I was very worried this one wouldn’t hold up.
For this run, I went back to The Last Dragon. As a kid, this movie was everything. It was cultures colliding in the best way. It was style, attitude, and a kind of energy that just stuck with you. Yeah… it’s goofy. It’s camp. And wow, I had completely forgotten how thin the plot is.
But that didn’t last long.
As it played, I started remembering entire scenes seconds before they happened. Lines, moments, beats. It all came rushing back, and honestly, that was pure joy. There’s something special about a movie that’s been sitting in your memory that long and still knows how to hit.
Watching it now, though, I did have that moment of hesitation. Was this going to feel off? Was it appropriation? Parody? Something that didn’t age well?
Then the opening credits roll in and you see Berry Gordy and Motown Records. Okay. Everyone is on board with this one.
Because what the film really does, and what still works, is celebrate a blend. It leans into Black urban culture and Asian martial arts and lets them exist together in this heightened, stylized world. It’s not subtle, and it’s definitely not trying to be. But it feels more like homage and fusion than anything else.
And the soundtrack.
Absolutely amazing. That 80s synth pop sound flows through the entire movie and gives it this constant forward motion that pairs perfectly with a run. It’s one of those soundtracks that doesn’t just support the film, it drives it.
Which made it even more surprising to find out that the two Angela Viracco songs weren’t included on the official soundtrack. That felt like a miss, especially given how much they contribute to the overall vibe.
The energy never really drops. It’s fun, it’s weird, it’s loud in all the right ways. The miles kept moving, and so did the movie.
Coming back to this as an adult didn’t ruin it. Though I am no master, after my run I definitely had “the Glow”.
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