DIRTY TIGER, CRAZY FROG: Dissatisfaction is the main feeling for an audience viewing Sammo Hung’s comedy martial arts picture. The utterly surreal humour which permeates this early Hung film is hardly enough to compensate for the underwhelming fight scenes and poor utilization of the stars’ considerable talents. The later Sammo / Lau Kar Wing collaboration ‘The Odd Couple’ spectacularly upstaged this effort. Rating: 2 ½ / 5 . DRAGON FIST: A whirlwind of furious Wing Chun action from start to finish, this is definitely one of Jackie Chan’s more successful collaborations with director Lo Wei. Chan makes a strong fist of his intense revenge role, with James Tien and Yen Shi Kwan playing their stock characters to the hilt. The story, although occasionally twisting, steps back to allow the lead full rein to unleash in the film’s brutally realistic confrontations. A literal must for any fan of tough-as-rock ‘old-school’ films. Rating: 4 / 5 . DRAGON LORD: This minor hiccup in Jackie’s early Golden Harvest career is an entertaining yet wildly uneven period piece. As a semi-sequel of sorts to the superior ‘The Young Master’, ‘Dragon Lord’ narrative frequently gallops into the distance, only to be roped back in for an epic stunt sequence. That said, the action is truly jaw-dropping, especially the end fight with hapless Mars and returning super kicker Whang In-Sik, despite lacking the compacted fury and explosive energy of their previous encounter. Consider this barely recommended. Rating: 3 ½ / 5 .
