It may be that anyone under 30 who resolved to watch “The Last Dragon” for the first time would find it utterly bewildering, bordering on insane.

It is the sort of movie you get when you combine “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” “Pretty in Pink,” “The Karate Kid,” “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” and “Shaft.”

There’s “over-the-top” and there’s “The Last Dragon,” which found new tops to go over.

It is a movie of its time (1985) and it is a movie that has transcended its time: A 30th anniversary Blu-ray edition of the film came out last week.

“The Last Dragon” concerns the romantic, spiritual and martial-artistic maturation of young New York City kung fu expert named Leroy Green, a role assayed by a young New York City kung fu expert named Taimak (full name: Taimak Guarriello).

It pays tribute to grindhouse fare of the ‘70s — blaxploitation and Shaw Brothers-era martial arts films — but the outlook of the film is sunny; the violence, toothless; the racial mix, harmonious; the villains, absurd.

Leroy Green was Taimak’s first major acting role and it shows. But sometimes an actor’s inexperience works in a movie’s favor.

In 1985, the box office was ruled by tough guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris, so the guilelessness of Leroy Green (aka Bruce Leroy) was refreshing.

Asked by phone if he was essentially playing himself in the film, Taimak said…not quite.

“That’s what they say. I didn’t know myself,” he recalled. “I analyze myself now and say, ‘Yeah.’” There was a side of me that was very innocent and there was a side of me that wasn’t. I grew up in New York City. There were sides of me that definitely weren’t innocent.”

Taimak started learning karate at the age of six, inspired by his father, who also trained. He said that when he saw his first snippet of Bruce Lee on television, he understood the standard to which he wanted to hold himself as a martial artist.

The early ‘80 was an exciting time to be a teenager in New York City, Taimak said.

“I grew up with friends going to all the discos,” he said. “It was an amazing time. Kids were dancing, partying and having a great time. And there was music.”

In the months before his friends informed him of an open audition for “The Last Dragon” at the Apollo Theater, Taimak had been considering college.

“I’d just won a kickboxing title,” he said. “But there was no money in being a professional kickboxer.”

Taimak admits that his first audition for the film was a disaster.

“I choked,” he said.

So he went off to spend some quality time with the script and then returned to ask for another chance.

It is difficult to imagine what it must have felt like for a young, Bruce Lee-obsessed man with no real acting experience — or significant acting aspirations, for that matter — to find himself the focal point of a major Hollywood martial arts movie.

“Going to the set every day was like walking into a comic book,” he said. “A great comic book. We were all just full of life. Everybody had something.”

The movie features a great hammy performance by the late Julius Carrey III (“The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.”), the screen debut of cult action star Ernie Reyes Jr, former Prince protege and pop singer Vanity at the height of her seductive powers, and small roles assayed by William H. Macy and Chazz Palminteri.

Taimak said he knew the film would be popular among martial arts buffs, but he had no idea it would have three-decade staying power.

“I didn’t think I was going to be talking about a year later,” he said, “let alone 30 years later.”

Taimak was offered a sequel long ago, but he turned it down.

“It wasn’t so much about what was in the contract,” he said. “It was about how I was getting treated. It’s not always what it’s cracked up to be.”

The lasting action stardom that Taimak envisioned for himself (and many others envisioned on his behalf) never materialized, but he nurses no grudges.

“It was a different lifetime and I am a different person,” he said. “I’m a trained actor now.”

“I am a grown man,” he added with a laugh. “I’m not a kid anymore.”

Taimak said it is a blessing to have people “love you for something you did.” The anniversary has given him a chance to sit with audiences at screenings and re-experience the film with them.

“It’s interesting because you see how much meat is in the movie,” he said. “It is a very positive movie for young people. It celebrate racial differences and it has wisdom layered through it about looking at oneself and finding that inner strength.

“There are a lot of great messages in the film,” Taimak said. “There are black characters who are not shooting people like they do in shoot-em-up movies. (Leroy Green) is a humble character who works hard and has a big heart. It resonates with all races.”

The anniversary has given Taimak the opportunity to meet numerous martial arts champions who have let him know that the movie was what inspired them to start training.

