Lady Dragon

'Lady Dragon' is a cheap, and grimy Indonesian martial arts action vehicle that can pack a punch. It's a type of story that's been done over and over again, but I'll give it a pass since its headlined by the charismatic Cynthia Rothrock. And we get a true showcase of her bruising skills.

Driven by revenge after the death of her husband during their wedding, she seeks to kill the man who she believes is responsible. No other than Richard Norton. Gleefully in hot headed bad guy persona. In a failed gung-ho attempt to kill him, she finds herself left for dead in the forest. Where she's found by an elderly, mute man and his grandson. She's brought back to health, and begins training to repair her broken spirit before returning to exact her vengeance. But with a little thought behind it.

Predictable story threads aside, it moves quickly and you get what you're looking for with the high energy, and grounded fight stunts accompanied by pounding drums, wailing guitars. It's at it peak during the Rothrock and Norton final showdown. And throw in a destructively chaotic vehicle chase and Rothrock packing a rocket launcher to round it off. Also starring a sleepy looking Robert Ginty and directed by David Worth (which had some similarities to his film 'Kickboxer' starring Van Damme).

I am under the impression that in most of the films they have made together, Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton are partners; "Lady Dragon" twists that situation around - this time they are opponents. And they are both at the peak of their physical powers: Cynthia looks amazingly flexible, and her acting is better than usual as well, and Richard is just highly enjoyable as the villain (after setting a man on fire, he says to his henchmen: "Don't just stand there. Put him out before he ruins the lawn!"). The story is just a standard revenge tale - I think the main "inspiration" here was Jean-Claude Van Damme's "Kickboxer". There is also a kung-fu kid, a sensuous mistress for Norton, a wise old Oriental master (of course!), and a wild cars-vs.-motorcycle chase. "Lady Dragon" is no masterpiece, but for low-budget American / Indonesian martial-arts fare, it's above-average. (**1/2)

Cheap action that derives from Indonesia, but don't expect anything like THE RAID here; this is a strict programmer from the early 1990s that feels akin in quality to either the BLOODSPORT or KICKBOXER sequels. Cynthia Rothrock plays a high-kicking fighter left for dead by some bad guys, so she has to undergo the usual routine training before tracking them down to get revenge on them. There's a small role for '80s stalwart Robert Ginty as one of her contacts, but all eyes are on Richard Norton as another of his impeccably tough, swaggering villains; I just wish he had a bit more screen time. The action is acceptable but like the rest of the film, instantly forgettable.

One of the better Rothrock action films that feels a lot like a knock-off of Kickboxer. I may not be a fan of the original Kickboxer, but Rothrock brings a lot of great charm to this film as she sets out to avenge the murder of her spouse (a typical plot point in most of these '90s action films). This film gets a lot of mileage out of Rothrock and will seem better if you're a fan of her films, especially when she pretty much plays the same character in every film she's in. The fight sequences are always dependable and your overall enjoyment will be due to whether or not your are a fan of not just Rothrock but old school martial arts '90s films.

This movie is fine, there really isn't much action, but a lot of conversations that would never happen in real life. Of course what happens is not something that would happen in real life, at least not the way it is depicted here. Miss Rothrock keeps getting her ass kicked, I don't think I have ever seen a martial artist get beaten so many times, it's a wonder that she didn't have a bunch of broken bones and permanent bruises. I used to love watching Miss Rothrock do her thing, but as I am re-visiting her filmography I find it a little disappointing. But the biggest complaint I have is that the Tubi version that I watched has a full 20 minutes taken out, especially the climatic fight scene at the end, so if you want to watch it don't watch on Tubi.