Saturday, July 17, 2010

See The Film The Last Dragon

By Silvia Hewitt

The Last Dragon is a film that was produced by Motown Records in the mid eighties as a sort of a Kung Fu comedy flick. It was really meant to promote some music from the company like Oh Sheila, but the flick has actually stood the test of time as one of the all time must download movies of the eighties. It's a lot of fun, it's kind of corny, and it works as an action movie.

The movie follows a young martial artist nicknamed Bruce Leroy as he teaches the kids at the local dojo and works at his father's pizza parlor, delivering pies on foot throughout Harlem. He also tries to maintain his composure while dealing with hsi rival, Sho'Nuff, the Shogun of Harlem... Yep. Sho'Nuff... He's the Shogun of Harlem, you see.

He really is a great character. Maybe one of the all time classic comedy movie villains. He's colorful, ridiculous, short tempered and always funny. He wears visor sunglasses (You know, the ones that look like horizontal blinds), as well as shoulder pads, hakama (the baggy pants you always see in samurai films), and a top knot/Rick James kind of hair style. It's just plain hilarious watching him come on screen. He always starts with his big introductory piece, demanding that his lackeys affirm his meanness, badness and prettiness before engaging in any business.

There's a subplot that you probably... Won't take too much interest in. See, Leroy is after the heart of this girl who produces a local music show, and there's this sleazy promoter who's trying to get his girlfriend's new single played on her show. When you see the video, you'll grimace and shudder in embarrassment just for watching it, so... It's funny, but you find yourself wishing they'd just get back to the kung fu already!

But don't worry, it gets back to that soon enough when the promoter hires the meanest hombres in town to take Leroy down, culminating in a massive brawl with Leroy and his students on one side, and a gang of colorful thugs on the other, including a great big fat white guy with a gray Mr. T mohawk and a gold colored jumpsuit... Strange characters, indeed.

There are a ton of fun, corny eighties movie moments along the way, with Bruce Leroy seeking out an old Confucian master of wisdom; the guy who writes fortune cookies. When he discovers that the fortune cookie writer is actually a computer, he has a moment of zen like clarity.

Perhaps the movie might have been better without the relatively uninteresting subplot. After all, you just came for the kung fu, right? But nevertheless, it still remains a classic of its genre, and one of the few films to successfully spoof kung fu movies and honor them at the same time. It's really a lot of fun, with just enough corny eighties style goofiness to make it one of the all time classic eighties comedies.

So it's exciting, it's funny, and it has all the goofiness and colorful style you want from an eighties movie. Give it a download.

About the Author:

No comments: