Plots
As a young boy, Ethan Kendrick (Cody Arens) encounters in a shop owned and operated by antiques dealer Jack (Robert Forster) a mysterious, gigantic, reptilian scale that shines with a blue light. This light projects itself upon Ethan. Seeing this, Jack imitates a heart seizure and sends Ethan's father, who is selling him an antique dagger, to get help. He then reveals to Ethan that the scale belonged to an Imoogi and the light to heaven. Ethan listens as Jack narrates a story (largely shown in flashback) explaining the scale and its preference for Ethan.Jack's Story
According to the story, at the close of every elapsment of 500 years a girl-child is born who has inborn in her the power to change one of the Imoogi into a Celestial Dragon. She could be identified by the stylized image of a dragon on her left shoulder. In order to maintain humanity's place in the balance of nature, this cycle must be completed each time she is born. When the evil Imoogi Buraki sought to become a dragon through contact with this woman, who is called the Yeo-Yi-Joo, the authority identified only as "Heaven" sent two warriors, Bochun and his ward Haram, to protect the Yeo-Yi-Joo from him. Haram, who was approximately eight to ten years the Yeo-Yi-Joo's elder, fell in love with her and did not reveal this to his master. When Buraki's ruthless Artox Army (legions of armored warriors able to create their weapons on demand) advanced on the village where the Yeo-Yi-Joo's father was headman, a village mother revealed the location of the Yeo-Yi-Joo to them in exchange for her own daughter's modesty, which would otherwise have been violated by Buraki's soldiers. The Artox Army murdered the headman and captured his daughter, whereupon Bochun intervened to rescue her. She was sent to join Haram, who to avoid sacrificing her to the Good Imoogi led her to the edge of a cliff, where Buraki attempted to kill them. Haram and the Yeo-Yi-Joo then committed suicide to save themselves from Buraki.Ethan's Quest
Jack, having told this story, reveals that he is himself Bochun, and that Ethan is Haram, reborn to protect the Yeo-Yi-Joo from Buraki, who is soon to return. Jack gives Ethan a medallion formerly belonging to Haram and reveals that the Yeo-Yi-Joo is a girl named Sarah whom Ethan will find in Los Angeles. Ethan accepts the medallion and the responsibility of caring for the Yeo-Yi-Joo.Nineteen years later, Ethan has become a news reporter for a television programme. In this role, he discovers while trying to write a story that Buraki has returned. He therefore enquires into the news office's database for location of a Los Angeles-based girl named Sarah, who is nineteen to twenty years old and bears a dragon-shaped mark on her shoulder. His associate Bruce, despite disbelief, helps Ethan search.
Meanwhile, the Sarah Ethan wants, one Sarah Daniels, is with a friend of hers when she sees Ethan's news report and is terrified by the tracks Buraki has left. She hurries home and surrounds herself with protective symbols, which she does not understand but which she feels constitute the only way she has of trying to protect herself. Her friend Brandy, concerned but not quite understanding Sarah's problem, takes her to a tavern for a drink of beer, hoping to take her mind off her fears. Sarah, still dissatisfied, leaves the tavern, but is attacked outside by three thugs, who attempt to rob or harm her. Jack the antique dealer appears at once, fights the thugs, and leaves Sarah safe. The police later interrogate Sarah, but do not believe the tale of her rescuer. Word of her escape eventually reaches Ethan, through another reporter, who thinks that Sarah had rescued herself.
Buraki and his army continue to involve themselves in the lives of humanity, attracting the attention of the United States' Secretary of Defence, of a federal investigation agency, and of a zoological park's night watchman who sees Buraki in the act of swallowing an elephant and for his story is committed to a sanatorium. Later, Buraki attacks and kills Brandy, though he does not eat her.
Ethan eventually finds Sarah at a hospital, where she is being detained. Although the hospital's receptionist refuses him entry, on the grounds that he is not a friend or close kin (of which latter Sarah has none), a doctor leads him to Sarah's room. This doctor is later revealed to be Jack in disguise.
Ethan is about to explain the truth of their situation to Sarah when Buraki attacks the hospital, intent on capturing her. Ethan and Sarah flee in a car driven by Bruce, with Buraki in pursuit. They are stopped and fight with a commander of the Artox Army, but eventually escape him as well. Again, their escape is attributed to a disguised Jack.
Ethan subsequently explains the story to Sarah, who accepts it as true and Ethan as her protector. She kisses him on the mouth as a sign of trust. He thereafter takes her to a practitioner of hypnotherapy, who helps her revive the memories of her previous life as the former, unsuccessful Yeo-Yi-Joo. The energy released by her body during the hypnotherapy session attracts Buraki, who destroys the hypnotherapist's house (wherein the session was conducted) and follows Sarah and Ethan. The hypnotherapist's fate is left uncertain.
