Review of Enter the Dragon (1973) by David P — 02 Mar 2010

A fun, colorful and undeniably funky kung-fu flick. The eternal Bruce Lee plays a Shaolin martial artist who's tapped by a British secret service agent to infiltrate the island fortress of the mysterious "My.

Han". A fallen Shaolin student, Han is now spectacularly wealthy and host to a martial arts tournament held every three years for his own amusement. Lee enters the competition to garner evidence proving Han's illicit activities which include prostitution, opium production and gratuitous impersonations of a low-rent James Bond villain.

Conveniently, just before he departs, Lee learns from his master that one of Han's goons was responsible for the death of his sister. So, with the hoariest of kung fu movie cliche's now in place, Lee travels to the island to avenge her death and fulfill his mission.

Once there he's joined by two other international competitors: a white American philanthropist named Roper who seems to have racked up a load of gambling debts and Williams a Black Panther/Soul Brother type who's on the lam after pummeling the crap out of two racist cops in L.

A. who presumably went on to take out their frustrations on Rodney King. Our heroes fare quite well in the initial competition and Lee successfully infiltrates Han's sleazy inner sanctum, but not without engaging the guards.

The next day, when Han hears about the snooping he switches into full blown, evil-dude mode by killing a handful of his own men for their failure, offering Roper a chance to be his American connection, pitting Lee against the meathead that killed his sister, and dispatching one of the competitors personally just as a warm up.

As one might expect, things eventually go totally batshit insane with Lee fighting, hmmmm, let's see, by my calculations...ONE MILLION DUDES and eventually finds himself in personal combat with Han himself.

Lee, looking like the human equivalent of a coiled spring throughout the film, is completely iconic and nothing short of hypnotic to watch. It's also fun to see John Saxon here in fighting form since I've always only known him as Heather Langenkamp's dad in "Nightmare on Elm Street".

Jim Kelley as self-assured Williams is also a real treat due in part to the fact that his afro alone could be declared the Eighth Wonder of the World. Shih Kien as Han is appropriately menacing enough but his interchangeable hands and chronic white-cat stroking make him seem pretty derivative.

The film is rife with gaudy decor, borderline psychedelic color and opulent access. It's also alternately guilty of trotting out sexist and racist stereotypes but I suppose we can let this slide a bit considering it's the product of it's time.

Some viewers might find a lot of this low-key but lets face it, we're watching a film that does everything practically, on camera without CGI or special effects. These dudes were getting kicked around for real and if you don't believe me just ask Jackie Chan who appears briefly at the end of the film and allegedly got clobbered by Lee by mistake in an alternate fight scene.

"Enter the Dragon" might be laughably dated in some ways but as soon as Lee loses the shirt, gets bloodied by claw marks and starts kicking extras in the chest while screaming eloquent lines like "WA-CHAAAA!" it's all over.

The film becomes pure pop culture legend, like watching Marilyn Munroe having her skirt blown up or watching Charles Foster Kane whisper "Rosebud!" The film is a fun little time capsule and the perfect vehicle to showcase it's completely unique and prematurely departed super star.

Tilt: up.