I feel sorry for Kung Fu fans that don’t have an appreciation for Bruce Lee films. I’ve heard a lot of complaints from guys whose introduction to Martial Arts films had Keanu Reeves in the lead, and they can’t understand my fascination with watching Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris go head to head at the end of Return of the Dragon. Honestly, I pity them for not being able to enjoy the experience of watching a real master, like Lee.
There was simply no one like Bruce Lee. He wasn’t just an actor, learning a routine to make him look good on film. Bruce was the real deal. He invented his own style in Jeet Kun-Do and became a superstar on the Martial Arts circuit, garnering fame by challenging traditions and taking on Hollywood students like Steve McQueen and James Coburn. Bruce didn’t need wires or quick edits. Lee had skill, grace, and charisma that still haven’t been matched in the genre.
Yet Bruce had to face doors he couldn’t kick his way through in the movie studios of Hollywood. Executives were convinced America was not ready for a leading man from Asia. A season of The Green Hornet showed much promise as Lee started to garner a cult following, but really nothing came of it. Even after helping to develop the Kung Fu Television series, he lost the lead to David Carradine.
Bruce finally became a star by going to Hong Kong, where movie studio Golden Harvest agreed to allow Bruce to have a supporting role in The Big Boss (AKA: Fists of Fury). Bruce was so amazing that his side role was substantially beefed up, and Lee became the star of the picture. The movie became a smash across Asia.
Lee’s follow-up, Fist of Fury (AKA: The Chinese Connection) solidified his position as an international star. The movie fully showcased Lee’s ability on screen as well as his amazing presence. With stunning choreography and impact, Lee made a standard revenge film into what is considered today one of the greatest Martial Arts films ever made.
American Director Robert Clouse also saw the potential for a vehicle starring for Lee. He took copies of Lee’s breakout films to the executives at Warner Brothers, and eventually a deal was made for a co-production with Hong Kong studio Golden Harvest. Lee would star, but would have an American ensemble behind him. The result would be the Bruce Lee film with the highest production values and majesty, and while it does feel saddled with having to have American stars, it helped to make the legend of Bruce Lee that much greater.
Enter the Dragon Starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Kien Shih, and Jim Kelly. Directed by Robert Clause
There is one reason to watch Enter the Dragon. His name is Bruce Lee. In what would be many people’s introduction to the star, Lee relishes the moment, putting together his most charismatic role. In an exhibition with future Hong Kong star Sammo Hung, Lee is magnificent. His body is like a coiled cobra, able to strike in split seconds, which he does with deadly efficiency. The man was a spectacle in and of himself, without an ounce of fat on him, but not muscular to the point of being gratuitous.
It’s crazy to think that this man, who was virtually the entire reason the movie was being made and had already displayed so much confidence and grace, would be a nervous wreck inside. Director Robert Clouse has gone on record stating that Lee was full of jitters about his acting skills. This was Lee’s big chance at breaking out in America, in America’s first big screen Martial Arts film. Failure here would mean starting back at square one.
He shouldn’t have been scared at all. From start to unbelievable finish, Bruce is iconic in his awesomeness. Starring as the aptly named Mr. Lee, the Jeet Kune Do founder is a martial artist contacted by the British government to infiltrate an underground Martial Arts tournament. The tournament is run by Mr. Han, a role played with evil vigor by Hong Kong veteran Kien Shih. Han is a rogue former member of Lee’s own Shaolin Temple, who has become the emperor on his own private island. He has done so by running his tournament and using it to create a network of agents to help him build himself up as an international heroin kingpin. Lee must enter the tournament and either expose or terminate Han in the process.
Now I know the plot is basically a retread of most Bond films, but honestly I love how familiar this makes the film. With being the first ever major release of a Kung Fu movie in the United States, this plot made the film exceptionally accessible for those who had never experienced a film like it before. Actually it is the blending of genres that helps makes this film as exceptional as it is.
Just as Kill Bill combined the genres of Martial Arts, Spaghetti Westerns, Samurai films, Yakuza flicks, and the Revenge film, its predecessor Enter the Dragon does much the same thing. Already combining Spy and Martial Arts films, Clouse’s film ups the ante by adding Blaxploitation to its repertoire as well. From the audience’s first glimpses of him, you can tell Jim Kelly’s Williams is a character who would fit right in with Pam Grier’s Coffy or Richard Roundtree’s Shaft.
A flashback shows that on his way to the tournament, he’s accosted by police officers. Dispatching one and throwing the other through a wall, Williams is apparently no slouch when it comes to combat, which he shows again when he reaches the island. While I’ve heard other critics complain about the film not focusing on Lee more, Kelly adds so much cool to this flick that it’s hard to complain. Kelly is given some awesome lines throughout the film, as I love his apology to a group of ladies after choosing only four to sleep with him, and his theory on losing and how he’ll be “too busy looking good” is classic stuff.
