Review of Enter the Dragon (1973) by Ally C — 12 Apr 2011

The 1973 film ENTER THE DRAGON was the first Hollywood kung fu film, placing the then little-known Bruce Lee among American actors and featuring a plot of international proportions.

Of course, the Hong Kong roots of the genre still hold. The manaical supervillain Han (Shih Kien) is murdering young women on his private island. When Han organizes an international martial arts tournament, Lee is sent by the Hong Kong government to bust Han's operation. He is joined by American businessman Roper (John Saxon), hoping to get some money to pay off mafia debts, and black activist Williams (Jim Kelly), who just seeks victory and looking good.

There's a great deal of humour in the story, beyond the traditional incompetent henchmen and improbably deft martial arts. I can't imagine that the film-makers did not intend that the viewer take the supervillain's tropes seriously. When Han strokes his cat while plotting his schemes, or when he gives one character a tour of his entire criminal enterprise before asking him to join them, we can't help but chuckle at this borrowings from James Bond. The film works well as mindless entertainment.

Nonetheless, the film-makers succeeded in making a film that was more than a simple action outing. Two scenes made ENTER THE DRAGON a classic of cinema. In a scene where Bruce Lee wields nunchaku we are treated to one of the finest documents of athletic prowess, testimony that Lee was not just a simple action star but a great sportsman. The climax of the film, where Lee duels with Han in a hall of mirrors, is rich in symbolism and elegantly filmed, coming to influence many films since. And I personally, a recent visitor to Hong Kong and one passionately interested in the area, enjoyed seeing how Kowloon and Hong Kong Island looked before the boom era.

I had a good time watching ENTER THE DRAGON and recommend to any who might be intrigued by a kung fu film that transcends its genre to some degree.