Writer: Jonathan Sullivan
The Last Dragon is my favorite martial arts movie of all-time. I know purists would probably punch me in the face for saying this, but they are too busy being socially awkward. Released in 1985, it was funded by Motown Records, a music juggernaut responsible for some of the greatest music to have ever been made (Jackson 5, The Supremes, etc.). Because of this, the film is half a martial arts epic and half a giant commercial for Motown music being released around that time. Still, it's in Watch This! for a reason...and we shall get to that.
The Last Dragon follows Leroy (Taimak), a 20-something (I think) living with his family in Harlem. He has completely immersed himself in the martial arts and Asian style, choosing to be a pacifist and eat popcorn with chopsticks, while speaking Confucian proverbs to anyone who asks him anything. Pretty much, he is not exactly the belle of the ball. One night, he saves a pretty girl named Laura Charles (Vanity, who was venturing out on a solo career away from Prince and his vicious sexual appetite) from the hands of the dastardly Eddie Arkadian (Christopher Murney). Arkadian is attempting to get his girlfriend Angela (Faith Prince of HBO show Encyclopedia fame) some airtime on Laura's popular dance/music video TV show. Laura falls for the awkward Leroy after this, and vice versa. While this occurs, Arkadian decides to get revenge on Leroy, employing the services of Sho'Nuff (Julius Carry III), the biggest martial arts badass in Harlem who possesses the mystical "Glow", which does pretty much nothing but make a cheesy effect whenever he fights. You can pretty much end the movie yourself in your head.
The movie is absolutely cheesy, from the acting to the music. It is one of those movies you can watch and go "oh, it's from the 80's" without even knowing when it was made. Arkadian is a cheesy villain, a white dude who is a total wuss and doesn't fight, instead he just yells in a thick New York accent.
Sho'Nuff makes this movie. As the egotistical Busta Rhymes lookalike Shogun of Harlem, he wears black Kanye shades and has an army of goons who appease his ego by yelling "SHO'NUFF!" whenever he asks who the master is. On a shortlist of awesome movie villains, he is near the top, if not THE best. Writing about him will not do it justice, so I will add another clip at the end of his first appearance so you can get the experience yourself.
Another high point is a group of three Asians who guard the "Master" who writes fortune cookie slogans in hiding. They have immersed themselves into American culture as much as Leroy has into Asian culture and when they meet up, they do nothing but rag on Leroy and repeatedly call him "cool breeze", which needs to come back into the lexicon as soon as humanly possible.
If you like cheesy action movies, it does not get cheesier than this. If you can get over the fact that it's a giant Motown plug, you'll find a martial arts movie that is fun, funny, and flat out insane. It's infinitely watchable and you'll find yourself repeating Sho'Nuff's lines a lot more than you really want to.
The Last Dragon follows Leroy (Taimak), a 20-something (I think) living with his family in Harlem. He has completely immersed himself in the martial arts and Asian style, choosing to be a pacifist and eat popcorn with chopsticks, while speaking Confucian proverbs to anyone who asks him anything. Pretty much, he is not exactly the belle of the ball. One night, he saves a pretty girl named Laura Charles (Vanity, who was venturing out on a solo career away from Prince and his vicious sexual appetite) from the hands of the dastardly Eddie Arkadian (Christopher Murney). Arkadian is attempting to get his girlfriend Angela (Faith Prince of HBO show Encyclopedia fame) some airtime on Laura's popular dance/music video TV show. Laura falls for the awkward Leroy after this, and vice versa. While this occurs, Arkadian decides to get revenge on Leroy, employing the services of Sho'Nuff (Julius Carry III), the biggest martial arts badass in Harlem who possesses the mystical "Glow", which does pretty much nothing but make a cheesy effect whenever he fights. You can pretty much end the movie yourself in your head.
The movie is absolutely cheesy, from the acting to the music. It is one of those movies you can watch and go "oh, it's from the 80's" without even knowing when it was made. Arkadian is a cheesy villain, a white dude who is a total wuss and doesn't fight, instead he just yells in a thick New York accent.
Sho'Nuff makes this movie. As the egotistical Busta Rhymes lookalike Shogun of Harlem, he wears black Kanye shades and has an army of goons who appease his ego by yelling "SHO'NUFF!" whenever he asks who the master is. On a shortlist of awesome movie villains, he is near the top, if not THE best. Writing about him will not do it justice, so I will add another clip at the end of his first appearance so you can get the experience yourself.
Another high point is a group of three Asians who guard the "Master" who writes fortune cookie slogans in hiding. They have immersed themselves into American culture as much as Leroy has into Asian culture and when they meet up, they do nothing but rag on Leroy and repeatedly call him "cool breeze", which needs to come back into the lexicon as soon as humanly possible.
If you like cheesy action movies, it does not get cheesier than this. If you can get over the fact that it's a giant Motown plug, you'll find a martial arts movie that is fun, funny, and flat out insane. It's infinitely watchable and you'll find yourself repeating Sho'Nuff's lines a lot more than you really want to.