The Little Dragons

I saw Little Dragons in a late night viewing once and thought it was goofy fun in the same vein as Bad News Bears and Six Pack. I really think this film could work for kids today. If it was released on DVD I think it would sell moderately well what with the new Mutant Ninja Turtles animated flick coming to theaters soon. Okay, so it's obvious I have a selfish aim of getting this on DVD and couldn't find any other way to express that in words. I could dramatically get on my knees and beg.....

*gets on knees and begs*

There. Embarrassed myself for this mediocre film. Just at least send a copy to my house.

EDIT: had to. Just learned this is out on DVD under the title Karate Kids USA in the 50 movie pack Martial Arts from Mill Creek. So if you looked this up here on IMDb.com then go get that pack! 50 flicks for about $16! It's insane. And you'll go insane by the time you've viewed them all.

Karate Kids USA is now most notable for being an early film from director Curtis Hanson, who would go on to win an Academy award for L.A. Confidential. It would only be fair to say that he got a lot better! This one is about some young karate kids who save a girl from some redneck kidnappers. It's another one of those times where you have to thank the DVD distribution company Mill Creek. These guys have time and time again rescued all manner of obscurities from oblivion and put them out for all to see on one of their mega DVD packs. This is another example but, in fairness, it's not really very good. There's not that much martial arts action, given the title you sort of expect a bit more. It's in essence an action-comedy with all manner of comic characters, such as dumb cops and stupid rednecks. Although it does seem to be pitched at an almost negligible demographic given that to all intents and purposes it is basically a kids movie yet has a few swear words and a quite disturbing character played by Joe Spinell who behaves a little too disturbing at times for a family audience. So, all-in-all, Karate Kids USA is something of a curiosity piece.

Brothers, Zack and Woody (portrayed by real-life brothers Chris and Pat Petersen) are young karate students who embark on a weekend camping trip with their grandfather J.J. (Charles Lane). Along the way they meet a new friend, Carol Forbinger (Sally Boyden) and her parents (Rick Lenz and Sharon Clark). When the Forbinger family encounters a tough-talking backwoods mother (Ann Sothern) and her two bumbling sons (Joe Spinell and John Davis Chandler) who decide to hold Carol captive believing they can collect a sizable ransom, the "karate kids" must find a way to use their martial arts skills to rescue the Forbinger girl with a little help from their grandfather and some new friends they meet along the way.

Very low budget movie that was rated PG mainly due to some of the language the kids use.

The movie was made in 1980 however many people believe it was actually made around 1976 and just didn't get released until 1980.

The movie has not been properly preserved so the prints are turning red as the color fades.

It's directed like a TV movie and even has the worst porn music streaming in the background. Speaking of porn, the movie features Joe Spinell who was married to a porn star and has a lot of strange deaths attached to him -- including his own.

Joe was in a few mob backed horror movies but never really went anywhere despite being best friends with Sly Stallone. He wound up dying on his couch in a dump in Queens, NY at age 52.

Back to the movie. I guess this film is in the public domain in that there are tons of versions of it.

It's watchable but not especially good.

And BTW, as an aside....who puts a billiard table out doors????? You'll see that and more in this move.

I know Ann Sothern wasn't wild about this film - but for me, it was worth watching for the performances of Charles Lane and Ann Sothern - it wasn't a high budget film, and some performances surely could have been better - but it still made me laugh in places. Some parts such as the old r.v. were humorous - many of us remember some budget models such as this that we had used.

Not one of Ann Sothern's best works - her last movie "the Whales of August" was fantastic, as well as her TV series "the Ann Sothern show" and "susie" or "executive secretary" as it was originally called.

And of course Charles Lane is such a great actor - how many years has his career spanned?

The Little Dragons, otherwise known as 'Karate Kids USA', was an incredible mixture of 3 Ninjas, Karate Kid, Deliverance and The Hills Have Eyes, jammed packed into an adventure fit for the whole family.

Some of the cinematography has hints of Victor Salva's (Jeepers Creepers, Powder) directorial debut, Clown House... I would even go so far as to suggest this title has horror elements all its own.

More martial arts would have been a welcomed addition to The Little Dragons, but the rough and tumble biker gang and the finale battle against the scheming family filled the required quota for a film in the action genre.