Heart of the Dragon stars Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, two of cinema’s greatest martial artists, as adult brothers Ted (Chan) and Danny (Hung). Ted is a cop who’s hard-nosed about crime but frustrated that his personal life is in a state of arrested development due to his responsibility of caring for Danny, who is mentally handicapped — a 30-year-old man with a 6-year-old mind.

At one point Ted angrily yells, “I once thought about strangling you.” That’s kind of the tenor of the entire film: Children, shop owners, police officers, criminals and random passers-by humiliating Danny, whom Hung plays with extraordinary commitment toward keeping the film a drama. (Hung also directed the film.) Because it’s Chan and Hung, there is action, but that plot doesn’t kick in until the final 30 minutes, leading to a few decent scenes before an utterly bonkers ending that is nonetheless impossible to recommend given how miserable the rest of the film happens to be. It has nothing significant to say about the mistreatment of neurodivergent adults, nothing remotely thoughtful to say about its characters. I wanted to give up watching it at the halfway point but finished it out of a sense of obligation. I wish I hadn’t.

Special Features

  • 2K restoration from the original negative by Fortune Star
  • 1080p Blu-ray presentations of the 91-minute Hong Kong theatrical cut and the 99-minute extended Japanese cut via seamless branching
  • Original lossless Cantonese and English mono audio on both cuts, plus Mandarin on the theatrical cut and Cantonese with an alternate score on the extended cut
  • Optional English subtitles for both cuts
  • Brand new commentary by Frank Djeng & FJ DeSanto on the extended cut
  • Alternate English credits as The First Mission
  • The Making of The First Mission and The First Mission: Pre-Release Event, two extended featurettes made to promote the Japanese release by Shochiku
  • Archive interviews with Chan, Hung, cinematographer Arthur Wong and co-star Rocky Lai
  • Trailer gallery, including the “music video” trailer by Su Rui
  • Image gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sam Gilbey