Hiding behind the 80’s hair, cheesy special effects & homages to Bruce Lee, The Last Dragon is a very spiritual & philosophical movie. Leroy is sent on a Quest by his teacher, aka a wild goose chase to find a master who does not exist, so he can find himself. He has learned all he can from others but can’t reach the final level until he has experienced a well-balanced life for himself and embraces all facets of his emotions.
Follow Leroy’s journey by reading all philosophical quotes from The Last Dragon that helped him on his way to finding the master. They are listed below in the order they appeared in the movie.
Witness the Wisdom of The Last Dragon and the Legendary Bruce Leroy.
Leroy touches the final level
Master: How did you know that was the Blue one?
Leroy: I do not know? Master.
Master: You do not know?
Leroy: I humbly apologize for my ignorance Master. I will do anything to prove my worthiness!
Master: You have been to the movies again I see. Full of disciples failing to their knees at the slightest hint of their master’s displeasure… Leroy this is not a punishment, it is a celebration you have touched the final level, you knew without knowing- we have finished our journey together.
Leroy: But Master, The Final Level? The Glow? You always said… that…
Master: that when you reached the final level you would know it by the appearance of a sublime glow all over your body…. Come, Leroy, get up, what you seek is not written on the floor. The final level is a return to the beginning. This is the Last Dragon. A cycle is complete and now there is a new emptiness to be filled a new journey which you must make alone.
Leroy: I am confused??
Master: Good, good confusion is a part of life as are vengeance, fear, and love; all facets must be embraced for then and only then will you break through the wall of mystery to the Glow.
Leroy stays calm and refuses to fight Sho’nuff
Sho’nuff: It’s mumbo jumbo like that and skinny little lizards like you thinkin’ they the Last Dragon that gives kung-fu a bad name. Get up, Leroy! I got something real for your ass in these hands.
(Okay that one is not very deep but what’s a post about The Last Dragon without some comic relief from Sho’nuff The Shogun of Harlem)
Leroy tries to enlighten Johnny Yu
Leroy: Johnny, to seek safety one must go to the heart of danger.
Johnny: Huh?
Leroy: Sometimes it is hard to live the way of the wise.
Johnny: Huh?
Richie teaches Leroy about Moves
Hey, you gotta embrace all aspects of life to find happiness right? Well as Richie so wisely says it- that includes testing out the equipment & knowing some moves...
Richie: you let a lot of good years role by without even testing the old equipment now even you being a disgrace and all I would be less of a man if I didn’t warn you there’s an art to making love and you don’t even have a paintbrush, you gotta know the moves baby, you know the MOOOVES!!
Leroy explains the Glow
Leroy: I am in search of the final level where the spirit takes over from the mind and guides the body without thought…. A great fighter, for instance, might be able to get just his hands to fill with such power that they would get the glow, which could be deadly if it fell into evil hands. Yet, if these hands belonged to a master…
Laura: Like Bruce Lee.
Leroy: Yes, exactly! Someone who has reached the final level and could make his whole body glow the beauty he would be able to create would be without bounds. Imagine the wonder someone like this can bring to the world!
Laura: That’s a beautiful dream, Leroy.
When you have practiced and trained enough to truly master a skill you can perform it expertly without having to plan or even think about it. Something happens and your body just reacts quicker than your mind can imagine. When you’ve reached this level of skill it really does feel like your glowing. It’s a beautiful thing.
Leroy is still confused…
Leroy: Why, Master? Why have you sent me on a journey to find someone who does not exist? Why?
Master: So, you have not found the master that you seek.
Leroy: There is no Sum Dum Goy. He is a computer. Why have you done this to me?
Master: Here, it contains everything you need to find your way to the golden glow. [hands him an empty fortune cookie] Think Leroy! You have just opened a fortune cookie without a fortune, written by a master who does not exist, to find a solution to a problem whose answer you already know.
Leroy: And this [holds up gold medallion]
Master: You needed a charm, A true master would use this to hold up his pants
Master: there is one place that you have not looked and it is there, only there that you shall find the master. Now, if you will excuse me, my plane leaves shortly.
Leroy: You are going on a quest for knowledge?
Master: No, I’m going to visit my mother in Miami.
Leroy realizes that he has learned all he can from others- the secret to the glow lies within
Shonuff: All right, Leroy, who’s the one and only master?
Leroy: I am… I AM!
Well as far-fetched as the glow is, it is a great metaphor for the power that resides inside of all of us. We can all tap into our own personal glow if we have confidence in our own skills and don’t let other people define our reality.
