Little Dragon Maid (1983)
Director - Hua Shan
DVD Released by : Celestial Pictures
Player reviewed with :Citizen JDVD 3820
Receiver reviewed with : N/A
 
Features:
Cantonese/Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 Soundtrack
English, Chinese, Bahasa Malaysia, and Bahasa Indonesia Subtitles
Enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs
New Trailer
Behind the scenes, New Releases, Colour Stills, Original Poster, Biography and Selected Filmography
Running Time : 92 mins.
Region 3
The film begins with a fight and half a dozen (unsubtitled) character introductions. Yang Guo (Leslie Cheung), an orphan scavenges among the battlefield and is found by Huang Rong and Guo Jing, his aunt and uncle. It turns out that Yang Guo’s father was a traitor who died under unexplained circumstances. Mistrusting his dark lineage, Yang Guo is sent away to the Taoist Quanzhen Sect where his uncle hopes he will learn and grow up to become a righteous man. Unfortunately, that is not to be as Yang Guo is continuously mistreated and beaten. The plot really gets going when Yang Guo eventually escapes, and meets up with his kung fu mentor-to-be, the mysterious and beautiful Dragon Girl (Mary Jean Reimer).

The late Leslie Cheung does a good job playing the spirited young hero, Yang Guo, and Mary Jean Reimer is enchanting as the lovely, yet cool Dragon Girl. Watching their uneasy relationship progress is charming and fun, and is the heart of the film. Adapted from Jin Yong‘s epic romance, The Return of the Condor Heroes / Legendary Couple, the other characters are not nearly as well developed. A great deal has been pared down from the novel, but not enough as relationships are convoluted and many characters are simply dropped and forgotten (such as Guk Fung’s beggar Hong Qigong, or Lo Lieh’s adopted father). Villains appear late, and don’t seem very important or even threatening. The movie ends abruptly after the final battle, but this was common for most Shaw actioners.

Still, the film moves at a good pace, and the new wave wire-fu is entertaining to watch. Although relatively well choreographed and edited, the high-flying sword sequences are a bit short, and may seem a tad stilted to those weaned on the Matrix or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

Little Dragon Girl is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1). Some have complained that these aren’t true anamorphic transfers, but are letterboxed upconversions as seen in Celestial’s initial releases. Having watched a number of their DVDs, Shaw’s restorations are clean and smooth, but the video does have a ‘processed’ look. Nonetheless, close-ups of skin are nicely textured, and colours are deep and vibrant. Contrast is good for the most part, but a few scenes appear too dark. Overall, a good picture, but not perfect.

You have a choice of Mandarin or Cantonese 5.1 soundtracks, with the Cantonese matching mouth movements the closest. Effects during the action sequences are adequate, if unremarkable, and dialogue is clear with no noticeable hiss or pop. I have soft spot for cheesy ‘80s cantopop, so I really liked the music, but it’s not for everyone.

Player generated subtitles are easy to read and free of grammatical errors. They are pretty accurate to the spoken dialogue, but not everything is translated. Character names that appear on screen are disappointingly not subtitled.
The extras are slim on these newer releases, with only a new trailer for Little Dragon Girl, not even the original is included. New releases, stills and poster art are fairly typical, but at least the biographies are informative and include a photo if you don’t know the actors’ Chinese names.

Directed by Hua Shan, the plot is clunky and can be confusing if you’re not already familiar with the original storyline. Those who are familiar may be offended by some of the liberties taken by the film, including one major change. However, I liked the characters and performances and enjoyed the light atmosphere. There are a few adult themes, but these are handled tastefully. The cut limbs and gore are kept to a minimum for a Shaw movie. By no means a classic, it is less ambitious than Tsui Hark’s Zu: Warriors from Magic Mountain (also released in 1983), but better than the similar Buddha’s Palm (including a giant puppet monster), and is a fun entry to the wuxia genre.

-Leon Ho

Reviewed 12/15/2003