Verdict
Summary
A simple, easy to follow action film with an uncharacteristically heroic Palace in the lead role, Kill a Dragon has some nice fisticuff fight scenes with Palace throwing guys around like sacks of potatoes, but it ends up feeling a little thin on the bone to be a classic.
Plot:
A mercenary in Hong Kong joins some freedom fighters against a despot.
Review:
Three Chinese men desperate for help stumble into a houseboat while they’re running for their lives against a pack of goons trying to kill them. They wake up Rick Masters (Jack Palance in great shape) and his supple bedmate, and it’s his birthday, no less! Masters is perturbed, but even more so when the goons also bust into his house, looking for the three bumbling guys trying to find safety. Masters cracks some skulls and this greatly impresses the three guys, and as recompense, they offer him a job: Join their cause against a despot named Nico Patrai (Fernando Lamas) who is trying to run their people off a small island. The job is to transport crates full of nitroglycerin to fight against Patrai, and the payout is pretty big, but first Masters has to recruit one of his own guys, a tired solider of fortune working at a backwater bar in Hong Kong. Once Masters has a team he can work with, they go to work for the humble villagers and go up against Patrai and his army.
A simple, easy to follow action film with an uncharacteristically heroic Palace in the lead role, Kill a Dragon has some nice fisticuff fight scenes with Palace throwing guys around like sacks of potatoes, but it ends up feeling a little thin on the bone to be a classic. It runs a svelte 91 minutes and has a bit of anti climactic ending (involving some explosions out at sea), but it’s still fun watching a charismatic Palace playing the good guy for a rare change. Director Michael Moore (not that Michael Moore) does an adequate job capturing the local scenery in Hong Kong, while giving the film some much needed energy.
Kino Lorber recently released a Blu-ray edition of Kill a Dragon, and it’s a nice upgrade from the MOD DVD that MGM released some years back. The transfer is pretty solid, and the trailer is the only special feature on the disc. It’s affordably priced to own.
