Dragon Missile

Dragon Missile (Fei Long Zhan) (1976)

Runtime: 82 minutes

Directed by: Meng Hua Ho

Starring: Lo Lieh, Tony Liu, Nancy Yen, Han Chen Wang, Terry Liu

From: Shaw Brothers

I did not discover this until early yesterday, but my local cable provider now has the El Rey Network, i.e. the network started up by Robert Rodriguez and as of now it regularly shows either old TV shows, that From Dusk to Dawn TV show, or old movies of the grindhouse style, including Shaw Brothers films. I was able to watch one of the two movies on the channel tonight, which was this one.

The rest of this review is from what I wrote on Letterboxd, but expanded upon. Note that the dragon missiles referenced in the title of this film has nothing to do with anything lewd. Rather, it's a pair of bladed boomerangs that I will call magical, as they spark whenever they hit anything, even if it's wood. Goofy.

This tale is about an assassin (Lo Lieh) who has to retrieve a special medicine to treat the wacky-looking skin cancer his corrupt Governor has acquired, or the Governor will soon die. He is accompanied by some fellow assassins (of course this is done for the sake of a double cross), including one lady who has blades that extend from her fingertips as if she's a distaff Wolverine. Stuff like that was also wacky... or how the medicine is a root that can't get wet, as if it's a Mogwai, only that it won't work instead of it turning into a dangerous creature.

It's only about 82 minutes long and there is a lot that happens so it's never boring. There are plenty of double-crosses and people turning against each other, and the interesting aspect to me is that Lieh's character always follows orders, even if it's from some A-hole characters, so you can question whether he's the guy you want to root for or not.

Sure, his boomerangs (the weapons that provide the title of this movie) are pretty cool but he flat out murders some people just because he's told to and they didn't really deserve it. I mean, the main thing that happens with the boomerangs... decapitations. You see plenty of that (the network shows movies uncut; sure there's commercials but if that allows for such an alpha male network to be on, I won't be complain); the movie even briefly has bare breasts on display. Anyhow, those looking for revenge against Lo Lieh's character may be the ones you want to root for instead, but it's up to you.

There's a wide variety of different scenery/settings to see, including action at a beach and several different villages. That makes things colorful. While things may be nonsensical at times, it's just a fun movie to watch. I am glad the El Rey Network exists, and I now am able to watch it.

I'll be back around this time the next night (i.e. 24 hours from now) as I already know what I'll be watching Friday evening.