Jimmy Wang Yu stars in writer/director Lo Wei’s Thailand-based The Tattooed Dragon, released in 1973 after his seminal Bruce Lee affair Fist of Fury. Lo worked with both Yu and Lee throughout their respective careers, and even at this point Yu already had a number of kung fu action films under his belt. In this movie, Yu stars as the titular Tattooed Dragon hero, a seemingly legendary roaming fighter who uses his skills to beat down mafia henchmen and return money to the poor and needy similar to a Robin Hood figure. While The Tattooed Dragon is big on martial arts, its true contribution to the wuxia genre is its exploration of gambling as a societal disease, utilizing its country-living Thai protagonists as stand-ins for an audience who could also succumb to this moral dilemma.
Interestingly, Yu’s Tattooed Dragon is not the main focal point of the movie. There’s an explosive introduction to the character and his run-ins with the local mafia at the start, but for the most part Yu fades out in favor of a more pastoral storyline about a farmer named Koon-kit (Samuel Hui) who nurses the Dragon back to help after his violent run-in. Hui gets a lot more screentime here, and more importantly, a number of choreographed sequences: a kickboxing match that he ends up winning that sets up the gambling plot, as well as a later tussle with the mafia wherein he gets to hold his own with the famed Dragon.
It takes a while for The Tattooed Dragon to get to the meat of its storyline, spending a good chunk of the runtime setting up Koon-kit’s marital woes, his moral integrity, and the gambling addiction that his friend ultimately succumbs to. It’s a bit too slow-paced for its own good, and while the slice-of-life elements peppered throughout (especially concerning Koon-kit’s girlfriend played by Sylvia Chang) can be occasionally funny, they do also serve as a reminder that Yu’s presence is sorely missing. With that said, Hui is still a pretty good leading man and Lo’s script offers up a number of shocking – read: grim – set pieces that lead to the Tattooed Dragon stepping in to stop the gambling ring.
And while the casino segment doesn’t have any fighting, it does have a curiously engaging sequence where the Dragon can simply… hear when the dice are in his favor? As is the case with most of The Tattooed Dragon, Lo refrains from explaining any of the Dragon’s abilities to the audience, instead allowing the viewer to suspend disbelief as the mystery plays out. And just after the Dragon wins the whole town’s money back – closing the mafia casino den in the process – he’s confronted by the villain Kwan (James Tien) in an epic conclusive showdown that surprisingly leaves a protagonist dead.
While The Tattooed Dragon isn’t a particular standout of the wuxia genre, it has enough charm and excellent fight choreography by Simon Chui to make up for its pacing issues. It also makes a good attempt at commenting on gambling addiction with a melodramatic plotline, though it plays out a bit too conveniently to make too much impact. Its most important contribution? Giving Hui a chance to shine as an unconventional leading man!
Blu-ray
Eureka Entertainment has released The Tattooed Dragon on Blu-ray with a new 2K restoration, though it’s not clear what source was used for the transfer. The 2.35:1 aspect ratio maintains the film’s original widescreen look, and overall the film’s quality is quite good. Grain is relatively fine while clarity is crisp; skin and clothing textures maintain their expected features, while background elements are readily visible. Occasional softness occurs but may be inherent to the original filming. The rare darker sequences do suffer from some poorer shadow delineation but this is quite infrequent. Overall, while there does seem to be a bit of room for improvement, this is a solid transfer that retains good quality and color gradation.
Audio is presented with both the original Mandarin audio and an English dub, both LPCM 2.0 mono tracks. While most fans will likely gravitate to the Mandarin with the newly translated English subtitles, it is a bit rougher in quality – generally dialogue is sort of muffled, while the overall sound design tends to feature some blown-out bass effects. The English dub features less muffled dialogue and a trebly approach, but of course suffers from a relatively poor dubbing experience. Overall, either track should work fine for most viewers.
For extras, Eureka assembles a pretty great list. First is a new audio commentary with Hong Kong film critic Frank Djeng along with actor/writer/director Michael Worth; they deposit a wealth of information about the actors, context surrounding Lo’s previous works, and appreciation for the style and cinematography. A second new audio commentary with Asian film experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema provides an energetic and podcast-esque discussion about the film that often delves into funny asides and irreverent details. Along with the commentaries, there’s also a new interview – Wayne Wong provides an overview of Lo Wei’s career throughout filmmaking in a 16 minute interview that almost plays out like a visual essay.
Eureka also provides the English opening credits for the film, along with an original trailer and US release trailer. For the physical release, an essay with new writing on the film by critic James Oliver digs into the history of Golden Harvest films and its foray into contemporary action films rather than the period pieces seen with the Shaw Brothers production company, along with how The Tattooed Dragon fit into that puzzle. Finally, reversible cover artwork and a slipbox featuring new artwork by Sean Longmore are also included.
Extra Features
- Limited edition
- NEW Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring artwork by Sean Longmore
- NEW Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring writing on The Tattooed Dragon by film critic and writer James Oliver
- NEW The Tattooed Dragon presented in 1080p HD from a 2K restoration
- Original Mandarin mono and English dubbed audio options
- Optional English subtitles, NEW translated for this release
- NEW audio commentary by East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
- NEW audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- NEW Here Be Dragons – discussion of Tattooed Dragon with martial arts cinema expert Wayne Wong (1080p; 16:12)
- Alternate opening credits (1080p; 2:54)
- Original trailer (1080i; 3:30)
- US release trailer (108op; 1:12)
Verdict
The Tattooed Dragon is a fun film from Golden Harvest that mythologizes Jimmy Wang Yu while also pushin Samuel Hui to the forefront as a leading man. This release from Eureka features a very good transfer and a number of special features that will fit right at home for fans of Hong Kong kung fu cinema.
