''The Dragon from Russia'' is a 1990 Hong Kong

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Clarence Fok Clarence Fok Yiu-leung (霍耀良) is a Hong Kong film director and actor from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is perhaps best known for directing the international cult classic ''Naked Killer'' (1992). He was once asked by producer Mario Kassar t ...

and based on the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

Crying Freeman is a Japanese manga series written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami. ''Crying Freeman'' follows a Japanese assassin hypnotized and trained by the Chinese mafia (called the "108 Dragons") to serve as its agent and covered in ...

'' and written by

Kazuo Koike was a prolific Japanese manga writer ( gensakusha), novelist, screenwriter, lyricist and entrepreneur. He is best known for his violent, artful ''seinen'' manga, notably ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' (with Goseki Kojima, 1970–6), '' Lady Snowblood'' ...

and

Ryoichi Ikegami is a Japanese manga artist that usually works as the illustrator in collaboration with a writer. He is best known for ''Crying Freeman'' (1986–1988), written by Kazuo Koike, and ''Heat'' (1999–2004), written by Buronson. The latter won the 2 ...

, and also produced by

Dean Shek Dean Shek (17 June 1949 – 20 September 2021), also known as Dean Shek Tin, was a Hong Kong film actor and producer with over 72 film credits to his name. Shek was perhaps best known as Professor Kai-hsien in the 1978 film ''Drunken Master'', ...

, and starring

Sam Hui Samuel Hui Koon-kit (born 6 September 1948), usually known as Sam Hui, is a Hong Kong musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He is credited with popularising Cantopop both via the infusion of Western-style music and his usage of vernacular Cantone ...

Maggie Cheung Maggie Cheung Man-yuk (; born 20 September 1964) is a Hong Kong former actress. Raised in Hong Kong and Britain, she started her career after placing second in 1983's Miss Hong Kong Pageant. She achieved critical success in the late 1980s and in ...

Nina Li Chi Nina Li Chi (born December 31, 1961) is a retired Hong Kong actress. She is married to actor Jet Li. Early life Li was born on December 31, 1961, in Shanghai, China. Her father was a stage actor. Career In 1986, Li was the winner of Miss Asi ...

Carrie Ng Carrie Ng (born 1963) is a Hong Kong actress well known for both Category-III cult and mainstream films. She won Best Actress at the 1993 Golden Horse Film Festival awards for her performance in ''Remains of a Woman'' and Best Supporting Actre ...

Loletta Lee Rachel Lee (; born 8 January 1966), previously known as Loletta Lee, is a Hong Kong actress and a Category III film star. She started playing small roles in Hong Kong movies in the 1980s. Her first role as a lead actress was in ''Devoted to You ...

and guest starring Shek in his second-to-last film appearance before retiring from acting in two years later.

Plot

Yao Lung and May Yip are

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

s who live in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

with their adoptive family. Through the years, the two fall in love and promise that they will be together forever. One fateful day, Yao witnesses a murder being committed by a mysterious

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 ...

. Shortly after this, he is captured and brainwashed by a mysterious cult of assassins that call themselves "800 Dragons". After losing his memory of his past, he is forced to take very strict

training to become the perfect assassin for the 800 Dragons. During one of his missions, Yao is seen by May, his past lover who is still looking for him. The code of the 800 Dragons is that anyone who sees an assassin during their mission needs to be killed. But Yao begin to remember his past when May talks to him about their past relationship. Yao decides to follow his heart instead of the strict code of the assassin by not killing May. Now Yao and May must run for their lives. Knowing that Yao fails to follow the order, the 800 Dragons are now trying to kill both of them.

Cast

as Yao Lung *

as May Yip *

as Chimer *

as Huntress *

as Pearl *

as Snooker (guest star) * Suen Hing as Officer Sunny * Yuen Tak as Teddy Wong / Master of Death * Pai Ying as Frankie * Lau Shun as Mr. Kishudi *

Ann Mui Ann Mui Oi-fong (梅愛芳) (10 December 1959 – 16 April 2000) was a Hong Kong singer and actress. Background Born on 10 December 1959 in China, Mui experienced much hardship in her childhood. Her father died when she was very young and her mo ...

as May * Sarah Lee as Queenie

DVD release

On 24 February 2003, the movie was released by

Hong Kong Legends Hong Kong Legends was a United Kingdom DVD distribution company, based in Hertfordshire and operating from the UK and Australia between 1999 and 2007. Hong Kong Legends was initially part of Medusa Communications, who, along with Soulblade bought ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

as a Region 2 DVD. Ten months later, Hong Kong Legends DVD were released on 29 December 2003 in a 3 disc set Manga in Motion including two other martial arts films: ''

Story of Ricky ''Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky'' (), also known as ''Story of Ricky'', is a 1991 Hong Kong martial arts splatter film written and directed by Lam Nai-Choi. The film is loosely based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Masahiko Takajo an ...

'' and ''

City Hunter is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1985 to 1991 and collected into 35 ''tankōbon'' volumes by its publisher Shueisha. The manga was adapted int ...

''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dragon from Russia 1990 films 1990 action films 1990 martial arts films Hong Kong martial arts films 1990s Cantonese-language films Films about amnesia Films about contract killing Films about orphans Films directed by Clarence Fok Films set in Hong Kong Films set in Moscow Films set on trains Films shot in Hong Kong Films shot in Moscow Live-action films based on manga 1990s Hong Kong films