Paul Magne Haakonsen
"Heart of the Dragon" is perhaps one of the more 'honest' of movies from Jackie Chan, as it is based on the action and the acting, and it doesn't have the usual slapstick comedy that we all love from him. His performance in this movie was entirely serious and I will also say that this is one of the more 'raw' and brutal of his movies. Why? Well because you get to see him shoot and kill someone, kill someone with a machete, and stab someone with a crowbar. Yeah, not the usual hit and knock-down Chan material.That being said, then it should also be said that "Heart of the Dragon" is driven by a great storyline. Sammo Hung did a great job with this storyline. It is about Tat (played by Jackie Chan) who is on the Hong Kong police force (yeah, been seen before, duh!) and he is taking care of his mentally challenged brother Dodo (played by Sammo Hung). Tat is struggling with his career and having to take care of his brother. They get tangled up in a robbery and Dodo ends up kidnapped and Tat have to hand over a captured robber in switch for his brother.What is so great about this storyline is that it is held in a very realistic sense and it is nicely told, really helping you immerse yourself into the story and get to grow with the characters and get to know them. The story is driven by the acting performances, and not the action, which is a great element here. And it should be said that both Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung do great jobs with their roles. But the supporting cast is also doing great jobs. And as an extra treat, then to us familiar with Hong Kong cinema, there is a couple of familiar faces to be seen here and there throughout the movie."Heart of the Dragon" is from 1985, and only three years later Hollywood put out "Rain Man" which seem to have a lot of elements from this movie. Coincidence? Watch the movie and make your own call on that.This movie is a great addition to any fan of Jackie Chan's DVD collection. I have always put off seeing the movie up till now, which was a mistake on my side, because this is one of Jackie's better movies, and it is nice to see him out of the usual slapstick comedy element.
Andrei Pavlov
They are: - the initial "CID vs. SWAT" extravaganza with the cheap electronic soundtrack as the background (the scenes with all that acrobatic stuff are useless here - they have guns, damn it! and the neck-breaking scene looks absurd), - the overblown eyebrows of the SWAT commander (my! did they really have to do it?), - the proper fights, which were moved to "deleted scenes" section (even if they could not add anything good to the story, they should have been included into the movie, while they are great), - too little real violence (after reading about the brutality of the final showdown I was disappointed by the actual grand finale of the movie, while even the notorious "blade-into-the-neck" scene is too swift and too dark)... well, this is about it.All the rest is great. I really enjoy the story and the performance of Mr Sammo Hung. A very neat job.I can give it a definite 7 out of 10 (I wish the movie-making team could stay away from the comedy elements during this production - it would be, quite possibly, my favourite Jackie Chan film then). Thanks for attention.
gridoon
The first half of "Heart of Dragon" is essentially a tearjerker (with occasional light moments): Jackie Chan is a lot more serious than usual, and Sammo Hung gives an un-self-conscious and honest performance as the mentally handicapped Dodo - he is forced to do the most ridiculous things and does them without any apparent embarrassment. The second half is a rather complicated crime caper, and the stunts, fights and chases are top-notch. Sammo doesn't get to do any fighting, of course, though he takes quite a few brutal hits. Jackie is in great form, and in typical HK-cinema tradition the villains can certainly hold their own in a fight. The total result is one of Jackie's best films, because the comic, the dramatic and the action-packed moments all work on their own terms. (***)
himboy32
Heart Of Dragon tells the story of Hong Kong SWAT officer Tat Fung who must juggle a career, a girlfriend and looking after his older brother Do-Do who is mentally retarded. Tat feels he is beginning to lose touch with himself so decides to join the navy, but before he can do that he must straighten things out with both his girlfriend and his big brother.Let me begin by saying this has to be the best performance in Jackie's prolific career,this is the film which made me take him seriously as an actor. It is such a shame this wasn't a big hit when it first came out.Jackie and Sammo are the best actors in the film. Sammo plays his character with such depth and sensitivity,while Jackie does excellently as the frustrated Tat.I thought I'd never cry at a Jackie Chan movie but I was wrong. One scene which got me misty eyed was a scene when Do-Do's tutor begins to emotionally abuse him,while Tat listens to what is going on from outside the room.Another scene is when Tat finally lets his true feelings for Do-Do come forward anger may be the most raw of human emotions but to let yourself explode like that is very difficult to pull off, but thats not the point I began to cry, it was when Tat goes to his room and Do-Do follows him and apologises for the way he is, I mean wow, talk about emotionally heavy.Moving on from the emotional side of the film and commenting on the action, this has very little action in it until towards the end which I have to say has one of the best fights in Jackie's career in which he takes on the amazing and brilliant Dick Wei in a one on one brutal marial arts fight. This has to be Jackie at his fastest, they exchange the moves with such quickness I had to go back and watch the fight again once it was over.I urge any Jackie Chan or Sammo Hung fan who has not yet seen the film to go out and get the DVD you do not know what you are missing.
AD
