Bridge of Dragons (1999) Reviews

• Dolph scores again!

  crystalart2010-06-12

  Before ordering this movie, I read a number of reviews and decided it would be perfect for a warm summer evening. I was right. After watching it tonight, I feel compelled to comment. Yes, this is a mindless action film, and it's pure Dolph Lundgren! The villains are exceptionally villainous, and the heroine is exquisitely beautiful and dangerous! I bought it on line for $2.65 in a VHS version, and after watching it, I've decided to look for an economical DVD. I want to watch it on wide screen. There are plenty of explosions, and and more than the usual number of bad guys getting shot and falling onto things. As I said, "pure Dolph Lundgren". Buy it cheap and enjoy it well!

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• I liked it

  Psi-Phi1999-09-23

  the story is good it could have been better but the fighting action made up for any lags in the plot. I like that the princess kicked butt and of course had a strong will. See it your self then judge it.

• Like bad action movies? You'll LOVE this.

  beefeathers2005-12-17

  I caught this movie somewhere around 3 in the morning on late-night television. Bleary-eyed and unable to go back to sleep, I decided to give it a chance. And I fell in love. Here's my summary: The plot is basically nonexistent. The action is good. The acting is... well, it's fairly standard B movie acting. Bruce Campbell would be proud. Go in expecting a bad action movie, and you'll enjoy this to no end. Go in expecting a Hollywood blockbuster, and you may as well gouge out your eyes, 'cause you're going to get just as much pleasure from that. God, I love this movie.

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• Dolph doing what he does best

  bd119-22003-01-31

  This is a moderately entertaining action film starring Dolph Lundgren as a mercenary in the post-apocalyptic future who goes against his mentor, an evil emperor, and teams up with the rebels. The film could have been better but it is saved by some spectacular fight scenes and stunts. Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa (who was also the bad guy in Dolph's 1991 movie Showdown In Little Tokyo) is a great villain, he is very believable and very menacing as the emperor Reuchang. This film is Dolph back to what he does best, it is full of machine gun battles, and Dolph kicking ass the whole way through the movie. Rachel Shane is good as the princess, and in the movie she is a mean fighter too. Not a very believable movie, but then hardly any of these type of movies are, and it is a Dolph movie. I would recommend it to action fans and Dolph fans alike, who will definitely get a kick out of it. This movie was meant to have a proper release in the US but for some reason it never did and instead got a cinema release elsewhere before it came out in the States. Overall, a great action movie, and a fine return to form for Dolph.

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• Hilarious from start to finish.

  tenten762003-05-13

  Imagine if the entire production crew of the A-Team were told to use the same 30 minute budget for a 90 minute film - only without any of the main characters. Well, here it is. Let's go into the film a little more - it's not really spoilers, since watching the film will spoil your afternoon anyway. Do not watch sober. Opening scene - Dolph (Warchild, ho ho) and his elite unit of grubby stuntmen creep up on a rebel base. In bright sunshine. Over flat ground. In jeeps. Chaos ensues, if by chaos you mean 'gunfight on a budget'. By now I was already having to hold my sides - every man does the exact same shimmy (as if to simulate getting hit by automatic fire), but it appears they could only afford 1 squib per 2-3 people! Apparently, Dolph and his invincible crew are using bullets that cause people to backflip, trampoline and somersault like a Russian gymnast when hit. A few people die, then die again (nice editing!), and there's some explosions (or rather, damp smoke grenades - probably bought cheap on Ebay due to water damage). With the base incapacitated, the bad guy (Cary Takawa (sp?)) arrives, and goes a bit hand-to-hand kung-fu on the rebel leader to show how deadly he is, before slitting the guy's throat with his trademark samurai-style sword. Or rather, he likes to gently wipe the paint off his sword onto the guy's throat before throwing him face down, off-camera. Cary is Dolph's boss. A-Ha we think, so Dolph is a baddie. Then, for a little R&R, Dolph and his chief monkey go to the kind of bamboo-bar you only see in medieval Samurai films, where big-D takes on all-comers in a kind of Iron Monkey / American Gladiators pole-fighting rip-off (fighting with big cotton buds, standing on poles 2 feet above a floor covered in pig's muck. Not noticing the slight figure, breasts or eyeshadow of his opponent, he tricks and beats up the disguised princess (who's engaged to his baddie boss). Did I mention that the princess - although very pretty - has a Home Counties maid straight out of Blackadder (think Nursey)? And that bad-guy Cary has an army made up of - and I kid you not - WW2 era Nazis, complete with tin helmets, motorbikes & sidecars and jackboots?! Then again, as the intro reminds us, this whole film takes place in a 'land where the future meets the past' or some such nonsense. As the film goes on, we see consistently appalling acting/costumes/sets. From about 1/2 an hour in, some truly spectacularly funny dubbing (which bears no relation whatsoever to what the actors are saying). And some of the funniest, most low-budget helicopter explosions I've ever seen (helicopter damage not in your budget - no problem - fly it below a hill, and set off a cheap petrol bomb on the grass in front. Edit to emphasise the fake-ness of it all. Keep future shots aimed well away from the supposedly ruined helicopter!). I'm wetting myself by now. I know I've forgotten other good stuff, but that's yours to find out. Problem is, I picked up this film hoping it would at least show Dolph kicking a lot of ass, but he doesn't do much if that either. It's not as though he's getting Steven Seagal fat, because he's not - we just don't get very much from him (not even in his occasional fight scenes). Nobody watches Dolph for his acting or emotions - so you'll be relieved that he doesn't try any of that here either. One bit you will belly-laugh at is when he recognises the Princess's eyes as the person who he beat in the bar. Never mind that he might wonder why she's staring straight at him all through her wedding! And his 'thoughtful' expression - head to one side, eyebrows working overtime - is much like when a big dog is puzzled. Utterly hilarious. Even when compared with the canon of Dolph Lundgren films, this one is a pretty fat turkey - but it is at least side-splittingly funny, provided you're in the right frame of mind and didn't pay too much to see it. If you buy the DVD like I did (HEY - it was cheaper than renting it!), you also get four hysterical trailers - including the one for this film.

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