Holiday Flix?: The Black Dragon (1974)

I love it when Movies are honest.  So often they lie, trick or mislead you into seeing their Film.  We see it now with Glass being marketed around what basically makes up solely the 3rd Act.  It's not 100% false, since the moments do happen.  Other Films lie to you in subtle ways- like showing Hulk in Wakanda last year- and others do it somewhat accidental ways.  When your Film was shot and then reshot to death, it is somewhat understandable to see Footage in the Trailers that doesn't make it in.  It happens all of the time- from Justice League to Rogue One.  Bigger stuff like blatantly adding nonsense to Films like the Villain in Highlander: Endgame using magic to fight our Heroes appears to be just outright lies.  This is The Black Dragon, the tale of Ronnie Van Clief trying to survive in The Philippines as a new arrival.  It's a good Film to do for MLK Jr Day, since it is about a famous Black Martial Artist.  There's actually a neat Documentary on this as well that you should check out.  The people themselves talk about learning Kung-Fu or Karate in self-defense, but also to empower themselves.  They managed to be marketable worldwide this way- see Jim Kelly.  Mr. Van Clief has a very impressive Resume, which you should definitely Google.  To see how his breakout role took place, read on...

Our Story begins...in China.  Weird place for Ron to live, but it worked for Jaden Smith.

He's...a Chinese Guy who moves to the Philippines to make money to help his family...

Say what?!?

Did a DVD Box (and 40+ years of Marketing) lie to me?  Does the Box describe Ron as the Hero (literally in this person's place with the exact same setup) to trick me?  Can I NOT trust a DVD Set called Bad Ass Mofos?!?

No, I can't.  Ron is in the Movie...at about 20 minutes in.  Back again at around 40 minutes.  He turns out to be a good guy who fights (for a little bit) alongside the real Film's Hero and doesn't add much (other than being a Bad Ass Mofo for a few minutes).  Damn you, everything about how the Film was sold!!!!

The End (for me).

Seriously though, he is NOT the Star!  The actual Film is mostly just Chinese Connection (and made a year after Bruce Lee's death).  It's alright.  The Print is terrible, being a Pan and Scan with notable hissing and fading.  Even in glorious 4K HD, the Film would still just be 'alright' though.  It's not what I was promised and it's not even *that* interesting if you can accept that.  Time to track down more Van Clief at a later date (probably in February).  In the meantime, let's see what this Serial with a similar Title is like...

Fooled again!!!

Happy Holiday and all that.  If you want your fix, just watch Dolemite (or 1,000 other better Films).