To me, this movie is perfection.

So much average

Pretty Good

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

In a departure from Jackie Chan's formulaic action-thrillers of the 1980s, HEART OF THE DRAGON sees Chan and close friend Sammo Hung bonding together as brothers in a tear-jerking family drama filled with emotional conflict, strong acting, and characters that tend to grip you more than usual. In fact this is more of a Sammo Hung film, with Jackie playing a secondary character, and the crime aspects of the story - involving a gang of criminals chasing after their stash of stolen jewels - only appear later on. Sammo Hung is in his element with both direction and starring in the tale as a mentally retarded man of thirty, who has the mental powers of a young child and would rather play with his toys than get a real job. Much of the film follows Hung's various misadventures as he finds himself used, abused and misunderstood by a variety of restaurant owners, prospective employers, and criminal friends, and be warned that quite often tears are flowing freely in this film; there is little comedy but instead lots of sentimentality and drama, all put across pretty well.Chan is also forced to raise his ante to match Hung's acting, and puts in a nice turn as the protective brother who struggles to keep his sibling under control, whilst also juggling important police cases and a doting girlfriend. The action sequences, when they do appear, are as well choreographed as always and include a few martial arts fights and a good car chase. The big action set-piece occurs at the finale, in which Chan and his buddies infiltrate an abandoned warehouse to save his brother, who has been kidnapped by murderous criminals. The ensuing martial arts action (more violent than usual) is fast, frenetic and a real treat for the action fan, a nice payoff for all of the slow-burning scenes we sat through earlier. Things culminate with an explosive and imaginative stunt involving a dozen stuntmen, which I have never seen done on screen before. Although action fans may find this hard going due to the lack of kung fu fighting on display, the depth of characterisation and themes of brotherly love and loyalty make this a bit of a treat for serious Chan fans; definitely worth checking out in any case. Oh, and as is usually the case with a Sammo Hung film of the 1980s, the cast is absolutely studded with famous faces: Phillip Ko, Yuen Wah, Lam Ching-Ying, Hoi Meng, James Tien, Fat Chung, and dozens of others continually appear.

"Heart of the Dragon" is perhaps one of the more 'honest' of movies from Jackie Chan, as it is based on the action and the acting, and it doesn't have the usual slapstick comedy that we all love from him. His performance in this movie was entirely serious and I will also say that this is one of the more 'raw' and brutal of his movies. Why? Well because you get to see him shoot and kill someone, kill someone with a machete, and stab someone with a crowbar. Yeah, not the usual hit and knock-down Chan material.That being said, then it should also be said that "Heart of the Dragon" is driven by a great storyline. Sammo Hung did a great job with this storyline. It is about Tat (played by Jackie Chan) who is on the Hong Kong police force (yeah, been seen before, duh!) and he is taking care of his mentally challenged brother Dodo (played by Sammo Hung). Tat is struggling with his career and having to take care of his brother. They get tangled up in a robbery and Dodo ends up kidnapped and Tat have to hand over a captured robber in switch for his brother.What is so great about this storyline is that it is held in a very realistic sense and it is nicely told, really helping you immerse yourself into the story and get to grow with the characters and get to know them. The story is driven by the acting performances, and not the action, which is a great element here. And it should be said that both Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung do great jobs with their roles. But the supporting cast is also doing great jobs. And as an extra treat, then to us familiar with Hong Kong cinema, there is a couple of familiar faces to be seen here and there throughout the movie."Heart of the Dragon" is from 1985, and only three years later Hollywood put out "Rain Man" which seem to have a lot of elements from this movie. Coincidence? Watch the movie and make your own call on that.This movie is a great addition to any fan of Jackie Chan's DVD collection. I have always put off seeing the movie up till now, which was a mistake on my side, because this is one of Jackie's better movies, and it is nice to see him out of the usual slapstick comedy element.

