Review of Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger (1976) by Will D — 14 Jan 2010

This film is one of two Bruceploitation movies I had interest in watching.

I have to say, this movie is freakin' awesome. It's a fictional take on the mystery of Bruce Lee's death that one of his students (played by Bruce Li), whom chosen by Bruce to be his successor ironically because he looks alike, is on a mission to find the truth behind it, leading onto a road of vengeance against an organization covering up the incident.

What makes 'Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger' so great is the soundtrack. The studio somehow manages to slip in extracts of music I can recognize from any other movie, despite the credits stating the music is 'composed' by someone. I can hear an extract of Pink Floyd's 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond' in a scene when Bruce Li is looking at posters of Bruce Lee at Bruce's home, in the opening credits two Isaac Hayes songs I recognize from Kill Bill are played which makes you feel prepared to watch some kickass action, and tracks from John Barry's score to Bond flick 'The Man with the Golden Gun' are added for some dramatic scenes. It may sound like a lazy chop-job, but actually those music pieces fit in nicely. It's like Quentin Tarantino went back in time and worked on soundtrack arrangement secretly.

Aside from music, the fighting choreography's not bad for a Bruceploitation movie. Cinematography looks surprisingly spectacular and the villains are actually quite adversary. It's as if they maintained the engaging formula used from Enter the Dragon (action, cinematography, music) that it almost feels like a sequel to that movie (ironic since the title references it).

If you ever have the chance to get a copy of 'Exit the Tiger, Enter the Dragon', pick it up immediately; it's totally worth buying.