Average
Summary
A spoof of the kung fu genre with lots of pop culture references (James Bond, Roger Moore, Superman, Batman, and Midnight Express are all name checked) set in an indeterminate time period with both ancient and modern fashion sensibilities, Fearless Dragons is one big goof with some wacky fight scenes, slapstick comedy, and a plot that might make sense if you pay really close attention, but honestly we just watch these types of movies for the fights, and it’s got plenty of those.
Plot: Two con artists are framed for stealing some loot, and they try to clear their names … and steal the loot.
Review: Two dingbat con artists (played by Phillip Ko and Bryan Leung) are travelling across the country on foot (and using some kind of wheelbarrow for speediness) when they encounter a small convoy of folks who are transporting (on foot) some loot that has been designated as charity funds for less fortunate villagers. All of a sudden some brigands spring upon the convoy, hijack the loot, and split, but the two guys just minding their business are unfairly blamed for the theft, putting their (admittedly, less than stellar) reputations at risk. They make it to the nearest village where they hide out and do their best to be discreet with their petty thefts (pickpocketing is their specialty), but they incur the wrath of the small time syndicate and their henchmen who are behind the heist of the loot they’ve been blamed for. It should also be noted that the coins that were stolen were counterfeit all along, so the entire fracas was meant to root out some specific bad guys, namely a kung fu master in disguise as a crippled old man. The two con artists end up jailed (look for a very conspicuous reference to the harrowing film Midnight Express, complete with a straight rip of Giorgio Moroder’s theme music), but they escape and run afoul of “Golden Jaws,” the brother of “Steel Jaws” from the James Bond movies, and have to outwit him because the guy is a lumbering giant with gold chompers that rip through swords and doors. There’s a final chop sockie duel with the elderly handicapped imposter.
A spoof of the kung fu genre with lots of pop culture references (James Bond, Roger Moore, Superman, Batman, and Midnight Express are all name checked) set in an indeterminate time period with both ancient and modern fashion sensibilities, Fearless Dragons is one big goof with some wacky fight scenes, slapstick comedy, and a plot that might make sense if you pay really close attention, but honestly we just watch these types of movies for the fights, and it’s got plenty of those. Ko and Leung make a good comedic tag team, and fans of the genre might get a literal kick out of this one. Lei Chiu directed.
Severin brings Fearless Dragons to Blu-ray for the first time in a transfer that comes from the only surviving elements, scanned in 4K, and there’s a disclaimer at the start informing the viewer that the elements were literally falling apart and degraded, making this transfer the best it can possibly be under the circumstances. I can’t complain. There’s also an audio commentary by Michael Worth and Frank Djeng, the co-producers of the documentary about the “clones of Bruce Lee,” plus an interview with the director of this film, as well as an interview with co-star Ko, and the trailer.