Double Dragon (film)
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| Double Dragon | |
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| Directed by | James Yukich |
| Written by | Michael Davis Peter Gould |
| Starring | Robert Patrick Mark Dacascos Scott Wolf Kristina Malandro Wagner Julia Nickson |
| Music by | Jay Ferguson |
| Cinematography | Gary B. Kibbe |
| Editing by | Florent Retz |
| Distributed by | Gramercy Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 4, 1994 |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Double Dragon is a 1994 live-action film adaptation of the video game franchise of the same name. This film was produced starring Mark Dacascos as Jimmy Lee and Scott Wolf as Billy Lee, along with Alyssa Milano as Marian Delario and Robert Patrick as Koga Shuko, the primary antagonist. In the movie, the twins are only described as brothers, presumably to explain the differences in ethnicity. To clarify, the movie, Jimmy is a year older than Billy, whereas in the video games and the two brothers were twins (with Jimmy being the elder twin). It was directed by James Yukich and written by the team of Paul Dini (of Batman: The Animated Series and others) and Neal Shusterman. The location was a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles (following a large earthquake that occurred before the events of the film), referred to as "New Angeles".
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[edit] Plot summary
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The movie starts out with a close up of the dragon medallion with Koga Shuko's (Robert Patrick) voice over telling how the medallion came to be and why it is split in two pieces.
Cut to a monk village somewhere in China, where the residents are under attack by a group of ninjas looking for the dragon medallion, only to discover that the monks' tongues have been cut out to prevent them from revealing the location of the medallion. One ninja, Lash, notices a villager fleeing and she gives chase following him into cavern dressed as a shrine where the medallion is located. After retrieving the medallion, she reports back to Shuko via satellite link.
Back in New Angeles (Los Angeles after the big quake of 2007), Shuko reveals his plans to have total domination of the city, stating that the quake was like a trumpets blow "heralding [his] arrival". He then discovers that Lash only recovered one half of the medallion and berates her for it. He places the medallion in his fist and turns into a shadowy, wraith-like figure and screams at Lash to find him the other half.
The second half of the medallion is revealed to be in the possession of Satori Imada, caretaker of Billy and Jimmy Lee, who are in the middle of a martial arts tournament. The match is going well until Billy's antics get the best of him and cost them the match and, consequently, the prize money as well. After a smart remark from the winning team, Billy jumps on them followed by Jimmy, and shortly the entire arena is fighting each other.
After a short news segment, basically setting up the city's curfew and the LAPD's truce with the gangs, Team Lee find themselves out after curfew and in gang territory. Billy eyes a girl leaning into the hood of a car and begs Jimmy to pull over saying that she is his type. After parking, the girl stands up and pulls off her wig revealing she is actually a guy in a skirt. Just as Jimmy quips that she is Billy's type, their car is surrounded by Mohawk gang members, led by Bo Abobo (Nils Allen Stewart). His sidekick, Hawk, demands $50 from them but Abobo sees something he likes better than cash: the dragon medallion. He tries to take it from Satori as Jimmy and Billy tell her to let him have it, but she refuses because "it has sentimental value". Abobo finally pulls it from her neck, but she stabs him in the hand. As Hawk laughs at his partner's misfortune, the Lee Brothers and Satori escape. Abobo and Hawk give chase in their truck, determined to collect their toll. The pursuit goes on for several minutes until Billy puts an aerosol can into the combustion chamber of the car's afterburner engine. They end up down a dead end alley where Abobo and Hawk finally meet up with them. As Abobo jumps out of the truck, he unknowingly drops something. Billy and Jimmy prepare to put up a fight, but the PowerCorps appear from the shadows and drive the Mohawks away with their superior numbers. Marian (Alyssa Milano) tantalizes the two about needing help, and then reveals that she was there for the GangNet Linkup that Abobo dropped earlier. Satori informs them that the Mohawks will be back shortly with reinforcements and that they should leave.
