Customer Reviews

Double Dragon - (Import, All Regions)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I actually enjoyed playing Double Dragon as a kid so I waslooking forward to this movie, a bad mistake!

Set in the futurewe see two brothers (Mark Dacascos and Scott Wolf) become involved in a billionaires (Robert Patrick) plan to achieve ultimate power through a mystical medallion, the Brothers must prevent that from happening as the Double Dragon medallion holds the key to their true power and destiny.

There is plenty of Martial Arts action (Mark is particularily good at this!)and the usual special FX, sounds like it could have been good? (if only that were true! ) However... Scott Wolfs character is... obnoxious, it seemed to me he was trying too hard, he had the 'Look at me syndrome' which thankfully Mark didnt suffer from.

In my humble opinion only Mark Dacascos shone in this movie! if not for him I wouldnt hesitate in giving this a ZERO or a minus rating! However I have generously given 2 stars instead, if you do watch this movie be warned, there are better Game to movie titles available like Mortal Kombat and Wing commander (which wasnt even good! ) So think before you try!

The Double Dragon dvd has been out of print for nearly three years now. Double Dragon has always been one of those movies in the sense that people either love it or hate it. People have often bashed this movie complaining about how it doesn't relate very well to the arcade and nintendo games. While that may be true, the film definately relates to the Neo-Geo version of Double Dragon. As for the movie itself, it is definately a B-flick though I personally found it to be entertaining. Double Dragon is without question an action/comedy. Though some argue that there is more comedy than action, I say that both the action and the comedy blend well. The humor is a bit dumbed down at times mainly due to Scott Wolf's cheesy yet catchy one-liners as well as the character of Abobo getting transformed into a mutated imbecile. For those of you who are familiar with Mark Dacascos, his martial arts performance is good in this movie along with Robert Patrick's character, Alyssa Milano's and Linda Lash's good looks, and the overall setting of futuristic Los Angeles. Now onto the uncut dvd... It is important to note that despite the feature listings on this website, there are no cast & crew filmographies or any production notes to speak of. The uncut version is in full frame versus widescreen. So is the uncut version worth it? Normally I would not care about a movie including four extra mintues of added scenes though in this case the four extra mintues of added scenes are worth viewing. If you wish to view Double Dragon, decide which version you would prefer; the original widescreen version or the full frame uncut status?

This is a horribly bad movie. I was a big fan of the video game, and I wanted to see this, but when I watched it, I found out it had little to do with the game. This is worse than the mario bros. movie, which wasn't that good either. Like I said before, don't bother with this movie.

Watching this film and other video-game to movie translations makes me think that the producers intended to make this film stupid. This movie is tore up from the floor up. I can't even express, in mere words, how HORRIBLE "Double Dragon" is! It seems like the producers main goal was to piss video-game fans off. The Jimmy and Billy Lee of the game are much more buffed out and Jimmy is supposed to have blonde hair. Also, they are twin brothers as far as I know but in the movie one is 19 and the other is 17. And look at the Shadow Master. Eeeaagh! Just about everything in this movie is changed, terribly. What makes the reputation of video-game to movie translations even worse is the fact that they seem like they will never learn from their mistakes. Movies like "Street Fighter:The (live-action) Movie"(very disappointing), "Mortal Kombat:The Movie"(pretty good), "Mortal Kombat:Annihilation"(sloppy), and "Mario Brothers"(pathetic) had great potential, but all four did not prove that their potential could be fulfilled. I beleve they could have been excellent if they were made by the right people. I wouldn't be suprised if they made an even worse sequel to "Double Dragon." If anybody wants to see a martial arts movie, starring Mark Dacascos, they should check out "Drive".

I wish that I could give this movie no stars at all. Double Dragon is undoubtitly the worst movie I have ever seen. This is the first movie I really despice. It is badly acted and badly scripted. It is rotten to the core.

