Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Blistering performances.

HERO TATTOOED WITH NINE DRAGONS is a decent enough kung fu vehicle for former Shaw star Chen Kuan Tai. It's something of a moralistic story at first, depicting Tai's character as he grows up under the care of his indulgent father which turns him into a rather spoilt and brash young man. Eventually he learns the error of his ways, becomes more humble (and tattooed) before gearing up to tackle some real bad guys for a change.There's nothing much that distinguishes this film from many others made during the period, but there's plenty of kung fu action and much of it is well shot. In general there's nothing much to dislike here either. Chen Kuan Tai is a reliable hero and gives a typically strong performance and there are other familiar faces along the way. There's a bit of music repeatedly lifted from a Jean-Michel Jarre track which is a hoot. Again, not a classic or a particularly memorable one, but a standard and watchable kung fu outing nonetheless.

This movie is not for the amateur viewers. You have to be hard core to sit through ninety minutes of this stuff. I recommend watching 500 martial arts movies from the bottom of the barrel of Ocean Shores VHS presentations. This will ruin your eyes by cutting of 25% of the picture and lowering the resolution to where you need glasses. Then numb up your ears by listening to three idiots trying to do different voices for thirty different characters. Numb up the brain with incoherent, inconsistent, or nonexistent story lines that serve only as a path from one fight to the next fight that looks exactly like the last fight. Chen Kuan-Tai was one of the great ones from the golden age of martial arts movies. He made some of the greatest and this movie was not one of them. Only if you are a fan and need to see everything he ever put on film then sit down and enjoy this stinker. Otherwise, nothing to see here, citizen, keep moving.