CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

The Dragon from Russia

1990 film by Clarence Fok

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ5305321 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Dragon from Russia is a 1990 Hong Kong martial arts action film directed by Clarence Fok and based on the Japanese manga Crying Freeman and written by Kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikegami, and also produced by Dean Shek, and starring Sam Hui, Maggie Cheung, Nina Li Chi, Carrie Ng, Loletta Lee and guest starring Shek in his second-to-last film appearance before retiring from acting in two years later.

Plot

Yao Lung and May Yip are orphans who live in Russia with their adoptive family. Through the years, the two fall in love and promise that they will be together forever. One fateful day, Yao witnesses a murder being committed by a mysterious assassin. Shortly after this, he is captured and brainwashed by a mysterious cult of assassins that call themselves "800 Dragons".

After losing his memory of his past, he is forced to take very strict martial arts training to become the perfect assassin for the 800 Dragons.

During one of his missions, Yao is seen by May, his past lover who is still looking for him. The code of the 800 Dragons is that anyone who sees an assassin during their mission needs to be killed. But Yao begin to remember his past when May talks to him about their past relationship. Yao decides to follow his heart instead of the strict code of the assassin by not killing May.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “The Dragon from Russia” as 1990 film by Clarence Fok. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Dragon, Russia and film.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1990—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1990-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Dragon, Russia and film providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Dragon from Russia”, the useful work is to connect “1990 film by Clarence Fok” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5305321. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1990.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Dragon from Russia”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Dragon from Russia primary sources, The Dragon from Russia archive and Dragon research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Dragon from Russia”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Dragon from Russia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.