Widely, but not uniformly, regarded as Bruce Lee's finest film. It was also unfortunately his final film. The last scene filmed was actually the first fight you see between Bruce and dynamic dumpling, Sammo Hung. Bruce had lost an incredible amount of weight and is a tiny iron wire marionette of a fighter in this scene.... he died a few days later, whilst the film was still in post-production.
If you always thought that the James Bond movies would have been better if Bond had been a kung fu master, then this is the film for you. The legendary Bruce Lee is showcased in his most lavish adventure.... though, as this was made in Hong Kong, it still feels like one of Bond's less expensive, earlier adventures.
The plot barely rates relating but here goes: Lee (Bruce Lee) is recruited by a government agent, Braithwaite (Geoffrey Weeks), to enter a martial arts contest on the island fortress of Han (Shih Kien - who was picked ahead of 'Han' Ying Chieh), a particularly vicious chap with a nasty iron claw who is believed to be involved in drug smuggling and prostitution. Lee agrees because he knows that Han's right-hand man, Ohara (Bob Wall), is responsible for the death of his sister (Angela Mao Ying). She committed suicide rather than be raped by him..... I think I'd do the same.
On the island he meets Roper and Williams (John Saxon and Jim Kelly - picked when Rockne Tarkington turned the role down) who are re-united ex-army buddies from the US, on the run from, respectively, the mob and the law. Lee tries to infiltrate Han's underground chamber but fails, beating up a number of guards in the process. The next morning Han orders the men who let the intruder escape to fight Bolo (Bolo Yeung), who kills them all easily. (Why wasn`t he chosen to face Lee???) But enough plot..... let it suffice to say that the only compelling reason to sit through this film is to see the greatest martial arts star of all time.
Lee proves why he is STILL the dominant legend in the genre more than a decade after his death. During one fight scene, Lee performed a flying kick so fast it couldn't be captured on film at 24 frames a second. The cameraman had to overcrank the sequence to get it to look like it wasn't speeded up! Despite it's big budget 'quality' reputation.... it is basically Dr.No with kung fu... nobody shows much evidence of acting ability.... the script is full of plot holes big enough to ride a rickshaw thru.... BUT..... non-stop action is what kung fu films are about and that's what you get here... in a Chinese Banquet sized helping!
Enter The Dragon is STILL absolutely AWESOME, even after all these years!
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