EDITOR’S NOTE: Nothing gives me greater joy than when our site gets mentioned on my favorite podcast, The Cannon Canon. There are a few movies they’ve covered that I haven’t, so it’s time to fix that.

Prince wanted to cast Vanity, leader of the girl group Vanity 6, in Purple Rain, but she left the group before filming began. Instead, she was signed by Barry Gordy to a four-movie contract.

She would be joined by Taimak, a martial artist who had never acted before. He’d studied under “The Black Dragon” Ron Van Clief, who choreographed the scenes where Taimak’s character Larry Green battles Sho’nuff The Shogun of Harlem during a showing of Enter the Dragon. Julius Carry, who had never done martial arts before, learned them as Taimak learned how to be in a movie.

The theater that they fight in was The Victory Theater on 42nd Street, owned by Martin Levine and Richard Brandt. It was the first theater on 42nd Street to show hardcore pornography. It’s a real theater now and lost to the clean-up of Times Square.

Leroy Green becomes Bruce Leeroy and must work on the ability to make his entire body glow with martial arts majesty. If he can find the other master who has the second part of a Bruce Lee medal, maybe he can find that power. He’s challenged by Sho’nuff and his men Crunch, Beast and Cyclone as well as arcade owner Eddie Arkadian (Christopher Murney) and his soldier Rock. They’ve kidnapped Laura Charles (Vanity) and won’t release her until she plays his girlfriend Angela Viracco (Faith Prince) on her video show.

Sho’nuff already has the glow and Leroy has to find his. He also has to learn how to catch bullets, but that seems a little bit easier.

Thanks to the DeBarge video for “Rhythm of the Night” that movie had a lot of people talking about it back in 1985. Gordy used all of his Motown artists to get people talking about it. The Last Dragon was directed by Michael Schultz, who also was behind Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, Car Wash, Scavenger Hunt, Krush Groove and the Fat Boys video for “All You Can Eat.” Oh man! Also the TV movies Timestalkers, The Spirit comic book adaption and Disorderlies. It was written by Louis Venostra, who also wrote Bird On a Wire.

It’s also an early Ernie Reyes Jr. movie.

You can listen to The Cannon Canon episode of The Last Dragon here.