Enter the Dragon (1973)

"Enter The Dragon" of 1973 is not only essential for Bruce Lee fans, but a must-see for every lover of cult-cinema for a variety of reasons. While director Robert Clouse's stylish and violent Martial Arts extravaganza is not necessarily the greatest Bruce Lee flick, it is his most famous and most influential film, both due to the fact that it was his first American-produced film (and the first American-produced Martial Arts film ever), and, mainly, because it was the last film the Master appeared in before his untimely death. More precisely, "Enter The Dragon" had its world premiere only six days after the great Martial Arts icon had passed away on July 20th, 1973. The film's cult-status even excels its level of fame - the iconic picture of Bruce Lee with bleeding scratches on his chest must be one of the most widely known movie stills ever, and is immediately recognized even by people who have never seen the film and don't know its title. This film basically was the kick-off to the popularity of Martial Arts films in the Western World, but even apart from the fact how influential it was, this is a great film to watch. In its style, it somehow resembles funky and incomparably more violent Marial Arts version of the older James Bond films - sexy ladies and eccentric villains come along with stylish and ultra-violent unarmed battle on a beautiful remote island.

Kung Fu expert Lee (Bruce Lee) is applied to attend a tournament on a remote island owned by the mysterious Han (Kien Shih). Besides engaging in fights, Lee is to infiltrate the villainous Han's evil crime syndicate. But love of justice is not Lee's sole motivation to come to the island, as one of Han's henchmen is responsible for his sister's death... Lee is not the only kung fu-expert participating in the tournament, of course. Several other great fighters have arrived, most memorably the crafty Roper (played by none other than the great John Saxon) and the super-cool Williams (played by Jim Kelly, basically THE black Martial Artist, who went on to make another film with director Clouse, "Black Belt Jones" the following year). And then there are more familiar faces for Martial Arts fans, such as the monstrously-looking Bolo Yeung and the scar-faced Robert Wall. Angela Mao, Ahna Capri, and a bunch of other foxy ladies provide most welcome female eye-candy in-between the fights. The martial arts sequences are stylish, violent, and, in one word, amazing. Bruce Lee himself did the choreography of the fights - I don't suppose I need to say any more. All that is accompanied by a funky soundtrack and the typical awesome 70s feeling that my fellow fans of cult-cinema love so much. This is an absolute must-see for Martial Arts- and Cult-cinema fans, and I also highly recommend it to anybody else. I know the following statement is nothing new or original, but it sure is to the point: Bruce Lee was THE MAN, and always will be, and not an entire army of Jet Lis and Jackie Chans can ever replace him!

Fmovies: This martial arts classic sees Lee, a highly skilled fighter, asked by British Intelligence to investigate Han, a suspected crime boss who was trained in martial arts at the same Shaolin temple as Lee. Han has set up a base on a remote private island but once every three years he holds a martial arts competition which attracts the best from around the world. Apart from Lee the most notable other contestants are Americans Roper, who has gambling debts, and Williams, a karate expert who served with Roper in Vietnam. Once there Lee starts to investigate and it isn't long before it becomes apparent just how dangerous Han is.

In many ways this can be thought of as a martial arts James Bond film with Lee replacing Bond... the villain could certainly have come from a Bond film; not only does he live on a secretive private island but he spends several scenes stoking a white cat! The story is relatively simple but serves to deliver some great martial arts scenes. These fights are brilliantly choreographed but unlike many such films to fights still feel brutally real. They also feature a good array of weapons as well as many unarmed fights Bruce Lee is great as our protagonist; no martial arts actor is as intense as he was. The support is solid; John Saxon impresses as Roper and Jim Kelly brings a coolness to the role of Williams. These characters are given some decent motivations so are more than just characters who can fight well. Overall I'd recommend this film; it is a must see for fans of the genre.

Bruce Lee biggest international hit smash deals about Lee who's hired by British secret agency to cleans up the opium market . He goes to Hong Kong and after an offshore island .There rules a cruel Chinese(Kien) over a temple of Shaolin and an army of fighters(Bolo Yeung, Robert Wall, both are black-belt). Also arrive a cocky fighter(John Saxon) and an African-American Karate-man(Jim Kelly). Lee infiltrates violent tournament to investigate the strange events and disappearing are happening. Lee dispatches numerous thugs and hundreds of Karate experts before a violent slug-fest with Kien, a baddie in James Bond style.

