NEW DRAGONS OF THE ORIENT (DVD)

Details

• Release Year: 1988
• Genre: Action, Documentary
• Plot: This "documentary" about the origins of kung fu is interesting, but it is certainly no documentary. And it's not all about Jet Li. There is footage of Jet Li as a child, performing at various competitions, and some shots of him with his family. The closing segment has Jet Li doing "Drunken Sword Fist", a style I'd seen only in Jackie Chan's famous Drunken Master films.The bulk of the film is simply various kung fu students and masters demonstrating their skills, at a variety of locations and schools. A long central segment is devoted to the more exotic kung fu skills - chi levitation, wall scaling, tree punching, etc. The customary (and distracting) HK kung fu sound effects have been overdubbed, and some of the footage has been sped up. And, while there is no plot per se, some kind of love story is attempted between the two narrators. Weird.Don't expect to learn too much, but prepare to be entertained.
• Cast: Jet Li, Louis Fan, Qun Wang
• Director: Chi Lo
• Runtime: 86 min
• Media Format: movie