The Dragon Lives Again (1977)

Excellent but underrated film

Boring

The acting in this movie is really good.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This jaw-droppingly incredible fantasy yarn is a no-holds-barred insane tale of what happens when Bruce Lee wakes up in the underworld and must fight all of his fellow famous movie stars, who have turned bad and want him to join with them. Don't let the lack of a budget put you off; while the cheap set-bound locations may be unappealing, THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN is an absolute must-see for bad movie lovers. I frequently found myself guffawing at the bizarre antics on screen and I can truly say that this movie thoroughly entertained me. The only reasoning I can see behind the plot was that whoever wrote it (if indeed it was written in advance as opposed to being made-up on the spot) was high on drugs at the time! The rather tasteless opening begins as it means to go on as Lee's corpse is wheeled into the Underworld. Once there he continues his lifetime work of being on thugs while encountering various figures from the world of film and television. Zatoichi, Popeye, James Bond, the Exorcist, the Godfather, Emmanuelle, Dracula, the Man With No Name, and the One-armed Swordsman, are all present here, alongside sleaze and nudity scenes and the like. Hilariously, whenever a character pulls off a special move, Bruce names his after his films while the blind guy makes up random titles. Highlights include the "Game of Death" killer blow, and by the time "Blind Dog Pees" came around I was just about rolling on the floor with laughter. None of the action makes much sense but it sure is fun to watch. These guys are hardly skilled kung fu practitioners but they're energetic and that's what counts.Just when you think the film is over, something new and even crazier happens. This time a ninja guy appears and conjures up a squad of mummies to destroy Bruce. When Popeye took his spinach and started beating up the bad guys, I really could not believe my eyes! Sure I say that a lot but this time it's true, I just couldn't believe the audacity of ripping off the Popeye theme tune with having a bald Chinese guy (Eric Tsang, no less) pretending to be Popeye in the Underworld (why?) and fighting killer mummies (why? why?!?). The happy ending sees Bruce being allowed to return to Earth, allowing for an extraordinarily cheesy shot of a flying dummy on a wire being propelled across a mountaintop (supposedly it's Bruce you see).Well, what can I say? This is a film for people who want to see some guy pretending to be Bruce Lee fighting other guys pretending to be other famous movie icons. Although they look nothing like their counterparts, having the famous theme tunes pop up when these guys appear was a wonderful idea and adds to the hilarious viewing experience. Music from ENTER THE DRAGON is ripped off periodically along with the real screeches and whoops that were dubbed over the real Bruce Lee in his movies. The dubbing is crazier than usual with funny overemphasised dialogue and silly accents. The acting is wooden and overplayed, although Bruce Leong goes so over-the-top in copying the real Bruce Lee's mannerisms that you can't help but enjoy his performance. The martial arts battles are poorly-staged and nothing to write home about but they do keep the film moving. Forget about the poor production values and enjoy the craziness of the plot and the bizarre, unique actions occurring on screen. THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN is unmissable entertainment, and one of the lowest-budgeted/biggest imagination combinations in a film that I've ever seen.

If you are reading this, then by now you probably have a good idea of the plot. So I won't spend time explaining it. This Bruceploitation is over the top stupid. It is horribly dubbed, and often doesn't explain whats going on or what is motivating the characters. You know, what dialog is usually used for. The action scenes are hilarious, as you can clearly tell that the hits never connect. The baddies are a hoot too, most of the time they just circle around Bruce while one of their friends goes one-on-one with him and gets beaten to a pulp. This movie is great for the so-bad-its-good crowd. It is not that sleazy, you get some nudity and a sex scene, but no gore. If you can find a copy then you should definitely get it. The only reason it doesn't get a 10 is the fight scenes are often too drawn out.

After his earthly dissolution, the legendary Bruce Lee awakens in the underworld where he finds himself up against such movie icons as Clint Eastwood, James Bond, Emanuelle, the Godfather and even Dracula who have together hatched a sinister plot to overthrow the king of this afterlife realm.Jesus H Christ! - What a story eh?!!! In fact how the Oscar community managed to overlook this upon it's time of release is frankly beyond me! Let's be honest here, for sheer hokey absurdity, you're simply not likely to find many other flicks out there as utterly demented as this one that's for sure!Chock full of cool martial arts scenes, bad acting aplenty, poor dubbing/voice over work, nudity and even Popeye(!!!) there's a whole lot to enjoy in this trash classic.OK, so it does drag a bit in parts but the sheer stupidity of it all will keep you watching in morbid curiosity until the very end whereupon you will have either reached true spiritual enlightenment or else died of laughter!

This movie was purchased by a friend of mine and myself as a 4-movie set. Long story short, we only got two. But one of them was this. The money was well spent.If you see a 2 DVD set entitled 'Return of the Dragon Pack,' I highly recommend it for bad movie buffs and/or kung fu movie buffs with a light-hearted nature.The kung fu is good, just highly over planned and wrapped around hilariously stupid 'special moves.' To see Bruce Liang punch a guy in the balls after shouting 'Fist of Fury' is worth millions.Some of the plot decisions- well, all of them, are a bit strange. James Bond isn't that great. Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman is far more capable against 'Bruce Lee.' To put it simply, if you throw all your logic out the window- i.e. Dracula walking around in the sun, you'll have a great time. And if you want to convince your friends, it has pointless and random female nudity too.