Second Hand Movies Done Dirt Cheap: Enter the Dragon (1973, Dir Robert Clouse, 1h 42m)
Don't think! FEEL. It is like a finger pointing a way to the moon...Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.
There are countless actors that one could consider famous, and of these, a smaller group you could call icons. And then there are the legends of cinema, actors and actresses that changed the landscape of cinema beneath their feet. It is undeniable that Bruce Lee is a legend, and it is similarly undeniable that Enter the Dragon, Lee's fourth film, released a month after Lee's untimely death at the age of just 32, sealed this legend forever.
In its tale of three martial artists, shaolin monk, Lee (Bruce Lee), compulsive gambler Roper (John Saxon), and Vietnam veteran and Blaxploitaton coded badass Williams, and their involvement in a martial arts tournament run by the villainous Han (a notorious crimelord whose henchmen also killed Lee's sister), so Enter the Dragon not only stands, nearly fifty year on as one of the greatest martial arts films ever made.
In its tale of three martial artists, shaolin monk, Lee (Bruce Lee), compulsive gambler Roper (John Saxon), and Vietnam veteran and Blaxploitaton coded badass Williams, and their involvement in a martial arts tournament run by the villainous Han (a notorious crimelord whose henchmen also killed Lee's sister), so Enter the Dragon not only stands, nearly fifty year on as one of the greatest martial arts films ever made.
But it is more than this; not only does it mark the mainstream breakthrough for martial arts cinema into the west (taking an astonishing $580 million in its forty-six year history), not only as a remarkable, and extremely influential product and influence upon multiple cultures, from hip-hop to popularising Chinese culture and martial arts itself, but it marks the final, career-defining performance of one of the greatest action actors ever, at the very height of his powers.
To understand Lee in the context of his final film, his only English speaking film role, and indeed his only western produced film, one needs to understand Lee the man. Born in San Fransisco to Hong Kong Cantonese parents with a background in Cantonese opera, who returned to Hong Kong shortly after his birth, Lee soon found himself in the acting business from a young age, in over a dozen Chinese made films,and, following a number of fights as a child, learning martial arts, most notably the Wing Chun style from famous martial artist, Ip Man.
After more fights, the last of which was against a suspected organised criminal, Lee's parents sent him to the United States, where, during his studies of both philosophy and drama, he met his wife, during which he had already begun to teach Jun Fan Gung Fu (or, quite literally, Bruce Lee's Kung Fu), Lee's own take on the teachings of Wing Chun, followed by the opening of two schools.
After more fights, the last of which was against a suspected organised criminal, Lee's parents sent him to the United States, where, during his studies of both philosophy and drama, he met his wife, during which he had already begun to teach Jun Fan Gung Fu (or, quite literally, Bruce Lee's Kung Fu), Lee's own take on the teachings of Wing Chun, followed by the opening of two schools.
By this time, Lee was already beginning to attend martial arts tournaments in the United States, exhibiting his style, the infamous "One inch punch", and an equally infamous street fight regaridng Lee's teaching of Chinese martial arts to white people, with Wong Jack Man, during which his style further evolved, partly because Lee believed the latter fight had lasted too long, to Jeet Kune Do, a style that Lee, when asked in Enter the Dragon, describes simply as "My style?...You can call it the art of fighting without fighting". One of Lee's martial arts showcases on Long Beach, California, caught the attention of American TV producer, William Dozier, and approached Lee regarding a TV pilot.
Though the pilot never aired, Lee would later go on to play a supporting role in The Green Hornet, and cameo in Dozier's other major show, Batman. Following this was additional TV performances, yet, despite Lee's training of several major Hollywood talents, including actor James Coburn, and (as Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time In Hollywood recounts, albeit with a severe slight to Lee), Roman Polanski and his wife, Sharon Tate, he failed to make larger appearances in American made films, the most notable of these being Kung Fu, where the heavily accented Hong Kong actor was passed over in favour of David Carradine. However, The Green Hornet had been an unexpected success in Hong Kong, where it was dubbed "The Kato show", and so, signing a two film contract with Golden Harvest, Lee made The Big Boss, a massive success across Asia, and Fists of Fury, which promptly broke the previous film's records.
Following this, Lee directed, produced and starred in Way of the Dragon, in many ways a precursor to Enter the Dragon, albeit it with a more comedic angle; there are fights between Lee and a multi-national group of martial artists, concluding in grand style with a fight at the colloseum between Lee and Chuck Norris, whom Lee had befriended in 1964, a mob boss is involved, and Lee's role as choreographer lends each and every fight a gravitas of its own. Most crucial, however, is its release outside Asia-where it continued the momentum of martial arts movies, and set the scene for Lee's masterpiece.
