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"BILLY CHONG SUPER STAR"
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Chinese Martial arts film made partial in Arizona starring Billy Chong, Carl Scott, and Louis Neglia
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One of the great mysteries in martial arts film is why Billy Chong did not become a superstar of the genre, a question that will certainly perplex any of you who haven't heard of him and decide to check out SUN DRAGON (US title A HARD WAY TO DIE). Filmed in Arizona around 1980 by Eternal Films, SUN DRAGON is simply put a minor classic of the kung fu genre. While it suffers from all the short comings of the typical chop socky flick of that time, it rises above most of the genre by virtue of its two stars, Billy Chong and the nearly as impressive Carl Scott who was literally just a teenager at the time.
+5
Chong combines the best of all worlds: the burning intensity of a Bruce Lee, the goofy agility of a Jackie Chan, and the boyish charm of an Alexander Fu Sheng with his own little Indonesian self to produce an exciting new original that started out with a brilliant flash and then apparently just went back to Indonesia where he had been among other things, a pop star. What a loss! Such fighting skills, such screen presence, such a looker! But back to SUN DRAGON, for there is also Carl Scott!
Scott too fell off the face of the cinematic earth after a couple of movies, and I dare you to see THIS ONE and give me one good reason why! His martial arts here are nearly flawless and his bo kata is a real eye opener, he's as good as anyone I've ever seen on this side of the international dateline, and he certainly had no competition from the likes of Jim Kelly or Ron Van Clief.
You say you want to know more about the movie? Well, in many ways it's your typical kung fu flick; high spirited boy(Chong) gets in trouble fighting (in this case he rescues a hapless girl from a gang of would-be rapists led by the local magistrate's son) and has to be sent away for his own good. The difference is that in this case he's sent to the United States, or more specifically, Arizona, to stay with his Grandfather who we never do get to meet in the course of the movie. Instead he gets side-tracked breaking up fights that are bring staged for money at the local Chinese run tavern, and bouncing all the troublemakers out on their keisters.
At the same time we have a second storyline going about a black youth named Tom who barely escape with his life when a group of evil-doers decides that his family's little ranch would be the perfect place to hide out while things cool off from their last job. They kill Tom's parents which naturally means he's going to have to get revenge. Our hero Billy Chong and his newly found friend at the tavern take Tom to the local kung fu master/herbalist who heals Tom's body and as at no additional cost turns him into a lethal killing machine for purposes of extracting revenge.
Oh, there's more, MUCH, MUCH MORE. I haven't even told you about the samurais yet! But I have to leave SOME surprises for you, don't I? In the final analysis there's only one reason you go to martial arts films and that's to see terrific action performed by guys who know how to do it right. So while styles have changed in the way fights are presented, in SUN DRAGON you'll still be able to spot the brilliance of the two stars who should have been more--Billy Chong and Carl Scott! And have lots of old school fun along the way.
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labibortega
April 05, 2012
http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Dozan now billy chong known as willy dozan in indonesia
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woopak_the_thrill
February 10, 2010
Nice! I really liked this flick..loads of entertainment!
QUEENBFLIX
February 10, 2010
Scott was really impressive, wasn't he? I think he was something like 16 or 17 when he made this flick.
woopak_the_thrill
February 10, 2010
hells yes!
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Count_Orlok_22
February 04, 2010
I just went to YouTube and caught some Billy Chong action. Pretty intense, though the sound effects sucked. He sure could jump, though. You should check some of them out at YouTube.
QUEENBFLIX
February 05, 2010
I have. But then I own all his movies now. Unless there's something Indonesian I don't know about there. He had a lot of charisma too.
Count_Orlok_22
February 05, 2010
Where did you find the DVDs? I frequently check out the martial arts stuff on Movies Unlimited, but I don't recall ever seeing anything there with Billy Chong.
QUEENBFLIX
February 06, 2010
Most of his stuff is available on DVD and I found it on ammie.
Count_Orlok_22
February 06, 2010
Oh, and it plays on standard Region 1 DVD players?
QUEENBFLIX
February 07, 2010
Mine all do. You might have to look and make sure you're buying the right stuff, but everything I've seen has been a U.S. release.
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devora
February 03, 2010
I've never heard of this before, but I love me some old school martial arts flicks, so I my check this out sometime! :)
QUEENBFLIX
February 03, 2010
I literally searched for a professional copy of this for over 2 decades! Why the guy never caught on is beyond me. Perhaps it had something to do with being Indonesian rather than Chinese. His real name is very long and decidedly Muslim, not surprising since Indonesia is something like 95% Muslim. Anyhow I heard that he had a career in TV back there. Too bad, our loss. I also heard though that he was up for the lead in ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA, but couldn't get along with director Tsui Hark so that didn't get very far.
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karen (QUEENBFLIX)
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I am the poster child for inertia. Where ever I am is where I plan to stay FOREVER. So much so in fact that it took me decades to understand the punchline about why the chicken … more
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