Movie: Enter the Dragon
Year: 1973
Genre: Martial Arts/Action/Drama
Director: Robert Clouse
Stars: Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly

Snapshot of Story:

An undercover agent joins a martial arts tournament held by a crime lord who is thought to be producing opium for distribution to a worldwide market.

Movie Reviews and Ratings - Enter the Dragon

An undercover agent Lee played by Bruce Lee joins the notorious tournament held by Hans who is thought to be producing illegal opium drugs in an island just off Vietnam. In addition to Lee another two central characters Roper (John Saxon) and Williams (Jim Kelly) also join this tournament.

As they are whisked off to the island in boat and then helicopter one could see the many men of Hans in white suits practicing their karate. They are offered humble abodes for their stay and all the entertainment and pleasure they could dream off. When the host presents Williams with a bevy of beauties to choose from, he simply picks out an handful with a sly remark ‘Please don’t mind if I have left anyone out, but I am very tired today’.

On the first day of the tournament we see some comical events where Roper and Williams wage bets for some of the duels they are about to encounter. In one of the duels Williams takes a longer time than usual to finalize a deal with pundit and takes some beating before he is able to bring his opponent down. It clearly shows the supreme confidence and ability of the part of Williams and Roper in their fighting skills.

The star of the show as expected was Bruce Lee and his fighting was truly exemplary. In one scene he goes underground in the middle of the night and a guard is alerted. From heron some of best fighting scenes to have ever graced the screen is shown in full glory. Bruce Lee in his true form as one of the greatest on-screen martial artist of his time shows his stupendous skills in overpowering the many guardsmen.

In another memorable scene, when Lee encounters Oharra in one of the duels we see a flashback of how his sister had died in the hands of Oharra. The philosophy of Karate and Kung-Fu teaches one to be disciplined and to be free of vices and grudges and nowhere was this true as in this case. Lee overpowers Oharra in the sparring part of the fight with his lightning swift action and brings Oharra to the ground. When Lee turns away Oharra picks up two bottles from the crowd and breaks them ready to take on Lee again. This gives Lee the opportunity he was looking for and his entire rage and sadness from the death of his sister is focused in this one scene when he jumps up and breaks Oharra’s neck.

In the final scene Lee battles with Hans in the mirrored room where most people would go on to associate these scenes with this movie.

Final Thoughts:

Prior to ‘Enter the Dragon’ Bruce Lee made a number of movies in Hong Kong that brought him cult status and now with this Hollywood version brought Bruce Lee to world-wide fame. It was sad to see Bruce Lee die at an early stage in his life but he left a legacy that will be timeless and his style of fighting will continue on for many years to come.

Rating:
7.5/10

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