The Little Dragons

So...bought this for a "bad movie night". Picked it up for $1 at Wal-Mart. I loved it. Not because it's good...oh no...this is the second worst movie I have ever seen. (Want a REALLY bad movie? Check out "Manos and the Hands of Fate". If nothing else, it's included in an episode of MST3K) There is a plot to this one at least...psycho hillbillies kidnap a girl, and a couple of kids have to save her since the local police (and the FBI) are completely incompetent.

Not sure this was supposed to be a comedy...I sure laughed a lot though. The acting is downright flat...except the hillbillies, which are WAY over the top. The fight scenes are the furthest thing from realistic...I sure hope it was meant to be that way! All in all, if you see it on sale for $1 or less, and have 90ish minutes to kill, go ahead and grab it. I wouldn't recommend paying much more then that though. I promise you'll only want to watch this one once.

I know Ann Sothern wasn't wild about this film - but for me, it was worth watching for the performances of Charles Lane and Ann Sothern - it wasn't a high budget film, and some performances surely could have been better - but it still made me laugh in places. Some parts such as the old r.v. were humorous - many of us remember some budget models such as this that we had used.

Not one of Ann Sothern's best works - her last movie "the Whales of August" was fantastic, as well as her TV series "the Ann Sothern show" and "susie" or "executive secretary" as it was originally called.

And of course Charles Lane is such a great actor - how many years has his career spanned?

I saw Little Dragons in a late night viewing once and thought it was goofy fun in the same vein as Bad News Bears and Six Pack. I really think this film could work for kids today. If it was released on DVD I think it would sell moderately well what with the new Mutant Ninja Turtles animated flick coming to theaters soon. Okay, so it's obvious I have a selfish aim of getting this on DVD and couldn't find any other way to express that in words. I could dramatically get on my knees and beg.....

*gets on knees and begs*

There. Embarrassed myself for this mediocre film. Just at least send a copy to my house.

EDIT: had to. Just learned this is out on DVD under the title Karate Kids USA in the 50 movie pack Martial Arts from Mill Creek. So if you looked this up here on IMDb.com then go get that pack! 50 flicks for about $16! It's insane. And you'll go insane by the time you've viewed them all.

Karate Kids USA is now most notable for being an early film from director Curtis Hanson, who would go on to win an Academy award for L.A. Confidential. It would only be fair to say that he got a lot better! This one is about some young karate kids who save a girl from some redneck kidnappers. It's another one of those times where you have to thank the DVD distribution company Mill Creek. These guys have time and time again rescued all manner of obscurities from oblivion and put them out for all to see on one of their mega DVD packs. This is another example but, in fairness, it's not really very good. There's not that much martial arts action, given the title you sort of expect a bit more. It's in essence an action-comedy with all manner of comic characters, such as dumb cops and stupid rednecks. Although it does seem to be pitched at an almost negligible demographic given that to all intents and purposes it is basically a kids movie yet has a few swear words and a quite disturbing character played by Joe Spinell who behaves a little too disturbing at times for a family audience. So, all-in-all, Karate Kids USA is something of a curiosity piece.

The Little Dragons, otherwise known as 'Karate Kids USA', was an incredible mixture of 3 Ninjas, Karate Kid, Deliverance and The Hills Have Eyes, jammed packed into an adventure fit for the whole family.

Some of the cinematography has hints of Victor Salva's (Jeepers Creepers, Powder) directorial debut, Clown House... I would even go so far as to suggest this title has horror elements all its own.

More martial arts would have been a welcomed addition to The Little Dragons, but the rough and tumble biker gang and the finale battle against the scheming family filled the required quota for a film in the action genre.