In the first half of the 70’s, the martial arts film phenomenon exploded across movie screens everywhere. Young men would flock to the cinema to watch these brutal action films. Bruce Lee was the glorified iconic figure of this genre. His last complete film, before his death, is widely considered the greatest martial arts movie ever made. “Enter the Dragon” is that movie and it is Lee’s only Hollywood produced movie. Being the greatest martial arts film ever made does not necessarily make it a great movie. It is, however, a movie that stands the test of time and one of the most influential action movies in the history of cinema.
As cinematic art, the movie is not very memorable, and its dramatic elements are sometimes painful to watch. The beauty of the movie is that it is 70% action, loaded with fighting scenes that are breathtaking to behold. Mixing elements of kung fu films, James Bond superspy films and the newly formed blaxploitation cinema.
Lee, who’s name in the movie is also Lee, is hired by the British secret service to uncover the criminal operation of the evil Han, who runs a drugs and white slavery operation out of his secretive private island off the coast of Hong Kong. Lee has additional motives, as Han is a former protegee from Lee’s Shaolin Temple who disgraced the temple and it’s masters with his criminal actions. In addition, Han’s personal bodyguard, O’Hara (Bob Wall), was personally responsible for the death of Lee’s sister. Once a year, Han hosts on his island a high-profile martial arts fighting tournament that he uses to enlist fighters to work for him. His Island has a strictly martial arts philosophical setting, so that all firearms are off limits within the Island. Also invited to the tournament is the indebted gambler Roper (John Saxon), and the black militant Williams (Jim Kelly in his screen debut). Both arrive to the tournament to win prize money. Both are also expert martial artists. Having an oriental actor lead as the main hero, with then a white and black actor supporting, was revolutionary back in the 70’s, as each of these actors is given a spotlighted fight within the movie. It is Lee, however, once he starts attacking his enemies that steals the show and is the sole reason to watch the movie. While all the fighting scenes are well done, it is Lee’s choreographed fights that are nothing short of spectacular.
As a standard movie, “Enter the Dragon” is an ordinary movie in terms of plot and cinematography. There is nothing very special or original in its plot as it borrows freely from numerous Kong Fu movies that came out of China previously, as well as taking elements from western spy movies made popular by the James Bond series in the 60’s. The combination of these east and west pop culture symbols is what makes the movie stand out.
Made on a small budget, the movie’s lack of high production values is pretty clear. The producers used the Hong Kong method of shooting the movies in silence, while only dubbing in all the dialogue and sound effects during post-production, which gives the movie a somewhat cheap feel. While everyone was speaking in English when mouthing their lines, in many cases the speaking actor was not the actual voice of the actor in the final product. I felt like I| was watching a dubbed Chinese movie, except for the fact that everyone’s lips moved in sync with the dialogue.
Lee made sure when casting the movie that all his main actors were proficient in some sort of martial art, which makes all the fights extremely realistic. Saxon and Kelly were both master black belts and their battles were all fun to watch. However, no fight in this movie comes close to the spectacle of Lee and his countless attacks and counter attacks. From O’Hara’s revenge fight to the climatic battle with Han that includes a hall of mirrors fight stolen right from Orson Wells himself. To be fair, this set up was also used in the James Bond film “The Man with the Golden Gun”. The movie borrows a lot from Bond, such as the evil Han and his removable steel hand that can be replaced by a claw. The mirror scene is great fun as Lee breaks all the illusionary mirrors in order to get to the real Han. For fans of Lee, this is the movie to see. It has it all here. A high foot kick, the Nunchaku speed of light dazzle as well as lightening quick use of sticks and swords. This movie boasts for my money the best martial arts fights put on celluloid. Once Lee gets going, I forgot all about the cheesy lines, cheap production and silly script. I was all in and riveted to my seat.
Bruce Lee is a superhero ICON who will live forever on the pillar of martial arts. If you ever wanted to know what the fuss is all about, see, “Enter the Dragon”.
1001 Movies before you die 