VHS Synopsis: Cynthia Rothrock is back in her most powerful picture since the acclaimed Martial Law. Blonde, blue eyed, Kath Gallagher (Rothrock) is a former intelligence officer. Kathy is undecover again, this time as a prostitute on the trail of the sinister and powerful international criminal, known as the Exporter, who masterminded her husbands murder at their wedding. In a personal vendetta, Kathy takes up martial arts training and in the tradition of Enter The Dragon, becomes a dragon... A lady dragon. In explosive martial arts action, Rothrock is faster and tougher than ever before, she kicks and shatters her way through the best fighting scenes of her outstanding career. (97 Mins)

​

Views: After the murder of her husband, x-CIA agent Kathy Gallagher decides to hide out in Indonesia, earning her living by kicking ass in underground fights organised by a Chinese kingpin. Biding her time and drowning her sorrows in a local bar, Kathy soon learns of the whereabouts of her husbands killer – Australian/German drug baron, Ludwig Hauptmann. Going undercover as a high-class hooker, Kathy makes her way into a local nightclub and soon finds Ludwig in her sights. She makes her move but soon finds herself restrained and caught by his men and raped by the man she hates. Once done with her, Ludwig has Kathy thrown from his car and dumped in the pouring rain by the side of some rice fields. It is here that a new path begins for Kathy Gallagher when she is rescued by a mute old man and his cute grandson. Together, they nurse the ex-agent back to health in their jungle home and offer to teach her stronger martial arts so that she can take revenge on Hauptmann. Once ready (which actually doesn't take very long at all), Kathy tricks her way into working for Ludwig where she quickly starts to bring him down from the inside. It all leads to a brutal showdown where Kathy and Ludwig face off against each other in a fight to the death!

​

I have to admit, it's been a couple of decades since I last watched Lady Dragon. While I remember enjoying it a little more as a teen, I think I found it entertaining for many different reasons this time, such as the cheesy script, unintentional comedy, dated music, and predictability. I had actually forgotten that Richard Norton was the main bad guy here, so was pleasantly surprised to see him when he first appeared on the screen. Lady Dragon is an incredibly low-budget production - although nowhere near as low as my own - and the audio for some of the dialogue can come across quite tinny or low at times, and there's certainly nothing flash about it in terms of production value. That said, it's a film that we've only ever seen in 4:3 ratio and only on VHS (for me at least), but something tells me that a wide-screen HD version of the film could benefit it greatly, as there are some genuinely nice moments of cinematography (captured by the director himself). It seems to be a decently made production overall, albeit with a dreadful score that probably seemed dated about a month after the film's release. Written by Clifford Morh and director David Worth, who worked together the following year on the unrelated (and probably better film overall) Lady Dragon 2 – which I reviewed under the title Angel Of Fury – Lady Dragon was never made to win awards and was clearly inspired by the success of Worth's self-directed 1989 Van Damme opus, Kickboxer which was his previous project before this – as well as working as DOP on Bloodsport in 1988.

​

Having been back Stateside for a couple of years at this stage, Cyndy had said goodbye to her brief stint in Hong Kong (a period of her career that was never matched from 1990 onwards) and had already made an impression in western productions like Martial Law 1 & 2, Fast Getaway, and Tiger Claws, before Lady Dragon came around. While the most of them lacked the fun of her previous Hong Kong outings, it was clear that Rothrock was focusing on the more serious side of acting – trading highly choreographed martial arts action for the more basic style of American films, in order to try and secure stronger roles in Hollywood. Unfortunately, due to the bevy of low budget titles that followed, there really wasn't much chance for Cyndy to flex her acting chops and as the fights got less exciting, the direction of her career gradually got worse and fans like myself hung on in the hope that we might just see a return of this kung-fu queen to form, or at the very least a return to Hong Kong productions. But it was not meant to be! Regardless, Cyndy looks great here and works with what she has available. Of course, both her and Richard Norton had already shared the screen a number of times over the years, and while they only get to trade kicks in the final fight, it's always great to see them on screen together with the pair last sharing the screen a couple of years prior in China O'Brien 2. Prolific television and film actor Robert Ginty of The Exterminator fame, cameos as an old friend of Rothrock who double-crosses her, but to be honest, I found Norton to be the strongest of all on-screen. The majority of the supporting cast, Asian or not, are mostly unknowns with fight choreographer Tanaka popping up as one of Norton's henchmen...

​

It's such a shame that both of these stars couldn't use their star-power to pull in a Hong Kong choreographer for Lady Dragon. Tanaka's basic choreography and repeated shots of impact just waste the talents of Cyndy and Richard – something that is pretty frustrating to fans like myself who know what they really can do. Of course, it wasn't helped by the weak direction of cinematographer-turned-director David Worth who went on to helm films like Chain Of Command, Shark Attack 2 & 3, and Fists Of Rage, to name but a few. Regardless, Lady Dragon isn't completely unwatchable and does give Rothrock and Norton plenty of screen time to share, which is always a pleasure for me!

​

Overall: A product of it's time, Lady Dragon is typical of 90s American martial arts flicks complete with dodgy score and cheesy script, that ultimately wastes the fighting talents of its main stars!