Double Dragon (film)
Encyclopedia
Double Dragon is a 1994
1994 in film
1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...

 live-action film loosely based on the Double Dragon
Double Dragon
is a classic beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technos Japan Corporation, who also developed the Kunio-kun series ....

video game series. This film was directed by James Yukich and stars Mark Dacascos
Mark Dacascos
Mark Alan Dacascos is an American actor and martial artist. He won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18....

 and Scott Wolf
Scott Wolf
Scott Richard Wolf is an American actor, known for his roles on the television series Party of Five as Bailey Salinger and on Everwood as Dr. Jake Hartman. Since 2009, he has appeared in the Sci-Fi series V as the morally ambiguous journalist, Chad Decker.-Early life:Wolf was born in Boston,...

 as brothers Jimmy and Billy Lee, along with Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Jayne Milano is an American actress and former singer, known for her childhood role as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? and an eight-year stint as Phoebe Halliwell on the series Charmed. She was also a series regular on the original Melrose Place portraying the role of...

 as Marian Delario and Robert Patrick
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick, Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows....

 as antagonist Koga Shuko. The film takes place in a then-futuristic Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 of 2007, now referred to as "New Angeles" as it has been crippled by a large earthquake. The city is styled as a mix between a post-apocalyptic and 80's/90's punk
Punk fashion
Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including...

 environment.

Plot summary

Koga Shuko, a crime lord and businessman, explains to his underlings about a powerful, magic medallion called the Double Dragon, which has been split into two pieces. He obtains one half and orders his henchmen to find him the other.

Teenage brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee, along with their guardian Satori, are heading home after citywide curfew from a martial arts tournament. On their way, they are accosted by gang members, who rule the streets after dark due to an uneasy pact made with the police department to keep them from running amok during the day. They get away thanks to help from the Power Corps, a group of vigilantes headed by their friend Marian, daughter of the police chief. Unfortunately, Abobo, a gang leader, discovers Satori holds the second medallion half and reports this to Shuko. For his failure in securing it, he is mutated into a hulking giant.

At their abandoned theater home, Satori explains to a skeptical Billy and Jimmy about the Double Dragon and how their piece must be protected, and she places it in the care of Billy. Shuko, with his henchmen in tow, pays the Lees a visit, intent on taking the other half. He reveals the ability of his medallion, which holds the power of the soul, by temporarily possessing Satori. Billy and Jimmy successfully incapacitate Abobo, but Shuko has the place doused in gasoline and lit on fire. Satori sacrifices herself so the brothers can escape with the Dragon.

Unable to find the brothers on his own, Shuko unites and takes over the gangs by displaying his power and sends them after the Lees. Billy and Jimmy narrowly get away, and seek refuge in the Power Corps hideout. Marian agrees to help them, using this as an opportunity to get rid of the gangs once and for all, and the three of them decide to go to Shuko’s office building to steal his medallion. They ultimately fail and are forced to flee, but Jimmy is captured in the process.

Billy and Marian return to the Power Corps base, and lament about how none of them have been able to figure out how to use their Dragon piece. Marian points out a discovery they made that the wearer of the medallion is immune to the powers of its counterpart, meaning Shuko is not able to possess him as long as he has it. Suddenly, the gangs attack the hideout. In the mélêe, Jimmy reappears. Billy is elated; however, Jimmy is merely being controlled by Shuko as he tries to pummel his brother into submission. Billy then accidentally activates his medallion’s ability, which is the power of the body and effectively makes him invulnerable to harm. Knowing this, Shuko threatens to kill Jimmy instead. This doesn’t succeed either, so he releases Jimmy to distract Billy long enough to get the medallion.

Shuko unites the halves and turns into a pair of shadow warriors with katanas that disintegrate anything they slice through. The Lee brothers fight, but cannot beat him. Abobo, who had previously been taken prisoner and since reformed, reveals to Marian that Shuko’s weakness is light. Marian reactivates the hideout’s generator, and the shadow warriors are rendered powerless. Billy and Jimmy attack, forcefully recombining the shadows into Shuko, and are given the Double Dragon halves. They combine the two pieces, granting them matching uniforms and the medallion powers, and they briefly see a vision of Satori’s spirit as she gives them encouraging words. The brothers whale on Shuko, and Jimmy possesses him to make him do embarrassing things. During this, Marian’s father shows up, intending to bring Shuko to justice and take care of the gangs once and for all. Jimmy has Shuko write a check to the police department for $129 million before encouraging the police chief to arrest him.

