Dragon Lord (1983)

Movie: 5/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: .5/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Dragon Lord is one of Jackie Chan's earlier films where he really shows off his abilities as a stunt actor. Jackie plays Dragon, a young man who ends up fighting his best bud Cowboy but is called Mars throughout the film. Through their fighting, we realize that Mars isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed as they clown around and Mars comes close to killing him numerous times. After putting their differences aside, the duo go quail hunting and end up discovering a sinister plot by a crime lord who wants to steals China's classic treasures.

While story and plot might be minimum for an hour and a half, what makes up for this film is the fact that Jackie is kicking butt. A lot of stunt scenes. Especially in the grand final fight in which Dragon and Cowboy fight the Big Boss. That fight was brutal and hilarious at the same time. Jackie really shines as he shows his abilities. And for that, I give the film a 5/5.

Video: 3/5

Presented in 1080p with a 2.35:1 transfer, Echo Bridge has given this film a good transfer. It's not perfect and it shows. Is it high definition? Yes and it is not a crappy upscale of an SD master that Fortune Star has provided to Jackie Chan with their releases. Print damage is constant, however, it is not totally distracting. Colors also go off here and there, but, it's more or less towards the end whenever it cuts to different angles and shots in scenes. Overall, I give this a 3/5.

Audio: 5/5

Despite only being the English dub presented in DTS-HD MA 2.0, the track is nice. It's sad that the original Chinese audio is not present on the disc, let alone the full cut of the film. The audio is nice and clear. I cannot complain about this presentation, even if it's just an English dub track. 5/5.

Extras: .5/5

Despite being listed as a "Theatrical Trailer", it's a thirty-two second video spot that you would see on a Miramax/Dimension/Touchstone/Disney/etc VHS from back in the day. Extras get a dismal .5/5.

Overall: 3.5/5

Despite this is SOB abomination edit conducted by Harvey Weinstein, I can recommend it for the price. Echo Bridge did a good job on this release. It's just a shame that they couldn't secure the original Chinese version. You can get this for $6 at Best Buy. For that price, you cannot beat it. 3.5/5.