His love interest would be played by recent Motown signee and former frontwoman of Vanity 6, Denise “Vanity” Matthews in the role of music video show host Laura Charles. Taimak Guarriello would be chosen to fill the role of “Bruce” Leroy Green.

Berry Gordy brought on one of the most experienced Black directors of the era Michael Schultz ( “Cooley High”, “Car Wash”, “Greased Lightning”, “Which Way Is Up?” & “Bustin’ Loose” ) to direct the project that would be called “The Last Dragon”.Ĭasting the leads was crucial so the film would be built around a 19 year old martial artist and one of the prized pupils of Ron “Black Dragon” Van Clief. Louis Venosta, a first time screenwriter and former dancer produced a script about a young Harlem Kung Fu expert which incorporated all of the necessary elements to appeal to young people in the 80's while at the same time harkening back to 70's Blaxploitation films. If they could find a way to incorporate all of those elements into a film they’d have a hit on their hands. Young people loved Rap & Hip-Hop, music videos, Kung Fu films, video games and music. Make a film incorporating everything they loved. After seeing the fan response to “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever” in Spring 1983 once it aired and the rise of Run DMC then Rap music and Hip-Hop culture go mainstream throughout 1984 it became clear to Berry Gordy how to have Motown reach younger audiences. Both films ended up becoming cult classics but were considered too campy and cheesy to be taken seriously. The last profitable Motown film was 1975's “Mahogany” as they released two box office bombs in 1978, “Thank God It’s Friday” and “The Wiz”. With the exception of Rick James, Teena Marie (who would successfully sue the label in 1982 for her release), DeBarge (who emerged from former Motown act Switch), The Dazz Band and Lionel Richie, Motown had serious trouble putting out acts that music fans responded to and most young people saw the label as a veritable dinosaur. Motown had been on a downward spiral since it lost most of their legendary original roster throughout the 70's and had failed to capitalize off of the Disco Era or consistently sign talent to would keep them on top of the music industry. Motown’s attempt at maintaining relevancy in the mid 80's resulted in a Kung Fu musical aimed towards the Hip-Hop generation “The Last Dragon”: A 30th Anniversary Retrospective

Sho nuff from the last dragon movie