Shuko is sent to jail, the police department has renewed strength to fight the gangs instead of compromising with them, and Billy and Jimmy can now keep both halves of the medallion safe.

Cast

  • Scott Wolf
    Scott Wolf
    Scott Richard Wolf is an American actor, known for his roles on the television series Party of Five as Bailey Salinger and on Everwood as Dr. Jake Hartman. Since 2009, he has appeared in the Sci-Fi series V as the morally ambiguous journalist, Chad Decker.-Early life:Wolf was born in Boston,...

     as Billy Lee, the younger Lee brother. Wears a blue outfit in the end. Originally the Player 1 character in the video games.
  • Mark Dacascos
    Mark Dacascos
    Mark Alan Dacascos is an American actor and martial artist. He won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18....

     as Jimmy Lee, the elder Lee brother. Wears a red outfit in the end. Originally the Player 2 character in the video games.
  • Alyssa Milano
    Alyssa Milano
    Alyssa Jayne Milano is an American actress and former singer, known for her childhood role as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? and an eight-year stint as Phoebe Halliwell on the series Charmed. She was also a series regular on the original Melrose Place portraying the role of...

     as Marian Delario, the leader of the Power Corps. Originally the kidnapped woman in the original arcade game, the film version of Marian is a more active heroine compared to her video game counterpart.
  • Robert Patrick
    Robert Patrick
    Robert Hammond Patrick, Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows....

     as Koga Shuko, a businessman and former crime lord seeking to possess both halves of the Double Dragon medallion. Shuko was a new villain created for the movie, although his character was later adapted as the final boss in the 1995 Double Dragon fighting game
    Double Dragon (Neo Geo)
    is a 1995 fighting game spinoff of the Double Dragon series developed and published by Technos Japan. It is based on the 1994 Double Dragon movie, which in turn was based on the original arcade game. It was originally released for the Neo Geo and later released for the Neo Geo CD and PlayStation...

     based on the film.
  • Julia Nickson as Satori Imada, the adoptive mother of Billy and Jimmy.
  • Kristina Wagner as Linda Lash, Shuko's henchwoman. Linda was originally an enemy character from the video game.
  • Nils Allen Stewart as Bo Abobo, the leader of a street gang known as Mohawks. Abobo was another enemy character from the video game.
  • Henry Kingi plays the mutated Bo Abobo during the later part of the film, who reforms and tries to befriend the Lee brothers and Marian at the end.
  • George Hamilton
    George Hamilton (actor)
    George Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Hamilton was the youngest son of bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton and his first wife, Ann Stevens . He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Blytheville, Arkansas...

     appears as himself, working as an anchorman.
  • Vanna White
    Vanna White
    Vanna White is an American television personality and film actress best known as the hostess of Wheel of Fortune since 1982.-Early life:...

     appears as herself, working as an anchorwoman.
  • Andy Dick
    Andy Dick
    Andrew R. "Andy" Dick is an American comedian, actor, musician and television/film producer. His first regular television role was on the short-lived but highly influential Ben Stiller Show. In the mid-1990s, he had a long-running stint on NBC's NewsRadio...

     appeared as himself, working as a weatherman who deals with the "fogcast", giving warnings over (implied acidic and radioactive) black rain.

Reception

Reviews by critics, such as the review of the movie by the Washington Post were not favorable. The movie was also shunned by fans and public opinion alike. On review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes it received a unanimously negative score of 0% from 10 reviews, with the consensus "Double Dragon's clever use of special effects cannot mask the film's overly simplistic storyline and cheesy dialogue". Also making it the lowest rated video game movie adaption of all time.

In 2009, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

listed the film on their list of top ten worst video game movies.

Box office

According to Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...

, The film grossed only $1,376,561 in its opening weekend at 1,087 theaters and $2,341,309 in its finished theatrical run.

Home video

Universal
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

 released the film on VHS and Laserdisc in June 1995 in the United States, while CFP released the film on video in Canada. Goodtimes Home Video released the film on DVD and made another VHS in late 1997 and another DVD on August 31, 2004. Both DVDs are currently out of print.

Related media

Plot and visual elements of the film were reused in the fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...

 version of Double Dragon
Double Dragon (Neo Geo)
is a 1995 fighting game spinoff of the Double Dragon series developed and published by Technos Japan. It is based on the 1994 Double Dragon movie, which in turn was based on the original arcade game. It was originally released for the Neo Geo and later released for the Neo Geo CD and PlayStation...

produced by Technos Japan. This includes the transformation that the Lee brothers go through during the film's climax, which appear in the game as a special move for both characters; and the use of footage of the film in the game's introduction and Marian's stage.
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