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The Way of the Dragon

Original title: Meng long guo jiang
  • 1972
  • R
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
43K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,997
1,284
Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris in The Way of the Dragon (1972)
Kung FuMartial ArtsOne-Person Army ActionActionAdventureComedyCrimeDramaThriller

A country bumpkin martial artist visits his relatives in Rome, Italy, where he must defend them and their restaurant against harassment from brutal gangsters.A country bumpkin martial artist visits his relatives in Rome, Italy, where he must defend them and their restaurant against harassment from brutal gangsters.A country bumpkin martial artist visits his relatives in Rome, Italy, where he must defend them and their restaurant against harassment from brutal gangsters.

  • Director
    • Bruce Lee
  • Writer
    • Bruce Lee
  • Stars
    • Bruce Lee
    • Chuck Norris
    • Nora Miao
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    43K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,997
    1,284
    • Director
      • Bruce Lee
    • Writer
      • Bruce Lee
    • Stars
      • Bruce Lee
      • Chuck Norris
      • Nora Miao
    • 162User reviews
    • 86Critic reviews
    • 58Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win total

    Photos146

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    Top cast37

    Edit
    Bruce Lee
    Bruce Lee
    • Tang Lung
    Chuck Norris
    Chuck Norris
    • Colt
    Nora Miao
    Nora Miao
    • Chen Ching Hua
    Ping-Ou Wei
    Ping-Ou Wei
    • Ho
    • (as Paul Wei Ping-Ao)
    Chung-Hsin Huang
    Chung-Hsin Huang
    • 'Uncle' Wang
    • (as Wang Chung Hsin)
    Robert Wall
    Robert Wall
    • Bob
    In-shik Hwang
    • Japanese Fighter
    • (as Ing-Sik Whang)
    Ti Chin
    Ti Chin
    • Ah Quen
    Tony Liu
    Tony Liu
    • Tony
    Little Unicorn
    Little Unicorn
    • Jimmy
    Malisa Longo
    Malisa Longo
    • Italian Beauty
    Ngan Wu
    • Waiter
    Fu Ching Chen
    Fu Ching Chen
    • Robert
    • (as Robert Chen)
    Jon T. Benn
    • The Big Boss
    John Kenny
    • Quen
    • (voice)
    Robert Baker
    • Thug
    • (uncredited)
    Riccardo Billi
    • Bank Manager
    • (uncredited)
    Russell Cawthorne
    • Man at Airport
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Bruce Lee
    • Writer
      • Bruce Lee
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews162

    7.242.9K
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    Featured reviews

    9scream25281

    Redefined the genre, and still does

    Although this is technically not Lees greatest film, it is a personal favourite since Lee was in full control and everything is pure Lee. Many have wrongly stated this film is bad, having not seen the originals where you can really appreciate the composition of the showdowns (visual director with potential - see the rare 'rocking chair' shot in Game of Death). The script is bad in a few places, particularly the humour, but this film was never inteneded for the west, but designed to appeal to his country men.

    Now, the film features the best array of fighting sequences ever commited to celluloid. Obviously influenced by Sergio Leones trilogy, tension is excellently built up before fight. The sequences are not overly choreographed or played in slow motion or 'lightly' then speeded up, but contain a raw, feral edge combined with breathless technique. The perfect marriage between art and realism.

    The fights with Wong Ing Sik and Bob Wall while short, are underrated even by Lee fans. Those who have been lucky enough to see the double nunchaku sequence in full, will have witnessed one of the best display of weaponary ever shown on the silver screen (along with the 'original' and 'complete' nunchaku footage from Game of Death and the wonderfully comprehensive display of martial arts in the underground Enter the Dragon sequence).

    And then theres THAT coliseum fight. Perhaps the start is abit overdone (But Lee wanted to put forward a point i.e. don't play to your oponents strength), but it is undoubtedly the best expression of the human body ever, whether fighting, dancing, running whatever. Those brought up on Latter day Chan stuff and in particular Jet Li fights, will not appreciate this piece, but those knowing anything about the fighting arts or good choreography will be shaken not just stirred.
    8Fella_shibby

    In this world of guns n knives, Tang Lung is respectd wherever he goes cos of his fist fights n nunchukas.

    I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs, then again in the early 2k on a dvd which I own.

