ironhorse_iv Review of Enter the Dragon

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Bruce Lee's finest hour and magnum opus. Enter the Dragon is awesome film. Let's enter the 1970's.

[8/10 · 14 July 2013]

Directed by Robert Clouse, Enter the Dragon is a fun movie to watch, but gees it hasn't aged well. It's speak 1970's with its film clichés that mimics other big hits of that bygone era like 1971's Shaft and 1971's James Bond's Diamonds are Forever. You can see it with cheesy one-liners lines, gimmick villains, and funky soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin. The "70's man dude" swagger will make you roll your eyes more than once. It's a priceless little period details that remind us fondly of a bygone time that was 1970's Hong Kong cinema. The movie is pretty much like a James Bond movie, but with Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee was great at martial arts, but he was also a OK actor. I think his noises are the best bit, and his god like build. Still, those facial expression and sound effects from him can be a bit cartoony. Bruce Lee hits his opponent with that double stomp move, he looked constipated. At the time, it was really rare to see an Asian in the main role. The Hollywood producers and directors like to make the White guy the hero of the films because most Americans don't like seeing other minorities have a lead role in a Hollywood film. It wasn't until Bruce Lee two other previous films became such a hit, that Warner Bros took a risk with this movie. This film was the first Chinese martial arts film to have been produced by a major Hollywood studio. The movie starts with Bruce Lee as a Shaolin martial artist name Lee. He receives an invitation to a martial arts tournament on an island by the mysterious Mr. Han (Shih Kien) who own a fighting school there. The British secret service wanted Bruce Lee to go undercover to see if he is doing drug trafficking and prostitution there. Joining Bruce Lee are two competitors from America including white gambler Roper (John Saxon), and Williams (Jim Kelly), an African-American activist. Soon all three must fight to get off the island. Bruce Lee had an incredible sense of aesthetics in all his fight scenes. No wonder he had so many followers and disciples. His fight with O'Hara (Bob Wall) is intense. Boards don't hit back but Bruce Lee unfortunately does. A lot of people don't understand what Bruce Lee did when he first hit O'Hara. He used a Ving Tsun (Wing Chun) principle of 3 things done at one time. They say Bruce had to slow down his speed considerably for this so he doesn't seriously hit Karate champion Bob Wall. It's still faster then the speed of light, but not only did Robert Wall say that getting kicked by Bruce Lee was like getting hit by a truck, but the guy who caught him as he flew back into the crowd broke both of his arms just by Wall's body flying backwards with that much force. Interesting fact: Hong Kong Kung Fu expert and Jackie Chan fellow stuntman Yuen Biao was the stunt double that did the back flip when O'Hara grabs the feet. Bruce Lee did not know any acrobatic movements. Yuen Biao was also a stunt double of Bruce Lee in many of the fight scenes at the end. The battle with the guards was Magnificent! His skill is extraordinary. Nice to see a cameo by fellow Martial Artist Jackie Chan as a henchman. Still, it would be nice to see Lee fought Bolo. Bolo Yeung versus Bruce Lee and then add more sinister champions to make Enter the Dragon a little more highly enjoyable film. Bruce Lee fight with Sammo Hung in the beginning of the film looks like MMA fighting similar to UFC. Damn was Bruce that far ahead of his time. Still, he looks like he fighting in diapers against another guy in diapers. I do like the final fight against Han in the Hall of Mirrors. I like the fact that Han is missing a hand, which means he can conveniently slot into his wrist such like blades. Such a gimmicky villain. That kick to Han's head was intense. Just that shot, alone is worth watching. I would love to see if Enter the Dragon was made differently is to eliminate John Saxon and Jim Kelly out of the element, as they really can't fight and focus on Bruce Lee entirely. Pretty much at the same time, also retain the whole atmosphere and look of the movie with a real story, at least some of it, going on. I rather see a tournament, having Bruce Lee granted more matches than just one battle with O'Hara. I want to see more fighting then what we saw on film. What I liked about Bruce Lee in his films was he would walk away from a fight unless he was provoked some more. He used his skills for defense and it really would bug him if he wound up killing someone. Like you would fight him, he'd beat you and then walk away. But if you got back up and tried fighting him again then he'd make you pay. Still, the movie suffers in a few categories. The mediocre script, wooden acting, and an inept storyline. There was pretty bad flashback sequence most notable for its bad choreography. Depending which version you watch. Recent English-language versions of the film include scenes that were originally exclusive to the Cantonese and Mandarin dubs. The English audio for those scenes was either never recorded or lost, so different English actors did the dubbing for those scenes at a different time. Overall: It's worth watching, no matter what. Bruce Lee might be gone, but his spirit lives on through his movies for eternity.