Tough Guy
(aka The Black Dragon)
1974; directed by Tony Liu Jun-Guk (credited as Tommy Loo Chun)

Retitled The Black Dragon and promoted as a Ron Van Clief blaxploitation movie for its' US release, Tough Guy actually stars Shaw Brothers mainstay Jason Pai Piao in one of his earlier film roles. Upon sitting through this ultra-cheap and boring Hong Kong/Filipino production, one has to wonder how Pai Piao got any work after this.

In this umpteenth "homage" to The Big Boss, Pai Piao plays Tai Lin, a country bumpkin who travels to the Phillipines with hopes of becoming a success like his brother, who brags that everything in Manila is made of gold. Of course, Tai finds this is not the case, and soon finds himself working as a coolie on the docks. After finding out his bosses are smuggling opium, Tai joins up with a group of disgruntled workers (including Ron Van Clief) to bring them to justice.

There's really not much to recommend with Tough Guy. Some of the brawls are okay, but there's not nearly enough action, and the level of fisticuffs contained in the fight sequences aren't nearly enough to forgive the god-awful borefest that are the exposition scenes. A major reason the story-specific moments don't work here is the character of Tai Lin. The guy isn't just a bumpkin; he's a blithering idiot. For instance, after he arrives in Manila, Tai becomes the victim of a pickpocket and scam artist that ends up gambling away Tai's last few dollars. Tai befriends the guy because his mom told him to be nice to everyone -- guess mommy is a bit of a dingbat as well.

Also, for Ron Van Clief fans wanting to check out "the black dragon" in action, you're going to be disappointed, since he's in the movie barely enough to be considered a supporting actor. Obviously, low-budget producer Serafim Karalexis (best known for various Bruceploitation films like The Real Bruce Lee) was trying to get back some of his investment by enticing African-American audiences (traditionally one of the biggest markets for martial arts movies) into seeing this. The ploy didn't work, as the movie bombed on both sides of the ocean, and quickly faded into obscurity of Z-movie hell, where, frankly, it deserves to stay.

RATING: 3.5