Kill A Dragon – DVD Review

“Thanks little tiger for showing your claws!” -Rick Masters

The Flick:

Kill A Dragon is a 1967 action/drama flick. Directed by Michael D. Moore and written by William Marks and George Schenck. Starring, Jack Palance as Rick Masters. Also starring Fernando Lamas, Aldo Ray, Kam Tong, Don Knight, and Aliza Gur with supporting roles. I’m not sure if many people know that Kill A Dragon was a remake of the 1954 classic Seven Samurai, written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. Although, this is a remake, the characters are very different. I found the plot to be somewhat the same, for the most part.

When a dangerous load of TNT washes up on the beach near Hong Kong after a typhoon. The islanders that find the dynamite, claim it as their own, and they want to sell it to help the people of the island. The owner, Nico Patrai, threatens to blow up the island if he doesn’t get the explosives back in three days. The village leader, Win Lim, and two other elders take a boat to Hong Kong to hire someone who can help them transport the goods. They run into some of Patrai’s henchmen when they arrive. Now the chase is on as they stumble onto Rick Masters boat during the middle of his “birthday party” with the lovely, Tisa. After Rick kicks some henchmen ass, the elders see his potential to protect them. Rick seems irritated while pushing the three elders out the door and tells them to meet up with him later at a local bar. Later on, they meet up with Rick at the bar where Win Lim asks him to transport the goods to Hong Kong for 1/3 of the profits from it. Rick agrees and asks Tisa if she could keep the elders company while he gets his “martial arts” team together before they all head back to the island. While he’s gone, the elders get kidnapped by Patrai’s men, go figure, and Tisa gets tied to the pool table and gagged. Rick and his team go to Patrai’s house and get the elders, then set sail for the island.

Once they get to the village on the island, Rick, his men, and the men of the village help transport the explosives onto Rick’s boat. Patrai is hot on their trail and catches up with them. He makes a deal with Rick to return the dynamite for 1/3 of the profits, but Rick wants to talk it over with his team. So, Patrai gives him 6 hours to talk it over. Will Rick Masters and his team take the deal with Patrai or will they help the islanders?

Conclusion:

First off, the opening title song is hilarious! As for the movie, it was pretty solid for the most part. I really enjoyed the scene with Win Lim and Rick Masters in the bar. Win tells him, “Every dragon gives birth to a St George that must slay the dragon.” So for the rest of the flick, Win calls Rick and his team St George. I really appreciated that throw back to the ‘Saint George and the Dragon’ story. The stunts and fight scenes were super cheesy, which made it hard to believe that his team was a bunch of martial art experts. Not to mention they all had an abundance of guns. If this was a remake of Seven Samurai, you wouldn’t have noticed. Although, I do have to say that Jack Palance was amazing as Rick Masters. Another thing I noticed, Patrai had the best evil mustache ever! Fernando Lamas did a fantastic job playing the villain, totally believable! I can understand this movie isn’t for everyone but, if your into cheesy action flicks from the 60′s – check this out!

The DVD:

Audio/Visual

Surprisingly the audio was clear and the picture was clear even though this is an older flick

Special Features

Unfortunately, the only thing on this DVD is a trailer for the movie.

The Flick Rating:

The DVD Rating: