Enter The Dragon (1973)

Enter The Dragon (1973)

6/10

Starring

Bruce Lee

John Saxon

Ahna Capri

Robert Wall

Directed by Robert Clouse

Enter the Dragon to me is a classic Kung Fu movie with all the fun attached. The comedy is well done, and the screenplay is good enough for you to enjoy. The fight scenes, though, weren’t as good as the ones I saw in Bruce Lee’s other film, Fist of Fury (1972), which was released a year earlier.

Regardless, the movie is a classic, mostly because it starred Kung Fu master Bruce Lee. Other than just being a straightforward "bunch of guys meet up for a tournament" movie, it had its side stories, which were well-crafted into the film so that they didn’t sidetrack you from what was happening on screen. There’s also a brief use of the nunchaku, Bruce Lee’s favorite weapon of choice.

Then there were the other characters in the movie that added to the fun. There was the macho tough guy Williams (Jim Kelly) and his comic friend Roper (John Saxon), who always seemed to be in some financial trouble.

Enter the Dragon was the first Chinese martial arts film to have been produced by a major Hollywood studio—Warner Bros. It’s epic for its fight scenes and its story. In the movie, Jackie Chan, who is now our modern-day Bruce Lee, played a henchman who got himself killed by Bruce Lee. The movie removes all the kills, as we get to see the men fall but don’t get to see them actually die.

The movie revolves around three martial artists. Lee (Bruce Lee) is recruited by an agency to investigate the tournament hosted by Han, who is believed to be dealing in opium. Roper and Williams are former army buddies. Roper is on the run from the Mafia due to his gambling debts, while Williams got away by beating up racist police officers and shows up at the tournament.

As far as acting goes, it was well done. Bruce kept his "I cannot be stained" look, and everyone else lived up to the characters they were portraying—except for Jim Kelly’s character. I felt he was a little too fake in his macho look to convince anyone.

If I’m to make a list of my top martial arts films, this one would come in fourth. Below is my list:

1. The Legend of Drunken Master (1994)
2. Five Deadly Venoms (1978)
3. Fist of Fury (1972)
4. Enter the Dragon (1973)

Regardless, they’re all classics and should be seen—even this movie. The side story, which in a way has a lot to do with the tournament, is one to enjoy.