Son of the Dragon
by David Wu
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DVD details
Actor: David Carradine, Desiree Siahaan, John Reardon, Rupert Graves, Theresa LeeDirector: David Wu
Brand: Son
Cinematographer: Thomas Burstyn
Composer: Lawrence Shragge
Editor: David Wu
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 176 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-09
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Rhi Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Son of the Dragon
DVD Review: "May your dreams fly, even if we cannot"
Summary: 2 Stars
The latter-day career of David Carradine offered some remarkable film opportunities to the former "Kung Fu" hero. Sure, with the exception of Kill Bill - Volume Two, these were mostly low-budget DTV releases, but they nevertheless let him explore a variety of roles that true fans ought to be eager to investigate. One of the more ambitious projects he undertook during the last four years of his life was a two-part TV miniseries set in 19th century China, directed by TV veteran David Wu (The Snow Queen). Disappointingly, even though this miniature epic had the potential to be a TV masterpiece like Merlin or Arabian Nights, it wound up being a fairly mediocre adventure, the biggest asset of which was Carradine himself. Unless you're a die-hard fan of the prominently-featured costar, then you'll be hard-pressed to find reason to sit through its three-hour entirety.
The story: a retelling of "The Prince of Baghdad" prompted by a young Caucasian street urchin named D.B. (John Reardon, Merlin's Apprentice) seeking fortune for his underground family of street children. When foreign princes congregate to compete in treasure-hunting quests for the right to marry the local governor's daughter, Princess Wei Li (Desiree Ann Siahaan, Marco Polo), D.B. poses as a nobleman so he can gain access to the palace and steal treasure...but eventually, his growing feelings for the princess and his rivalry with the underhanded Mongolian Prince of the North (Rupert Graves, The Madness of King George) urge both him and his accompanying mentor Bird (Carradine) to broaden their ambitions at great personal risk.
For a movie shot in a single location (Heng Dian's "TV City"), "Son of the Dragon" has a wide scope: while the characters always end up returning to the palace site, you get a sense of having traveled a good distance inbetween scenes, with the forests and rivers and mountainsides all looking authentic. With that said, for a film that relies heavily on art direction, the aesthetics are solid but not striking: occasional moments of visual grandeur are undermined frequently by plastic-looking interior sets and costumes that look like...well, costumes. Even more disappointing are the two CGI centerpieces that are well below the standards of what can be accomplished on television: the stone dragon coming to life and the magic carpet flight require both low standards and the ability to loftily suspend disbelief, otherwise you'll be rudely jarred out of the mood of these two supposed high points.
Speaking of the mood, it's also a bit faulty: despite being an archetypical adventure tale with a vague socio-historical message concerning orphan plight and racism in China thrown in, the story feels extremely superficial and un-heartfelt. Though nobody in the cast (which also includes Theresa Lee as D.B.'s crush and Kay Long Tim of Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story as the governor) gives an outright bad performance, few performers seem capable of playing their role past the two-dimensional stage. Then again, this could be due to the story itself being fairly untied: aside from not really becoming exciting until the second half of the show, the entire magic aspect is essential to the story but so poorly explained (why does Bird have an evil twin? - how can the Mongolian prince utilize a nameplate like a voodoo doll?) that there will be plenty of head-scratching going on by the time the credits roll.
No Carradine outing could be complete without a healthy dose of martial arts, but even here the bag is mixed: Siahaan and Lee have a beautiful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-esque sparring session early in the movie, but nearly every encounter afterwards can be overlooked, culminating in a very disappointing one-on-one bout between Carradine and Eddy Ko (PTU: Police Tactical Unit) which is pretty much just two old fogies trying to look spry as they mime their way through a swordfight. In the end, the entire movie feels like a mime-job: while I admire the obvious effort that's been put into trying to make this film appear grand, the filmmakers had clearly tackled a project that's too big for them and therefore resorted to keeping everything very exterior and shallow...neither of which a film of this length can afford to be.
DVD Review: Better than expected!
Summary: 4 Stars
I liked David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine, but not too much otherwise. He was okay in this, but the movie was very good regardless of any actors corny lines and a bit cheesey acting. The scenery and landscapes were outstanding. The colors and photography again, outstanding. It was ALMOST like a big budget movie like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the filming. The story was simple and really drawn out, but the visuals more than made up for that, and the story was not bad, just shallow. That said, it was in the style of the old Chinese made Kung Fu movies, shallow stories, and the fight scenes too. To their credit however, they were not bloody battles, and that I was grateful for. All in all, I can't say anything bad about it and I would watch it again in the future. I would recommend this movie to others.DVD Review: UMMMM
Summary: 3 Stars
This movie is ok. There wasnt a real set plot it felt like it was just filming scenes and sticking them together. DVD Review: David Carradine
Summary: 5 Stars
Son of the Dragon is another super production staring David Carradine. His acting and action are superior and highly entertaining as always. Keep up the great work, Mr. Carradine !!! The whole cast did a great job.DVD Review: David Carradine at 70 years old-
Summary: 5 Stars
David Carradine is still mentally and physically in shape at 70 years old! This man has been making movies for over thirty years! Son of the Dragon is an epic movie that is almost 3 hours long. However, there is a mixture of humor and good martial arts action that makes this a true classic for the future.
I rate this a five star movie-
Description of Son of the Dragon
An adventurous young thief has his eyes on swindling the royal court of its jewels by winning the hand of the Governor?s daughter. The Princess, however, manages to convince her father to challenge all her suitors with vigorous tests. But it takes the faith of a bird, a magical flying carpet, and the mystical Fruit of Life for our hero to see the dream to an end. Now available for the first time on DVD, Son of the Dragon features great bonus features including an exclusive and in-depth interview with David Carradine!General DVDs
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