Kiss of the Dragon

Kiss of the Dragon

-2001 martial arts action movie directed by Chris Nahon
-Stars Jet Li, Bridget Fonda, Luc Besson, Tcheky Karyo
-Made as a request by fans for movies with more realistic fight scenes
-Based on a story by Jet Li

Did You Know?
-The tunnel where Jet Li is ambushed by the French police is the same tunnel where Princess Diana died
-The only CGI scenes in the movie are when Jet Li drops down the laundry chute with the CG flames around him and in the hotel when Jet Li kicks the pool ball
-For the fight between Jet Li and Cyril Raffaelli, the director of the movie, Chris Nahon, had to slow down the camera because they were moving too fast

Plot
-Liu Siu-jian(Jet Li) is a Chinese intelligence officer, sent from Beijing to Paris to investigate and help apprehend a Chinese mob boss named Mr. Big(Ric Young), who is involved in heroin smuggling. There he meets Inspector Jean-Pierre Richard(Tcheky Karyo), who is a corrupt and violent French police detective. Richard tracks Liu into thinking that he is simply providing recon of a meet involving Mr. Big. The plans change when he is introduced to 2 prostitutes, Jessica Kamen(Bridget Fonda), an American woman, who takes him to his room to service him. When Liu and everyone are watching from another room, Mr. Big kicks everyone out except the 2 women. While one is on top of Mr. Big, she attempts to kill him. Watching the events from another room, Liu rushes over to stop the prostitutes. Richard enters shortly, to shoot Mr. Big, and the prostitute with Liu's police issue gun, thus framing Liu

-Realizing he has been set up, Liu manages to escape from the hotel with a tape showing Richard killing the Chinese mob boss. Soon Chinese liaisons are sent from Beijing after the events to investigate the situation, after Richard makes Liu look like a cold blooded, psychopathic killer. The Chinese agents do not believe Richard. Liu manages to to contact one of the agents, in an attempt to pass on the tape, but due to French police surveillance, the meeting is ruined and Liu is spotted. The agent is murdered and Liu is forced to escape, thus losing the tape and is forced to keep a low profile

-As he considers the situation he's in, he meets the American woman Jessica, who he later finds out her daughter Isabel was kidnapped by Richard to keep her in prostitution. Liu finds out that Jessica was the 2nd prostitute there the night Mr. Big was killed. He realizes she can prove his innocence, but she refuses to do anything unless he gets her daughter back. He sends Jessica into Richard's office to steal the tape, so Liu and Jessica head to an orphanage where Isabel is. Richard thought ahead after he finds the tape missing, and ambushes the couple. Jessica is shot in the chest after their escape, and Liu manages to get her to the nearest hospital and he is now driven to find her daughter. Liu arrives at police HQ where Richard is holding Isabel, and he fights his way through the henchmen to his office. Once there, Liu rescues the little girl, getting shot by Richard during this. To save her, Liu kills Richard with a move called the "kiss of the dragon", by which he sticks an acupuncture needle into the back of Richard's neck in a forbidden location, which stimulates the blood to flow to the brain and cause a painful death via brain aneurysm. Liu survives the gunshot and returns the girl to her mother

Cast

• Jet Li as Liu Siu-jian
• Bridget Fonda as Jessica Kamen
• Tchéky Karyo as Jean-Pierre Richard
• Max Ryan as Lupo
• Ric Young as Mister Big
• Burt Kwouk as Uncle Tai
• Kentaro as Chen
• Laurence Ashley as Aja
• Cyril Raffaelli as Twin
• Didier Azoulay as Twin
• John Forgeham as Max
• Paul Barrett as Pilot
• Colin Prince as Lupo's Assistant
• Vincent Glo as Pluto
• Vincent Wong as Minister Tang

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True Crime: Hong Kong

True Crime: Hong Kong

-Originally titled True Crime: Hong Kong
-3rd installment of the True Crime series
-Takes place in Hong Kong and follows an undercover operation to infiltrate the Triads