“So, of course, I feel really honored,” he said.

These days, Taimak is training with a Brazilian jiu jitsu champion named Marcello Garcia. He also mentors inner city children, writes screenplays (including a “Last Dragon” reboot) and auditions for acting roles.

He will soon star in the action comedy “Enter the Fist and the Golden Fleecing” alongside other ‘70s and ‘80s action stars including Michael Dudikoff, Reyes Jr. and Don “The Dragon” Wilson.

He said he has worked out a publishing deal for his autobiography. It is scheduled to come out next spring.

Had things worked out differently in Taimak’s career, a book like that might have more scandal, but less perspective.

Taimak, 51, said he’s genuinely grateful to be able to offer more wisdom than gossip.

“There’s only right now,” he said. “If you’re not walking around complete, then you’re putting that in your future. If it doesn’t serve me, I don’t keep it.

“Of course, after the film, there was a lot of expectation,” Taimak said. “But life is a search, a journey. It’s not about making money. We all fall into that because we enjoy things. But, at the end of the day, if you find yourself in a room full of dollar bills but no one to love you, what does it all mean?”

The Internet is rife with tips and lists about persevering through adversity, but there’s nothing quite so inspiring as examples from real life.

Even when they’re pre-Internet examples.

Especially when they’re pre-Internet examples.

Here’s one from 1971.

Somewhere between the beginning of that year and the end of the year prior, Chicago-born brothers Maurice and Verdine White formed a 10-piece R&B band in Los Angeles that released two albums and recorded a movie soundtrack in a span of no more than 11 months.

Then the band abruptly broke up, purportedly because eight of the non-brothers didn’t see eye-to-eye with the two brothers.

Thus it was that Earth, Wind & Fire almost ended after a smattering of well-reviewed but hardly earth-shattering recordings.

Singer-songwriter Maurice and bassist Verdine could have given up and moved back east.

No one would have blamed them.

“Thank God I was young,” Verdine White said in a phone interview. “I was 19. Ignorance is bliss. You know what I’m talking about.”

It wasn’t easy to get records made in those days, White said, so he knew he must have some talent.

“So I said, ‘I’m staying in California. This is what I am going to do,’” he recalled.

“I was getting good at what I was doing. And I started looking like a musician: sideburns, platform shoes, you know what I’m saying? Bell bottoms. People would come up to me and say, ‘Hey, are you are musician?’ And I’d say, (White lowers his voice) ‘Yeah, I’m a musician, man. I’m a musician.’

Added White, with a laugh: “Most musicians are broke anyway, so I fit the bill.”

Earth, Wind & Fire, of course, eventually became the sort of musical force that hardly needs to be described by any self-respecting feature writer to any self-respecting reader.

The band performs Wednesday, Aug. 26 at the DTE Energy Theatre in Clarkson, Michigan.

The hits endure, but the band’s achievements go far beyond the persistence of its repertoire.

“It was a big deal,” he said, referring to the group’s eventual success in the ‘70s. “You have to understand — people talk about the music, the songs and the sound, but we were really the first group of color that solidified a certain aspect of the music business.

“We had no infrastructure prior,” he said. “It was because of the work Maurice did and his vision. He enabled other groups to have a career. He enabled record companies to start black divisions for a certain kind of music.”

Were it not for Earth, Wind & Fire, White said, there may not have been a Commodores or a Dazz Band or a Prince.

“A template was established,” he said. “Our contribution was not only to music but to the music business.”

Maurice had a vision, White said, and he “matched up (the people) with what was in his brain.”

That included vocalist Philip Bailey, who Maurice invited to join the band in 1972.

“Philip came over to the apartment at that time,” White recalled. “Maurice wasn’t there so Philip spent the afternoon with me. We talked about music. He played harmonica. He was so talented. I called my mother — my late mother — to tell her about him.

“It was down to Philip and another gentleman and I said, ‘No, you should get Philip. He’s not only talented. He’s a great guy.’”

Character is as important to Maurice as talent, White said.

“In order for us to take this long journey, you not only had to be talented,” he said. “You had to be a good person and a strong person. He had all those qualities.”

