Sun Dragon VHS

If you are looking for fights, you will enjoy this movie. Dubbed in English, this movie is about a black guy's family being killed by a small white and Chinese bandit, and the black guy seeks revenge, so he learns kung-fu from his Chinese doctor who saved him with the help of a new immigrant Chinese fighter who came to America looking for his grandfather. In the meantime, the immigrant Chinese, who is an expert kung-fu fighter, finds his Chinese friend who works at a bar, so he ends up working at the bar as well. He learns the culture of the local town and ends up getting into fights with his local townsman. Soon, everyone fights everyone and with people getting killed, everyone is looking to get revenge. Weak story, but interesting to see a kung-fu movie set in the mid-west where railroads are being built by the Chinese. Some of the language is politically incorrect such as the use of the "N" word, but to see a black guy doing kung-fu is also interesting to see. Kung-fu was somewhat well choreographed, but story was very weak. The quality of the film is a distraction as it feels cheap and sometimes boring/slow.

One of the great mysteries in martial arts film is why Billy Chong did not become a superstar of the genre, a question that will certainly perplex any of you who haven't heard of him and decide to check out SUN DRAGON (US title A HARD WAY TO DIE). Filmed in Arizona around 1980 by Eternal Films, SUN DRAGON is simply put a minor classic of the kung fu genre. While it suffers from all the short comings of the typical chop socky flick of that time, it rises above most of the genre by virtue of its two stars, Billy Chong and the nearly as impressive Carl Scott who was literally just a kid at the time.Chong combines the best of all worlds: the burning intensity of a Bruce Lee, the goofy agility of a Jackie Chan, and the boyish charm of an Alexander Fu Sheng with his own little Indonesian self to produce an exciting new original that started out with a brilliant flash and then apparently just went back to Indonesia where he had been among other things, a pop star. What a loss! Such fighting skills, such screen presence, such a looker! But back to SUN DRAGON, for there is also Carl Scott!Scott too fell off the face of the cinematic earth after a couple of movies, and I dare you to see THIS ONE and give me one good reason why! His martial arts here are nearly flawless and his bo kata is a real eye opener, he's as good as anyone I've ever seen on this side of the international dateline, and he certainly had no competion from the likes of Jim Kelly or Ron Van Clief.You say you want to know more about the movie? Well, in many ways its your typical kung fu flick; high spirited boy(Chong) gets in trouble fighting (in this case he rescues a hapless girl from a gang of would-be rapists led by the local magistrate's son) and has to be sent away for his own good. The difference is that in this case he's sent to the United States, or more speicifically, Arizona, to stay with his Grandfather who we never do get to meet in the course of the movie. Instead he gets side-tracked breaking up fights that are bring staged for money at the local Chinese run tavern, and bouncing all the troublemakers out on their keisters.At the same time we have a second storyline going about a black youth named Tom who barely escape with his life when a group of evil-doers decides that his family's little ranch would be the perfect place to hide out while things cool off from their last job. They kill Tom's parents which naturally means he's going to have to get revenge. Our hero Billy Chong and his newly found friend at the tavern take Tom to the local kung fu master/herbalist who heals Tom's body and as at no additional cost turns him into a lethal killing machine for purposes of extracting revenge.Oh, there's more, MUCH, MUCH MORE. I haven't even told you about the samurais yet! But I have to leave SOME surprises for you, don't I? In the final analysis there's only one reason you go to martial arts films and that's to see terrific action performed by guys who know how to do it right. So while styles have changed in the way fights are presented, in SUN DRAGON you'll still be able to spot the brilliance of the two stars who should have been more--Billy Chong and Carl Scott!

Li (Billy Chong) plays a Chinese immigrant who comes to America to work on the railroad. Tommy (Carl Scott) plays the son of African settlers who are killed when they refuse to sell their land to some greedy dudes in charge of the railroad. Tommy escapes the slaughter and Li finds him and takes him to a Chinese doctor who is also a kung fu expert. The doctor will not teach Tommy kung fu until Tommy mentions that revenge is his ultimate motive. "Oh, alright then."This is really a fun movie. Though I loved it, I'm not sure if I can recommend it to fans of old-school. It's a different kind of fu flick. The time mentioned is the old west, but the hair, clothes, and sets are definitely the late 70s. So it's not the costumed old-school flick that most fu fans crave. If you like martial arts films from all periods, then no problem; this belongs on your shelf. It is similar in tone and choreography to the better work of Bruce Li (whom Carl Scott had previously worked with) as the story is silly and the fights occur every 10 seconds or so.This version from Crash Cinema has good, partially widescreen picture quality, and tolerable English dubbing. It also contains cool, lengthy trailers for "The Master Strikes", "Taoism Drunkard" and "Sting of the Dragon Masters", aka "When Taekwondo Strikes". 3.51979. aka: "A Hard Way to Die"

I first came across this movie as a kid under the title "A Hard Way to Die" on Channel 5-Drive-In Movie. Billy Chong (who's real name is Willy Dozhan, originally a singer in his native Indonesia) proves that, along with "Jade Claw" & "Super Power", he's a martial artist to be reckoned with. This movie is fast-paced, has great Fu, Carl Scott gets plenty of good moves in & Liang Siao Sung (who plays Dr. Ko & is Bruce Liang's father) & Lam Hark Ming (Ah Kuan) give some great choreography. However, this what partially filmed in Arizona (most of it was filmed in Taiwan) with an American/Chinese crew. The language barrier resulted in some glaring technical errors and unintentional hilarious dialogue/dubbing (the Chinese actors supplied their own voices for the English dub).What we have here is a very nice try. I can look past the flaws and enjoy the Fu, but I'm sure others who aren't big Fu fans might dismiss it. I was happy with the transfer. Aside from a few scratches it was fine~widescreen and the original, extended opening. Watch "Jade Claw" first, then try this. Check out the 'zine "Hong Kong Superstars, vol.2, #1" for the whole Billy Chong profile if you can find it. It will explain why Billy didn't make more pictures.