Name: Fei long zhan
Genre: Action
Released: 1976-04-24
Duration: 1 h 26 min
Rating: 6.3
Cast: Lo Lieh, Tony Liu, Nancy Yen

THE DRAGON MISSILE  Another enjoyable, fast-paced Shaw Bros. adventure

THE DRAGON MISSILE (1976) boasts a clever plot, strong cast and lots of action to make for a better-than-average Shaw Bros. martial arts adventure. Lo Lieh stars as Sima Jun, a killer working for a corrupt lord whose orders are followed without question or hesitation. When the lord (Ku Feng) suffers from a life-threatening boil on his back, he is told by the Imperial doctor that an herb called "Longevity Rattan" offers the only cure and is grown in a remote village by an herbalist named Tan. Lo is sent on a mission to get the herb and bring it back before it's too late (seven days). A jealous aide saddles Lo with six other fighters to accompany him, i.e. steal the herb when they get the chance and race back to the capital so the aide will get the credit. Lo doesn't trust the six and none of them trust each other. At one point, one of the six nearly botches the whole mission.

After a certain amount of bloodshed involving the killing of at least four innocent people, Lo heads back with the herb, but is now pursued by a male-female pair who have each lost a parent and want revenge. This pair even makes an alliance with the one female fighter among the six "accompanying" Lo, who now has eight antagonists to worry about, all while trying to keep the herb safe and block various attempted thefts. And the six fighters are at each other's throats as well. Such escalating tension makes for a steady supply of fights and confrontations, insuring plenty of action and movement throughout the 82-minute film.

Lo sports an unusual pair of weapons, Dragon Blades, that function like boomerangs which always come back to him after he hurls them. They also function like Flying Guillotines, insofar as they're used most often to behead various victims. (Director Ho Meng-hua has a couple of Flying Guillotine films to his credit.) The other characters sport some interesting weapons as well, including the female fighter, Miss Sha (Terry Liu), who has blades that extend out of her fingernails. There are lots of twists and turns, much pursuit and doubling back, and a journey that takes place mostly outdoors past a backdrop of picturesque locations. At one point, Lo is a wanted man in his own city, scurrying about in back alleys as drawings of him are posted everywhere. It all culminates in a big battle at a fishing village. If I have any complaint, it's that the final action isn't extended or intricate enough and the resolution too weak given the great build-up. Another few minutes and a few more difficult moves could easily have been added to the fight finale.

Lo is an interesting protagonist because he works for an evil nobleman and kills on his orders even when he absolutely knows it's wrong, making him a bad guy, too. A certain amount of tension is created by the question of when he's going to turn against his boss and start doing the right thing. Is he strong enough to stand on his own or will he just follow orders to the bitter end? Eventually, such decisions are made for him. This whole angle of choice and loyalty and consequences makes the drama a little more compelling than usual for this type of film. The script is by prolific Shaw Bros. house scribe Ni Kuang.

In addition to Lo Lieh, the other fighters include the always dependable Fan Mei-sheng and Norman Chu and an actress I haven't seen often enough, Terry Liu, who's better known to Hong Kong movie fans as Princess Dragon Mom from the cult classic, SUPER INFRAMAN. The two actual good guys pursuing Lo are Liu Yung (aka Tony Liu), a Shaw Bros. regular (THE CONVICT KILLER), and Nancy Yen, who's better known to kung fu fans for her roles in such Joseph Kuo classics as SEVEN GRANDMASTERS and BORN INVINCIBLE. Veteran performers Ouyang Shafei, Yang Chi-ching, and Hao Li Jen all have good parts as well. The fight choreographers are Tang Chia and Yuen Cheung-Yan.

Mandarin-language cinema across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Singapore explores historical reflection, cultural identity, and personal sacrifice, often expressed through poetic visuals and sweeping narratives. In Mainland China, this takes the form of allegory and large-scale epics that reflect on national history. Taiwan emphasizes intimate modernist realism, generational change, and the search for identity. Singapore contributes stories of migration, multiculturalism, and the negotiation of tradition in a globalized city.

The action genre features fast-paced, thrilling, and intense sequences of physical feats, combat, and excitement. The characters of these stories are involved in daring and often dangerous situations, requiring them to rely on their physical prowess, skills, and quick thinking to overcome challenges and adversaries.

An evil gang of martial artists fight for a healing elixir against a specialist that fights with boomerang blades - the Dragon Missiles!

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

See which big screen releases you can watch from the comfort of your couch.

Theatrical Releases Coming to Streaming

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Chen Kuan-Tai in The Flying Guillotine (1975)

Chen Kuan-Tai and Sheng Fu in Heroes Two (1974)

Yueh Hua and Lung Ti in Clans of Intrigue (1977)

Yueh Hua, Li Ching, and Lo Lieh in The Web of Death (1976)

The Dragon Missile

Photos10

Top Cast35

User reviews5

More like this

Related interests

Storyline

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed