The Return of the Kung Fu Dragon (1976)
aka Ju ma pao
Article 5975 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-15-2021
Directed by Chi-Lien Yu and Kang Yu
Featuring Polly Ling-Feng Shang-Kuan, Chung Chien Li, Sing Chen
Country: Taiwan
What it is: Where choreographers and Foley Artists rule.

The Golden City is taken over by a usurper with the help of a sorcerer. Nineteen years later, descendants of the original generals decide to take the city back.

This is one of those martial arts films that takes place in a fantasy world, thus ensuring it a review here. As for the story line… well, I lost track of it shortly after the opening monologue set up the situation, but I was able to pick up the thread again when the ending monologue explained how the situation was resolved. In between we have the results of an intense collaboration between fight choreographers and the sound effects department. The presence of a female martial arts practitioner as the main hero is the most striking aspect of this one; her cocky attitude and comic bits are the best things about this movie. We also get a strange imp-like character and a sorcerer whose beard is so long he has a personal valet to keep track of it. The rest is pretty much just what you’d expect from this type of movie. So… onward.