RAISING THE DRAGON HEAT : Remembering movie mayhem on the mean streets of Hong Kong (part one)
I have to admit that, among the Dragon Dynasty releases, Dragon Heat has a special place in my heart. It was my last film as an independent producer, before I joined The Weinstein Company, and the last Hong Kong collaboration (for now!) between myself and partner in crime Maggie Q. It was a tough film to shoot, even by the exacting standards of the genre, so it’s great to see our efforts appreciated by the wider international audience.
I first heard of this project in the offices of director Daniel Lee. He told me had two projects in development, a cop actioner inspired by the classic 1975 Japanese TV series G-Men and a period epic based on the literary classic Three Kingdoms. He and his partners, Susanna Tsang and Catherine Hun, asked me to come on-board their Visualizer Productions, as a producer, to bring an international perspective to their films. Given the logistics involved in Three Kingdoms, it was decided that Dragon Heat (then entitled Dragon Squad) would shoot first.
At the time, I was also working with Jimmy Moy, a Chinese American producer based in Bangkok. He was interested in co-producing films in the region, and so the whole Visualizer team flew to Thailand to meet him. Jimmy was a wonderful host, and we had a great time with him. I remember traveling with him to a resort, and watching Daniel Lee play his tai chi form by the river as we waited for a ferry. The immediate result of our discussions was that Jimmy brought his business partner, action movie icon Steven Seagal, on-board as a producer. There were also discussions about Seagal playing a cameo in the film, but schedule conflicts prevented this. You hear a lot of different stories about Seagal, but I can say that, in regard to our Dragon Heat experience, he was never other than supportive and a real gentleman. Tragically, shortly after we wrapped the film, we received word that Jimmy Moy had passed away. He was a wonderful character, a man with a huge heart, and is sorely missed.
From the outset, the Dragon Heat script had a lot of characters and demanded a solid ensemble cast. Piecing this together proved to be a challenge. We had a blow when
our original leading man, Andy On (Black Mask 2) had to pull out due to a schedule conflict with Johnnie To’s Election 2. Vanness Wu, of Taiwanese boy-band F4, previously cast in another role, stepped up to replace him. (Andy and Vanness had worked together on Daniel’s previous film, Star Runner.) Vanness, by the way, proved to be self-deprecating and fun, and many miles removed from the carefully coiffed image created by his F4 handlers. He’s actually named after Van Ness Blvd in LA! He must have the most tenacious fans in Asia. No matter what desolate Hong Kong location we found for Dragon Squad, a bundle of his female followers would soon be huddled at one side.
Also on-board the ‘good guys’ team were Hong Kong star Shawn Yue and mainland performer Xia Yu (whose English name, confusingly, ‘Sean’). Shawn I had worked with on his first major film, Just One Look, back when I was at Emperor. He has since become something of an action star, with fighting roles in Dragon Tiger Gate and Invisible Target (coming soon from Dragon Dynasty). Xia Yu I knew little about, until he turned up in the office speaking perfect English. As I was preparing our press notes for the film, I asked him about his earlier work. He casually mentioned his Best Actor win at the Venice Film Festival. Ah, THAT Xia Yue…
After several other possibilities had come and gone, including Gillian Chung (from the pop group Twins) and singing idol Joey Yung (neither was available), the lovely Eva Huang was cast as the female member of the ‘squad’. Eva had made her debut in Stephen Chiau’s Kung Fu Hustle. She, too, speaks great English, but so quietly you almost have to be sat on her lap, cheek to cheek, to hear what she’s saying (not, in itself, an unpleasant experience.)
The third male member of the team was Lawrence Chou, whose best known role previously was probably in the original version of the horror film The Eye. I have to say that, of all the good guy team, he was the one who impressed me the most, as an actor. He had a real intensity to his performance, but I don’t think this was completely reflected in the final cut. I play a Hong Kong cop in the film, and enjoyed the energy of my scenes with Lawrence. I subsequently recommended him for a Canadian mini-series, Dragon Boyz, in which he also did a great job. (On my birthday, Lawrence and his manager sent me a basket of fruit so heavy, I put my back out getting it up the stairs to my apartment.)
Thus was our basic team of young ‘Dragon Heat’ heroes assembled. Next blog, we’ll talk about the bad guys…
Comments
- Arigo, Houston, TX | 2007-10-09 17:30:18
- Kev, Boston MA | 2007-10-04 20:01:16