    Revisited it recently.

    As a kid from the 80s n aft seeing this movie, i was in awe aft witnessing the nunchukas fight sequence.

    This one gets a bit repetitive cos of the same goons who keeps on getting thrashed by the character of Lee but they keep on coming back. One of the fat goon with a beard looks like poor man's Russell Crowe.

    The best n the most memorable is the treatment of the fight in the Colosseum with Chuck Norris with a cat as a spectator.

    In this one Lee plays Tang Lung, a kung fu expert who is sent from Hong Kong to Italy by his uncle to help family friends whose restaurant business is threatened by a mafia boss.

    This one showcases Lee's immense energy n amazing fighting skills, especially the way his feet moves.

    He mimicked Mohammad Ali's float like a butterfly style.

    Lee is allowed to have a sense of humor in this movie.

    This one aint gory like The Big Boss.

    Ping-Ou Wei (famous for playing the interpreter in this one n the Fist of Fury) acted very well. His body language is total effeminate, especially his limp wristed n running style is a big lol.

    Another best fight sequence is the one in the alley with the nunchukas.
    7tshodan

    Bruce Lee at his best

    Bruce Lee demonstrates why without ever being a tournament champion that he was one of the best martial artists of all times. His speed and technique easily out class the other real martial artisits this film presents. His fight with Chuck Norris in this film is legendary. Watching Chuck in his prime is intense, high speed and accuracy. What scares me is that Bruce is faster. And even though he is lacking size, its obvious that the little dragons power is intense. Yes the scenes in these movies may be choreographed, but it's hard to make duplicate the skills shown by these fighters with trick photography and ballet lessons.

    This is the first film Bruce took a major role in both on and off the set. He searched for quality martial artists for the fight scenes and was the one who reccomended Italy for this shoot.

    The film revolves around a restaurant in Italy run by Lee's uncle and his (assumably ) cousins. Local gangsters try to close the restaurant down and get a piece of the action. To avoid complications with the law, they try and man handle the resteraunt owner and workers and Lee comes to the rescue.
    7ma-cortes

    Martial arts expert Bruce Lee fights off mobsters and world champion Chuck Norris

    "Fury of the Dragon" or "Return of the Dragon" or ¨Way of the Dragon¨ is a classic Chop-Socky in which wild fighting scenes provide an overwhelming view of Bruce Lee's skills . A man named Tang Lung (Bruce Lee choreographed his own fight scenes) arrives in Rome to visit his relatives , he helps his cousins (Nora Miao who along with Lee played ¨Fists of Fury¨) in the restaurant business . However , they are being pressured to sell their property to the syndicate, who will stop at nothing to get what they want. There Tang has to defend them against brutal gangsters harassing them and attempting to take over . The syndicate boss hires the best foreign martial art fighters (Robert Wall who played some films with Lee) to face off Tang , but he easily finishes them off . The American martial artist Colt (Chuck Norris film debut) is also hired and takes place a deadly ending combat .

    This violent Chop-Socky displays action-packed , thrills , fast-paced and wild fighting images . It is a corny , action-filled and violent film , being entirely filmed in Rome , Italy . Breathtaking fights and embarrassing acting , the whole thing was shot without sound, with the actors looping their lines in post-production . Overwhelming final duel between Lee and Norris , in fact it was last movie to be filmed in the actual Roman Colisseum ; Bruce Lee had Chuck Norris put on weight so he would looks less impressive by comparison . This is a top-notch Kung-Fu movie with the unforgettable Bruce Lee , though he does not fight till almost 30 minutes into the movie . It was billed "Return of the Dragon" during its western release in order to cash in on the success of "Enter the Dragon" as its "sequel". Bruce Lee produced , directed and even wrote and also dubbed almost all of the English speaking characters in this film .

