Review: DRAGON LIVES AGAIN is a postmodern dialogue on the status of celebrity. By separating the ‘myth’ of Bruce Lee from his real-world movie actor persona, we are allowed an insight into our own connection between fantasy and reality. Indeed, as ‘the myth’ teams up with all-American hero Popeye, we see fact and fiction collide, and come to understand a differential between factual and fictitious violence. Or something…

Intellectualising DRAGON LIVES AGAIN is pointless. In fact, simply understanding the plot is pretty pointless. From the minute that a deceased Bruce Lee gets an erection to the sounds of Carl Douglas’ ‘Kung Fu Fighting’, it’s obvious that this isn’t a serious attempt to recapture the spirit of Hong Kong’s most iconic movie hero. In fact, DRAGON LIVES AGAIN is the strangest, most wacked out, crack-pipe honking attempt to disrespect the spirit of Hong Kong’s most iconic movie hero.

Bruce teams up with Popeye and the one-armed swordsman, and does battle with an odd mix of factual and/or fictitious people, who may or may not actually have been dead at the time the film was made. The all-star line up includes Clint Eastwood, Dracula, The EXORSIST, EMMANUELLE, James Bond, Popeye, Zatoichi, a handful of naked girls, some Egyptian mummies and a bunch of guys in Halloween skeleton costumes. The cast playing this disparate bunch are generally played by unknowns, but the moderately knowledgeable kung fu head will find a few pleasant surprises, such as Eric Tsang as Popeye, and Simon Yuen Siu Ting as a friendly doctor (the Drunken Master himself). Sadly, both are underused.

Bruce Leong is pretty unconvincing as Lee, but we are helpfully told that when you die, your appearance changes. It’s a shame that death also put a little rigor mortis into his fighting skills, thanks to Bruce Leong’s unremarkable abilities and some low grade, old school choreography.

DRAGON LIVES AGAIN is an amusing curiosity with an odd fascination with the size of Bruce Lee’s wedding tackle and a neat line in pop culture references. It’s best viewed as harmless fun, and nothing more. Those interested in the Bruceploitation movies will see this as liquid gold cinema, but for the rest of us, it’s simply a bit of a giggle.