DRAGON FIST is one of Jackie Chan’s early efforts in which he is the star, yet the film is not a comedy. The picture was made in 1979, when Chan was still forging an identity for himself. DRAGON FIST is directed by the prolific Lo Wei, who was responsible for the success of the most widely seen Kung Fu movies ever, THE CHINESE CONNECTION and FISTS OF FURY. Lo Wei is largely regarded as China’s second greatest martial arts director, behind Chang Cheh. Then in the late 1970’s, Lo Wei discovered his successor to Bruce Lee, the hungry young martial arts choreographer Jackie Chan. In the following years Lo Wei and Chan worked together on SHAOLIN WOODEN MEN, THE KILLER METEORS, TO KILL WITH INTRIGUE, SPIRITUAL KUNG FU, MAGNIFICENT BODYGUARDS, and FEARLESS HYENA. DRAGON FIST has been available on home video forever, and was even given an early DVD release (on a terrible full frame pan and scan transfer) from the defunct Simitar Entertainment. Columbia Tristar, looking to exploit the good name of current box office champ Jackie Chan, tests the waters with a DVD release of this old-school classic. This is the first time DRAGON FIST is available in widescreen, except for the hard-to-find import LaserDisc. Anyway, Columbia Tristar dropped the ball with this one as their DVD holds the edited U.S. theatrical version that runs 77 mins (as opposed to the 90 minute import LaserDisc).

DRAGON FIST opens with an exhibition fight between Master Kang (James Tien) and one of his top students. Master Kang’s martial arts pupils, including Tang How Yuen (Jackie Chan), are proud of their Master and his unbeaten streak in the martial arts world. They present him with a sign proclaiming his unbeaten status—something that the proud Master Kang plans to hang above his school. Suddenly, the celebration is cut short by the appearance of Master Kang’s old rival, Cheung Chien-Kuen (Yam Sai Kuan). The arrogant Cheung challenges the validity of the sign, because Master Kang has yet to beat him. Master Kang’s students and family witness Master Kang on the losing end of a duel of honor. The victorious Cheung steals the sign and returns to his own school. The disgraced Master Kang coughs up lots of blood and dies slowly over the remaining days. On his final breath, Master Kang begs Tang How Yuen to avenge the honor of his school. Tang How Yuen agrees and sets off in search of Cheung’s palace, along with Master Kang’s wife and daughter in tow.

Three years later, Cheung has attained great success in the martial arts world, and his school has prospered. However, it has come with a price as his wife committed suicide—she could not live with the shame of her husband’s cruel behavior. Cheung is also alarmed by a number of unexplained deaths in the area. Cheung assigns his top two students to investigate the murders. The students return with a tip that a man called Fatso from the nearby Wei school is responsible for the killings. Indeed, the entire Wei school is nothing but a front for gangland activity, headed by the ruthless Master Wei (Ko Keung). A gang of Wei’s street thugs come across Tang How Yuen traveling in search of Cheung’s school. When the thugs harass Tang How Yuen’s mistress, he is forced to defend her, dispatching all members of the gang with relative ease. This encounter alerts the crooked Master Wei to the presence of Tang How Yuen, and he quickly plots for a way to recruit the young tiger into his ranks.

Meanwhile, Tang How Yuen and Master Kang’s wife and daughter finally catch up with Cheung at his school. The guards allow them entrance and escort them to meet Cheung. Tang How Yuen prepares to make Cheung suffer, but his anger is abated when Cheung reveals that he mutilated himself. Cheung could not live with the shame of his earlier behavior and cut off his own leg. Tang How Yuen is torn with emotion, and still plans to teach Cheung a lesson, until his mistress begs him not to beat the helpless cripple. All the emotional turmoil causes the mistress to become ill and Tang How Yuen takes her to the local doctor. After examining her, the doctor reveals that she has been poisoned, and only one man in the village possesses the antidote—Master Wei. Tang How Yuen goes to the Wei’s place and begs them for the antidote. Master Wei uses this opportunity to force Tang How Yuen to join the ranks of the murderers. He promises Tang How Yuen the antidote if he will work for them as an enforcer against Cheung and his followers. Tang How Yuen thinks of Master Kang’s wife as his own mother, so he agrees and joins the Wei gang in their rivalry against Cheung’s school. Master Wei exploits the reluctant Tang How Yuen and causes him to lose face. Tang How Yuen must survive this bitter rivalry if he is to ensure the safety of his loved ones.

Lo Wei handles the material with a fresh approach, and succeeds in creating an epic feel to DRAGON FIST. The plot has more than a few holes, such as why it took Jackie three years to find Cheung. The story progresses in a slow manner and involves many characters besides Jackie. The script breaks away from the typical genre clichés (no training scenes!), and the part where Cheung sacrifices his own leg to appease his conscience is sheer brilliance. It’s interesting how the snide antagonists manipulate Chan to do their bidding. To the other heroic characters, it appears Tang How Yuen has betrayed them. DRAGON FIST also demonstrates Chan’s uncanny ability to execute technical fight choreography; not only for himself but for the rest of the cast. The concluding sequence features a clash between Wei’s massive gang and Cheung’s entire student body. This sequence is capped off with a spectacular fight between Jackie and an armed gang member that is so well choreographed that it exhausts you just witnessing it. Jackie employs Cheung’s crutch against a tonfa (Chinese nightstick) in that climatic duel.

DRAGON FIST is also highlighted by the cool performance of Jackie Chan, who proves he doesn’t have to rely on goofy humor to make a memorable Kung Fu film. The movie also stars Nora Maio, whose beauty and Kung Fu skills have graced motion pictures such as MASK OF VENGEANCE, THE LAST DUEL, and THE DEVIL’S TREASURE. The respected James Tien kicked ass in pictures like THE INVINCIBLE EIGHT, THE DRAGON TAMERS, and RENEGADE MASTER. In DRAGON FIST, Tien plays Jackie’s proud master, Kang. Yam Sai Guan starred in THE KILLER IN WHITE, DUEL OF FISTS, and BLOOD CHILD. He plays the character of Cheung Chien Kuen with great conviction, and nearly steals the movie from Jackie. Triple threat (actor, director, fight choreographer) Hsu Hsia can be seen in MAN OF IRON, VENGEANCE!, and WHEN TAEKWONDO STRIKES.

The only extras on the disc are English language trailers for these modern Kung Fu action films distributed by Columbia Tristar :

• ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (1.85.1, DD 2.0, 1.40)
• CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (FF, DD 2.0, 1.58)
• WHO AM I? (FF, DD 2.0, 1.58)