Heart of Dragon (龍的心) is a 1985 live-action theatrical Hong Kong film directed by Sammo Hung and Fruit Chan, and produced by Leonard Ho and Jessica Chan Pui-Wah, with distribution by Golden Harvest. The film starred Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Emily Chu Bo-Yee, Mang Hoi, Melvin Wong Gam-Sam, and Lam Ching-Ying, with screenplay writers Barry Wong Ping-Yiu and Bosco Lam Tsz-Ho, and music composed by Violet Lam, Sherman Chow Gam-Cheung, and Calvin Poon Yuen-Leung. The film was theatrically released in October 1985 for Hong Kong, and a month prior in Japan.
Background:
“World-famous for their action and derring-do, old friends Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung teamed up for a film that shows there’s much more to them than brawling. Jackie plays a good-hearted cop looking after his learning-disabled brother Danny, played by Sammo, but doesn’t always succeed in keeping him out of trouble. When Danny is taken as a hostage, his brother will risk everything – his career and even his life – to rescue him, throwing it down as only Jackie Chan can.”
Plot Synopsis via 88 Films, October 2025.
88 Films continued the re-release treatment here in the UK with another Hong Kong martial art action classic from the 80s with Sammo Hung’s Heart of Dragon, which is among the many that both Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan have collaborated together on.
This film is rather interesting and I say quite divisive because Sammo Hung decided to switch things up by portraying a mentally disabled over 30s character and his scenes can be rather cringe if you can put it that out. At the same time though, it does bring a point to how society treats disabled people and how it affects the people around them. Jackie Chan’s character in particular has a dream and because of Sammo’s character, he can’t fulfil it because he has to take care of him and the film showcases more about whether its morally right or wrong to leave him behind or not which does bring conflict here and there.
I do think its hard to watch Sammo’s scenes because of what it covers, but the film as a whole I felt was pretty good. The action and stunt work were great, especially the ones where people are just throwing themselves out of windows/buildings. There’s also Mang Hoi, who for a moment I thought was Yuen Biao, does a great job here as well.
Whilst I have first seen the film from 88 Films’ 2020 Blu-ray release, I decided to give it a rewatch on the 4K Ultra HD release (via the Extended Japanese Cut version with the Japanese Soundtrack) to see if my opinion has changed or not about the film and I think it’s pretty much the same consensus. I wouldn’t say Heart of Dragon was my favourite but there’s a solid story throughout with a great cast of characters and was happy to revisit the film overall.
Heart of Dragon has been released numerous times in the UK across different distributors for VHS and DVD, but 88 Films was the first to bring the film onto Blu-ray back in 2020, presented in a limited first print edition packaging that featured a slipcase and booklet. If you missed out on the previous release, this new 2025 release includes everything on that disc plus more and also a new deluxe release.
Deluxe Limited Edition Contents:
Again it seems 88 Films keep changing the definition of what makes a limited edition or a collector’s edition at this point but it’s still a deluxe release. Heart of Dragon matches the previous Jackie Chan 4K editions that have been put out over the past year (Armour of God II, Crime Story & Miracles) which is great for the collection. As mentioned, the film previously received a first print edition when 88 Films released the Blu-ray a couple years back, but here we have new artwork and content.
This deluxe limited edition release is presented with a rigid box showcasing newly illustrated artwork by Sean Longmore, a 4K Ultra HD Amaray case housing the discs, 6 replica lobby cards, double-sided poster featuring newly illustrated artwork and the original Hong Kong poster artwork, and an 80-page perfect-bound book featuring three write-ups. The articles covered are ‘Deinstitutionalized! Mental Health and Movies in 80s Hong Kong’ by C.J. Lines, ‘Three Months with Jackie’ by Matthew Edwards, and ‘The First Mission’ by Fraser Elliott.
The box art is clean with no ratings/information on all sides other than the bottom which has the BBFC rating, with a sheet to cover the synopsis, information about the release and any ratings and specs. The artwork on the Amaray cases (both covers) do include information and specs on the back but there’s no BBFC logos. The deluxe limited edition 4K Ultra HD release retailed for £34.99 SRP, and the previously released Blu-ray from years ago is still available but a re-release was also released on the same day. A standard edition 4K Ultra HD release will likely appear once this deluxe limited edition sells out.