Thus we come to Enter the Dragon itself, a return to American cinema for Lee, with three major martial arts films under his belt, each one capitalising and refining on the last, and indeed, in its surprisingly slim running time, the film is either fighting or character development for most of its running time. There is, as with the broad brushstrokes of plot-Lee as the heroic martial artist, regaining the honour of his school whilst gaining revenge for the death of his sister, Roper's gambler slowly redeemed by his actions to help Lee, and Williams' eventually tragic character arc as the cocky righteous blaxploitation hero in the wrong film, an efficiency to Enter the Dragon.
Though the pilot never aired, Lee would later go on to play a supporting role in The Green Hornet, and cameo in Dozier's other major show, Batman. Following this was additional TV performances, yet, despite Lee's training of several major Hollywood talents, including actor James Coburn, and (as Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time In Hollywood recounts, albeit with a severe slight to Lee), Roman Polanski and his wife, Sharon Tate, he failed to make larger appearances in American made films, the most notable of these being Kung Fu, where the heavily accented Hong Kong actor was passed over in favour of David Carradine. However, The Green Hornet had been an unexpected success in Hong Kong, where it was dubbed "The Kato show", and so, signing a two film contract with Golden Harvest, Lee made The Big Boss, a massive success across Asia, and Fists of Fury, which promptly broke the previous film's records.
Following this, Lee directed, produced and starred in Way of the Dragon, in many ways a precursor to Enter the Dragon, albeit it with a more comedic angle; there are fights between Lee and a multi-national group of martial artists, concluding in grand style with a fight at the colloseum between Lee and Chuck Norris, whom Lee had befriended in 1964, a mob boss is involved, and Lee's role as choreographer lends each and every fight a gravitas of its own. Most crucial, however, is its release outside Asia-where it continued the momentum of martial arts movies, and set the scene for Lee's masterpiece.
Thus we come to Enter the Dragon itself, a return to American cinema for Lee, with three major martial arts films under his belt, each one capitalising and refining on the last, and indeed, in its surprisingly slim running time, the film is either fighting or character development for most of its running time. There is, as with the broad brushstrokes of plot-Lee as the heroic martial artist, regaining the honour of his school whilst gaining revenge for the death of his sister, Roper's gambler slowly redeemed by his actions to help Lee, and Williams' eventually tragic character arc as the cocky righteous blaxploitation hero in the wrong film, an efficiency to Enter the Dragon.
Nowhere is this seen better than in Lee himself. Throughout the film, from his fight against a fellow monk in which his fighting style, and indeed his philosophy where "I do not hit. It hits all by itself" are unveiled in one of the great character introductions of action cinema, to the mirror-room finale against Han himself, there is an unstoppable sense, a inevitability to Lee as a character. The opening five minutes of Enter the Dragon tell you everything you need to know about Lee, both the man and the character, from his playful banter with a student, to his philosophy of combat which neatly juxtaposes the more materialistic figures of Roper and Williams, to his measured and thoughtful responses to his master's despair at Han's actions, to his astonishing skill as a martial artist.
Williams' introduction, meanwhile, over the opening credits, featuring Lalo Schifrin's effortlessly cool funk-rock soundtrack, is every bit as slickly cool, leaning heavily upon the Blaxpolitation genre-heck, the introduction is, in essence a Hong-Kong set version of the opening to 1971's Shaft, and tells you as much about Williams as Lee's introduction does about him. However, for all the exploitation half-and it is somewhat jarring to suddenly have surprising amounts of nudity throughout several scenes with Williams-he is the character who feels most at odds with Lee's monastic warrior, and his downfall, despite his excellent fight with Han, seems somewhat inevitable.
Roper, of the three, seems to have the greatest narrative arc, beginning with his introduction on a golf course, where he merrily beats the snot out of the three mafia men who arrive on the golfcourse to retrieve the huge amount of money he owes them, through his cocky gambling once he arrives on Han's island, running a scam with Williams through gambling, and his considerable martial arts abilities, to the attempts of Han to make him join his organisation, including an almost Bond-esque tour of his evil lair, to his eventual redemption and assistance of Lee at the end of the film, though with a bitter note.
Against them is not only Han, ably played by Shih Kien as a perfect villain, a smooth, and enjoyably nasty villain preying on the vices of others, and using the tournament as a front to recruit new henchment, who is utterly apologetic in his viciousness, dispatching of his henchmen after they failed him, using his daughters as his bodyguards. He also unravels in classic Shakespearean fashion, his kingdom laid bare, becoming a wretched and dangerous man and beneath this, a vicious and dangerous martial artists. His fight with Lee at the denouement of the film, among mirrored walls, leads to some simple but iconic moments, with the two men, now bruised and battered from the encounter, facing off against countless mirror images of themselves until, in a perfect reflection of Lee's mentor's teachings, Lee defeats Han.
