CompleteMartialArts.com - Dragon Heat
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List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $13.49
Your Save: $ 1.46 ( 10% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Dragon Dynasty
Starring: Michael Biehn, Simon Yam, Sammo Hung, Xia Yu, Lawrence Chou
Directed By: Daniel Lee
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
EAN: 0796019802642
Format: Widescreen
Label: Dragon Dynasty
Manufacturer: Dragon Dynasty
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Dragon Dynasty
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2007-09-18
Running Time: 110
Studio: Dragon Dynasty
Theatrical Release Date: 2005
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Editorial Reviews:
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A team of Interpol agents wages war across the city of Hong Kong in a quest to track down a Triad crime lord and the international terrorist who kidnapped him.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Feel the heat
Comment: This movie is VERY underrated. It is by no means the greatest HK action movie. Yet, most are very harsh in reviewing this film. I would watch any HK movie like this anyday over crappy U.S. remakes like "Bangkok Dangerous" or any other crappy U.S. so-called action film.
Customer Rating:
Summary: High Points + Low Points = Mediocre
Comment: All the other reviews here are dead on target. The film certainly caters to a younger crowd with its emphasis on style over substance. I don't even know where to begin with this; I'm a fan of Hong Kong cinema, blood operas, gun fu, etc., but this movie left me quite unsatisfied.
Let's start with the bad so we can just get that out of the way. As other reviewers have said, it's definitely 'over-directed.' It seems like they had a series of key frames in mind when they produced shots, and decided to throw the rest of the movie around them. Editing this movie must have taken an insane amount of time, as each minute of action has at least 20 cuts. This is in stark contrast to a lot of Asian martial arts flicks where they tend to show fights with as few cuts as possible. The end result is basically action looking faster and more furious, but caters to the ADD and non-epileptic crowd with its continually changing points of view, slow/fast motion and excessive zooming in and out. You know there's something wrong when an action sequence CURRENTLY being shot/fought looks like a training montage. This might make some of the actors look like they can fight/shoot, but then it totally dilutes the great fights of those who can (Sammo Hung).
The story is barely there, and like another reviewer stated, any emoting is purely on the strength of the actors, whom I have seen in better movies. Since each faction had at least 5-6 main characters to figure out, they could have cut half the cast and the story would have been better for it. Instead, they rely on several flashbacks for each character at least once, 2-3 times for the more interesting ones, to tell their stories. Thank goodness for the video game style bio shots and that each person had a different specialty and/or nationality, or I simply would never get them straightened out...and this is coming from someone who knows the names and faces of more than half the cast! I was actually pleasantly surprised at Michael Biehn's performance, which added some depth to a character who isn't supposed to be sympathized with. It was also a treat to see Li Bing Bing play such a sweet character after her fabulously nasty performance as a bad gal in the recent Forbidden Kingdom (a much better movie, by the way). Maggie Q is underutilized in an almost throwaway role (I only know her as 'da sniper'), and it seems like they tried to get Sammo Hung in there more, but since there are a dozen other stories to tell, they could only do so much.
As for the good points, there are some gorgeous location shots and cinematography. There are some scenes that are nice tributes to Michael Mann's work as well, or at least reminiscent of his work. In addition, they also obviously had some kind of budget, and they do put it to good use at various locations. Although at times the MTV/video game style shots and cuts are annoying, they are professionally done and were cool the first time or ten.
In conclusion, it seems almost like a movie trailer that they decided to make feature film-length. It might be something to see once just to say you've seen it, but I'm not sure I'd be showing it to friends who've never seen it before, since there's much better fare I'd rather use my friend-time credit on...
...and in all fairness, if this was a video game I'd SO play it!
I'm giving it a generous 3/5 stars, because I do like a lot of the actors. Rent it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Decent Asian Crime Thriller
Comment: Good synergy in the film. Decent acting overall especially by Michael Biehn. Seems to run a little long but the climax is worth it. Ending is kinda cheesy but still solid
Customer Rating:
Summary: Worthless
Comment: This movie is absolutely worthless - the editing will give you epileptic shock due to its amateurish handi-cam manuevers and jump-cuts. The plot is a cliched joke, and the "action" consists of a few subpar gun battles and some trashy fighting sequences. Steer clear - Dragon Dynasty should never have picked this one up.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Boring + Bad action and fighting scenes + Ridiculous plot = Waste of money.
Comment: This is one of the worst Hong Kong movies I've ever seen.
It's boring. It contains bad action and fighting scenes. The plot is ridiculous. In short, it's a waste of money.
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