I pre-ordered this alongside Peacock King and Rosa from the Terracotta store.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Slipcase with brand-new art by Sean Longmore
- 4K Amaray case packaging
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC rating details
- Double-sided foldout poster
- 6 Lobby Card Reproductions
- 80-page illustrated book featuring new articles by C.J. Lines, Matthew Edwards & Fraser Elliott.
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: 88 Films
Released: 27th October 2025
The deluxe limited edition release for Heart of Dragon contains the film on a single 4K Ultra HD disc and a single Blu-ray disc. All the discs were encoded and authored by Fidelity in Motion on behalf of 88 Films.
Both formats feature two versions of the film – the Hong Kong theatrical cut (01:31:19 runtime) presented in Cantonese audio (newly remastered) with newly translated English subtitles and the original classic English audio track with optional English SDH subtitles, and the extended Japanese cut (01:39:04 runtime) presented in Cantonese audio with four variations available (Japanese soundtrack, original Hong Kong theatrical soundtrack, Hong Kong soundtrack with Japanese audio for the parking lot fighting scene, and Hong Kong soundtrack with Japanese songs) all presented with newly translated English subtitles; and an Hybrid audio track using the original classic English audio mixed with Cantonese audio for the extra scenes with optional English SDH subtitles.
The 4K Ultra HD disc features Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback and the 4K Ultra HD disc is playable to 4K players of any region. The regions for the Blu-ray disc however is locked to players set to B.
4K Ultra HD Specs (Main Feature Film):
| Languages | Cantonese, English |
| Audio | Hong Kong Theatrical Cut: Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese Extended Cut: Cantonese (Japanese Soundtrack) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese (HK Theatrical Soundtrack) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese (HK Theatrical Soundtrack w/Japanese Soundtrack for Parking Lot Scene) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese (HK Soundtrack w/Japanese Songs) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 English (w/Cantonese for Extended Scenes) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | 2160p Ultra High Definition format 1.85:1 aspect ratio Dolby Vision HDR |
| Region | All Region |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-100 |
Blu-ray Specs (Main Feature Film + Extras):
| Languages | Cantonese, English |
| Audio | Hong Kong Theatrical Cut: Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese Extended Cut: Cantonese (Japanese Soundtrack) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese (HK Theatrical Soundtrack) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese (HK Theatrical Soundtrack w/Japanese Soundtrack for Parking Lot Scene) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese (HK Soundtrack w/Japanese Songs) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 English (w/Cantonese for Extended Scenes) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition format 1.85:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-50 |
4K Ultra HD On-Disc Extra Features:
- Audio Commentary by David West (Japanese Extended Version)
- Hong Kong Trailer (05:56 runtime)
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
- Audio Commentary by David West (Japanese Extended Version)
- Victor Fan on Heart of Dragon (22:57 runtime)
- The First Mission – Making of Special (48:41 runtime)
- The First Mission – Behind the Scenes (15:22 runtime)
- Archive Interview with Jackie Chan (09:25 runtime)
- Archive Interview with Rocky Lai (10:03 runtime)
- Archive Interview with Sammo Hung #1 (07:28 runtime)
- Archive Interview with Sammo Hung #2 (11:22 runtime)
- Archive Interview with Arthur Wong (15:12 runtime)
- Extended Version Fullscreen Out-takes (03:17 runtime)
- Hong Kong Trailer (05:56 runtime)
- English ‘Raging Force’ Trailer (01:44 runtime)
- Fortune Star Trailer (02:29 runtime)
- Japanese Teaser Trailer #1 (01:06 runtime)
- Japanese Teaser Trailer #2 (02:37 runtime)
- Japanese Theatrical Trailer (01:32 runtime)
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Heart of Dragon is available to purchase on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray by 88 Films in the United Kingdom.
The deluxe limited edition 4K Ultra HD release can be purchased across different retailers including 88 Films, Amazon UK, HMV, Terracotta Distribution and Zavvi.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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