DOUBLE DRAGON can best be described as America's early introduction to Jackie Chan-style matrial arts movies. The two heroes (played by Mark Dacascos and Scott Wolf) are blackbelts who emerge out of fights unharmed by using there martial arts skils, but also using whatever props and tools they can get their hands on (the parking cone, for example.)

It has just enough comedy in it too. So that's how it is a Jackie Chan-style kung fu flick. It was critically trashed in it's day, and ended up being a box office ghost, but it deserved much better. Make no mistake, It is suitable for family viewing, but it also is enjoyable to martial arts fans and fans of the source video game. There's something in it for everyone.

DOUBLE DRAGON tells the story of the future in L.A. It is now called "New Angeles" after a horrible earthquake has partially submerged the city in water. Evil businessman Koga Shuko (Robert "T-1000" Patrick, who does these roles in his sleep) is seeking to get his hands on a mystical chines amulet known as the "Double Dragon". It was split into two halves, but whoever could possess and unite both halves who attain godly power. Koga already has one halve in his possesion, but the other half belongs to Satori Imada (Julia Nickson), who is the adoptive mother of martial arts expert brothers Jimmy and Billy Lee (Mark Dacascos and Scott Wolf). Koga is hot on their trail, and Jimmy and Billy join to stop Koga and save the world.

The story is one that is more than adequate enough to build a video-game-based-martial-arts-movie on, but that's just one of DOUBLE DRAGON's virtues. The movie is so crammed with action that it's almost impossible to imagine why it was so overlooked in it's day. In their first appearance onscreen, the Lee brothers establish theie martial arts credentials at a tournament, and things only go uphill from there.

Dacascos and Wolf and just as good actors as they are karate experts. They actually not only can act, but also look young enough to be playing brothers who are 17 or 18 years old. If you doubt this, then here's a little FYI. In 1994 (when DOUBLE DRAGON was released) Wolf was 26 years old, and Dacascos was 30!!! This may be the only kung fu movie Wolf has done, but not Dacascos. In fact, he recently played the bad guy in the Jet Li martial arts flick, CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE (which I plan on immediately buying.)

Julia Nickson is also very watachable, playing apparantly the only person who cares enough about the Lees to take them in. She even gets to do alittle fighting in the movie. As for Patrick, This may not go down in history next to his T2 villian, but it does in my book.

That Double Dragon medallion really is something, too. Satori's half gives "power over the body", allowing the wearer to become impervious to injury or death, just take anything and shake it right off. Koga's half gives "power over the soul", allowing the wearer to turn himself into some kind of ghost and take possesion of any human body. If I had that kind of power, I wouldn't even need to study Tae Kwon Do.

In closing, I would just like to say, DOUBLE DRAGON rules baby!!! Buy it, now!!!

OK, what's the words? "Stay away from this movie". It failed in a complete translation from the video game. The video game series was much better and much more hardcore and more realistic fighting. Fist of all, if you are going to cast a member from Party of 5 in a so called `action' movie, then you as a producer or casting person better fire yourself forever. Not retire, fire yourself. There is little martial arts for me and my fellow martial arts fans to even try to enjoy. Mark Dacascos is such a talented martial artist and this film does not let him reach his full potential (luckily for us there is the movie `Drive' - there is a god). The cover is a total sell out. The villains on the back are not all used, oh sure they are used but some are only just in the background.

Double Dragon, lots of potential, yet the Power Rangers movie is better than this.

That's sad.

Well we all have movies to laugh about....I guess...just don't bother. The animated series was better I must add.

Double Dragon is harmless enough in its cartoonish portrayl of evil vs good. If your a Mark Dacascos fan looking for a good meaty role here, this is not your movie. Mark is limited to kicks and smirks, with little emphasis on acting. All of the villians overact to the extreme. The action sequenses surprisenly are without alot of passion and artistry. This is surprising given Dacascos abilities. But then again this was early on in his movie career. The movie does entertain boys 12 and under, but for anyone older, or with more mature tastes, this movie may not do anything for you.