I suppose if there is a reason to complain, it’d be about John Saxon’s Roper. While Lee and Kelly look legitimately imposing as martial artists throughout this movie, it can’t be said that Saxon looks as impressive. While the camera pans back to watch the grace of Bruce Lee on screen, Saxon’s action sequences use very close-up shots to try and hide his inadequacies.
Fortunately, the role of Roper does do a lot for Saxon’s sensibilities, even with his shortcomings at Kung Fu. Roper’s a gambling junkie, who’s in deep to the mob and has to win the tournament in order to break even. This guy lives to gamble, even losing money on a fight between two praying mantises on the boat ride to Han’s island. Roper purposely gets creamed throughout one match-up during the tournament to get the odds up on his opponent when he finally starts doing some creaming of his own and turns a profit.
I love the duo of Williams and Roper together, scheming poor saps out of their money while they kick their way through the tournament. You really get the sense with Roper that he may actually be happier amongst the scum of Han’s world, but there is also a point where he won’t go. It comes down to a choice for Roper to turn to darkness or fight his way back to the light.
So already this film is your standard Martial Arts/Spy/Blaxploitation/Gambling movie with a slight touch of a Mafia film, but what brings Enter the Dragon home and makes it personal, is the Revenge flick element thrown in for measure. In a flashback, we’re shown Lee’s sister (the awesome Angela Mao) is killed in a horrible encounter with a group of Han’s henchmen, led by Robert Wall’s Oharra. The urgency given to the film because of this plot point is immeasurable. When Oharra and Lee face off, it becomes a knock-down drag-out fight with Lee fending off broken bottles before finally putting Oharra away.
Lee’s final showdown with Han in the hall of mirrors is maybe the most famous Martial Arts sequence ever captured on film. This is a gorgeous scene, employing thousands of mirrors that must have taken hours of arduous set up and editing to keep from spoiling the grand illusion. Seeing the film crew would have terribly hampered this sequence, which is filled with intensity.
Really, this whole film comes back to Lee. Even with all of the bells and whistles that a big production can bring, nothing beats watching Lee in all his widescreen glory. Also, I’ll note that this film is in the top 5 of all movies that must be experienced in widescreen. I was frustrated for the longest time watching this film in Fullscreen, as you miss you so much of what Bruce is doing. Often the pan and scan isn’t fast enough to catch all that Lee is doing, making it look as if he is kicking no one as his legs go off screen.
Back to Lee though, this is one of the best showcases for an individual’s physical talent ever created. What I love about the great Martial Arts film stars, is that more than any other Action genre, they blur the line between the actor’s screen persona and the actual person because often we know that they possessed a lot of skill before they appeared on screen. With stars like Jet Li and Chuck Norris, there’s a blending of reality and fiction as to whether they’re actually as deadly as they are on screen.
This was never as true as it was for Bruce Lee. Stories abound of Lee having to face constant challenges from extras, wanting to knock off the superstar. In the documentary Curse of the Dragon, Director Robert Clouse likened Lee to an Old West gunfighter, constantly being forced to duel. One story even has Lee knocking out all the teeth of an extra who tried to fight Lee on set. Rival movie studios would offer movie contracts to anyone who could defeat Lee on the street. After an accident that led to Lee being cut by a broken bottle, there was even a rumor of tension between costars Lee and Robert Wall, and that Lee may have even wanted the man dead, though Wall denies it.
Watching Lee in this film, I wouldn’t envy any of his competitors. There’s a moment in this film where a man asks why Lee has not attended the morning ritual in uniform, and the look Bruce gives him would probably be enough to stop a Mack truck. There is a kick thrown into a dummy during the final fight with Han that is maybe the most impressive physical offense I’ve ever seen on film. The impact appears as if it would have crushed a building. Taking a kick like that from the man would have probably made every bone in your body explode on impact.
Then, on the verge of international superstardom, Bruce Lee died weeks before Enter the Dragon was to premiere. Who knows how high the man’s legend would have grown if he had been around to see the amazing box office numbers Enter the Dragon ended up doing. Then again, there’s a mystique around the film, similar to the one associated with son Brandon Lee’s death and The Crow. What we see is a film that is the ultimate testament to Bruce Lee’s greatness on screen, as he hovers high above every other actor paired with him. Without a doubt, this is the best Martial Arts film ever produced by an American studio, and it is all due to a man that most executives didn’t even think could make it on Television.
Picture Credits: razyboard.com, www.bruceleecentral.com, impawards.com