First of all, Yuen Biao is not starring in this one as someone commented earlier. It's Mang Hoi who undoubtedly has strong resemblance to Biao and has also remarkable fighting skills. Yuen Biao however was the action director for this movie which is quite recognizable. I want to delve into the action part of this movie mainly. Let's face it: This being a Jackie Film you actually watch it for the action content predominantly although this one had a brilliant and dramatic story as well. As said earlier, this film has 2 additional fight scenes. It's a pity they were taken out (at least for someone like me who cries out for good old 80s HK action) because they are just awesome all the way through! We see Jackie take on Lau Kar Wing in a hospital and what they show us is just breathtaking, brutal and fast-paced action with great rhythm and choreography. For those who don't know Lau Kar Wing: Being the brother of the grand Lau Kar Leung he was one of the leading HK-action guys showing absolutely skillful action sequences in his earlier old school Kung Fu flicks. "Odd Couple" or "Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon", to name a few. Well, you actually see him in a LOT of HK action movies, just that nobody really recognizes him... Anyway, he and Jackie go at each other in marvelous hand-to hand combat in this fight and it's just too bad it was cut out for story reasons. The other cut out action scene is a brawl on a parking lot involving Jackie, Mang Hoi, Yuen Wah Lee Hoi San, Fong Hak On and a few other guys I just can't remember quite well. Awesome hand work with some nice stunts. Hoi San is in good shape also. Okay, the end-fight gives a hint about how good Jackie once was. In fact, Jackie does not do all of his stunts himself. Yes, he does the big ones himself, the "clockwork tower fall" in Projec A, the Police Story stuff etc. Otherwise, all we know about Jackie, our whole image of him would just shatter. But the minor stunts, some tumbling and falls etc. are in fact often done by stunt doubles. That's pretty common in every HK action flick. Yuen Biao was one of the most skillful people out there, that's why he doubled sooo many action stars, even Jackie in Drunken Master 1. Now, in Heart of Dragon (HoD) Jackie does almost everything himself. I would normally have doubted to see Jackie do a wall-flip. But in this end-fight, it's 100% him doing this stunt. Gorgeous! He moves better than ever, faster as in any other of his movies. Let's not forget about Dick Wei, the all-time big villain who is in top-notch shape in HoD! His kicks look totally smooth unlike in other movies that he isn't quite as good as in HoD! The camera-work and editing is finger-lickingly brilliant! I cannot imagine a fight to be edited and shot in a better way in order to achieve the end-fight's intensity and toughness. Everything looks truly dynamic and super slick! I wouldn't wonder if Sammo had his hands on the action directing issues as well...the fight looks 'very' Sammo style. Big nods go to Meng Hoi, Chin Kar Lok, Yuen Wah, Lee Hoi San, Chung Fat, Philip Ko and a few others for their additional great action sequences.In conclusion I want to say that HoD is my favourite Jackie movie. I have seen it many times already and the action never loses its powerful impact. Go get this masterpiece if you haven't seen it! But in case you cannot appreciate real HK action it'd be a shame to have you watch it...

In this atypical movie starring Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, Jackie stars as Tad, a former SWAT member turned CID officer. He has a steady job and a girlfriend, but he is forced to reconsider the golden opportunity of becoming a sailor on a cruise ship, for his older brother Dodo (Hung) is mentally retarded and acts like someone about a third of his age (even his friends are little boys). Dodo tries desperately to become more adult, even trying to get a job, but is either rejected or humiliated. Further problems arise when Dodo gets entangled in a jewellery heist...Action fans beware. This is NOT really an action movie at all (although it does have a couple of scraps), it's a heart-wrenching drama in which Jackie jettisons his usual happy-go-lucky action persona. There are some truly tear-jerking moments as the relationship between Tad and Dodo becomes more strained the more trouble the latter gets into, and Sammo Hung truly deserves acclaim for his performance as the child trapped in a 29-year-old body, especially as he gets no chances to fight whatsoever. The scene where, after a heated argument between Tad and one of his friends (where Tad blurts out some cutting questions in the presence of Dodo such as 'What would you do if you had a brother like him?' before admitting to being cold-blooded and retreating into his bedroom), Dodo goes into Tad's room, finds him on the bed shedding tears, begs him not to be angry, and both brothers hug each other tearfully, is one of the most memorable parts of the movie.Even though there's little action, what's there is good, particularly at the end where Tad is on a rescue mission. The action, choreographed by Yuen Biao, is among the best Jackie has done, with him doing all manner of punches, kicks, and even a backwards flip off a pillar (a bit like Keanu Reeves does in the training session with Laurence Fishburne in The Matrix, but being an early 1980's Hong Kong movie there was no need for wires, thus making it even more impressive). Jackie also gets to fight against then-Hong Kong regular nemesis Dick Wei (best known as Sanpao, the pirate leader in Project A) in a blistering exchange of kicks and punches. Don't expect a light-hearted battle, because this is more rough-and-tumble than Chan fans may be used to.In fact, the whole movie should be praised for carrying off such a subject in the commendable way shown here. Jackie turns in a fine acting performance (which is not surprising since he learned acting at Peking Opera School as well as the trademark flips and martial artistry his other movies have displayed), and his character even gets to kiss his girlfriend intimately, which, as Chan fans know, is something not often seen at this time due to the reactions it allegedly provoked among female fans.I have seen both the dubbed version and the subtitled version. I'd definitely recommend the latter; while the dubbing in the former is not the worst I've heard, it lacks the intensity of the original Cantonese track.Look out for appearances from Wu Ma, Dennis Chan (he played a character who trained Jean-Claude Van Damme's character in 'Kickboxer') and the sadly-now-departed wonder that is Lam Ching-Ying.Definitely worth a look if you're into Chan and want something a little different (OK, a LOT different).