I think Willie Hutch explains it best in 2 songs from The Last Dragon Soundtrack: The Glow & Inside you
The Glow by Willie Hutch starring Bruce Lee
The Glow – Lyrics:
Now all the masters knows that you need the glow,
You need the glow, the glow to grow.
If you love to live, you live to love,
Hah, you got to move to the upper level.
Cos When you got the glow, there aint no stopping,
what you want to do.
hah, oh.
To reach that upper level,
your mind, body and soul must be one.
It’s a sacrifice, it takes hard work,
It’s a way of life.
When you got the glow, you feel the one,
(You feel the one)
When you got the glow, Your body’s gold,
(Your body’s gold)
So don’t let go, of the power of elevation.
(Power)
(Talk about that glow)
Shine on,
Shine on,
Shine on,
shine on,
Get the glow, Get the glow, Get the glow, grow.
Everybody knows that you need the glow,
You need the glow, the glow to grow.
And if you love to live, you live the life the way you love,
The love you take the gift.
Cos when you got the glow, you see it on your face,
You feel it in your head, people understand,
That you’ve got the glow, and they’re beware,
Cos the power’s there when you got the glow.
(shine on)
(shine on)
(Shine on)
(shine on) ((Shine on))
Well, when you reach that upper level, Your mind body and soul will be one.
Hah!
It’s a sacrifice, it takes hard work,
It’s a way of life.
When you got the glow, you feel the one,
When you got the glow, Your body’s gold,
So don’t let go, of the power of elevation.
(Talk about the glow, the glow)
Cos when you got the glow, when you got the glow,
(When you got the glow)
Everybody know and I’m friend and foe,
They’ll all beware, they’ll all beware,
(When you got the glow)
Cos they know that you got the fire there.
When you got the glow, when you got the glow,
(When you got the glow)
They’ll all beware, they’ll all beware.
Cos they know, they know, they know, they know, they know
(When you got the glow)
They know you got the glow, the glow to grow.
Inside You by Willie Hutch:
If you enjoyed this you would probably also like:
- Which Leroy are You?
- Top 22 Quotes from The Last Dragon
- Top 10 Reasons to Love The Last Dragon
- The Last Dragon Tribute
- The Fan Tribute to The Last Dragon on Facebook
- @TheLastGlow
TheLastDragonTribute.com is an online community for fans of the 80’s Motown martial arts cult classic THE LAST DRAGON. Using our web and social media presence our mission is to bring together fans from all over the world to help keep the Glow alive! We delve into all things The Last Dragon, Bruce Lee, and Martial Arts Entertainment.
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YOU GOT IT JOHNNY!
nice!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shine on!!!
The glow isn’t the feeling you get from preforming automatically like Jeet Kune Do status. Using the economy of motion to preform efficiently.
The glow is the process of taking account of all the assets you have. In this case it’s martial arts. It’s taking all the assets you have, what ever moves and skills you think are good for you. Assets. Then all the liabilities, like being short, you need to reach further (like jet lee says on the expendables). Or being heavy, you need to run shorter times and account for that).
Then take all the liabilities and figure out a way to make them assets and then, make all those assets automatic like you think this glowing feeling is.
Now, congratulations you have entered the presence of the glow. Having no liabilities.
That lets you smell the fart smell from the distance of the glow.
To glow you need a bunch of assets. Eventually, you actually glow.
With like, 50,000 plus assets. Maybe not much, it’s up to you.
Assets and liabilities are directly associated to profits, this is a economics formula.
Thanks for sharing insightful thoughts William. You used a better analogy to describe the glow then I did. I really like the learning to maximize your liabilities part but how did you know I was short 😉
Kiss my Converse.
Man this is my ALL TIME FAVORITE MOVIE… As far as a remake of this movie i’m torn.. If whoever decided to remake it didn’t change anything about it then maybe but it’s such a classic that im affraid they would mess it up!!
I love this movie of the last dragon I would love for the full movie on my family and tyrone facebook god bless you all from tyrone and family
You are forgetting in the title song for The Last Dragon, there are some good nuggets of wisdom. Some seem basic, like:
“Take life one day at a time”
“When you walk hold your head up high, for the Master is watching you from the sky”
“Like a season love will come and go… when it’s right you’ll automatically know”
Now when I say “Who’s the master?”, just remember… YOU ARE!
WHO’S THE MASTER?
Ever notice how “the glow” responded to a need, much in the same way as did the Super Saiyan state in Dragonball Z? Is this the height of human potential, or just a step?