Legend of the Dragon

This is Stephen Chow at his best. Some may not think so, because he is extremely silly and over acts constantly, but that's exactly what's so great about it. Half the things he says are completely ridiculous, but it is in no way as ridiculous as his later "nonsense" comedies. He's not cartoonishly bouncing from one wacky situation to the next. He says these things because his character is slow-witted, naively kind-hearted, and completely under-socialized.

There are a few series of shots set to corny music that could have been taken right out of God of Gamblers, and I love that kind of thing. It actually makes me feel good to see how happy these people are. Don't want to go into specifics, but the sincerity and joy of Hong Kong movies is evident in watching this.

I also rank Legend of the Dragon right up there with The Hustler and Color of Money as a pool film. First time I saw it, I was dreading that it would be a typical Crocodile Dundee type fiasco with the "peasant" overwhelmed by the big city and whatnot, but this is actually a hardcore pool junky's movie...with a main character who is slow-witted and possibly insane. Two big thumbs up!