This classic Chop-Socky displays action-packed, thrills,fast-paced and wild fighting images. Packs violent combats sequences including Karate, Judo, Tae Kwon do and Hapkido. Exciting final struggle with reminiscences to ¨Lady of Shangai¨ by Orson Welles, where is developed the action into a maze of mirrors. Lively and suspenseful musical score by Lalo Schifrin. Appear uncredited , almost extras, Sammo Hung as Shaolin fighter and Jackie Chan as a thug prison. This one was realized later but released before ¨Lee's Return of dragon¨ with Chuck Norris as contender, and previously had starred ¨Fists of Fury¨. This is his last complete movie character but his next film ¨ Game of death¨ was absurdly edited after his death. Wild fighting scenes provide a overwhelming view of Bruce lee's skills. This big-budgeted and first rate Kung-Fu actioner is well realized by Robert Clouse , an expert on Chop-Socky movies and he directed Bruce Lee's last film. Indispensable and essential seeing for Lee fans and Karate enthusiastic.

Enter the Dragon fmovies. What more can be said of the man whom millions consider one of the greatest action stars of all time. Enter the Dragon is the Citizen Kane and Bruce Lee is the Orson Welles of the martial arts film genre. This film marked the most successful merging of both Hong Kong and American cinema. From the opening scene to the final fight scene it was Bruce Lee at his best. His near perfect physique, leading man good looks and innate charisma transcended the derivative script and gave it a timeless quality. Having read the original draft of Enter the Dragon originally titled "Blood and Steel", The final film is a far cry from it. He turned major monologues into short but memorable phrases like "It is like a finger pointing away to the moon". Very few people then, and now could utter those words and be taken seriously. It was Bruce Lee not writer Michael Allin who gave the movie it's spiritual core and it was Bruce Lee not directed Robert Clouse who gave it its sense of cinematic style. Proof of this lies in the fact that both Allin and Clouse were never able to reproduce the quality or success of Enter the Dragon before or after Bruce Lee. Bruce borrowed heavily from Clint Eastwood's persona and gave it his own unique twist. After all these years, Enter the Dragon stands alone in the genre and stands as one of Hollywood's most profitable feature films.

Thirty years later I would like to say that I remember this film as one of the greatest films I have ever seen in my life. I do not know exactly why, but it is, maybe, because the music we listen on it has been always with me in the last 25 years or so. Bruce Lee was an icon, I also remember the Green Hornet TV show, and the extraordinary combination of sound and images in this film allow us to dream about to be a hero or something like that. I have seen the film many times and each one was almost different than the other one, this is one of those films in which you can notice different things every time you see it again, even if you are not an expert in martial arts as if it is the case about me. Thanks Bruce, where ever you are, for your incredible style.

Enter the Dragon (1973) was Bruce Lee's first (and only) solo big Hollywood production. Too bad he never got to see the fruits of his labor. He passed away during the film's post production (don't fret, two more official Bruce Lee films were made after this one. Despite all of the years of hard work and finally making it to the big times, he wasn't around long enough to enjoy it. Even though Robert Clouse is credited as director and another person is credited for writing the screenplay. This film has Bruce Lee's fingerprints all over it.

The movie is about a shady underworld crime lord (aren't they always) who controls most of the world's opium drug ring and a lot of other illegal dealings. British Intelligence is stumped, so they seek out someone who's slick, sly, stealth and who can kick a lot of butt and take care of himself. They find their man (Bruce Lee). After a great deal of convincing they get him to go to the island and participate in the crime lord's fighting tournament. Along the way, Bruce meets two American fighters (John Saxon and Jim Kelly) who are in the tournament for various reasons. Whilst on the island, Bruce does his nightly snooping around so he can find out more about the crime lord and his illegal activities. Will Bruce topple the organization? Can he make it out alive? Does Bruce really kick a whole lot of butt and take names? To find out you'll have to watch Enter The Dragon!!!!

Bruce Lee worked a great deal on this picture. He wrote most of the screenplay (uncredited), filmed all of the action scenes (uncredited) and directed several scenes (uncredited). Lam Ching-Ying, Angela Mao, Jackie Chan and Bolo Yeung appear in this film. If you haven't seen this film already then you're either a kid, lame or something is wrong with you.

Highly recommended.