Way of the Black Dragon (1978)

People are voting emotionally.

Just what I expected

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

WAY OF THE BLACK DRAGON is an action vehicle for black superstar Ron Van Clief, a man second only to Jim Kelly in terms of '70s-era macho toughness. However, he only really appears in the action-focused second half of the movie. The first half of this film is a pure exploitation picture as it depicts innocent young girls being forced into prostitution and also acting as drug mules for a heroin-pushing criminal gang. There's a lot of degradation and physical violence involved in the story. In the second half, Van Clief and his buddy Carter Wong kick a lot of criminal backside, and there are various bit parts for a ton of familiar faces including Hsiao Hou, Hoi Mang, and Fat Chung. If the first half had been more like the second, I would have really got a kick out of this.

I watched a version of this movie which runs only 75 minutes, nevertheless it has to be said the first half hour is slow and terribly boring. Gangsters are making money with drugs and prostitutes - unsuspecting girls whom they abduct from Bangkok. The story is lame and the fighting action begins only when Ron van Clief finally enters the movie. He plays an Interpol agent in Thailand, wears a T-shirt saying "It's better in the Bahamas" and starts kicking and hitting all the baddies as soon as he's on the screen - sigh of relief from all who did not fall asleep until then. With a boat chase, co-star Carter Wong and increasingly violent fights, "Way of the Black Dragon" turns into a passable cheap flick, but nothing you'll still remember next month.

Allison Wong (the lovely Cecilia Wong) gets abducted by a nasty gang of drug smugglers who have a foul sideline business involving white slavery and prostitution. Honest worker Chen (the likable Carter Wong), stalwart Interpol agent Bill Eaton (a solid and engaging Ron Van Clief), and Allison's brother (the brawny Hsaio Ho) join forces to take on the nefarious crime syndicate. Clumsily directed by Billy Chan, with rough, unpolished cinematography by Lo Wan Shing, a mean, sleazy tone, an initially poky pace that doesn't pick up until halfway into the movie when Van Clief finally appears at the 42 minute mark, a sloppy, meandering story, cruddy dubbing (most of the Asian characters sport totally inappropriate British accents!), a funky groovy score by Eddie Wang, laughably lousy dialogue, plenty of thrilling fight scenes (the action-loaded climax is especially stirring), and ridiculously broad and over-the-top women-beating cackling villains, this choice chunky of blithely low-rent martial arts trash overall rates as a real cheesy hoot.

I'm sort of wondering why I am bothering writing this review, because I have a feeling no one will read it. Anyway, this is ONE TERRIBLE MOVIE! Scratchy print, awful pan and scan with constant closeups, and horrible dubbing! Crude and cheap! Lousy fights! Ron Van Clief shows talent and charisma, but he is incredibly wasted - his character doesn't appear until about half the movie is over!