''American Dragons'' (also known as ''Double Edge'') is a 1998

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Ralph Hemecker Ralph W. Hemecker is an American director, writer, and producer. He directed episodes of the drama series ''Once Upon a Time'' and ''The Flash''. Career In 2000, Hemecker founded Mythic Films, a full service feature film, TV and commercial produc ...

and starring

Michael Biehn Michael Connell Biehn ( ; born July 31, 1956) is an American actor, primarily known for his roles in science fiction films directed by James Cameron; as Sgt. Kyle Reese in ''The Terminator'' (1984), Cpl. Dwayne Hicks in ''Aliens'' (1986), and ...

Park Joong-hoon Park Joong-hoon (born March 22, 1966) is a South Korean actor. Early life and family Park was born and raised in Seoul. He was classmates with retired basketball legend Hur Jae at Yongsan High School and attended Chung-Ang University toget ...

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Japanese: 田川洋行, ''Tagawa Hiroyuki''; born September 27, 1950) is a Japanese-born American actor, film producer, and martial artist. Often cast as villains, he is known for his film roles in ''The Last Emperor'' ...

Don Stark Donald Mario Stark (July 5, 1954) is an American actor known for his role as Bob Pinciotti on the Fox Network sitcom ''That '70s Show'' for all eight seasons (19982006) and fictional Los Angeles Devils owner Oscar Kinkade in VH1's '' Hit the ...

and

Byron Mann Byron Mann is a Hong Kong-American actor of film and television. His best-known roles include Ryu in ''Street Fighter'', Silver Lion in ''The Man with the Iron Fists'', Wing Chau in ''The Big Short'', Admiral Augusto Nguyen on ''The Expanse'', ...

. It was written by Erik Saltzgaber and Keith W. Strandberg and produced by

Brad Krevoy Brad Krevoy is a film producer, entrepreneur, and the founder and chairman/CEO of the Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA). In a career spanning over 30 years, Krevoy has been directly involved in the development, finance, production, a ...

Plot

Detective Tony Luca is sent on a homicide investigation of a

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

leader after a bungled undercover sting to capture notorious gangster Rocco. After finding a folded

origami ) is the Japanese paper art, art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of pape ...

lotus with the black lotus insignia Tony is assigned a partner, Detective Kim from

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Kim is described by Luca's captain as an expert on the league of

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or VIP, important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not ha ...

s known as the Black Lotus Society. Both Yakuza and Mafia gangsters are being assassinated all over town by the mysterious assassin known to Kim as "Shadow". After squeezing information out of Yakuza businessman Nakai and

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

informant Mike, the two detectives discover that the Black Lotus plans to ignite a mob war between the Yakuza and the Mafia and adopt their businesses. The two men responsible for the plan are Shadow and Rocco, two men who haunt the pasts of the two detectives. With the two detectives now cooperating with one another, they collect the leaders of both the Mafia and the Yakuza and inform them of the plan of the Black Lotus Society and take them both to the police holding station to prevent their deaths and prevent further mob killings. With both mob leaders in safe keeping the two detectives hunt down the location of Shadow and Rocco. Fights ensue with Kim fighting Shadow, and Luca having a shootout with Rocco. It all comes down to an epic standoff, leaving Kim and Luca the only two left alive. Luca and Kim say their goodbyes at the airport wishing each other the best, leaving as friends. As Kim walks up the walkway to the plane a White Lotus Man is shown having his ticket taken by the gate. Taking his ticket stub back, this man reveals a lotus tattoo on the palm of his hand and leaves to take his flight, the same one Detective Kim is taking back to South Korea.

Cast

Critical reception

Writing for ''The Digital Fix'', Anthony Nield remarked the film is "dependent on cliches" and the characters lacked depth. Of the action scenes, Nield said, "without the investment in emecker'sleads, or anyone else for that matter, these set pieces appear to simply lurch from one fistfight to the next".

References

External links

* * {{Ralph Hemecker 1998 films 1998 action thriller films 1998 crime thriller films American action thriller films American buddy action films American crime thriller films Films scored by Joel Goldsmith Films directed by Ralph Hemecker Japan in non-Japanese culture Orion Pictures films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Yakuza films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s Japanese films