The defector

In "Dragon Fight", one of his earliest and least-seen films, Jet Li is part of a Chinese team that comes to San Francisco for a martial-arts exhibition. However, after the show one of his partners (played by Dick Wei) decides that he doesn't want to go back to his country, and during his getaway he accidentally kills a cop. Jet is wrongly accused of the crime, gets arrested, escapes and finds refuge in the home of a guy who had seen and admired him in the show, while Dick becomes a well-paid assassin in the service of a gangster. Through a few too many coincidences, the paths of these two former friends cross again...

Because so few people have seen "Dragon Fight" (it hasn't even been released on DVD yet!), there is a temptation to say that it's a "hidden treasure" in Jet Li's filmography. Well, it isn't. It is a rather unremarkable movie. But what is remarkable about it is some of the fighting, which is refreshingly realistic (the word "refreshingly" goes for those who, like me, hate flying-fu). Jet Li is at his most youthful, handsome and likable, but "Dragon Fight" is almost as much Dick Wei's film as it is Jet's. This is the only time they worked together on a film, and their final showdown is definitely worth waiting for. (**1/2)

This is a Hong Kong action drama movie starring Jet Li as a martial artist from China who performs a Kung-Fu in America. He stirs trouble when he decides to defect and stay in America. Though I don't remember much from this film, I do remember it is full of dry humor courtesy of Stephen Chow, which is what the film sorely needed, and lots of drama and action from Li. Just him playing a martial artist in a foreign land, trying to make ends meet, is pretty suspenseful.

However, the plot is somewhat blurry and all you really get are violent scenes after the other that are way overkill. You don't see Stephen Chow and Jet Li on screen together often, so, it is a rare film nonetheless. But, not one of the better action movies from HK I've seen.

Grade D+

I stumbled upon the 1989 Hong Kong martial arts action movie "Lung Joi Tin Aai" (aka "Dragon Fight") by random chance here in 2022. I have never seen or heard about this movie before. And seeing that the movie had both Jet Li and Stephen Chow on the cast list was sufficient to make me want to watch it.

"Lung Joi Tin Aai" is an archetypical late 1980s Hong Kong action movie, for better or worse. So if you are a fan of that era and genre, then you know what you are getting here.

The storyline in "Lung Joi Tin Aai", as written by James Yuen and Sally Nichols, is pretty straight forward, if not actually a bit generic. But it does work out well enough, given the time that the movie was made. This is not a movie that will challenge you intellectually; nay, you just lean back in the seat and munch on your snacks while watching the action. I will say, however, that the storyline was entertaining enough actually.

There is a good amount of action and martial arts throughout the course of the movie, and it is nicely choreographed and executed on the screen. Keep in mind that Stephen Chow is not really participating in the fight scenes here, just so you don't get disappointed. Something that is also archetypical for a Hong Kong action movie here is the sound effects during the fights. Sure, the sounds are awful and over the top, but it is just something that you are accustomed to if you've seen your share of these types of action movies.

And while the movie is taking place in San Francisco, I found it odd that the American people in the movie seemed to have been dubbed, and poorly dubbed at well. It was just downright laughably stupid. And it was toe-curling to listen to.

"Lung Joi Tin Aai" does have a good cast ensemble. I didn't know that Jet Li and Stephen Chow had made a movie together, but it sure was enjoyable to watch them on the screen. The movie also has Dick Wei on the cast list in a role that seemed to have been tailored for him, as he was just excellent in that role and character.

All in all, then "Lung Joi Tin Aai" is an enjoyable and watchable older martial arts action movie. This is definitely something for fans of the Hong Kong martial arts genre.

My rating of "Lung Joi Tin Aai" lands on a six out of ten stars.

I found this movie particularly interesting from a cultural perspective. It was filmed by people from Hong Kong, in San Francisco, for an Asian audience, and it provides a fairly interesting view of what Asian capitalist political separatists think America is like. The action is quite good, with a surprising amount of plot for the genre. (It even makes sense!) And of course it stars Jet Li, who it goes without saying makes Jackie Chan look like Mr. Yunioshi.

This is a fairly old movie, I just recently saw it. I have to admit there's some nostalgia on my part to all the 80's scenery, movie style, and cheesy-ness.

This is an action film. The story is basic with unlikely events/plot holes, but serves the purpose for the action and fights to take place. However this should be no surprise; this is how action films generally are.

The fights were not the best I've seen, but they're pretty good; mostly gritty and realistic type fight scenes. I was a bit surprised because I thought this style only became popular much later, when martial arts became a common element in American action films. For example some of "Tiger"'s fights like the one where he choked the guy to kill him as opposed to using some sort of fancy looking kung-fu technique. Because of that to me some of the choreography actually look sort of modern.

Although I have to admit I was rooting for Tiger the whole time. Jet Li's character was too goody-two-shoe.