Review of American Dragons

Introduction

Murder cases in Seoul, Korea and America pair a cop from either side together to solve the crimes. Ok, there`s a slightly suspicious start. It`s going to be another of those films where the cops must bridge the language gap, settle their cultural/procedural/etc. differences before eventually becoming good friends and solving the case in style. And of course you just know that "this time it`s personal"....

Video

It`s your usual MGM back catalogue 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. As ever, it looks quite good on the whole with the odd nastier moment. There`s a reasonable amount of grain at times, but not masses. The sometimes washed out look seems to be intentional, to give that "gritty" edge. On the whole it`s ok for a back catalogue, nobody`s heard of it before effort.

Audio

A DD2.0 surround soundtrack, which is nothing more than average. All dialogue is clear and crisp, and everything is audible, including the cheesed up soundtrack.

Features

Nothing.

Conclusion

A cross between Rush Hour/Rush Hour 2 and some very bad Chuck Norris- wanting-to-be-John Woo type films gives us American Dragons. Tedious, predictable, dull. You know what`s going to happen. You know how it`s going to happen. You know that you could have written a better script with one hand tied behind your back.

Unlike Rush Hour or Rush Hour 2 (which aren`t the most tightly scripted and slick films in the world), there`s no comedy or brilliantly choreographed fight sequences to distract from the predictable bits. This film just drags on to an inevitable conclusion, lurching from one rubbish bout of fisticuffs to another. You really couldn`t care if what you know is going to happen actually happens or not.

The DVD is the usual MGM catalogue effort, reasonable picture and sound, no extras. But don`t buy this film. Buy something else instead. Anything. Just not this.