In a car, Ethan and Sarah flee to the more densely-populated areas of the city, where they meet with Bruce in a restaurant. Bruce makes Ethan's excuse for his absence from the news office by planning to describe Sarah as a novice reporter, whom Ethan must train. Bruce later takes Ethan aside and gives him a pistol for self-defense. When Bruce has left Ethan alone, Jack warns Ethan that the Yeo-Yi-Joo must fulfill her destiny. Ethan, defiant because of his new attachment to Sarah, demands autonomy.
Moments later, Buraki finds the fugitives again. They attempt to escape him, resulting in a chase scene that culminates atop a skyscraper. There, Buraki is distracted by a military helicopter, whose pilot fires on him. Buraki then summons the Artox Army to help him. This legion enters the city and advances through the streets, to be engaged in combat by the U.S. Army. Here, as in other scenes, the Artox Army is shown to consist of black-armored, humanoid warriors; therapod-like cavalry called "Shaconnes"; small, winged western dragons called "Bulcos"; and huge, slow-moving reptiles identified in the dialogue as "Dawdlers", who bear powerful cannons on their backs. The Artox Army inexorably proceeds, crushing the American soldiers and their weapons, suffering few causalities on their side. Meanwhile Ethan and Sarah are taken to an empty garage by two federal officers. The senior officer reveals that he has researched the legend of the Imoogi, and attempts to kill Sarah so that Buraki and his army would depart for another five centuries. The junior officer, horrified, kills his partner and gives the fugitives his car whereby to escape.
Ethan and Sarah enter the rural countryside, where Sarah remarks that wherever she goes, the Imoogi will find her. Ethan, who seems bent on saving her both from Buraki and from the Good Imoogi for whom she is destined, refuses to admit this. Sarah pauses, then reveals that she is now twenty years old; therefore revealing herself to have come into her full power as Yeo-Yi-Joo. At once, the Bulcos knock the car over and capture Sarah.
Climax and Epilogue
When Ethan, who has been rendered insensible, comes to his senses, he sees that he is tied to a pillar which stands before a menacing fortress. This fortress, located in the middle of a geographically unidentified, darkened, desert-like landscape, is Buraki's basis of operation. In front of it lies an altar on which Sarah is to be sacrificed to Buraki. The Artox Army makes effort to complete the sacrifice, in Buraki's presence. Just as Buraki is about to consume Sarah, Ethan's pendant unleashes its heavenly power, releasing a blue light that destroys all of Buraki's legions, though not the commander or Buraki himself.The commander of the legion attempts to kill Ethan, but his sword, when used, falls on the pendant. The pendant immediately releases a bolt of electric energy that kills the commander. However, a revived Buraki knocks Ethan down and attempts to eat Sarah, whereupon the Good Imoogi appears and fights him. Ethan and Sarah watch as Buraki and the Good Imoogi battle furiously. Here, the two Imoogi are shown to have different appearances, in that the Good Imoogi has lighter coloring, is stockier, and lacks the cobra-like, but apparently inflexible hood that distinguishes Buraki. The difference in coloration, as well as Buraki's hood, suggest the differences in their personalities. Ultimately, Buraki wins. He approaches Sarah, who deliberately offers herself to him. Just as Buraki is about to absorb Sarah's power, which she offers to him in the form of a luminous white sphere, she psychokinetically redirects it into the open mouth of the Good Imoogi, who is instantly revived. Buraki attacks him again, only to be thwarted when the Good Imoogi becomes a gigantic Korean dragon during the struggle. They fight for a few minutes, after which the Good Imoogi, now the Celestial Dragon, flies to the top of Buraki's fortress and breathes fire upon him, burning the evil Imoogi to ashes. Sarah has collapsed into a coma, to Ethan's horror.
Having slain Buraki, the Celestial Dragon approaches Ethan, allowing Sarah's spirit to speak with him. Sarah, as the full Yeo-Yi-Joo, advises Ethan not to be sad, adding that she will love him for all eternity. The Celestial Dragon then takes Sarah back into his body, holding her power in his mouth (an image reminiscent of the large pearls depicted in the mouths of Chinese Dragons), and ascends to the heavens. Immediately, Jack appears behind Ethan, reminding him that the two of them have been given a great honor, which is Ethan's destiny. Jack then dissolves into dust, apparently dying. Ethan, recognizing this, whispers a parting "Good-bye, old man". The credits of the film roll, against a background of the now uninhabited fortress in the desert. Ethan's fate is left ambiguous.
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