S: We’re talking about The Last Dragon sometimes, called Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon. 1985. What a movie,

D: What a movie. Thank you

S: Did you know about it before?

D: I think so. There are bits of the movie that are very familiar. So the song…

S: ..of course. Seventh Heaven. Is that the song? Vanity’s song that you’re talking about?

D: No, I’m talking about Suki Yaki Hot Saki Sue.

S: Oh right Yes. Everyone knew that song.

D: I’m sorry. The other song. That is the song that I remember. So there are bits of the movie that I remember, like, trigger my memory but I don’t remember watching the movie.

S: So this is 1985. You would have been 4. I was 14 and really it was, it was such a hit, this movie. 1985. What a time to be alive. 80s was so cool.

D: Brilliant movie.

S: And there is a theme in the movies we are rewatching or you are revisiting or seeing really as an adult for the first time because they’re mostly black that we’re watching at the moment, and we’re heading into a very important time/month of the year for black American people, especially because they celebrate Juneteenth.

D: Right.

S: Which is I mean, it is to do with how they got to the land they call America.

Anyway, we’re talking about a time in movies, 80s, which were really, really pro black American people, and they were so nonchalant in their movies like, yeah, they’re surrounded by racism. Meh. They just carry on being cool.

D: Well they’ve been through so much. It’s become part of their life.

S: Yeah. Anyway, let’s talk about The Last Dragon, which is such a mélange of cultural, you know, inspired by so much.

D: I mean, if you’re going to make a movie…

S: A cultural mélange

D: … a fantastical movie, make it fantastic.

S: And if you’re really, if you’re talking about diversity?

D: Wow.

S: This

D: 1985 right.

S: Yes. Well, this was diversity where everyone could be anything they wanted to be as long as everyone was allowed to be it equally.

D: Yeah. And no. No racism, shade thrown anywhere, you know, just, cultural appropriation? It would be called now? Big time.

S: Well It’s cultural appreciation.

But also just this is how all the cultures are. And especially I think this is what the view of the United States of America has always been is cool. You could go there and be anyone you wanted to be.

Because, okay, they’re these I don’t know if they are Chinese, but they’re certainly of Asian origin. And they’re just talking in black lingo and they’re talking to this fantastic black young man who is a martial artist and very…

D: …disciplined… in the art.

S: What’s his name?

D: Leroy green.

S: Bruce Lee-roy Green. Oh my gosh. So his name is so great.

D: Homage to so many good Kung fu movies.

S: So I guess we should start at the beginning. So The Last Dragon 1985 directed by Michael Schultz.

Now, not a lot of people, including us. It’s. You know, I’m a bit disappointed in myself.

Knew about Michael Schultz.

Michael Schultz is an American director and producer, of theatre and film and television, and he is black American, but black American mother.

And, so he had a black African American mother, Catherine Frances Leslie and father is Leo Albert Schultz, an insurance salesman of German descent. According to Wikipedia.

Shortly before his birth, his parents married in Iowa, where both were listed as black on their marriage license.

Isn’t that crazy?

But Michael Schultz directed this fantastical extended music video. Or this crazy, you know, just this slick city, cultural futuristic 80s, the 80s, futuristic — stuff.

You know, and of course, Berry Gordy is the founder of Motown.

Motown was black power and black power. And the movie we’re gonna be talking about after this is a prime example of that black power. But this too is another example and a hit example.

But The Last Dragon was an absolute hit.

D: Beautiful piece of art.

S: Oh my god.

D: Fantastic movie making. Wow.

S: So Taimak played Bruce Leroy Green, Leroy Green, and Taimak is an actor, well, he is half Italian and half black American, and he’s a martial artist and

D: Very cool.

S: Yeah. Very cool. And also starring Vanity. AKA, well AKA Vanity because her real name is Denise Catherine Matthews, and she was a Canadian singer songwriter, dancer, model and actress. And she, was a protégé of Prince and she was one of Prince’s girls.

Prince always adopted a girl and she was the lead singer of the female trio Vanity six. And we were big fans of Vanity. And for me personally, Vanity was, important because back then, 14, my friends and I, my girlfriends and I, we, we called ourselves the Go-Go’s, which were at that time the most famous girl group, with lead singer Belinda Carlisle, you know?

“Ooh, baby do you know what that’s worth”.

But I also really love her for,

Ah La Luna La Luna.