There are also Han's bodyguards, one of whom is defeated, in bruising and violent fashion by Lee in revenge for her sister, the one moment we see the stoic martial artist's mask slip, and is the darkest moment in the film alongside Lee's sister's death, to indicate where the darkness in Han may well have come from. Indeed all the one-on-one martial arts fights have an enjoyably crunching realism to them, as expected from Lee's choreography of action scene, whilst the pitched mass martial arts bouts are excellently shot, the camera panning through them as arms, fists and legs spin and jab through shot.
And it is this bruising, perfectly shot viscerally, this masterpiece of choreographed violence, in which Lee is less a man but a human weapon, unstoppable on his trajectory to defeat Han, that makes him truly iconic, dangerous, and a catalyst for the popularisation of martial arts movies in America and beyond. The final shot of Enter the Dragon, begin with Roper injured and dejected, in the wreckage of the aftermath of the final fight, his love interest dead, cuts to Lee, injured, but triumphant, the edge of a smile on his face, giving Roper a thumbs up. And then he is gone.
Though Lee never saw this film on the cinema screen, dying a month before its general release, he lives forever, effortless and unstoppable forever, as only the best films can resurrect, even for a couple of hours, legends of old. Nearly 50 years old, despite advancements in stuntwork, action choreography, and even in martial prowess, nothing comes close to the bottled lightning, the "heavenly glory" of Bruce Lee, and martial arts cinema, at the height of their collective powers
Rating: Personal Recommendation: Must See
Williams' introduction, meanwhile, over the opening credits, featuring Lalo Schifrin's effortlessly cool funk-rock soundtrack, is every bit as slickly cool, leaning heavily upon the Blaxpolitation genre-heck, the introduction is, in essence a Hong-Kong set version of the opening to 1971's Shaft, and tells you as much about Williams as Lee's introduction does about him. However, for all the exploitation half-and it is somewhat jarring to suddenly have surprising amounts of nudity throughout several scenes with Williams-he is the character who feels most at odds with Lee's monastic warrior, and his downfall, despite his excellent fight with Han, seems somewhat inevitable.
Roper, of the three, seems to have the greatest narrative arc, beginning with his introduction on a golf course, where he merrily beats the snot out of the three mafia men who arrive on the golfcourse to retrieve the huge amount of money he owes them, through his cocky gambling once he arrives on Han's island, running a scam with Williams through gambling, and his considerable martial arts abilities, to the attempts of Han to make him join his organisation, including an almost Bond-esque tour of his evil lair, to his eventual redemption and assistance of Lee at the end of the film, though with a bitter note.
Against them is not only Han, ably played by Shih Kien as a perfect villain, a smooth, and enjoyably nasty villain preying on the vices of others, and using the tournament as a front to recruit new henchment, who is utterly apologetic in his viciousness, dispatching of his henchmen after they failed him, using his daughters as his bodyguards. He also unravels in classic Shakespearean fashion, his kingdom laid bare, becoming a wretched and dangerous man and beneath this, a vicious and dangerous martial artists. His fight with Lee at the denouement of the film, among mirrored walls, leads to some simple but iconic moments, with the two men, now bruised and battered from the encounter, facing off against countless mirror images of themselves until, in a perfect reflection of Lee's mentor's teachings, Lee defeats Han.
There are also Han's bodyguards, one of whom is defeated, in bruising and violent fashion by Lee in revenge for her sister, the one moment we see the stoic martial artist's mask slip, and is the darkest moment in the film alongside Lee's sister's death, to indicate where the darkness in Han may well have come from. Indeed all the one-on-one martial arts fights have an enjoyably crunching realism to them, as expected from Lee's choreography of action scene, whilst the pitched mass martial arts bouts are excellently shot, the camera panning through them as arms, fists and legs spin and jab through shot.
And it is this bruising, perfectly shot viscerally, this masterpiece of choreographed violence, in which Lee is less a man but a human weapon, unstoppable on his trajectory to defeat Han, that makes him truly iconic, dangerous, and a catalyst for the popularisation of martial arts movies in America and beyond. The final shot of Enter the Dragon, begin with Roper injured and dejected, in the wreckage of the aftermath of the final fight, his love interest dead, cuts to Lee, injured, but triumphant, the edge of a smile on his face, giving Roper a thumbs up. And then he is gone.
Though Lee never saw this film on the cinema screen, dying a month before its general release, he lives forever, effortless and unstoppable forever, as only the best films can resurrect, even for a couple of hours, legends of old. Nearly 50 years old, despite advancements in stuntwork, action choreography, and even in martial prowess, nothing comes close to the bottled lightning, the "heavenly glory" of Bruce Lee, and martial arts cinema, at the height of their collective powers
Rating: Personal Recommendation: Must See
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