When Maurice stopped touring with the band in 1994 due to Parkinson’s disease, it was Bailey who took over as bandleader.

Maurice may not be making as much music as he used to, but he is still in charge, White said.

“He’s got it under control,” White said of the Parkinson’s. “He’s the patriarch. He’s the icon.”

One of the ways a person can appreciate the full scope of Maurice’s artistic genius is to listen (via YouTube, for example) to a range of singles, from “La, La, La” and “Uh Huh Yeah” in 1969 (by Maurice’s early group the Salty Peppers) to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Mighty Mighty” in 1974.

With “Mighty Mighty,” the band’s first top 30 single, Maurice had found the sound he’d been imagining, a sound like no other before or since.

“We made such a great progression from the first album in 1970 to 1979,” White said. “There was great growth from song to song, great maturity. You hear it record by record.”

The digital age means the same things to Earth, Wind & Fire as it does to other bands: Less interest in new recordings and less interest in paying for old ones.

But White says he is grateful for YouTube.

“People actually can go about going back to the past and seeing the work we’ve done,” he said. “There’s so much information on the Internet now. It’s actually helped extend our career.

“You don’t have to tell people what you did,” White said. “If we didn’t have that, you wouldn’t know.”

Some acts chafe against the prospect of having to tour on their greatest hits, but Earth, Wind & Fire’s position may be unique: The band’s catalog has a rather singular perennial freshness and buoyancy.

White said he saw a survey where “September” ranked fifth on a list of most popular songs in the history of popular music.

He hears “September” everywhere he goes, even at a recent college graduation ceremony, he said.

“We were in the stands and the band way down on the field played Bruno Mars’ ‘Uptown Funk’ and ‘Happy” by Pharrell. And my wife said, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting if they played ‘September’? And that was the very next song.”

The band didn’t know White was in attendance of course.

“So I go down and thank them for playing it,” he said. “They about dropped their instruments. It was like Superman coming down.”

“Captain America: Civil War” is currently shooting in Atlanta on an exceptionally tight production schedule.

The film, a sequel to “Captain America: The Missouri Compromise” and “Captain America: John Brown’s Raid,” is one of the most anticipated superhero movies since “Superman V: The Return of Nuclear Man” and is certain to shake the Marvel Cinematic Universe to its very core, which is located – for some reason – just outside of Elsinore, Utah.

The release date may be ten months away, but fans are already getting a taste of what’s in the film thanks to leaked photos, insinuative tweets and brazen taunts.

Some fans at Mintinthebox.com claim to have sneaked onto the set and watched the filming for a little while. They saw a scene in which Captain America carried a prop cutout of Thor’s hammer, which either means that it will be replaced in post by computer graphics or that Chris Evans was stealing something to sell later on eBay to try to make up the gap between his and Robert Downey Jr.’s salaries.

Another sequence involved a garbage truck heading at top speed toward The Institute of Infectious Diseases. This would seem to indicate that at least a third, if not more than 50 percent, of the film will be devoted to trash collection.

The spies also claim to have caught glimpses of Frank Grillo in his Crossbones and Captain Feathersword costumes.

We have all, I trust, seen recent photos of actor Daniel Bruhl arriving on the set. Bruhl is slotted to play villain Baron Zemo in the film.

In the comics, Baron Zemo shot futuristic glue out of a futuristic spray gun. He is not to be confused with Baron Zima, whose chief weapon was a malt beverage that didn’t taste like it could possibly have any alcohol in it until it was too late.

The plot of “Captain America: Civil War” involves superheroes choosing sides in advance of an epic battle with each other, but one character will reportedly remain neutral.

It’s Black Panther, aka the Prince of Wakanda.

In perhaps the film’s most powerful scene, Black Panther’s Minister of External Affairs advises Iron Man, “Prince Wakanda don’t want done what can’t be undone, son.”

According to Mydinnerwithmanthing.com, Hawkeye will wear a costume with more purple in it this time around, War Machine’s armor will be upgraded with a shoulder-mounted cannon and Ant-Man will develop the ability to use his gut microbes to enhance the nutritional value of food he gathers thus allowing him to survive in nitrogen-poor areas, such as rainforest canopies.

