Enter the Dragon (1973) Warner Bros./Action RT: 102 minutes Rated R (martial arts violence, brief nudity, some language) Director: Robert Clouse Screenplay: Michael Allin Music: Lalo Schifrin Cinematography: Gilbert Hubbs Release date: August 19, 1973 (US) Cast: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Ahna Capri, Shih Kien, Bob Wall, Angela Mao Ying, Betty Chung, Geoffrey Weeks, Bolo Yeung (as Yang Sze), Peter Archer, Ho Lee Yan. Box Office: $100M (US, including multiple rereleases)
Rating: ****
Enter the Dragon is the Citizen Kane of martial arts movies. It’s inarguably the finest of its genre. It’s the one that introduced American audiences to Bruce Lee. It was also the first of its type to be produced by a major Hollywood studio (with Hong Kong company Golden Harvest co-producing). Unfortunately, Lee died about a month before the movie was released in the US which adds a small measure of pathos. You watch it knowing we’ll never get to see what could have been if Lee’s life wasn’t tragically cut short by a cerebral edema at 32. Thankfully, the incredible martial arts action keeps the sadness at bay.
Enter the Dragon is a great introduction to a beautiful part of Chinese culture, the Shaolin temple. It’s where Buddhist monks have practiced Shaolin Kung Fu for the past 1500 years. It’s where British intelligence goes to recruit Lee, playing a character named Lee, for a special mission. First, we get a display of his superior martial arts skills as he demonstrates fighting techniques for his students. Then we get into the plot. The agent, Braithwaite (Weeks), wants Lee to take part in a martial arts competition held every three years on a private island owned by Han (wuxia film vet Kien), a former Shaolin student turned crime lord. He wants Lee to get concrete evidence of his involvement in drugs and sex trafficking. The mission becomes personal when Lee finds out Han’s personal bodyguard Oharra (Wall, Way of the Dragon) is responsible for his sister’s death.
Lee’s competition in the tournament includes Roper (Saxon, A Nightmare on Elm Street), a compulsive gambler on the run from the Mob, and black militant Williams (Kelly, Black Belt Jones) on the lam after assaulting two racist cops. They’re greeted by their host at a banquet held to mark the start of the competition the next day. He gives them specific instructions not to leave their rooms at night and provides in-room entertainment- i.e. prostitutes- as an incentive. This is how Lee meets with his contact Mei Ling (Chung), an undercover operative placed on the island by Braithwaite. He sneaks out for a look-around and beats up several of Han’s guards, but not before locating the underground facility where the heroin is made. The guards’ failure to stop the intruder results in their beating deaths at the hands of a rather large fellow played by Bolo Yeung (Bloodsport).
WAIT A MINUTE?! Why am I so concerned with the plot? It’s a cool plot, but it’s not the movie’s main reason for being. That would be the fight scenes in which Lee gets to show his stuff. Enter the Dragon features some of the greatest martial arts action scenes ever committed to film. Highlights include Lee’s fight with Oharra and Lee single-handedly taking on an army of Han’s men in the underground facility. Oh, let’s not forget his climactic fight with Han in a hidden mirrored room. It’s GREAT!
While Robert Clouse (Gymkata) is credited as director, it’s plainly obvious that Lee had a huge hand in the production. He injected a lot of his personality and philosophy into it. Listen to his conversation with his master at the temple. Look at the scene where he tells a young student to put “emotional content” into his kicks. Watch him teach some jerk “the art of fighting without fighting”. This is all Bruce. He definitely directed the fight scenes himself. They’re exciting and exquisitely choreographed. It’s proof positive of his extraordinary abilities as a martial artist. He’s a pretty good actor too even if he’s basically playing himself here.
He’s not the only one in Enter the Dragon with game. Kelly, in his first major movie, is a true find. He has an early 70s funky quality typically associated with movies in the blaxploitation genre. He’s equal parts cool cat and bad ass. Surprisingly, Saxon proves to be more than adept at martial arts. Kien camps it up nicely as the villain. Han is a cross between Dr. No and Fu Manchu, an evil criminal mastermind with a prosthetic hand he replaces with claws and blades. He’s right out of a comic book which is perfect for a movie with fun on its mind. Ahna Capri (The Brotherhood of Satan) adds sex appeal as Han’s secretary Tania.
Enter the Dragon is the high-water mark for the martial arts genre. It has a lot of fighting. While there’s no significant bloodshed, you can hear bones breaking indicating the defeated guy won’t walk away from this beating. Enter the Dragon also features a jazzed-up score by Lalo Schifrin (Dirty Harry). It perfectly augments the tone of the movie. It’s a perfect vehicle for Bruce whose other films, Fists of Fury, The Chinese Connection and Way of the Dragon, were Chinese-made and dubbed into English for their US releases. Clouse (and Bruce) keep things moving a nice clip. What else can I say? It’s a GREAT movie! Like its star, Enter the Dragon has all the right moves.