Back at Shuko's office, it turns out that Abobo is actually working for him and says that he thought the medallion was "just a piece of cheap jewelry" and that Lash should put out an APB on it since "it's her fault". As punishment for his failure, Shuko decides to subject Abobo to his submolecular steroids, which will give him the "strength of ten men". Abobo says that since he already has that kind of strength, the machine will kill him. Shuko responds by saying the he considers Abobo as a son, "and like any good son, I can always have another. But there is only one Double Dragon". The scene closes with the machine opening up and Abobo screaming in fear of the events to come.
The Lee's car is shown to be parked outside the closed down Seville Theater, which turns out to be home to Satori and the Lees. She explains to them the significance of the dragon medallion she wears. One half of the amulet gives power over the body, making the wearer invincible and super strong. The other half gives power over the soul, allowing the user to enter anyone's body and control them from within. She separated the two halves many years ago, keeping one for herself, and hiding the other in a place no one will ever find it. Later that day, there is a knock at the door and Satori answers it only to be surprised by an old face: Victor Guisman. He says that no one has called him "Guisman" in many years, and that he is now known as Koga Shuko. He demands to know where her half of the Double Dragon is, only to be told that he'll never find the two pieces. Shuko laughs and, to Satori's horror, unzips his coat to reveal his half of the medallion. After spotting the other half around Billy's neck, he attempts to grab it but is stopped by Satori. His henchmen, Huey and Lewis, go after the Lee brothers in an almost cartoon-like chase throughout the theater. After having incapacitating the henchmen, Billy and Jimmy are confronted by a giant, mutated Abobo. They attempt to take him down with some bricks and in the process, accidentally breaks the gasoline. Satori appears and knocks Abobo out with a punching bag, and then orders the boys to get out and leave the medallion with her. Billy refuses, asking how it works, but Satori gets impatient and reaches for the medallion as her voice deepens to reveal that she is actually being controlled by Shuko. She is quickly locked behind a fence and Shuko leaves her body, and makes one final offer to the Lees to give up the medallion or else Satori will die. Believing he is bluffing, they turn back to Satori as Shuko sets fire to the theater. They realize that the gas is broken when Lash draws their attention toward her, and rush to get Satori free. They eventually get the gate open and start to leave, but are confronted once again by Shuko, but Satori knocks him away to give Billy and Jimmy the chance to escape. She closes the door behind her, locking the boys out, to keep Shuko distracted. As the Lees run around to the front of the theater, the fire reaches the gasline and the entire theater explodes, with Satori inside. Outside, Lash is wondering where Shuko is, and he appears in his limo behind her. He orders her to set up a meeting with the gangs to employ their assistance in finding the dragon medallion.
[edit] Cast
David Hasselhoff was originally chosen for the role as the brothers' father, but was forced to back out when shooting of the film clashed with the shooting of a series of air-conditioning advertisements he was already signed on to do.
Alyssa Milano's real-life younger brother Cory is typecast in this movie as Marian's younger brother Marc DeLario. To date, this is the only movie in which both Milano siblings have co-starred.
[edit] Reception
Reviews by critics, such as the review of the movie by the Washington Post were not favorable. The movie was also shunned by fans and public opinion alike, however, it did achieve considerable sales figures in many South American countries when released on VHS.
[edit] Home video
Goodtimes Home Video released the film on DVD in early 1998 and again on August 31, 2004. Both DVDs are currently out of print.[citation needed]
[edit] Double Dragon (1995 game)
- The 1995 game, titled Double Dragon, released by SNK and Technos Japan Corp., was based on the video game series and film of the same name.
- Marian is a gang leader in the movie despite being a damsel in distress in the first game. In the 1995 Double Dragon game, Marian was a gang character in homage to the movie.
- Marian is not Billy's girlfriend in the film like she is in the game. However in one scene before the enemy gangs break into her hideout, she and Billy come close to kissing.
- Shuko appeared as the final boss for the game.
- When the brothers are fighting and Jimmy is possessed by Shuko, the villain, there is a close-up of Billy, and behind him you can clearly see the Double Dragon arcade game. This is a reference to the first Double Dragon game where Billy and Jimmy fight each other.
[edit] External links
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