damn it! and the neck-breaking scene looks absurd), - the overblown eyebrows of the SWAT commander (my! did they really have to do it?), - the proper fights, which were moved to "deleted scenes" section (even if they could not add anything good to the story, they should have been included into the movie, while they are great), - too little real violence (after reading about the brutality of the final showdown I was disappointed by the actual grand finale of the movie, while even the notorious "blade-into-the-neck" scene is too swift and too dark)... well, this is about it.

All the rest is great. I really enjoy the story and the performance of Mr Sammo Hung. A very neat job.

I can give it a definite 7 out of 10 (I wish the movie-making team could stay away from the comedy elements during this production - it would be, quite possibly, my favourite Jackie Chan film then). Thanks for attention.

Jackie plays a good-hearted cop looking after his learning-disabled brother Danny, played by Sammo, but doesn't always succeed in keeping him out of trouble. When Danny is taken as a hostage, his brother will risk everything - his career and even his life --to rescue him, throwing it down as only Jackie Chan can.

Quite an engaging Jackie Chan film with the star showing more acting chops than karate chops, but it's Sammo Hung who steals the scene as his brother. His acting range is good and captures the innocence and pathos of his character. His relationship with Jackie is endearing. Despite this, there's the usual action scenes, but the story comes first. Some would call the pace in middling in the first half, but I think it's necessary to build up the characters and story.

If there is credit due--and there is--I think it should really to large part go to Samo Hung for directing and doing a first-rate performance as Jackie's well-intentioned but mentally deficient brother. Jackie does a reasonably good job as his older brother who gives up his dreams to care for his brother, but can't help but communicate his unhappiness to his brother, who only ends up in more trouble as a result.

For those who adore the fights scenes--and I fit that characterization--like as not you will be disappointed, though there is an excellent sequence near the end. As an emotional movie, it is somewhat depressing, not the sort of feel-good movie like many of us action lovers are used to.

Sadly, the skillful Samo Hung also does not get a real opportunity to show us his fighting capabilities. Ditto for Biao Yuen (another schoolmate) who can be a glory to watch, but who only gets a few bits and pieces in this one. To catch that, one of the best vehicles is "Dragons Forever" where we get to see them fight each other as well a huge cavalcade of bad guys: delightful and more amusing than this rather serious piece.

This is a very well thought out Jackie Chan drama. Its got a high tension storyline and action which you would expect. Its all about Jackie abandoning his plans to go sailing to look after his retarded brother (Sammo Hung) who keeps getting in to a whole heap of trouble.

While playing with a toy gun with his kid friends, Sammo stops a robber, who just recently got away from Jackie in a house raid.

The bad guys find Sammo and take him to their base while Jackie goes against all stops to get his brother back safely.

There is not to much action in this film more drama, but well worth watching if your a fan of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, and get your tissues ready for the end!

Excellent 10 Stars!!! Go Jackie Go!!! :D

Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung are both my favorite marital artists/stars, other then having all of the cool moves they never stopped surprising me and this film was one heck of a surprise. This is an under the radar gem for both of them, it's not quite a favorite of mine from both of them but it comes close.

It's no doubt different from the normal Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung films were use to instead of action action this film is drama action which is a combo I rarely see in the marital arts sub genre, in fact it's something I rarely see in the action genre in genre. This film to me is one of those examples that the combo can actually work when done the right way.

Jackie and Samo are just great, both of them get to for once and one of the only times actually get to exercise more of their acting ability. I really liked seeing them play characters that actually have more range and almost feel like these people could exist, than the typical lovable lead actioneers which are usually just both playing themselves sort of.

Samo was just excellent in his role as Dodo, I really did by him as a mentally disabled man, oh and for the record he doesn't do any of his martial arts sorry fans. But that's not a bad thing and it makes sense for his character. Dodo is very sympathetic, he's mentally disabled but he's slightly aware of it and you can tell wishes he wasn't, but despite his limitations he does try and struggle to fit in to contemporary life and really wants his brother to be happy.

One scene, he tries to get a job and goes to this restaurant but of course the manager just humiliates him by practically hazing Dodo. I'll admit I really wanted to punch that manager (one of Tad's friends does, I high five the dude.) there are scummy guys like that that do exist whom are just the worst kinds of hypocrites, making fun/insult people, making themselves look all high and mighty when there not; to me Dodo (even Tad's buddy) was a bigger man than him.

Jackie was excellent as Tad, I really bought him as a struggling brother whom is conflicted with taking care of his brother but also his dream of becoming a sailor which he feels has drifted further away from him. This to me makes his character relatable because we've all been there where were conflicted between our responsibilities and dreams.

