I just finished watching the two-disc special edition from France and I've sorry to say that I was very disappointed with the movie. Compared to "The Dragon from Russia," with Sam Hui, I think the film focused too much on the story and not enough action. Whereas "Dragon from Russia" had too much action and no story.

Above all else, the French version did not even include Freeman's trademark killing move - the hold-knife-with-toes kick. All of the supplemental materials on the second disc were cool and I enjoyed watching that more than the movie itself. Anyone else watched the film and feel the same way? Oh well, off on eBay it goes.

For a low budget film I enjoyed it immensely. I thought it was reasonably well put together and featured some good action sequences. While it may have missed a few trademarks from the Anime/Manga it did present a decent take on the story. The only downside for me was some of the more "uninspired" (read: incredibly poor judgement) casting choices by Gans. I couldn't stand Dragon from Russia for the most part, it was just incredibly poorly put together and I find Sam Hui annoying in action roles what with his constant need for Bruce Lee'isms.