1979 · kung-fu · independent · western

Sun Dragon

Directed by Hua Shan · 1h 32m · 1979

Sung Shao Chong (Billy Chong) traverses the Arizona desert, helping those in need on the way to meet his old friend Kum (Lam Hak-Ming) in a small western town. Once there, he runs into a group of men who terrorize the town and extort the local businesses. Meanwhile, a trio of three bank robbers need a place to hide until the heat dies down from a recent heist. They pick the home of a black farming family and subsequently kill them, leaving only the severly injured eldest son Tommy (Carl Scott) to escape. Tommy is found by Chong and Kum and is brought to the home of Doctor Ko (Leung Siu-Chung), who heals his injuries. Eventually Tommy learns kung fu from Ko, and sets out for payback. Luckily for Tommy, Chong is also bent on revenge after the bandits hire the local troublemakers and some Japanese samurai to kill him.

Our read: Sun Dragon (1979) reads as a warm, breathless, grounded kung-fu · independent · western entry — measured in intensity, intimate in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.