Plot
-Focuses on a police officer attempting to bring down criminal gangs. Takes place in Hong Kong, with players controlling Det. Wei Shen, an officer of the Triad Bureau of the Hong Kong Police. Wei has been assigned the task of going undercover and infiltrating the Triad organization called Sun On Yee. The game focuses on the struggle of Wei to stay true to his job and stop the Triads while keeping his cover and being as much like the criminals as possible

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Russell Wong

Russell Wong

Name: Russell Girard Wong
DOB: March 1, 1963
Where: Troy, New York
Occupation: Actor, photographer
Years Active: 1985-present
Spouse: Flora Cheong-Leen

-Brother of actor/model Michael Wong

Biography
-The 6th of 7 kids, Wong was born in Troy, New York to Chinese American restaurateur William Wong and American artist Connie Van Yserloo
-When he was a baby, his fmaily moved to Albany, where his dad ran a restaurant. When he was 7, his parents divorced and his mother moved him out to California
-In 1981, he enrolled in the Santa Monica City College, where he supported himself as a dancer and photographer.
-In 1989, he appeared on 21 Jump Street

-He found himself working with director Wayne Wang on the movie The Joy Luck Club, based on Amy Tan's novel of the same name.
-In 2001, he appeared as a bodyguard named Kai in Romeo Must Die

Personal Life
-Married to Hong Kong based designer Flora Zetz. Has one daughter, Eja Robinson Wong with African American dancer Eartha Robinson

Filmography
-True Crime: Streets of L.A.(Det. Nick Kang)

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Mark Dacascos

Mark Dacascos

Name: Mark Alan Dacascos
DOB: February 26, 1964
Where: Honolulu, Hawaii
Other Names: Marc Dacascos, The Chairman, Wo Fat
Occupation: Actor, martial artist, TV personality
Years Active: 1985-present
Influenced by: Jet Li, Bruce Lee, Al Dacascos
Spouse: Julie Condra(1998-present)
Website: http://www.dacascos.com

Mark Dacascos and Julie Condra

-American actor and martial artist
-Has won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the age of 7-18
-Some of his roles in acting and TV include: Eric Draven in The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, and starting with the episode "Hana 'a'a Makehewa" on Hawaii Five-O, he plays Wo Fat, Steve McGarrett's arch enemy, who is a recurring character

Playing Chinese Triad gangster Wo Fat on Hawaii Five-O

Biography
-His father, Al Dacascos, is from Hawaii, and is a martial arts instructor of Filipino, Spanish and Chinese ancestry. His mother, Moriko McVey-Murray, is of Irish, and Japanese ancestry
-In the recent History Channel presentation "Samurai", he revealed that the Japanese side of his mother's family was killed in the Hiroshima bombing. His stepmothers are award winning martial artist Malia Bernal and Hawaiian singer Melveen Leed.
-He is proficient in Wun Hop Kuen Do, Capoeira, Wushu, and Muy Thai.

Him and Lacey Schwimmer on Dancing with the Stars

Personal Life
-Currently married to actress Julie Condra, who starred with him in Crying Freedom. They have 3 kids, 2 older boys and one younger girl. Their names are Makoa, Kapono and Noelani

Him and his family

Career
-He was discovered after walking down the street in San Francisco's Chinatown by Chris Lee(assistant director then) and Rexall Chin(hairstylist then).
-His breakout role was in the 1993 movie Only the Strong. He played Louis, a Capoeira master who takes a high school's potential failures and turns their lives around by teaching them the fine Brazilian art.
-He starred alongside Jet Li in Cradle 2 the Grave, someone who he lists as his inspiration for martial arts. In the movie, his character faced off against Jet Li in the end. He also provided his voice for a few video games, such as Stranglehold, Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom.
-His most recent acting includes that of Hawaii Five-O. He plays Wo Fat, who happens to be involved with the Chinese Triads on the island and is most noted as Steve McGarrett's arch enemy.

The Crow

Cradle 2 the Grave

Filmography

TV

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Ninja Assassin

Ninja Assassin

-2009 American martial arts film directed by James McTeigue
-Story was written by Matthew Sand
-Stars Korean pop musician Rain as a disillusioned assassin looking for payback against his former mentor, played by ninja film legend Sho Kosugi.
-Explores the topics of political corruption, child endangerment, impact of violence.

