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TIT

Heart of Dragon (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]
(Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Emily Chu, et al / Blu-ray / R / (1985) 2023 / Arrow Films - MVD Visual)

Overview: Lifelong friends since they met as boys at Peking Opera school, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung conquered the Hong Kong film industry side-by-side in the 1970s and 1980s. One of their greatest collaborations sees the two brothers playing actual brothers for a change: 1985’s Heart of Dragon, a film that combines heart-rending drama with pulse-pounding action!

Tat (Chan) is a hotshot cop with more stresses than he can bear: if he’s not on the verge of getting beaten up on his day job, he’s looking out for his mentally handicapped brother Dodo (Hung), who needs constant supervision in case his naive, kind nature gets taken advantage of.

Tat wants nothing more than to escape his obligations and see the world; but when Dodo accidentally winds up in the line of fire, Tat must run into danger and make the ultimate sacrifice to save his brother.

Blu-ray Verdict: If there is credit due, and there is, I think it should really to large part go to Sammo Hung for directing and doing a first-rate performance as Jackie’s well-intentioned, but mentally deficient brother.

Sure, Jackie does a reasonably good job as his older brother who gives up his dreams to care for his brother, but can’t help but communicate his unhappiness to his brother, who only ends up in more trouble as a result.

More serious and emotionally driven than many of their prior films, Hung and Chan made sure not to skimp on jaw-dropping stunts and high-velocity violence while showing a broader depth to their talents than audiences had seen before.

The result is one of the jewels of 80’s Hong Kong action cinema, now restored with additional fight scenes filmed especially for the Japanese market!

For those who adore the fights scenes - and I fit that characterization - like as not you will be slightly disappointed, though there is an excellent sequence near the end. As an emotional movie, it is somewhat depressing, not the sort of feel-good movie like many of us action lovers are used to.

Sadly, the skillful Sammo Hung also does not get a real opportunity to show us his fighting capabilities. Ditto for Biao Yuen (another schoolmate) who can be a glory to watch, but who only gets a few bits and pieces in this one.

That all said, Heart of Dragon, in which the film’s tear-jerking moments are more likely to cause sporadic and hysterical fits of laughter, simply because these scenes are so over-blown with hammy acting you just cannot stop the giggles, is a movie from this genre to most definitely catch.

2K restoration from the original negative by Fortune Star
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of the 91-minute Hong Kong Theatrical Cut and the 99-minute Extended Japanese Cut via seamless branching
Original lossless Cantonese and English mono audio on both cuts, plus Mandarin on the Theatrical Cut and Cantonese with alternate score on the Extended Cut
Optional English subtitles for both cuts
Brand new commentary by Frank Djeng & FJ DeSanto on the Extended Cut
The Making of The First Mission and The First Mission: Pre-Release Event, two extended featurettes made to promote the Japanese release by Shochiku
Archive interview with star Jackie Chan
Archive interview with star Rocky Lai
Two archive interviews with director/star Sammo Hung
Archive interview with cinematographer Arthur Wong
Alternate English credits as The First Mission
Trailer gallery, including the music video trailer by Su Rui
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sam Gilbey
+ FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by Dylan Cheung and David West

www.arrowvideo.com

www.MVDvisual.com





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