Bruce Lee’s iconic and last film, Enter the Dragon, has been released for its 50th anniversary. It is a blast of Bruce Lee’s charisma, fighting ability, a spy movie, and a great cast! I realized something watching the theatrical release, a must, it is playing again August 16th so don’t miss it. It also currently streams on Max. I found out that my memory of it was only seeing the end of the movie on television! So it is great to see it on screen, the picture is crisp with the restoration, and unedited. It is directed by Robert Clouse who also directed Game of Death (1978). He was hired by Warner Bros. and Golden Harvest, the film company based in Hong Kong. The story is by Bruce Lee and Michael Allin, who later wrote the sci fi campy movie, Flash Gordon (1980). The film opens with a shot of a Chinese house, a pan across flowers to groups of men dressed in yellow, red, blue, and black robes.
In the center are two fighters, black shorts, boots, and boxing gloves, Lee (Bruce Lee) and his opponent, credited as Shaolin Fighter (Sammo Hung). Also a martial arts legend, Hung starred in his own films, Big Brother to Jackie Chan in the Hong Kong New Wave. He starred in the series, Martial Law, for CBS. A British agent, Braithwaite (Geoffrey Weeks) walks over to see the match. The Shaolin Abbott (Roy Chiao), bearded in orange robes, acknowledges the match. Chiao starred in Game of Death and played Lao Che in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). They bow and then the match begins with closeup of Lee in fighting stance. A quick movement of boots. Lee strikes, hits his opponent’s boot, and then flips him. I think the only part dated is the sound effects of hits and falls. There was no sound recording during the film, sound was added later in post. More quick strikes.
The fighter flips backwards, but is defeated by Lee tapping out when he is twisted backwards! The match is over and Lee smiles towards the men in black robes who raise up their hands. Lee flips over their arms! A great introduction to Lee with martial arts and the character. The fight sequences are choreographed by Bruce Lee. Later, Lee is in his black gi, and meets Braithwaite for tea. The agent mentions a tournament that has given an invitation to Lee. He mentions that it is held by Mr. Han. Then, Lee goes to meet with a pupil, Lao (Wei Tung) whom he asks to kick him. Then, he asks his young charge to strike without anger. Lee approves of his next attempt, but asks the pupil what he thinks and wants him to feel. His lessons are interesting to see Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do philosophy here. Ability to fight is useless without understanding. His student then leaves.
The funky score by Lalo Schifrin kicks in as we see Hong Kong. An airplane passes overhead and then we see exiting a plane, the well dressed Williams (Jim Kelly), putting on his sunglasses. A breakout role for Kelly, the next year, he starred in Black Belt Jones (1974) directed by Clouse. Williams walks through the streets and markets. Roper (John Saxon) sits on a ricksaw with his luggage taken on several other ricksaws. Saxon has an impressive filmography and also starred in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). At an office, Braithwaite is showing Lee in his suit, a black and white film of Han (Shih Kien), a former Shaolin monk. Kien is known as a villain in martial arts movies, but starred as a poice chief in the Jackie Chan film, The Young Master (1980). His voice here is dubbed by Keye Luke. A great Bond villain with a hand that can attach weapons with spikes!
Then, his bodyguard, O’Hara (Bob Wall) is seen with a scar on his face. Wall also appeared in The Way of the Dragon (1972). Next, we see O’Hara’s prowess shattering fiery bricks. Lee is shown the island fortress of Han where he has his tournment held every three years. The body of a stewardess, Mary King, is dragged out of the harbor. Braithwaite explains that women are hooked on drugs by Han and then sent to “clientele around the world”! This part of Han’s villainy is too much, but the freeing of the women is not too much a priority in the movie. Braithwaite can’t prove Han’s crimes and wants Lee to be their agent. Lee brings up guns, but Braithwaite notes that Han prevents guns on the island, scared of assassination. A good story point why the action is all martial arts.
Braithwaite then brings up an operative that they placed on the island two months ago, Mei Ling (Betty Chung). To quote Leslie Knope from Park and Recreation, “The female parts are a little underwritten.” Lee is taken by a boat tin Abderdeen Harbor to a ship. Flashback, he is told by Old Man (Li-Jen Ho) about the last tournament, when Han’s men were in the city. He was there with Lee’s sister, Su Lin (Angela Mao), running into O’Hara while the others leer at her. Mao starred in Lady Whirlwind (1972) and just one of the finest martial arts actresses. She slaps off his hand and then has to fight her way from a number of the thugs. Old Man slashes O’Hara’s face with his knife. Su Lin fights her way through the city, bruised, but finds herself trapped in a building.
She takes a shard of glass in kills herself! Bruce Lee’s tearful face is powerful as is his solemnity at the graves of his sister and mothers. He says to his mother that he is going to do something that is against his mother’s teachings. Next, we get the boat of Roper filled with his suitcases, he thinks back to making a wager on his golfing game. Roper hits his ball into the woods, we see a closeup of a gloved hand, when he is confronted by several goons. He is told that he owes $175. Roper quickly kicks them unconscious and then arranges his flight to Hong Kong with his Secretary (Marlene Clark). Nice action in the James Bond style. Williams flashes back to his Kenpo Karate dojo so we get a sense of his karate background. He walks to an alley, but is stopped by two police officers.
Enter the Dragon script with notes and illustration by Bruce Lee, Academy Museum, 2022, author’s photo.
He is searched by them, but uses his karate skills and knocks them out! This is incredibly satsifying to see the turn around, plus Williams drives away in the police car that he smashes into garbage cans! Roper greets Williams who hasn’t seen each other in six years from their time in Vietnam. They see another tournament fighter, Parsons (Peter Archer) from New Zealand. They don’t recognize Lee and know much about Han. Williams points out the people at the harbor and notes, “ghettos are the same all over the world.” I like the social commentary that is in this scene and with the police. The ship heads out to sea. Two preying mantises are set to fight each other and Roper bets $50. Lee puts a $100 for the little one and wins! Parsons kicks a worker carrying a basket of oranges. He tries to threaten Lee who says his style is the “art of fighting without fighting.” Parsons wants to fight Lee who points out that they can fight on the island’s beach using the boat, but let’s it float out! The boat starts to be swamped and the bully is out of the tournament.
They approach the island which has the burly Bolo (Bolo Yeung) and Han’s assistant, Tania (Ahna Capri). Yeung, credited as Yang Sze, was later in the action movie, Bloodsport (1988). Capri was Tavia Sandor in the spy series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Tania has the interest of Roper. It struck me, a little Mr. Obvious here, that this movie’s plot is swiped by the video game adaptation, Mortal Kombat (1995) with a trio of fighters going to a tournament on a ship to an island with a tough bodyguard and a deadly villain. We see them walk to Han’s training grounds with an epic pullback and pan shot showing countless fighters practicing. Lee later infiltrates Han’s castle, disappointly his only secret gadget is a rope, wearing a black stealth suit. He doesn’t have a mask which reveals Bruce Lee’s face, but doesn’t make him anonymous as a ninja. This moves to the tournament with O’Hara and Bolo eventually ending with an iconic fight in Han’s room of mirrors. The spy part is very James Bond, six years after You Only Live Twice (1967), but turns into a great martial arts film! Enter the Dragon is a monumental Bruce Lee martial arts film that must be seen in theaters!
Five+ Nunchuks out of Five!
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