Did You Know?
-After Raizo(Rain) is first captured and chained to a wall, his captors look at him and say "He should be in a boy band". In fact, Rain started his career in a boy band called Fanclub
-Korean pop singer Rain had no martial arts experience whatsoever for this movie. He trained nonstop for 6 months to prepare

Why does it seem like alot of Asian guys are cute?

Plot
-Raizo(Rain) is raised by the Ozunu Clan to become the most lethal, most dangerous ninja assassin in the world. As a child, Raizo(being an orphan) was taken by Lord Ozuno(Sho Kosugi) and is enrolled in severe brtual training to become his next successor. The only generosity he ever gets is from a kunoichi(female ninja) named Kiriko(Kylie Goldstein) with whom he begins to fall in love with. As time goes on, Kiriko becomes less happy with the Ozunu's routine of kill, kill, kill and wants to leave it all behind for freedom. One rainy night, Kiriko decides to escape and encourages Raizo to go with her. He stays. Branded as a traitor, Kiriko was caught and later killed in front of Raizo by her elder ninja brother Takeshi(Rick Yune). As a result of her death, Raizo begins to harbor hate towards the Ozunu. However, this is the past and it switches to modern day where a disguised female assassin(Linh Dan Pham) attempts to kill Raizo at a laundromat. He fends her attacks off and kills her, leaving her remains in the washing machine

-It switches back to the past where Raizo is seated in a car and told by Lord Ozunu to complete his first assassination mission. Afterwards, Raizo meets the rest of the clan atop a city skyscraper in Berlin. There he is told by Lord Ozunu to kill another kunoichi traitor like Kiriko. He rebels against Lord Ozunu by cutting his face with a kyoketsu-shoge(double edged blade) and engages in fight against his former ninja kin. Barely surviving, he falls over the edge and into a nearby pool. Raizo recovers and begins to intervene and foil Ozunu kill attempts. Elsewhere, Europol agent Mike Coretti(Naomie Harris) has been investigating money linked political murders and finds that they are possibly connected to the Ozunu. She defies her boss, Ryan Maslow(Ben Miles) and retreives secret files to find out more

-Mika and Raizo meet and she convinces him to go to Maslow for protection as well as provide evidence against the Ozunu. Raizo is arrested by Maslow and abducted by agents from Europol for interrogation. Feeling betrayed, Mika is assured by Maslow that he is still on her side and gives her a tracking device for emergencies. The Ozunu ninja infiltrate the Europol safehouse where Raizo is being held in an attempt to kill him and everyone else inside. Mike frees Raizo and they escape, but Raizo sustains near mortal wounds. She takes him to a nearby motel to hide. Resting in the motel, Mike implants the tracking device into Raizo, as the ninjas continue their pursuit. Unable to fight off the encroaching ninjas, she hides outside the motel until Special Forces arrive to help her. By the time they arrive, the ninjas have kidnapped Raizo, bringing him before Lord Ozunu for prosecution. During transport back to the Ozunu, Raizo uses his ninja techniques to heal his own wounds

-Europol special forces and tactical teams by Maslow storm the secluded Ozunu retreat(in the mountains) using the tracking device on Raizo. Raizo kills Takeshi and confronts Lord Ozunu in a sword fight. Mike interferes, but is stabbed by Lord Ozunu. Angered, Raizo uses a 'shadow blending' technique for the first time to distract and kill Lord Ozunu. Mika, fatally wounded, is saved by a strange thing; her heart is actually on the opposite side of her chest. After Europol leaves, Raizo stays behind to tend to the ruins of the Ozunu retreat. He later climbs the same wall Kiriko did while trying to escape and looks at the surrounding countryside. He then recognizes his freedom for the first time.

Cast
-Sung Kang: Hollywood
-Randall Duk Kim: Tattoo Master
-Ben Miles: Maslow
-Naomie Harris: Mika
-Rain: Raizo
-Sho Kosugi: Ozunu

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