The Tattooed Dragon (1973) English · Blu-ray

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Written and directed by Lo Wei, the man behind the Bruce Lee's international hits The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, The Tattooed Dragon was designed to bring martial arts superstar Jimmy Wang Yu (The One-Armed Swordsman) to a global audience still hungry for kung fu cinema in the aftermath of Lee's death. Featuring Sylvia Chang (Slaughter in San Francisco) and James Tien (Shaolin Boxer) in a villainous role, it follows The Big Boss in pitting a legendary fighter against organised crime. Wang Yu stars as the eponymous Tattooed Dragon, a virtuous martial artist who makes a habit of defending the defenceless. After he is injured in a fight, he is taken in by a farmer (Sam Hui, The Swordsman) and his sweetheart (Chang), and soon finds himself having to defend their local village when it becomes the target of a gangster (Tien) and his crew. Determined to lay their hands on the village's rich resources, the gangsters install a casino and encourage the locals to gamble away everything they have. But the Tattooed Dragon has other ideas... The Tattooed Dragon is a showcase for Jimmy Wang Yu following his move from Shaw Brothers to Golden Harvest in the early 1970s, boasting cinematography by Cheung Yiu-tsou (Police Story) and stunts coordinated by Simon Hsu (The Flying Guillotine).