You know, she’s, and she’s gorgeous. And she still looks the same. She sounds beautiful. And these, they were really lovely. And I love, I love, no shade. I love Belinda Carlisle. I love the Go-Go’s. And we called ourselves the Go-Go’s and I was called Cindy because of my name anyway.

But Cyndi Lauper because Cyndi Lauper and I dressed alike, and she just burst on the scene, you know, dressed in lace and layers. And that was me, too. So. But I was more Madonna and Cyndi, but they were styled.

It was actually my style. Yeah, they were styled by other people.

This was all really crazy style by me. And so my friend Timaima, who is Kai-Viti, that is indigenous. So, you know, Fijian, but she was Americanised. She was very fantastically fashionable too. And she was Vanity. So her nickname was Vanity. So we were all just like Madonna. Donna was Madonna. And, you know, so it was just, Sade and Dolly and just.

Yeah, it was kind of crazy. So I love Vanity. But Vanity, unfortunately. So the song that they got famous for Nasty Girl was Prince’s. You know,

“I’m the nasty girl.”

So. You know, but I did like her song in this movie, Seventh Heaven. It’s so very high register. And then …. you know,

D: It’s almost awkward, but it’s beautiful.

S: Beautiful.

D: What a song.

S: Pop opera, you know?

D: Yes.

S: And she can really sing.

D: It’s, strange to listen to at first, but once you hear it, it’s, it’s, it’s beautiful.

S: Yes. I have to introduce you to another movie starring, Vanity and one of my ever favourites. And the character ever favourite, Apolloooo Creeeeed!!!

But I’ll tell you, we’ll talk about that movie later.

We’re going back to The Last Dragon. Unfortunately, Denise, Vanity, according to Wikipedia, says after years of drug abuse which caused kidney problems, she became a born again Christian in 1992, later devoted herself to her church in California. Died in February 2016, aged 57, due to kidney failure. That’s really sad. Wasn’t she amazing? She was so fantastic.

I really loved her character. Yeah. Do you remember? She was like a video DJ of her own, of a club that played videos and there was a dance floor and she would sing, and it was a video, and there were people and there were fans.

You know, that’s my idea of, wouldn’t we be amazing? You’d film everything, we’d be doing a fashion show and I’d be singing like I used to.

This is not a Vanity thing for me, because we actually used to do that. And then in the 90s, I used to sing, you know, open shows, and I used to sing while modelling and all the other models would model to the song I was singing.

And so I would love to do that again in my own club, which is radio, play the song. Oh my God, I love this. She had the best job, and Leroy Green.

So what were the best things to you like?

Oh, you know, we haven’t talked about the villain.

D: Oh, know he was good. What a villain. And and the, homage to anime as well.

Samurai and the, the craziness of anime. So this movie was made by someone who loves all types of, you know, Asian cinema.

S: It was crazy. It was such an homage.

Look at the poster, by the way, I don’t know if you ever saw the official poster. I am so sad because I had some of these posters.

My tyrant, tyrannical demon father tore a lot of my posters off the wall. I had a lot of amazing posters because back then, we still get posters and Smash Hits and Dolly magazine and quite a few of the magazines and, you know, we I yeah, I had this poster and Regal used to have the best posters, and Phoenix, anyway, but yeah, keep talking about it.

So what was the, what was his name? What was the villain’s name?

D: Sho. Sho?

S: Sho-nuff.

D: Sho-nuff right?

S: The Sho-gun of Harlem. Oh my God.

He was played by Julius Carey. Yeah, he was just fantastic.

D: Very cool character.

S: Oh, my God.

D: Over the top as hell.

S: Yes. And he really could back his stuff up, right?

It was just all really cool. Wasn’t Leroy just such a lovely, lovely young character. Strong, but not in any need to flash any, you know, fancy stuff I love. I couldn’t remember what Leroy looked like, but I really loved his outfit. I remember thinking, wow, I really want someone to look really cool, but someone has to be from me of Asian origin.

But make him Islander because I can’t, but also make him a little bit more connected to spirituality through my ways and and look here, you are very impossible on paper.

D: Oh, okay.

S: But wow. Yes, I’m just saying that how much I recognise how movies influenced me as a child. And I can absolutely recognise how The Last Dragon influenced me.

And because I love Vanity, I love what she’s wearing. And it’s funny because we were talking about their ages, remember?

D: Yeah.

S: But before we could talk about their ages, have we got have you got more to say about the villain show?

