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Sun Dragon
Set during the late 1800's, Sun Dragon begins with Shao Chong (Billy Chong) tracking down his Grandfather who is living in the American Southwest. While asking for directions, he encounters a group of surly Railroad workers with a bone to pick after the young immigrant accidentally interrupts their gambling. Chong holds his own against about a dozen toughs in a typical Kung-Fu brawl where everyone waits their turn to fight. Most just take their lumps, but one or two dish out some "Hillbilly" Kung-Fu. Chong meets up with his cousin who tends bar at the local saloon. It seems that the saloon owner is having trouble with a gang that runs an illegal fighting ring. Shao Chong fights the champ and breaks up the ring in the process.
Jimmy (Louis Tenaglia) and his 2 lackeys, an Asian Martial Artist and a Knife Throwing Assassin, are on the run with a bag of stolen money. They need a place to hide out and stumble upon Toms (Carl Scott) family's cabin. Jimmy tries to buy the home outright with cash from Tom's father, but he refuses. The trio sneaks back in the middle of the night and forces the old man to turn the property over to them. Jimmy's gang then kills the family, but Tom, who is badly wounded in the fight, escapes. He turns up on the doorstep of the saloon where Chong and his cousin take him to the local doctor, Kwan. Dr. Kwan brings Tom back from the edge of death and over the period of his recovery, miraculously manages to teach him Kung-Fu as well.
It's mayhem in the "Old West" as Chong and Billy have to fight their way through groups of Thugs, Ninja, Samurai and even an Indian to get to Jimmy and his gang!!! Okay, he's not really an Indian, just an Asian actor made up to look like an American Indian, war-paint and all. Meanwhile, Jimmy and his gang are at each other throats over the stolen money. They double and triple cross one another until only Jimmy remains with the ill-gotten gains. This sets the stage for the big showdown between Chong, Tom and Jimmy. As I said before, these three are the best Martial Artists in the whole film and their fight is pretty great, but it still doesn't make up for having to sit through the rest of the mess that is Sun Dragon.
The DVD:
Picture: The movie is presented in a widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This transfer is one of the worst that I've seen, mainly due to being taken from a poor Source Print. The Print was badly scratched in places, had lots of wear throughout and even debris visible.
Audio: The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track was of the Dubbed English and sounded about as good as the film looked… Terrible. In addition, there were times when I felt that the Voice-Over Actors were just fucking with me. Here's a typical exchange:
No, seriously, that is actual dialogue from the film.
Extras: Included as Extras on this DVD are previews of other Crash Cinema Releases including Sting of the Dragon Master, The Master Strikes and Taoism Drunkard.
Conclusion: Sun Dragon was the first pairing of Billy Chong and Carl Scott, who would go on to do Kung Fu Executioner the following year. It's a shame that this average Kung Fu film suffers even more at the hands of a poor transfer and Dub, turning it into the kind of dreck that most studios and distributors are trying to avoid. Crash Cinema has been getting better over the years, but they should be ashamed of the piss-poor quality of this entry into their Crash Masters Collection.
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