Eye of the Dragon (1982)

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Bruce Le (not to be confused with Bruce Lee or Bruce Li, or even Bruce Springsteen), plays Bruce, a crime lord's henchman who gets sent to prison after a drug deal gone wrong. He is released, and decides to retire from the henchman game. He's going to marry his girlfriend and settle down, but unfortunately his old gang kidnaps the local ambassador's daughter. Bruce is recruited by the police to find her and he begins flying around the world trying to rescue her, seeks revenge, and showing up for a climactic duel.

This film, known under about half a dozen other names, definitely falls into the "so bad, it's good" category and I never cater to that type of flick. The action is okay, nothing really earth shattering. Le bears a slight resemblance to Bruce Lee, but Le is smaller in stature. Harold Sakata somehow got involved in this, playing one of the villains. If you do not remember him as Oddjob in "Goldfinger," don't worry. The film makers ignore copyright laws by playing Monte Norman's "James Bond Theme" every time Sakata is onscreen. Sakata also has a razor edged hat, and he wears a metallic glove on one hand with gold fingers- I kid you not. Simon and Garfunkel and a few late '70's disco acts also contribute to the soundtrack, and may not even know it. Bolo Yeung is along for the ride as another villain. For a B flick, this certainly had a travel agent working overtime. You do not see many kung fu moves taking place in Rome, Paris, or Macau, yet Le is seen running around all three locations. The direction is weird. The final showdown has Bruce kicking some major butt. Suddenly, the film makers throw in actual animation to show us what Bruce is doing to his opponent's body: a broken leg, a busted rib, a beating heart, all drawn in silly cartoon footage. There is also an abundance of nude women, even more than usual in a martial arts flick.

"Eye of the Dragon," AKA "Bruce Le Strikes Back," "Bruce Le Fights Back," "Ninja Strikes Back," and "Xiong zhong," is awful, and awfully fascinating.

Stats:
(1982) 81 min. (* *) out of five stars
-Directed by Bruce Le, Joseph Velasco
-Written by Joseph Velasco
-Cast: Bruce Le, Harold Sakata, Jeong-lee Hwang, Andre Koob, Corliss Randall, Dick Randall, Fabienne Beze, Bolo Yeung, Jean-Marie Pallardy, Li-Li Chen, Monica Lam, Yat Fan Lau, Yi-Yi Li
(R)