    Bruce Lee played and directed this Return of the Dragon , one of the biggest international hit smashes , it was previously realized to his American box office ¨Enter the dragon¨ that was made by an expert on Chop-Socky movies , Robert Clouse , and he directed Bruce Lee's last film : the incomplete ¨Game of the death¨ . This ¨Enter the Dragon¨ was made later but released before ¨Lee's Return of dragon¨ , and Lee had formerly starred ¨Fists of fury¨ or ¨The big boss¨. ¨Enter the Dragon¨ is his last complete movie character but his next film ¨ Game of death¨ was absurdly edited after his death . This Kung-Fu actioner titled ¨Return of Dragon¨ was well made by Bruce Lee himself . According to the Bruce Lee documentary, this is Linda Lee Cadwell's (Bruce's wife) favorite of all her husband's films. ¨Return of the Dragon¨ is indispensable and essential seeing for Lee fans and art-martial enthusiasts . It is not ¨Enter the Dragon¨ but his fans -who have so few to choose from- undoubtedly will want to see it again .
    JMFOX

    Way Of The Dragon Review And General Feelings On Bruce's Death

    The Way Of The Dragon had the potential to be Bruce's best film in my opinion but was bogged down by the dubbing and acting. But it still stands solid as one great Bruce Lee film and boasts the greatest fight scene ever in my opinion. Bruce plays Tang Lung who travels to Rome to help his family battle local gangsters who are trying to take over their resturaunt. Bruce almost plays a Charlie Chaplin type role here which would later be more fitting to Jackie Chan's slapstick style. Much like the Big Boss the first Bruce fight scene is way into the film but in my opinion this good because it creates a good build up, the nunchuka scene is second only to the one in Fist Of Fury or the uncut Game Of Death. The fight scene in the Roman Colliseum deserves the credit it gets because of one simple reason, its a simple fight, there are no gimmicks, sure its set in the colliseum and the fight is supposed to reflect two roman gladiators but there are no weapons and no sweet talk. It truly has epic scale. The thing that also makes this fight scene work is the end when Tang Lung out of respect covers Colt with his Karate jacket. There may have been better fights since on screen and I havn't seen many Hong Kong films with Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen etc but this is the first great one on one fight, therefore it set the standard.

    There will indeed never be another Bruce Lee. I find it fascinating to imagine what Bruce would have done if he had lived, the 80's and 90's would have been very different if Arnie, Stallone, Wiilis, Seagal and Van Damme had Bruce to compete with, Bruce is sometimes critcised for being a bad actor, but i disagree, if anyone has seen his episodes of `Longstreet' or `Marlowe' they will see that Bruce could convincingly carry a dramatic scene given the right script and no dubbing and he oozed charisma, and he showed glimpses of good acting in Enter The Dragon.

    Being a Bruce fan i kind of wish that Jet Li would do the films that bruce did or was planning on doing, Jet's early work in Honk Kong like the Shaolin Temple or more recent stuff like Fist Of Legend(remake of Fist Of Fury) and Once Upon A Time In China was very promising and it seemed he was the successor to Bruce but instead now he's doing crap in Hollywood with DMX and Jason Statham. Strangely the mediocre Lethal Weapon 4 is Jet's best Hollywood film, Maybe Jet should do a project with John Woo, it would be interesting and they'd probably get the best out of each other.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The entire film was shot without sound, with the actors looping their lines in post-production.
    • Goofs
      At the beginning of the movie, Bruce Lee is eating several different types of soups and several times he takes a spoonful of an orange colored soup and as he puts it into his mouth some dribbles on his chin. The soup he dribbles on his chin is white.
    • Quotes

      Tang Lung: Move number 4: "Little dragon seeks the path." Hi-yah!

      [Tang kicks, knocking a thug unconscious]

      Tang Lung: "Big dragon whips its tail!"

    • Alternate versions
      All above mentioned cuts to the original US release were restored to the new 2005 DVD release. Plus an additional scene of Lee being made fun of by the gang for saying "excuse me" to one of the crooks after bumping into him.
    • Connections
      Edited into Game of Death (1978)
    • Soundtracks
      As A Judgement
      (Colt's Theme)

      by Ennio Morricone

    Top picks

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    FAQ19

    • How long is The Way of the Dragon?Powered by Alexa
    • Why the ironic music when Tang Lung presents the wad of banknotes to the bank manager?
    • What are the differences between the old British VHS and the Uncensored Version? How about the US Version?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 1973 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Hong Kong
    • Official site
      • Miramax [United States]
    • Languages
      • Mandarin
      • Cantonese
      • English
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • El dragón
    • Filming locations
      • The Colosseum, Rome, Lazio, Italy
    • Production companies
      • Golden Harvest Films
      • Concord Productions
      • Golden Harvest Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $130,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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