The Dragon Missile [飛龍斬] (1976)
Starring Lo Lieh, Lau Wing, Nancy Yen Nan-See, Ku Feng, Terry Lau Wai-Yue, Fan Mei-Sheng, Kong Yeung, Norman Chu Siu-Keung, Ko Hung, Wang Han-Chen, Ou-Yang Sha-Fei, Yeung Chi-Hing, Hao Li-Jen, Lai Man
Directed by Ho Meng-Hua
Expectations: Kinda high.
There are some films made for the sake of the art, while others are purely made for monetary reasons. The Dragon Missile is one of the latter, rushed into production to compete for the decapitation fan base with Jimmy Wang Yu’s One Armed Boxer vs. the Flying Guillotine (AKA Master of the Flying Guillotine). Both films opened on April 24, 1976, but only one of them is a well-loved genre classic that grossed more than all but a handful of Shaw’s 1976 films (and it ain’t The Dragon Missile 😀 ). The move to steal business from their former star may not have worked, but the resulting film is still pretty enjoyable for what it is. Even the most slapdash Shaw production is still a Shaw production, after all, and The Dragon Missile has a few solid things in its corner that make it a worthwhile film.
Lo Lieh plays Sima Jun, the Imperial Troop Leader for the oppressive Lord Qin Quan (Ku Feng). He wields one of the more unique weapons in kung fu cinema: a pair of giant “dragon missiles,” which are basically bladed boomerangs adorned with dragon heads that can cut through just about anything in their path (in a haze of sparks and lens flare). Like the flying guillotine, they have a habit of decapitating their victims, but the dragon missiles are almost more frightening because of their mobility. The guillotine must be thrown precisely and then retrieved for a second go-round, while the missiles are in constant motion. Sima Jun can also catch and throw them with remarkable speed and accuracy. Lord help us if a dude with a flying guillotine ever teamed up with a guy using dragon missiles!