BA_Harrison Director Yuen Woo-ping has been responsible for some of the finest action films to ever come out of Hong Kong, and is renowned in the west for his martial arts choreography for such hits as The Matrix, Kill Bill and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; coming from such a legend of the industry, Fire Dragon can only be considered a huge disappointment for kung fu fans, its frantic, poorly edited fight scenes not only being hard to follow, but playing second fiddle to loads of painfully unfunny bufoonery.Brigitte Lin plays Fire Devil (AKA Fire Dragon, Aunty Lu, Sunset), an assassin for evil Prince Six (Lap-Man Sin), who is given the task of retrieving an incriminating letter that has fallen into the hands of good guy Chun (Joe Chu). Masquerading as an injured stranger, she infiltrates the camp of the performance troupe with which Chun is staying, but finds her allegiance to Prince Six waning once she gets to know the enemy. When the prince sends out a second assassin to finish the job, Fire Devil finds herself fighting on the side of her new-found friends.The film is book-ended with delirious scenes of wire-fu enhanced wuxia action, but only the final battle, with its fiery explosions and impressive three-way sword fight, is worth getting excited about, and to get there one has to endure the worst kind of Asian comedy (childish slapstick complete with plenty of silly facial expressions) and lots of cloying, over-sentimental garbage in which Fire Devil cares for 'cute' orphan TaoTao. For a Woo-ping flick, the fast-forward button has never looked so tempting...3.5/10, rounded up to 4 for the lovely Chuan Chen Yeh as sexy assassin number two, Snow.

Zombified_660 If not, let me elaborate. Fire Dragon is a bright, colourful period kung-fu movie, blending intricate and visually stunning wire-work kung fu sequences with gentle slapstick comedy. It isn't Ping's best, and it sees the director working with a lower budget than he had on the previous year's Iron Monkey, but it's a spirited adventure with some breathtaking action sequences.Personally, I enjoyed Fire Dragon a lot, but as a genre movie, not necessarily because it was a standout film. As the genre goes, Fire Dragon is a solid exciting entry that I can see myself watching again, but it doesn't quite bridge the gap from a fun genre flick to full accessibility, meaning that this movie will be great for kung-fu buffs like me but not necessarily much fun for the uninitiated. As an example, Fire Dragon reveals it's age and intentions in it's pacing, putting all the fights in the first and third acts and spending most of the time in the middle on the knockabout comedy that the HK audience and most of us Kung-fu fans are used to, which is fine, but will probably alienate people who wanted a full on action movie.Still, despite typical Hong-Kong cinema pacing and the fact that it needs viewers to be tuned in to the genre to gain full enjoyment from it, don't think Fire Dragon has nothing to offer to casual viewers. The sheer visual spectacle of the fight sequences (remember, Ping masterminded the action in the Matrix and Kill Bill series' as well) will probably be enough to keep yer bum on your seat, as they're highly infectious and full of pyrotechnics, plus Brigitte Lin is fantastic as the titular assassin.It's worth checking out. If you're a Ping fan, you'll dig this movie, and if not, well, it might peak your interest :).

waitalk This is one of the last movies of Brigitte Lin before she retired from the silver screen in 1995. The movie tells the tale of an evil assassin who eventually turned good. Brigitte brings to the character a touching sensibility. Underneath the cool assassin exterior, she harbours a warm and generous heart. If only her upbringing was not trained in the assassin way, she would have been a wonderful human being. As a movie, this one remains a favourite that you can watch over and over again. There is romance, comedy, and action thriller all wrapped up in one movie.

jzimmerman421 Some incredible fight scenes if you're a fan of Woo Ping. Lots of flying and other fantasy kind of stuff, like Fire Dragon shooting flames from her hands. The special effects are very well done. Plenty of Woo Ping's silly, light hearted humor throughout as well.Too much attempt at a plot though. Fast forward through some of the more boring dialog to the fight scenes and you'll enjoy it.