Trama

Fighting against pirates at the turn of the 20th century, the Hong Kong navy are failing miserably. It's up to Sergeant Dragon Ma to take matters into his own hands.

In late 19th Century Hong Kong the British may rule the land, but the pirates rule the waters. Reluctantly, the Coast Guard is given money to fight these pirates, but the pirates themselves have many contacts (that is, bribed officials) in the government, and seek to thwart the Coast Guard's efforts to eliminate them. One Coast Guard officer is Dragon Ma, who is determined that his beloved Coast Guard will not be made fools of.—Murray Chapman <[email protected]>

In old Hong Kong in the late 1800's, Sergeant Dragon Ma (Jackie Chan) is part of the Hong Kong Marine Police who patrol the waters, dealing with pirates and smugglers.

Whilst drinking and celebrating at the local tavern, Dragon's men start trading insults with the Hong Kong Police Force who they have a strong inter-service rivalry with. Tempers flare and Dragon tries his best to calm things down but is tripped by one of the policemen. Dragon refuses to engage in a fight but as he tries to leave the bar peacefully with his men, Inspector Hong Tin-Siu (Yuen Biao) confronts him and tells him he spilt some beer on him. Dragon apologises but Hong humiliates him by pouring a full glass of beer over his head. Dragon demands an apology but Hong refuses, and a bar fight breaks out between them and their colleagues. The fight is eventually broken up when senior police officers arrive led by Captain Chi, who is in fact Hong's uncle.

Later that night, Dragon and his squad are set for a huge offensive against the pirates but just as they are about to begin their operation, two of their ships are blown up.

Corrupt business owner Chou Wun Lung is talking with a gangster called Chiang at his upper class club. Chiang is on the run for murder and smuggling, and Chou tells him to keep his head down until they can get him away to Vietnam. After Chiang leaves Chou's office, Chou meets one of the pirates who sabotaged the Marine Police's ships. He thanks Chou for the information he provides to his leader, San Pao (Dick Wei), and tells him that his boss wants another favour - 100 police rifles. Chou says he'll get them but can't use the wanted Chiang, so decides to send some men to contact Fei (Sammo Hung), a small-time criminal, who is also an old friend of Dragon's.

Meanwhile, disgraced because of their brawling and losing two ships, Dragon and his men are forced to become regular police officers and undergo tough training under Hong, who they discover is their new superior officer's nephew.

After a back-and-forth series of cruel training exercises and pranks, the police are given a tip off about Chiang's whereabouts, and Dragon and Hong go to Chou's club to bring in the wanted man but they have strict orders to do it discreetly because it's a VIP club. Dragon finds Chiang hiding in a back room and it results in a big fight. Captain Chi arrives and Chou demands an apology for the destruction of his business. Sick of the police cow-towing to the local gangsters, Dragon declares he's quitting the force before beating up Chiang, and leaving Hong to take the credit for his arrest. Upon leaving the club, Dragon bumps into Fei who tells him that someone on the police force is selling rifles. Fei suggests they work together - he takes the guns, and Dragon catches the traitor.

At night, Captain Chi and some of his men are buying rifles from some soldiers, and Dragon and Fei intercept the deal and take off with the guns and hide them in a log yard, marking the log they are concealed in with a red flag. Fei later tries to sell the weapons to gangsters but discovers Dragon has removed the flag and put other red flags on the other logs.

Having thwarted Fei's plan, Dragon is at his home with the admiral's daughter, Winnie, who tells him that there's no corruption going on. The police were buying rifles from the army to use against the pirates. Fei sneaks in, and the gangsters follow him. Dragon is forced to flee while protecting Winnie, resulting in a chaotic chase.

Having lost the rifles, head pirate San Pao and his men, take a ship's passengers hostage, including the rear admiral. Mr. Chou proposes an arms-for-hostages deal, and the colonel consents. Having overheard the conversation, Dragon confronts him and convinces him that pirates will never fear the law if they know the police force is corrupt. It's agreed that Dragon will assume all responsibility for the mission to save the hostages.

Mr.Chou is brought in by the police and beaten until he tells Dragon and Hong how to get to San Pao. Posing as Mr. Chou, Dragon gets on board a ship that takes him to San Pao's hideout, and is followed by the rest of his squad. He again comes across Fei who has also got on board, and is posing as a pirate.

Dragon arrives at San Pao's secret lair who is celebrating his birthday. Fei takes off with some loot, while Hong and the rest of the men free to the hostages while Dragon keeps San Pao and his men distracted with an arm wrestling contest. Fei reluctantly returns to help Dragon and eventually Dragon, Hong, and Fei engage in hand to hand combat with San Pao, eventually managing to kill their tough opponent by blowing him up with a grenade, after rolling him up in a carpet. After the battle, they sail a raft to take the hostages back to Hong Kong.