I recently bought this from my local video franchise which was closing it's store. It had a similar title and design to a Jet Li film I had seen called "The Legend of the Red Dragon". Of course I thought it was a sequel to the Li action flick I liked so I bought it, especially seeing it was starring talented Donnie Yen and the action choreographed by Yuen Woo Ping. Though this was a period actioner and did feature a lot of comedy like the Li movie, this one isn't a sequel. It was actually made before "Legend of..." but it's not a prequel either. Just a clever DVD design. And like that one, we never find out who or what the red dragon is. Also my version unfortunately didn't include either a cantonese or mandarin audio track. English and French only with subtitles. The English dubbing was terrible. But it made the comedy all the more funny, embarrassingly so.
Can't say I was too impressed after watching it. The action was OK but not the high standard I was used to from Ping. Too much silly wirework and a lot of the camera tricks were too obvious like the speeding. The fight with the Fire Lotus ladies at the temple was very good though as well as Donnie's fight with the prince in the finale. Not one of Ping's better movies, however.
The story played like an after school special about the dangers of opium and alcohol. Boy refuses drug, boy is seduced by drug, boy is addicted, boy is saved and seeks revenge and redemption. Unfortunately a lot of the subplots were left open-ended while it jumps from one action scene to another. I could swear this played more like a comedy than an action period piece. The two actors playing Yen's father and aunt were hysterical, especially Sheila Chan. I almost wanted to see more of their story than Yen's but then that little subplot gets pushed aside and we're back with the action.