According to the Georgereeveswasmurdered.com, Martin Freeman will assay the role of British Prime Minister Edward Chase. He will take responsibility for cleaning up the collateral damage caused by the Avengers – collateral damage being defined as what happens after superheroes decide that the best way to save a city that has been raised high in the air by an evil robot is just to let it drop to the ground.

Actor Sebastian Stan’s presence on the set would seem to indicate that his character, Bucky Barnes (aka the Winter Soldier) will loom large in “Captain America: Civil War.”

Barnes was a villain in the last “Captain America” movie but he became a hero in the comics. Many fans would love to see him embrace some of the benevolence of his namesake, Pope Bucky VIII.

Rumors that Barnes will eventually assume the persona of Australian rock star Chris Gaines are groundless speculation.

Actor William Hurt’s return as Thunderbolt Ross has generated some wild speculation about whether Ross will transform in “Captain America: Civil War” into the Red Hulk (aka Rulk).

If he does, it could open the door for appearances by Gray Hulk (aka Gulk), Blue Hulk (aka Bulk), Whiny Saffron Hulk (Sulk), Cinnamon-Auburn Hulk (aka Caulk) Peach-Terra Cotta-Fawn Hulk (aka Peter Falk) and Firebrick-Russet-Zaffre-Baby Blue Hulk (aka Fairuza Balk).

Forlorn She-Hulk fans have been wondering when that beloved character will ever make an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Since She-Hulk hasn’t even generated rumors to date, it is probably too optimistic to expect appearances by She-Male Hulk (aka Shmulk) and the Fuchsia matriarch of the Hulk clan, Mother Fulk.

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In late April, my seven-year-old son and I watched “The Avengers” in preparation for watching the sequel.

Seven-year-olds being what and who they are, “The Avengers” actually spoiled my son’s appetite for the sequel rather than whet it.

Where loud, intense action films that can be described by using eating clichés are concerned, my son’s eyes are bigger than his stomach.

Watching the original film on the small screen for the first time, I was forced to admit something to myself that I’d overlooked in the movie theater.

I never feel bad about having overlooked something in a movie theater because I know everybody goes there to hide their secret delusions and shames, if only for a couple of hours.

Wait. What was I writing about?

Oh, yeah. Being forced to admit something to myself.

I was forced to admit to myself that the Hulk really doesn’t work as a special effect. He sort of works as a character thanks to Joss Whedon’s writing and direction, but he really doesn’t work as a special effect.

I just can’t make myself believe the computer-generated Hulk exists in the same space as the flesh-and-blood actors in these big-screen movies. His skin looks wrong, like an algae bloom with an oil slick on top of it.

The moment Eric Bana or Edward Norton or Mark Ruffalo starts grunting as a prelude to transformation, the part of my brain that is devoted to believing in the reality of things that were added in post-production shuts down.

When the Avengers all stand in a circle with their backs to each other, which they seem to do a lot, all I can envision is the mess of masking tape on the pavement that was put there to let everyone know how much space the Hulk would take up when he was added later.

Computer-generated imagery (CGI) can achieve many wondrous things these days but it can’t create realistic (albeit green and outsize) humans.

Four decades ago, the Hulk was portrayed by a bodybuilder painted green.

Four decades ago, it was a strange thing to be a bodybuilder. Since every man living in the ‘70s wanted to be wiry like Paul Newman or Burt Reynolds, the only plausible explanation back then for having gotten as big as the Rock was an overdose of gamma radiation.

So, times have changed.

Computer graphics guys and gals may not be able to create believable Hulks but they sure as heck can create believable robots.

After I watched “Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace” in 1999, I decided that watching superheroes destroy rows of computer-generated robots was surprisingly boring – akin to watching assembly line workers inspect rows of commercial light fixtures.

So you can guess how I felt 16 years later when the climax of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” involved superheroes destroying rows of computer-generated robots.

Excited, of course! Who wouldn’t be?

I just read that “Tomorrowland,” which opens today, also has computer-generated robots.

Yippee! You can’t have too much of a good thing, I always say.

Sigh. I may as well fess up right now: I am suffering from CGI fatigue.

