Le dernier des dragons

There are lots of people out there who cannot appreciate a 'bad movie'. When the plot is thinner the air at the top of Mt. Everest and reality doesn't affect the physics/physiology (i.e. kicks that send people dozens of feet and recovering from being shot in a day) then you have a 'bad movie'. This was a good 'bad movie' in that if you can get past the plot problems and cliches, it is a very enjoyable movie.

Oh, and if you are the type of person who notices (and are annoyed by) things like the ruling people being asian (the general and princess) and everyone else being white, or the fact that injuries heal miraculously, then you probably want to steer clear. But if you can rise about such things (or better yet laugh at them) then you will enjoy this movie.

This is a moderately entertaining action film starring Dolph Lundgren as a mercenary in the post-apocalyptic future who goes against his mentor, an evil emperor, and teams up with the rebels. The film could have been better but it is saved by some spectacular fight scenes and stunts. Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa (who was also the bad guy in Dolph's 1991 movie Showdown In Little Tokyo) is a great villain, he is very believable and very menacing as the emperor Reuchang. This film is Dolph back to what he does best, it is full of machine gun battles, and Dolph kicking ass the whole way through the movie. Rachel Shane is good as the princess, and in the movie she is a mean fighter too. Not a very believable movie, but then hardly any of these type of movies are, and it is a Dolph movie. I would recommend it to action fans and Dolph fans alike, who will definitely get a kick out of it. This movie was meant to have a proper release in the US but for some reason it never did and instead got a cinema release elsewhere before it came out in the States. Overall, a great action movie, and a fine return to form for Dolph.

In a place where the past and future meet, Dolph will make one of his strangest movies yet. 'Bridge of Dragons' is the closest thing to a fairy tale that Dolph Lundgren is ever going to do. A fairy tale that involves more wasted bullets than John Woo could ever dream of, but a fairy tale none the less.

In a land where time where the past and future are apparently one, the evil General Ruechang (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) rules with an iron fist. The King has been dead for some time, but Ruechang is plotting to consolidate his power by marrying Princess Halo (Rachel Shane), allowing him to sit on the throne. Enter Warchild (Dolph), Ruechang's best soldier. When Princess Halo ditches the wedding in a bid to join the rebels, Warchild is sent in pursuit. However, Warchild has a conscience attack, and it may not quite be what Ruechang was expecting.

'Bridge of Dragons' is great fun if you like Dolph and cheese. The movie cheese, not the food cheese. In case you were not instantly able to tell that Ruechang is evil, he conveniently has the number 666 stuck on his helicopters and jeeps, for no apparent reason. On the other hand, the name Princess Halo pretty much ensures her good-guy status, and this fairy tale world gets crazier. We have Asian rulers, Scottish bartenders, and Dolph. Princess Halo's martial arts abilities are matched only by Warchild's and Ruechang's, without explanation of course. Thanks to a crazy past / future time combination, we get to see evil guys trading horses for women, only to have Dolph shoot them and drive off in a four-wheel drive. Interesting. And a princess joining the rebel alliance? Inconceivable!

'Bridge of Dragons' is an action B-movie at its most b-ness. We have a world in which everyone dies an acrobatic death, sometimes getting more acrobatic as the deaths pile up. Dolph does beat up and shoot many people, but leaves a few for Tagawa, Chow, and Gary Hudson. The action scenes are exciting, even if you can plainly see stunt men waiting for their cue to jump from the impending explosion. Awesome.

Don't be fooled by the cover. "The directorial style of John Woo" actually refers to the style of this film's director, Isaac Florentine. You can be excused for never having heard of him, as he seems to direct only action b-movies and episodes of 'Power Rangers'. Nor is 'Bridge of Dragons' Dolph's finest hour, as the package claims. It's like a fairy-tale version of 'Men of War' (which nearly is Dolph's finest hour), just with less of a point.

'Bridge of Dragons' is a fun movie. May even appeal to people who aren't Dolph Lundgren fans (and that doesn't happen very often), and is recommended to anyone for looking for cheap laughs - 4/10

This film is weird, just like another Isaac Floorentine film I have seen, Cold Harvest. Bridge of Dragons has cartoon action sound effects and a real comic book style and was quite entertaining. The action is filled with exaggerated stunts and Mr Florentine makes great use of Dolph Lundgrens martial arts ability with some good slo-mo and the fact there is some good fight choreography that require the big Swede to use his Karate which is surprisingly rare in his films. The style is very much a cheap sub standard copy a certain mr John Woo and there are some good moments as well as some superbly over the top stunts. The acting by Dolph and Cary Tagawa is decent although they are both wasted on rubbish like this. Rachel Shane (or Valerie Chow) does not have the acting ability to much her prettyness, mind you she is that good looking she would really need to be a good actress to match her looks. The rest of the cast besides Gary Hudson range from bad to very bad or simply dubbed Bulgarian extras. This film also has a problem about when and where its set, the people, places, costumes, weaponry and Vehicles all contradict each other as was the case in the other Florentine film I mentioned, Cold Harvest. This is reasonably entertaining but only for the action scenes of which there are quite a few. 5/10

This is a strange one. It starts with a Star Wars style statement telling us its a future/past type deal! That's exactly what you get, large military vehicles, guns and the evil general with a sword. The story has Dolph eventually leading the "Rebel" forces against the evil general and his horde of nazi uniform wearing baddies. Most people don't watch this type of movie for it's story, the action is the attraction. This movie certainly has plenty of action but most of the gun fights are boring, loads of baddies getting machine-gunned and blown up. Where this movie starts to really shine is in its martial arts fights which are excellent. They have the now almost required Hong-Kong flare to them and are surprisingly well filmed and edited.

To sum up, I would recommend this film to B-movie fans, although some of the dialogue/acting is awful who cares. Enjoy.