The Dragon Lives Again Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		2.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

The Dragon Lives Again Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 23, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Severin's The Game of Clones: Bruceploitation Collection Vol. 1.

When Severin Films released Kung Fu Trailers of Fury and Return of Kung Fu Trailers of Fury several years ago, I'm sure I wasn't the only one initially thinking, "Well, that's a stupid idea for a release", only to have the sheer lunacy of the trailers assembled in both collections "fight back" against that assessment, as if to say in response, "Yeah, well who's stupid now?" In fact, both Kung Fu Trailers of Fury and Return of Kung Fu Trailers of Fury were kind of deliriously enjoyable in their own slapdash way, and those releases evidently were one of the inspirations for a full on collection of so-called "Brucesploitation" films, this time offering the actual films in addition to their trailers. The goofily affable Michael Worth, who has contributed so many fun commentaries through the years to various kung fu films on Blu-ray, is your "host" of sorts here, offering introductions to all the films and commentaries for many of them. If none of these films is ever going to be acclaimed as an unappreciated masterpiece, and if both video and audio on many of the films in this set might be charitably termed problematic, merely having these films in high definition will be alluring, and an absolute glut of other supplemental material is included as well, making this a probable "must have" for a certain demographic.

Many of the films in Severin's massive set can unintentionally provide guffaws at regular intervals, but the kind of charming thing about The Dragon Lives Again is that it's supposed to be funny, albeit rather weirdly in a story that posits Bruce Lee (Bruce Leung) finds himself in the afterlife, where he interacts with a near hallucinogenic array of famous characters, including The Man With No Name, Popeye, Zatiochi, Dracula and Stan Laurel. If that's not enough to pique interest, there's also some absolutely gonzo fight choreography from Leung and his father. Michael Worth mentions that a lot of fans find Leung's fighting chops (no pun intended) to be the most formidable of any of the many "pretenders to the throne", and he's afforded a good, if goofy, showcase here for those particular skills.

The Dragon Lives Again Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Dragon Lives Again is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Michael Worth's introduction that the original negative evidently still exists but is so badly deteriorated it couldn't be used, so a 35mm from the American Genre Film Archive was utilized for the transfer. For those familiar with AGFA's own Blu-ray offerings, source elements are quite frequently in very badly damaged condition, and that's the case here, with some of the most prevalent scratching (often in bright green) sometimes covering the length of the frame. Colors are still reasonably robust but have a slightly purplish cast that gives things a somewhat faded appearance. This is one of the few offerings in this set that doesn't suffer from such extreme anamorphic skewing that I mention in many of the other reviews of films in this set.

The Dragon Lives Again Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dragon Lives Again features another DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that is quite similar to many of the other tracks in this set, with a pretty thin and bright high end that can be especially noticeable both in some of the outrageous sound effects and equally outrageous (in another way) co-opting of music like Monty Norman's inimitable James Bond Theme. Sound effects during battle scenes in particular have a pronounced boxiness. Dialogue is rendered cleanly enough, for better or worse. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Dragon Lives Again Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary With Michael Worth And Frank Djeng, Co-Producers of Enter the Clones of Bruce


• Deleted Scenes From French Version (HD; 6:53) begin with the following information:

  The following scenes are sourced from a recently discovered French interpositive of the film. Unfortunately, that IP was sourced from a 35mm print and was cropped to hid burned in subtitles.
  
  While we couldn't use the picture in our restoration, we found some scenes that are not in the US cut of the film. While not integral to the story, these bits fill in a few of the gaps that now will make a lot more sense.



• Audio Essay By Cult Cinema Critic Lovely Jon (HD; 1:31:09) acts as a kind of alternate commentary track, playing to the film. This covers a wide range of subjects, and last for about the first 41 minutes of so of the film (the film continues after Jon's comments end).


• Severin's Kung Fu Theater With Actor/Director/Bruceploitation Expert Michael Worth (HD; 2:02) offers a brief introduction. This is accessible as either a standalone supplement or under the Play Menu, where it's authored to lead directly to the feature.


• Trailer (HD; 1:37)

The Dragon Lives Again Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Dragon Lives Again is something of a palette cleanser in this set, since it seems to know how completely bizarre it is. The array of famous characters lifted from the annals of cinema are a completely weird delight, but it may be Bruce Leung's athleticism and fight choreography that help to really elevate this piece above the "standard" Bruceploitation fare, though that elevation is a decidedly relative situation. As with a lot of AGFA material, the source element here is in pretty rough shape, so fans should be prepared, but the supplements are very enjoyable.