Not to be confused with Joseph Kuo's DRAGON'S CLAWS (which also starred Hwang Jang Lee), this Dragon Lee vehicle is exactly what you would expect from the prolific team behind such films as CHAMP VS. CHAMP and BRUCE LEE'S WAYS OF KUNG FU. Lots of fights and a simple plot...I'm satisfied!
The plot revolves around some kung fu books that teach the deadly art of Dragon Claw. Naturally, evil Wong (Hwang Jang Lee) wants them and has someone kill the Abbot to get them. The Abbot is killed but Wong fails to get the books. A group of students hide the books as Wong takes over the school after the Abbot's assassination. The students confront Wong, only to have their asses handed to them. It then appears that only Fong Lung (Dragon Lee) can defeat him.
DRAGON CLAWS is a pretty cheap film. You've seen these sets a thousand times in Godfrey Ho-land. The film also heavily uses the score from some little film called STAR WARS! But it makes up for these low budget attributes is the abundance of fights in the film. Fights break out every 5 minutes or so. The film's true star is Hwang Jang Lee as the villain. But if you are a martial arts fan, I probably don't need to tell you that. His scenes (especially when he is taking on more than one guy) are downright excellent. I would say the last 15 minutes of this film is non-stop with Hwang Jang Lee taking on Dragon Lee and his master. Hwang is so deadly that when he kicks people, he sets them on fire! He hits one jaw dropping move where he wraps one leg around the back of a guy's neck while kicking Dragon Lee with his free leg. Not that Dragon Lee doesn't get to shine either. He has some great training scenes involving ropes. And when he busts out the "5 Pattern Dragon Claw" during the final fight, watch out! The dubbing on the tape I saw is atrocious and priceless bits of dialogue pop up every minute or so ("In fact, you and your men make me sick, so just shut up!" Dragon Lee says to Hwang Jang Lee). So both fans of Dragon Lee and Hwang Jang Lee should check the film out.
Reviewed by William