D: No. Oh no. Fantastic. Fantastic villain. And I love the students.

S: Yes I do.

D: And that kid that.

S: Oh, yeah.

D: His name is Ernie Reyes Jr, Rey?

S: I swear, he was. I swear he was a breakdancer.

D: Yeah.

S: I swear he was.

D: I’ve seen him in other movies.

S: Because breakdancing was a big.

We’re talking about some of these movies as well.

D: Yeah, he can move.

S: You can tell once he starts he is so good.

But also the cool guy who was the dork who pretended he couldn’t fight.

D: Okay. So Glen Eaton

S: And then in the end, you know, he was actually a fighter, all of a sudden

D: His character is Johnny Yu.

S: Yeah. Johnny Yu. It was so good. But you know what? I love what you loved most about when we were watching it after, we were just talking how you really loved how, Leroy asked her for the moves.

D: Yeah. That’s right.

S: You said to me you really like that’s that.

D: That’s the move.

S: Yeah.

D: That is the move. Ask the girl. What?

S: What what do you like? What? What? So what are you the moves according to you.

D: Yeah. What would work on you?

S: So I love that. I love that you love that.

It’s such a gorgeous movie. It is such a gorgeous movie. What are you highlights from it?

D: I can’t, I can’t pinpoint any.

S: I do have to say it’s not a cartoony movie because there is a profanity in it. There is violence in it. I mean, there’s also like, tyranny because Sho-nuff is a villain and he goes, and I’m not… no spoilers, but he’s, he does terrible, he terrorizes.

D: He’s a bully.

S: And Leroy is forced to take a stand and you know, but also it’s all so cute.

D: So when he does the hand thing. The Bruce Lee hand thing. Yeah. I mean I was like, okay, game over, you are…dead bro.

S: Because of course. And see, that’s what she does for him. And she does some beautiful thing in her club. And, you know, because she knows he likes Bruce Lee and she’s so adorable. And you can actually tell, we had talked about this are like coming back now to what I said about the ages we had said, what age do you think they both are.

And I think they’re the same age because I remember her. No, wait a moment. At 21, I was such a sophisticated young woman that I can believe the 21 year old martial artist young man is a goody goody two shoes like him. So that’s why it looks like he’s so young and she’s so.

But no, it’s actually like I remember that at 21, I was, sophisticated. You know, I was a sophisticated person on television. So of course. So it’s hilarious I loved it. It’s such. It’s such a beautiful movie.

D: Thank you.

S: Yes. You know, such legends of, I’m not going to say black American cinema because this is American made cinema by Black American people.

D: It’s just fantastic moviemaking

S: Contributing to the art of filmmaking and their beauty and their vibrancy just radiating off the screen. Jumping off.

D: Just cool, stylish.

S: So Slick.

D: Yeah.

S: Fashion. So slick.

Oh my God, the fashion. Like, I feel like I need to tell you who all the fashion is, but I’ll let you know. And you know.

But it’s just so beautifully made.

80s was a very futuristic time as well. Avant garde. Everything around this time was, you know, retro sci fi, avant garde. And we were all very punk, sci fi. So this is how I describe it. My style is very space know soft princess punk, you know princess punk. Yeah, but soft princess punk like, look, I’m not I don’t wear spikes, I wear crystals kind of thing, you know, it’s it’s.

D: Yeah.

S: So I really love this and her fashions like that too. So it’s such a beautiful movie.

What else do I want to say about it?

You know, go find out who Michael Schultz’s is. We will add all this information.

You can watch the movie right here, right now.

And it’s so fantastic. And acquaint yourself with the time of filmmaking, some things may seem slow to you.  It’s not, you know, dopamine inducing enough because everyone’s looking for a major hit of some sort and everyone’s looking for terror most of all.

I really love how much you love it, because. And I love how these people are beautiful.

So this is the first of this series of Retroview.

D: Yeah.

S: The last dragon. Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon, directed by Michael Schultz, starring Taimak and Vanity and a host of other incredible actors. And just a beautiful movie.

D: Fantastic.

S: Watch it right here, right now. It’s, free to watch and make, make use of it.

Why bother wasting money on streaming? That is the same old, same old and nothing to watch when there’s such amazing free content out there.

And we will be introducing you to some incredible movies of the old but good, and showing us what we should be doing times.

All right. Thank you very much for listening. Anything else to add? Any.

D: Go watch it.

S: That’s pretty good.

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The Last Dragon – Wikipedia