In a departure from Jackie Chan's formulaic action-thrillers of the 1980s, HEART OF THE DRAGON sees Chan and close friend Sammo Hung bonding together as brothers in a tear-jerking family drama filled with emotional conflict, strong acting, and characters that tend to grip you more than usual. In fact this is more of a Sammo Hung film, with Jackie playing a secondary character, and the crime aspects of the story - involving a gang of criminals chasing after their stash of stolen jewels - only appear later on. Sammo Hung is in his element with both direction and starring in the tale as a mentally retarded man of thirty, who has the mental powers of a young child and would rather play with his toys than get a real job. Much of the film follows Hung's various misadventures as he finds himself used, abused and misunderstood by a variety of restaurant owners, prospective employers, and criminal friends, and be warned that quite often tears are flowing freely in this film; there is little comedy but instead lots of sentimentality and drama, all put across pretty well.Chan is also forced to raise his ante to match Hung's acting, and puts in a nice turn as the protective brother who struggles to keep his sibling under control, whilst also juggling important police cases and a doting girlfriend. The action sequences, when they do appear, are as well choreographed as always and include a few martial arts fights and a good car chase. The big action set-piece occurs at the finale, in which Chan and his buddies infiltrate an abandoned warehouse to save his brother, who has been kidnapped by murderous criminals. The ensuing martial arts action (more violent than usual) is fast, frenetic and a real treat for the action fan, a nice payoff for all of the slow-burning scenes we sat through earlier. Things culminate with an explosive and imaginative stunt involving a dozen stuntmen, which I have never seen done on screen before. Although action fans may find this hard going due to the lack of kung fu fighting on display, the depth of characterisation and themes of brotherly love and loyalty make this a bit of a treat for serious Chan fans; definitely worth checking out in any case. Oh, and as is usually the case with a Sammo Hung film of the 1980s, the cast is absolutely studded with famous faces: Phillip Ko, Yuen Wah, Lam Ching-Ying, Hoi Meng, James Tien, Fat Chung, and dozens of others continually appear.

I find this title in the Chan catalogue to be one of the most disappointing ones. When you look at the cast list, and see Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, you immediately assume that they will both be fighting. Unfortunately, only Jackie fights, and it's only near the end of the film that any real fighting gets done at all.Don't get me wrong - Sammo Hung's acting in this film is very good, so this is not to say that anything in THAT department is poor. It's just that watching this film, I felt it was a waste of Sammo's undoubted martial arts skill - he doesn't fight at all.The final fight is a decent one, but in my opinion, it does not make up for what is a tiresome film. If they were going to make a touchy-feely, "I've made so many sacrifices," type film, why employ Hong Kong's two most creative martial artists?

This abysmal Chan/Hung vehicle is a poorly thought-out attempt at drama which will not sit well with most fans of Chan's usually high-octane mix of action and comedy. The plot concerns a mentally challenged "gentle giant"(Hung) and his able-minded/bodied brother(Chan)who must sacrifice his freedom to care for his reliant sibling. What attempts to be a drama is marred by Hung's ridiculous portrayal of a mentally challenged adult as being nothing more than a gigantic baby, complete with overalls and a giant swirly lollipop. The movie attempts to generate sympathy for Hung's character while simultaneously deriving all of its humor from his various misadventures, a mix that left this viewer cold. The DVD version is dubbed so poorly that all attempts at drama seem to come from training at the Shatner school of acting. The movie limps along for over an hour before there is a significant plot developed involving gangsters, stolen jewels, and the eventual kidnapping of Hung. Then begins the movie Chan fans have come to expect, with fantastic stunts, fights and chase sequences. In this movie it is a case of too MUCH, to late. The over the top action Chan is famous for seems here to be ridiculously out-of-place in contrast to the slow moving, "tear-jerker" attitude of the preceding two-thirds of the film. Add to this mish-mash an annoyingly repetitive musical score and not one, but TWO separate scenes of Hung's naked buttocks, and you have the makings of the "must NOT see" film of the year.

I enjoyed this movie, but that's because I'm a big fan of Jackie Chan, so if your not, it may not be a good idea to go and see it. Also, this movie is for those who like martial art movies no matter the quality or when it was made, and where. It was set in Hong Kong, made is the 80s obviously, but is also set in the 80s. So high quality can not be expected, and if you can look passed it it can be an enjoyable movie. This movie is about a guy who's a police officer (Jackies character) who takes care of his mentally ill brother. They set up the brother relationship in this movie pretty well, and Jackies acting goes a little bit passed what most people are used to. (I've seen many of his movies and it's the first time I've ever seen him cry) This movie is not funny like many of his movies out there, but its not to serious either. There two pretty good fight scenes, one right in the first 2 minutes of the movie, and one near the end. There are small brawls in between, but they are not really big. The movie is mostly story though, so the fighting is pretty much what I said it was. So if your looking for action packed Jackie Chan movie, this is probably not it. But if you are a fan, and want to try something maybe a little different then what you are used to, then this one may be a good one to see.