# The Last Dragon
**The Last Dragon** (released as *Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon*) is a 1985 American martial arts musical comedy directed by Michael Schultz, about a young Harlem martial artist, Leroy Green, who seeks the final level of mastery known as "the Glow" while defending a television host from a criminal businessman and confronting the self-styled Shogun of Harlem, Sho'nuff.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55775-BERRY-GORDY'S-THE-LAST-DRAGON) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_last_dragon) Produced by Motown founder [Berry Gordy](https://www.edgepedia.org/berry-gordy) through Motown Productions and distributed by Tri-Star Pictures, it earned about $25.75 million at the domestic box office against an estimated $10 million budget and has since become a cult classic.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0089461/) • [4](https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/gdc/gdcebookspublic/20/21/75/84/54/2021758454/2021758454.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | March 22, 1985 (theatrical, United States); 40th anniversary rerelease October 19, 2025[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0089461/) |
| Key personnel | Director Michael Schultz; writer Louis Venosta; producer Rupert Hitzig; production company Motown Productions; distributor Tri-Star Pictures[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55775-BERRY-GORDY'S-THE-LAST-DRAGON) |
| Principal cast | Taimak as Leroy Green, Vanity as Laura Charles, Julius J. Carry III as Sho'nuff, Christopher Murney as Eddie Arkadian[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55775-BERRY-GORDY'S-THE-LAST-DRAGON) |
| Box office | $25,754,284 domestic, $25,755,277 worldwide, on an estimated $10 million budget[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0089461/) • [4](https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/gdc/gdcebookspublic/20/21/75/84/54/2021758454/2021758454.pdf) |
| Critical scores | 57% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (23 reviews) against an 86% audience Popcornmeter; Metascore 59 on Metacritic[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_last_dragon) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-last-dragon/) |
| Format | PG-13, 109 minutes, blending action, comedy, drama, and music[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-last-dragon) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
Leroy Green ([Taimak](https://www.edgepedia.org/taimak)) is a young martial artist in New York City who trains tirelessly to reach the level of his idol, [Bruce Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruce-lee). His master tells him he has nothing left to teach him, and Leroy ventures out to find a further master and attain the final level of martial arts mastery, a power called the Glow.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_last_dragon) • [7](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thelastdragon) He is accosted by Sho'nuff (Julius J. Carry III), the "Shogun of Harlem," who demands to be acknowledged as the master, but Leroy declines to fight him.[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/03/25/rooting-for-the-dragon/84a16294-82a9-41e8-bb56-0db4b3f79601/)
The plot turns when Leroy rescues Laura Charles ([Vanity](https://www.edgepedia.org/vanity-singer)), a singer and host of the music video program "7th Heaven," from thugs sent by Eddie Arkadian (Christopher Murney), a video game magnate who wants Laura to air the music video of his girlfriend Angela ([Faith Prince](https://www.edgepedia.org/faith-prince)). Arkadian then hires a crew of psychopaths, with Sho'nuff as his secret weapon, to destroy Leroy.[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/03/25/rooting-for-the-dragon/84a16294-82a9-41e8-bb56-0db4b3f79601/) The supporting cast includes Leo O'Brien as Leroy's brother Richie, Jim Moody as Daddy Green, who runs the family pizzeria, and Ernie Reyes, Jr. as Tai.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55775-BERRY-GORDY'S-THE-LAST-DRAGON) William H. Macy appears in a small part.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-last-dragon)
## Production
A January 30, 1984 *Hollywood Reporter* item published an open casting call for "young black males 18–25 with ability in martial arts and dancing" for the lead role. [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began April 16, 1984 in New York City, with locations including the Victory Theater on 42nd Street, Bernstein's-on-Essex, the Harlem Karate Institute, Super Amusements in [Flushing, Queens](https://www.edgepedia.org/flushing-queens), an abandoned wire factory and warehouse at East 118th Street, and the East Side Highway.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55775-BERRY-GORDY'S-THE-LAST-DRAGON)
The casting ran against type in both directions: Taimak, a skilled martial artist lifted from the local martial arts scene, learned acting on the job, while Julius J. Carry III, a trained actor, learned martial arts for the film.[9](https://blacklistedculture.com/the-last-dragon-1985/) Ron "The Black Dragon" Van Clief, a martial artist who had starred in his own 1970s films, arranged the fight scenes.[10](https://www.blackgate.com/2018/02/17/last-dragon-1985-big-trouble-little-china-black-panther-double-feature/)
