The Five Golden Dragons

Director - Jeremy Summers (Nightmare)
Starring - Robert Cummings (Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color), Margaret Lee (Asylum Erotica), and Rupert Davies (Dracula Has Risen from the Grave)
Release Date - 1976
Genre - Crime/Drama/Action
Tagline - "girls, gold, intrigue!"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I didn't know how to approach this one.  When I was sent the Circus of Fear/The Five Golden Dragons double feature from Blue Underground I assumed that Circus of Fear would be the better film of the two but I quickly discovered that CoF was pretty shitty.  Usually Blue Underground sends over films that are entertaining in one aspect or another but I couldn't find any redeeming qualities with CoF.  That put a lot of pressure on the second film in the set, The Five Golden Dragons.  This one, also, had Klaus Kinski in it.  I now wish I would have opened with this film instead of the other.

     The film follows an American who is under investigation by the Hong Kong police when someone he is supposed to meet up falls to his death from his apartment building.  He befriends two beautiful sisters and tries to have a good time but one of them gets caught up a conspiracy involving an organized crime syndicate and a group of wealthy men who control them known as the Golden Dragons.  Now he must work closely with the police in order to bring down the dragons.
     After watching Circus of Fear I went into The Five Golden Dragons with no hope and low expectations.  However, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the film.  The film was flawed and had a lot of situations that could now be considered racist but it still had a redeeming quality that most films like it could not replicate.  The acting in this one is fantastic.  The entire cast delivers exceptional performances.  The women are all beautiful and extremely talented and the men are offer up outstanding performances.  With all that being said, Robert Cummings was phenomenal.  The cast is great, and I mean this as no disrespect to them, but the film would not have been as fun if someone else was cast.  The story for this one is not that original but was something different at the time it was released.  The spy movies of late 60s were mostly Bond clones that relied heavily on gadgets, espionage, and sex appeal.  This film follows the Get Smart approach and offers up humor in place of story.  The film still has sex appeal but humor is this films driving force.  The acting is there but it doesn't hold the viewer's attention like it should.  Finally, those of you looking for blood will not find it here.  There is a few deaths but they are laughable and offer up no blood or effects.  This film is purely story driven and not for the horror fan.  Overall, The Five Golden Dragons is a fun action comedy that is far from perfect but does offer up some laughs.  The titles is misleading but still fits the story.  Check it out but don't expect much.