Both of them have great chemistry and some memorable scenes were some are touching and surprisingly really sad, at times it really made me wonder if these are the kind of things that people mentally disabled go though as well as the people taking care of them.

One scene which of course is memorable is the argument scene where Tad of coruse is just spewing out his raw emotion toward Dodo and goes to his room afterward. After a minute or two passes Dodo goes to Tad's room finding him crying and of coruse Tad apologies and both hug. I just found it touching and it actually put a tear or two in my eye, but the scene for me pertained to the theme of brotherhood.

Even like some of the supporting characters like Tad's girlfriend Jenny, really liked the interaction with the two it really felt like a serious relationship and we even see both kiss which is something Jackie doesn't do in films much. As well as Tads friends where we get a good feel for them and some solid interaction.

And of course the action is great despite somewhat taking a bit of a back seat, to me it helped keep things moving and gave the film a sense of fun which helped give the film a three dimensional sensibility. From the training ground battle at the beginning, but of course my favorite is the final battle near the end of the film which to me is one of my favorite battles of all time and one that lasts about 20 mins making it one of the longest. I really like the use of the building location and the chirography in both gun play and martial arts was spot on.

I really love the them of the film which is about brotherhood, we see despite both DoDo and Tads struggles they always stick together and do the best they can to make each other happy. It also the same with Tad's significant other and his friends along with some of Dodo's friends who are supportive of both of them which shows that brotherhood isn't just about brothers but also about the people in your life whom would do anything for you as you would for them.

The only bad thing for me is that the pacing is a bit slow, it kinda lags a bit in the middle because not much really happens. But things do pick up again on the third half so that a blemish I can get past.

Brotherhood is always strong because of the sum of it's parts to make a whole.

Rating: 3 and a half stars

I find this title in the Chan catalogue to be one of the most disappointing ones. When you look at the cast list, and see Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, you immediately assume that they will both be fighting. Unfortunately, only Jackie fights, and it's only near the end of the film that any real fighting gets done at all.

Don't get me wrong - Sammo Hung's acting in this film is very good, so this is not to say that anything in THAT department is poor. It's just that watching this film, I felt it was a waste of Sammo's undoubted martial arts skill - he doesn't fight at all.

The final fight is a decent one, but in my opinion, it does not make up for what is a tiresome film. If they were going to make a touchy-feely, "I've made so many sacrifices," type film, why employ Hong Kong's two most creative martial artists?

not an action movie! a heart felt drama that had me(yes me) in tears. there is action at the end, but that wasnt even needed. this great drama is about jackie helping his retarded brother through thick and thin or something like that. bring some tissues and dont see it with the guys, cause its a sad one.

Hong Kong action cinema has long been in the habit of strange mixtures of action, humour and sentiment, but Heart of the Dragon may be one of the loopiest of all. It works on admirable lines, a look at sibling love and sacrifice as well as the mistreatment of the mentally handicapped, but turns into an action film in the end for some quality action and fighting. It seems to have captured some hearts and tends to be well rated but sadly I wasn't won over, though I was never bored, instead spending most of my viewing in a state of mildly amused confusion until the kick ass final block. Jackie Chan plays a cop and devoted brother to the mentally handicapped Sammo Hung, whose play time with neighbouring kids leads him to japes of escalating seriousness until he finds himself in serious danger. The problem for me is that the whole thing seemed written with less rational thought and more manipulation. The audience is asked to buy that Chan's character is devoted, yet he works as a cop (not a job that is especially safe) and although there are clear means for him to put his brother in the care of others when it appears he is getting into trouble he neither does this, nor does he take action to stop his brother being able to hang out with the kids that get him into scrapes. Then there's the fact that no adults around seem to recognise Hung's character for mentally handicapped, nor question the fact that he hangs out with children much of the time. The general meanness on display is questionable as well, though I guess that goes towards making the films point. Its all supposed to be rather touching, but it never quite works emotionally, both leads are quality actors in later films but here the big emotional scenes don't pack much of a punch, coming across rather as sentimentally overblown. On the other hand the sheer wrong-headed sincerity makes for some entertainment in the sense of watching it deadpan, awaiting the whole spiral of melodrama. I wouldn't describe it as good, but its bizarrely compelling stuff and holds the fort reasonably until the actual plot gets into gear. Then there's fun car action and a sweet warehouse group attack scene, unexpectedly violent with some fine choreography and great showing from notable baddie Dick Wei. Things round out with more sentimental oddity and either not a dry eye in the house or a swell of bemused gapes (I know which one I was). All in all I can't recommend this to anyone other than Jackie Chan completists but for those who simply have to see it the ending at least rocks and unusual notability is rampant. 5/10