I realized how bad it was when I was watching the “Godzilla” reboot last year and I wasn’t sure at one point what arrangement of pixels was attacking the city.

I’m not saying I didn’t care whether I was watching computer-generated dinosaurs or computer-generated Transformers.

I am saying I wasn’t sure whether I was watching computer-generated dinosaurs or computer-generated Transformers.

Since then, I have taken to watching Italian-made sword-and-sandal epics for free on YouTube.

Sure, the guys playing Hercules in those films throw foam boulders, but at least you never doubt the existence of foam boulders.

I am almost 50. The way I figure it, I no longer have to feel ashamed about my fondness for the foam boulders in Italian-made sword-and-sandal epics, not to mention my fondness for the homoeroticism in Italian-made sword-and-sandal epics

Wait. What was I writing about?

Oh, yeah. CGI fatigue.

I even joined a Facebook group devoted to practical effects, a term that refers to any special effect accomplished with an actual thing (prop, contraption or prosthetic) with which an actor can interact.

CGI brought to life cinematic visions that were unfilmable before CGI, but it was the worst thing to happen to many pre-existing franchises, including “Alien,” “Star Wars,” and “The Thing.”

If you are a devotee of John Carpenter’s “The Thing” and you’re still angry about the crappiness of the prequel (and the predictability of that crappiness), you will cry actual, non-computer-generated tears at this highlight reel of practical effects created for the film that were largely scrapped in favor of CGI.

Warning. It’s a little gruesome (because these guys knew what they were doing).

The good news here is that Hollywood seems to be returning to practical effects.

I haven’t seen the new “Mad Max” movie yet, but my understanding is that it is a masterpiece of people actually having done the things they seem on the screen to be doing.

Director JJ Abrams appears to be trying to mock up everything that’s mock-uppable on the new “Star Wars” sequel, including a new fully functional droid called BB-8.

It seems like just yesterday that George Lucas’ monomaniacal devotion to CGI meant that his prequel actors spent much of their time doing mime on otherwise empty green soundstages.

The results of that strategy – intentional and otherwise – all ended up on the screen: sumptuous CGI and wafer-thin emotions.

As any fan of the insane and dangerous heyday of Hong Kong action cinema knows, it is far more exciting and compelling to watch an actor do a thing than it is to watch him pretend to do it.

Look, I am not saying we go back to the days of rubber dinosaur suits, but all the CGI in the world did not help the creators of the most recent “Godzilla” reboot solve an essential conundrum: How do you computer-generate a Godzilla that is as appealing as a guy in a rubber dinosaur suit?

While you are deciding which multiplex to grace with your presence this weekend, you may want to take this into account: Regal Coldwater Crossing in Fort Wayne now has reclining seats.

The north side movie complex completed this week a theater renovation that involved replacing all of its old seating with what were described to me as “leather recliners” (although, perhaps the material is more leatherette, leatheresque or leatherish).

Ticket prices will remain the same. There is no extra charge for these seats.

My source at Coldwater tells me that total seating capacity in all the theaters was sacrificed so that the head rests on these new chairs can be pushed back without hitting any knees and the foot rests can be raised up without hitting any seat backs.

Regal started adding recliners to some of its multiplexes in 2014, according to a story by David Lieberman on Deadline.com.

“We’re all going about this strategic objective of improving the premium experience,” Regal CEO Amy Miles reportedly said at the 2014 Gabelli & Co Movie and Entertainment conference.

In a press release touting seating upgrades at Regal Manor Stadium 16 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Rob Del Moro – chief technical and theater operations officer at Regal Entertainment Group – said, “Regal is redefining the level of comfort at this theater. Our guests will soon be able to stretch out, relax and recline while watching the movie.”

My Coldwater source told me some concessions upgrades are also coming, although he wasn’t sure what those would be.

But a company called Enomatic Wine Serving Systems announced in September 2014 that they’d partnered with Regal to bring something called the Enoline Elite to some multiplexes.

Basically, it’s a wine vending machine that offering “5 oz pours of 8 different wines,” according to the company.

It seems unlikely that Regal would bring anything like this into Fort Wayne, but a dipsomaniac can dream, can’t he?