## Music
As a Motown Productions film, the movie carried a soundtrack of Motown artists including [Stevie Wonder](https://www.edgepedia.org/stevie-wonder), Smokey Robinson, and [The Temptations](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-temptations), alongside co-star Vanity, and it made heavy use of the then-new music video format.[4](https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/gdc/gdcebookspublic/20/21/75/84/54/2021758454/2021758454.pdf) DeBarge's hit "Rhythm of the Night" is the song that has best endured; the Common Sense Media review judges most of the rest of the music to have aged poorly, singling out the number "Suki Yaki Hot Saki Sue" as potentially offensive.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-last-dragon)
## Reception
**Contemporary critics** were divided. [Gene Siskel](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-siskel) of the *Chicago Tribune* gave it 3.5 of 4 stars, calling it "first and foremost a romantic comedy" whose fight scenes work because the film earns the audience's investment in the characters; the *Washington Post*'s Paul Attanasio praised its "intoxicating blend of comedy, kung fu, corny romance, special effects and rock videos."[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_last_dragon) • [8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/03/25/rooting-for-the-dragon/84a16294-82a9-41e8-bb56-0db4b3f79601/) Roger Ebert rated it 63 of 100, calling it "a great near-miss" that would have been great entertainment with a pumped-up Shogun role and less gangster subplot. Janet Maslin of *The New York Times* was dismissive, describing it as designed for viewers who "can't bear the monotony of only one thought or sound or activity at a time."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-last-dragon/) Aggregated, the film scores 57% on the Tomatometer and a Metascore of 59, while audiences rate it far higher: 86% on the Popcornmeter and 6.6 of 10 on Metacritic's user score.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_last_dragon) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-last-dragon/)
**Cultural standing.** The film has been described as probably the first and only African-American martial arts musical ever made.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-last-dragon) Scholars have read it as a deliberate crossover project: director Michael Schultz said he saw immediately that the story of a young Black hero who fantasizes about being Bruce Lee would captivate young audiences, in a decade when Black action heroes were scarce in Hollywood cinema.[4](https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/gdc/gdcebookspublic/20/21/75/84/54/2021758454/2021758454.pdf) Shanté Paradigm Smalls, a scholar at St. John's University, argues in a 2016 *Criticism* essay that the film negotiates satire, stereotypes, kitsch, and fantasy to stage Black America's fascination with [Chinese martial arts](https://www.edgepedia.org/chinese-martial-arts) films, and that its protagonist offers an alternative Black masculinity drawing its aesthetic and philosophical cues from a fantasized Chinese martial arts identity.[11](https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/criticism/vol58/iss2/7/)
Carry's Sho'nuff has proved the film's most durable element; the rapper [Busta Rhymes](https://www.edgepedia.org/busta-rhymes) paid homage to the performance in his music video "Dangerous."[9](https://blacklistedculture.com/the-last-dragon-1985/) A 30th anniversary Blu-ray and DVD edition was released in 2015, and the film returned to theaters for its 40th anniversary on October 19, 2025.[9](https://blacklistedculture.com/the-last-dragon-1985/) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0089461/)
## References
1. [Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon (1985), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55775-BERRY-GORDY'S-THE-LAST-DRAGON)
2. [The Last Dragon, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_last_dragon)
3. [The Last Dragon (1985), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0089461/)
4. [Black Dragon: Afro Asian Performance and the Martial Arts Imagination, Library of Congress](https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/gdc/gdcebookspublic/20/21/75/84/54/2021758454/2021758454.pdf)
5. [The Last Dragon Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-last-dragon/)
6. [The Last Dragon – Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-last-dragon)
7. [Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thelastdragon)
8. [Rooting for the 'Dragon', The Washington Post (March 24, 1985)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/03/25/rooting-for-the-dragon/84a16294-82a9-41e8-bb56-0db4b3f79601/)
9. [The Last Dragon (1985), BlacklistedCulture.com](https://blacklistedculture.com/the-last-dragon-1985/)
10. [The Last Dragon (1985): My Big Trouble in Little China or Black Panther Double Feature Pick, Black Gate](https://www.blackgate.com/2018/02/17/last-dragon-1985-big-trouble-little-china-black-panther-double-feature/)
11. [Smalls, Shanté Paradigm (2016). "Eating Popcorn With Chopsticks: Revisionary Black Masculinity in Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon," *Criticism* 58(2)](https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/criticism/vol58/iss2/7/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license