I bought this movie the other day just for a lil blast from the past take me back to my younger years watching. I love the old 90s cheesy movies (The Pest, Super Mario, Surf Ninjas, etc). I remember my mom renting Double Dragon for me when I was a young un' and I was scared to death of Abobo. Anyways, that is kind of the mindset you must get into before watching this movie, its just bad fun.

Movies based on martial arts video games always have a lot of trouble adapting. Thats because there really isn't a story line. If you are a fanboy then yes you probably know all the back story of every Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat character, but for the most part to the average person, it is just punch, kick, fight with no plot. I believe that is why the stories seemed forced on screen. This movie is no different. This is purely for the Dragon fans, not something you want to watch for serious entertainment.

The script is immature and the acting and characters are equally as horrible. Robert Patrick and Mark Dacascos are great actors in my opinion and they gave some boost, but Scott Wolf is just terrible. He totally ruins Billy Lee's character. I did enjoy looking at Julia Nickson. Lets just face it, there is no reason mentioning anyone else. The cast does nothing to help save the movie. The characters are all idiots, there is very little serious martial arts. Watch this with your old friends that were Double Dragon fans and appreciate how far special effects have come and have a laugh.

Do yourself a favor, if you want a dose of dragon, pick up Double Dragon: Shield of Shadow Kahn. Yes it is a cartoon, but it still goes hard, a lot more entertaining than the movie. Other than that, this is a guilty pleasure, something worth having just to show your kids what we used to think was awesome back in the day.

After the disaster that had been the Super Mario Bros. movie, "Double Dragon" had the chance to set future game-to-video adaptations on the right track. It certainly seemed simple enough: with a slew of martial arts stars available to them and a premise that was all about kicking butt, where could it go wrong? Well, let me count the ways in which this one became just another casualty of the adaptation wars...

The story: in a dystopian Los Angeles, evil billionaire Koga Shuko (Robert Patrick, Terminator 2 - Judgment Day) plans to utilize an ancient and magical artifact known as the Double Dragon to empower himself so he may dominate the city. One half is easily obtained, but the other is in the hands of karate-practicing brothers Jimmy (Mark Dacasos, Brotherhood of the Wolf) and Billy Lee (Scott Wolf, Party of Five), who must add escaping from Shuko's henchmen to their list of gang-fleeing worries.

I won't even get into how much the film's storyline and tone deviates from the video games, but I'll warn that the film's age appeal stops at 10. Think of it as "Power Rangers" without the costumes and the giant robots: Jimmy and Billy spend less time fighting than they do running and cracking bad jokes, and when they do fight, it's against slobbering gang members and a guy in the worst monster costume I've ever seen (Henry Kingi, Predator 2). While the adventure aspects of the film are decently done for any preteen audience, things like acting and script intelligence ("I just want total domination of one major American city! Is that too much to ask?!" bawls Robert Patrick) are best not sought after by those of us who know better.

In the film's defense, fight choreographer Jeff Imada (Rapid Fire) apparently took a page out of Jackie Chan's playbook and had the fights incorporate the environment more than most other American action films back then did: using a street cone as a weapon, stopping an attacker with a swinging car door, etc. In addition, Mark Dacasos' legitimate martial arts talent shows: though there's no decent one-on-one showdown that lets him shine, his skill and athleticism are apparent even before he became a big-time player. Scott Wolf, however, is less of a worker. The guy was never a martial artist to begin with and it doesn't look like he had any training for the film. Most of his moves consist of sloppy-looking kicks that any kid in front of a TV can do, shoving, and...well, running.

As an adaptation, "Double Dragon" is unfaithful, and as an action movie, it's kind of lame. Throw in Shuko's ridiculous hairstyle and the knowledge that it was directed by a man who had before (and since) only directed pop concerts and video packages (James Yukich) and you've got yourself a film that's easy to hate. Gamers, put it out of your minds - this one is lost to oblivion.