Bullet Points: Dragon Hunt
If there is ever a Canuxploitation Hall of Fame, I am confident that Michael and Martin McNamara would be in it.
Known as The Twin Dragons, Michael and Martin McNamara are twin kickboxers who starred as themselves in two Canuxploitation films, 1986’s Twin Dragon Encounter and 1990’s Dragon Hunt…
- Revenge of the B. Bob: The movie starts off with our main villain, the musical Jake (B. Bob reprising his role from Twin Dragon Encounter), as he is buying an arsenal for The People’s Private Army. Jake plans on using his army for his own personal war with the men who cost him his hand, The Twin Dragons.
- Enter the Twin Dragons: I am going to ignore the actual introduction to Michael and Martin McNamara in the movie and skip ahead to where Michael and Martin are entertaining some ladies on their boat as they head to a cabin vacation in the beautiful Canadian wilderness. When the foursome arrive at the cabin, there is a Twin Dragons poster on the door, with a bloody arrow head stuck through it… somebody is obviously trying to send them a message. Later that night, the lovely ladies turn out to be wolves in sheep’s clothing as they drug the Brothers McNamara. The Twin Dragons wake up the next day in a cage on the compound of The People’s Private Army.
- The Most Dangerous Game: Jake places ads in a variety of soldier of fortune, hunting and martial arts magazines promoting his “Ultimate Game of Survival” with $200,000 going to the winner. Some of the stand outs who answered the ad included the Beastmaster (not Marc Singer) with his hell hound of a dog and trusty chain, then there is the Fat Man a skilled poacher and last but not least, The Red Skull of Death and his ninja army. They will be the hunters and as you may have guessed, The Twin Dragons will be the hunted. The Twin Dragons are given some boots, some fatigues, a knife (even though they are supposed to be totally unarmed according to Mohawk Karl) and a two hour start and will be hunted around the clock by three waves of hunting parties.
- This Means War: Despite the odds being stacked against them, you know there’s no way The Twin Dragons are going to succumb to the hunters or their pets. Especially since Michael McNamara wrote the movie and the Twin Dragons managed to build their own arsenal every time they took out another foe. So Jake unleashes The People’s Private Army on The Twin Dragons which leads to a dual montage of the army deploying and the Twin Dragons building a bunker preparing for the battle ahead. By the end, you have to wonder if Jake questions why he didn’t just shoot Michael and Martin when he had the chance.
Make no mistake about it… Dragon Hunt is a bad movie, but it is a Young Rebels or The Intruder kind of bad movie. When you watch Dragon Hunt, you know you are watching a bad movie, but you can’t help but be entertained. There are some quality kills, some explosions (including an off screen exploding helicopter) and the evil Jake singing a variety of ditties through out the movie.
I will go on record and state that I need more Twin Dragons in my life and will be tracking down 1986’s Twin Dragon Encounter sooner than later. If you need more of this Dragon Hunt review, check out these Bonus Bullet Points…
- Two Questions: What was the point of the whole 30,000 Island Cruise Line takeover by The People’s Private Army so Jake could “frame” The Twin Dragons by planting their necklaces on a ship full of people who could easily testify to the fact that The Twin Dragons were in fact not on the ship and the subsequent scene of the police interrogating The Twin Dragons via the police brutality technique? Were these scenes supposed to be in Dragon Hunt?
- Soundtraxx: The movie actually does have a quality soundtrack, but Billy Butt’s “Survivor” may be the MVP of Dragon Hunt. Also, Billy Butt.
- Helpful Hint: If someone ever says “catch!” to you and then throws a bear trap in your direction, you should NOT catch it.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see the “Big Bad” in a movie, sing Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting” while playing with little plastic army men, then Dragon Hunt is the movie for you.
