Customer Reviews

Lady Dragon

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lushly photographed in exotic locations, "Lady Dragon" merits
prominent mention in the roll call of Richard Norton-Cynthia Rothrock movies, in particular, and among martial arts films in
general. The two leads demonstrate a combustible chemistry as
screen adversaries that rivals their combined magnetism when they portray allies in movies such as "Rage & Honor" and "China
O'Brien." Direction from David Worth ("Kickboxer"), a former
cinematographer, gives "Dragon" another edge over the hefty number of martial arts movies from the Nineties. Also making the
difference is Norton, who devours his role as an elegant villain
and refines it to a perfect pitch. He's a South Pacific entrepreneur whose reign of terror leads to the death of Rothrock's husband. She vows revenge and infiltrates the ivory
towers of his organization. Nascar dads will be thrown a curve
ball by the two stars' final showdown, but most audiences will relish the gender neutral fight between martial arts experts of
opposite sexes. The bare knuckles brawl, in a decidedly inelegant warehouse, delivers one of the sexiest entanglements on
film and one of the best movie fights ever. This "Lady" packs a
powerful punch!

This Lady Dragon movie is fantastic but, I loved the second one better. But in this one, Rothrock goes undercover to get close to a guy who is into bad things and she gets a job as one of his secretaries to find out more about him. She gets injured and is saved by a deaf old man and his son and revive her. She helps them out along the way but when the bad man and his secretary are on to her, they torch the old man's home to put a scare into the woman to get her to fight back....I know that this one is on DVD, but I wish whoever it was that posted it on DVD would post the second one on DVD too because it deserves attention just as much as this one got.

Lady Dragon is the blueprint that countless martial arts films are built from. The action scenes are incredible and the star, Cynthia Rothrock is a wonder to watch.

Lady Dragon was an awesome film!! The story was great and the martial arts scenes with Cynthia Rothrock were so awesome!!! If you are a Cynthia fan you have to see this film. It is really an awesome and impowering film for martial artist. You will be jumping out of your seat when you see Cynthia fight Richard Norton, That's all I'm saying so go see it!!!!!!!!!1 Cynthia's biggest fan

"Lady Dragon" is a good film title and my favorite nickname for martial arts queen Cynthia Rothrock, but it is not at all a good movie. It marks the beginning of a general descent in the quality of output in Rothrock's film career: she'd made bad movies prior to this one and would manage a couple good ones subsequently, but by large, this is where her pictures became increasingly plagued by sinking production values and her kung fu talents ceased to be showcased to their top degree.

The story: ex-federal agent Kathy Gallagher (Rothrock) swears revenge on her late husband's murderer (Richard Norton), but when a failed attempt on his life leaves her beaten, raped, and left for dead, she will need to regain her strength and study from a `wizened master (Piet Burnama, Blood Warriors) if her inevitable second attempt is to succeed.

This is the second film Rothrock shot in Indonesia, but while Angel of Fury featured comparable poor production values, it wipes the floor with this one for its action content and general enthusiasm. "Lady Dragon" isn't a slow movie, per se, but its story unfolds in such a poorly-paced manner and with such questionable dramaticism (not just the performances of the actors, but also matters like implementing an appropriate soundtrack) that it's difficult to care about the characters and why they do the things they do. The car chase near the end of the film is decent, but only one out of the five over-edited, poorly-lit hand-to-hand fights doesn't suck - namely the final showdown between longtime friends Cynthia and Richard, who apparently will never match their showdowns in Magic Crystal but arguably do better here than in Rage and Honor or Fight to Win.

The movie does offer a couple unconventional features and storyline facets that are rare in Rothrock's pictures, among them the use of expositional flashbacks, a shorts '80s style musical montage, and the fairly common martial arts movie device of the hero(ine) needing to train under a master to prepare for a fight. In retrospect, this is all kinda cool, even though it makes parts of the film feel like a minor rip-off of director David Worth's previous (and much better) film, Kickboxer. We also get a rare shot of Richard Norton's naked butt, along with a couple goofy bits like his character not being able to recognize Rothrock without her hooker wig and him amusing himself by having women fight over a ruby in a swimming pool.

Additionally, the movie has considerable all-around pacing issues with its editing: rapid-fire cuts are continually inserted throughout, just for the heck of it, long after the first few instances have gotten on your nerves. Perhaps the most unique part of the film is its inclusion of authentic Indonesian film stars in supporting parts, but unless they're performing questionably (e.g. Bella Esperance, "The Chanting 2"), they're being told not to speak at all (i.e. Burnama). All these things come together for a slightly exotic but ultimately condemnable entry into Rothrock's (and Norton's) resume, not worth owning by any but the staunchest of fans. Check out her earlier work for more satisfying results.