Underneath all that flashy Shaw Brothers production standards, this was essentially a rushed and cashed in “B” grade road adventure drama from Ho Meng Hua. Released at the same time as Jimmy Wang Yu's “Master of the Flying Guillotine” this was pretty much a knockoff of his own hit “The Flying Guillotine” (1975) starring Chen Kuan Tai. Nonetheless, it crashed at the box office during its short run while Jimmy's guillotine clone won the hearts of many fans and attracted a cult following.
An oppressive Lord Qin Quan (Ku Feng) is slowing dying of a poisonous boil named “100 Birds Worshiping the Phoenix” which grows on his back. Upon hearing that a retired herbalist has a cure in the form of a longevity vine, he sends out his trustworthy bodyguard, troop leader Si Ma Jun (Lo Lieh) as well as six skillful mercenaries to retrieve it. Accordingly, these low lives are there to check on Si, in case he doesn't return with the medication, however being an obedient servant, Si eventually returns even after facing some double crosses and near- death encounters.
At any rate and hardly a hero, Si Ma Jun, the lead protagonist, in reality makes a living by killing all sorts of people for his evil Lord without even a question asked. Conversely, he wields a pair of stylish and deadly flying blades which are basically metal boomerangs, like the ones used by the Australian natives but with sharp knife-edges instead. The always dependable Lo Lieh puts on a good appearance, dressed in white and looking great unleashing his weapons and sending sparks flying as they decapitate those poor victims. Furthermore, he is so mean and determined that he even kills an old blind woman in order to get what he wants.
Even though the prolific Ku Feng turns up briefly as the cruel Lord who only cares about himself and barks orders about who he should kill, his appearance is still a memorable one. However, we don't get to see him flexing his kung fu muscles; after all he is playing a very sick person on his death bed. Likewise, out of the six mercenaries he sends to spy on Si, only Fan Mei Sheng and Norman Chu manage to stand out.
During his frantic search for the healing vine, Si comes across his former kung fu brother Tien Er Long, played by newcomer Liu Yung who later on would become a popular Shaw Brothers' star. This meeting leads to the killing of Tien's blind mother by Si who strongly believes that she has the vine he is desperately after. Tien then teams up with Tan Li (Nancy Yen Nan Hsi), the daughter of the doomed herbalist also killed by Si. Interestingly, these two characters would in due course change from being two unknowns and become the main revenge seeking protagonists. Unfortunately, the script doesn't give them much to do so they end up being a pair of underdeveloped heroes. In fact that goes for Lo Lieh's Si Ma Jun too; we never get to learn about his back story at all.
In reality, the main stars here are the pair of beautifully designed and equally well named flying decapitating boomerangs with the dragon head motif. Obviously based on the flying guillotine, they certainly look more mobile and lethal; moreover Ho does an impressive job of showing them in action. There are quite a number of sword fights, hand- to- hand encounters choreographed by Tang Chia and Yuen Cheung Yan scattered throughout the film but nothing really stands out. Interestingly, Tien and Tan discover a way to tame Si's deadly missile which they put to good use during their brief end fight.
“The Dragon Missile” is definitely not one of Ho's best works, it is a rushed production but he does make good use of the large Show Brothers outdoor sets. Nonetheless, it is still fun and entertaining during its running time of just over eighty minutes and besides, there is an unexpected sex scene in the middle of this chaotic struggle to obtain the mysterious live saving vine.
