Dragon Heat
Mang lung
Hong Kong, China, United States
2005
110 Min
Color
1.85:1
Cantonese, English
Synopsis
Jaded lawman Kong Long (Sammo Hung) finds himself the reluctant leader of a ragtag Interpol squad out to capture vengeful terrorist Petros Angelo (Michael Biehn), whose group has kidnapped an infamous crime lord. A war of wills and a blood-drenched urban showdown ensue in director Dennis Lee’s kinetic Hong Kong thriller featuring pop star Vanness Wu as a Taiwanese cop and Maggie Q as a sexy Chinese sniper.
Director
Daniel Lee
Daniel LEE, film director, majored in visual arts in the University of Windsor. He returned Hong Kong in 1984 and worked in the movie production industry. His works are famous for their sensibility and intense imagery.
LEE was praised by Chang Cheh, the great martial arts movie master, as the most important swordsman movie director of the new generation. In 1994, he remade the classic swordsplay movie What Price Survival. The surreal and impressive cinematography won critical acclaim. Later, his other movies, such as Black Mask, Moonlight Express, A Fighter’s Blues, Dragon Squad and 14 Blades achieved great success. In 2008, his first epic swordsmen movie in China, Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon won the Best Production Design Award in the 3rd Asian Movie Awards.
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HKFanatic
15Jan13
Going back as far as Ringo Lam's 1990 effort "Undeclared War," the Hong Kong film industry has attempted to increase its longevity by crossing over with Hollywood - or, at the very least, English-speaking actors. This brings us to "Dragon Heat," a 2005 film that features top HK talent such as Sammo Hung and Simon Yam alongside...Michael Biehn of "Aliens" fame. Daniel Lee's response to the American presence in his film is to direct "Dragon Heat" in an exaggerated Hollywood style - a mangled approximation of late-era Tony Scott by way of Michael Mann, with harsh jump cuts and shaky handheld camerawork. Choreography and continuity go out the window till we have characters shooting at each other at point blank range without hitting anyone, simply because the frantic editing means they don't have to. What a mess.
