Steel-Fisted Dragon, The (1982)

Tan Jun’s father is murdered by thugs who run an illegal prostitution ring. His efforts to get revenge are complicated by his love for their leader’s sister. Tragic events nevertheless compel Tan to get even.

Kung fu movies hardly get any worse than The Steel-Fisted Dragon, another Bruce Lee clone film starring an unknown ‘Steve Lee.’ There is plenty of combat, but choreography is amateur and monotonous. The acting is atrocious and the editing blows big time. General viewers looking for something, anything of value can stop reading now. Bruceploitation fans may want to stick around.

As a general kung fu movie, The Steel-Fisted Dragon is garbage. But as a Bruce Lee knockoff, The Steel-Fisted Dragon is still garbage, but with a lead who looks and acts the part reasonably well. Steve Lee doesn’t impress with his limited kung fu skills, but he does get the trademark mannerisms of Bruce down.

The plot is extremely thin with very poor acting and dialogue from all concerned. Steve’s emaciated sidekick is a pansy named Sandy who is so annoying that one wonders why anyone would want him around. To offer an example of how ludicrous this character is, Steve is reduced to giving him a couple of hugs to cheer up his frightened little buddy. What the hell is sensitive male bonding doing in an old school kung fu movie? The only recognizable face is character actor Chan Lau, who usually plays the weasel-like goon in films such as 36 Deadly Styles and Fists, Kicks and the Evils. He’s also appeared in a disproportionate amount of Bruceploitation films, which in part explains his presence here. Chan is thoroughly miscast as an elder martial arts expert called in by the lead villain to take on Steve. Their fight is hands down one of the worst ever filmed. Chan is a horrible screen fighter and the two end up doing pretty unconvincing sparring.

Exploitation elements beyond Steve’s Bruce Lee imitations include a couple of dull female cat fights and a skinny Chan Lau in briefs getting busy with a lady, which is more than anyone should see.

The Steel-Fisted Dragon is obviously a very low budget film and it shows in just about every scene. The only memorable moment is when Steve plucks out the eyes of a villain, but even that has been done elsewhere. The rest is just wasted celluloid and may leave the viewer wishing someone would pluck their eyes out simply to end the torment.