I get it, Enter the Dragon is an iconic movie. Ever seen a t-shirt of Bruce Lee? Chances are the image on it is one of him poised in a kung fu stance, three bloody scratches adorning his chest, his face alive with intensity. It’s an image from the finale of said title, and even today, 45 years on, it’s one that endures. It’s also a landmark movie, for its casting of an Asian lead in a co-produced Hollywood production, made at a time when it was practically unheard of.
Enter the Dragon premier at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, on August 24, 1973.
However, is it a good movie? Hell no. In fact if someone was to tell me I had a choice of watching Enter the Dragon or Iron Monkey 2, guess what, I’d watch Iron Monkey 2. It’s a hard fact to swallow that Lee postponed filming of his sophomore directorial feature, Game of Death, to make Enter the Dragon. A decision which, due to his untimely passing, would mean the former would never be completed (at least, not the way he intended). To put it into context, such a decision is the hypothetical equivalent of Jackie Chan placing Police Story on hold half way through filming, to head off and make The Spy Next Door instead. Frankly, it was the wrong call.
“Enter the Dragon” Chinese Theatrical Poster
So naturally I find myself being the target of much derision whenever a discussion pops up about Enter the Dragon, and I pipe up with my opinions on how it’s the most overrated kung fu movie ever made. You want me to watch a 1973 kung fu flick? Give me The Blood Brothers, give me When Taekwondo Strikes, for that matter, give me Knight Errant. I’d re-watch these endlessly before having to inflict myself with the plodding pace, overlong runtime, and one-sided fight scenes that so many seem to believe reflect Bruce Lee’s crowning achievement.
But let me put some structure to my ranting. If anyone was in any doubt as to why Enter the Dragon is to Bruce Lee what Millennium Dragon is to Yuen Biao, then here’s 10 points clarifying exactly that –
It’s directed by Robert Clouse
Robert Clouse
Warner Brothers provided an A-list star with a B-movie director, which is a crime in itself. Amidst the many visionary directors that came out of America in the 70’s, Robert Clouse could not be said to be one of them, with perhaps his biggest claim to fame before Enter the Dragon being that he directed an episode of Ironside. His affiliation with Bruce Lee would continue to dictate the rest of his career – he’s the guy we can thank for the eventual release of Game of Death, attempted to introduce Jackie Chan to American audiences with Battle Creek Brawl, and helmed cult B-movies like Force: Five and Gymkata. As a sidenote, Clouse was also deaf, which likely explains a lot of the horrendous line delivery that so many cast members get away with in Enter the Dragon.
It stars John Saxon as a martial arts master
John Saxon vs. Lau Wing.
Saxon was already almost 40 by the time of Enter the Dragon, and was most likely cast thanks to having a black belt in karate and featuring in an episode of Kung Fu. While he’s a solid journey man actor and has built an impressive career in the world of B-movies, the decision to make him a co-star next to Bruce Lee is a lamentable one. Whenever Lee isn’t onscreen and we have to spend time with Saxon’s character, Roper, we’re immediately transported into the world of uninspired (and now terribly dated) 70’s kitsch. When he’s not frolicking with the ladies, we’re subjected to his fight scenes. Yes, his fight scenes, here we have a movie which could have given us a face-off between Bruce Lee and Bolo, but what do we get? Bolo versus John freaking Saxon. Words fail me.
No Bolo versus Bruce Lee fight
John Saxon vs. Yang Sze (before he was known as “Bolo”)
While it’s true that it was Enter the Dragon that cemented Yeung Sze’s bulking frame into popular consciousness (he’d even take on his character’s name for the rest of his career!), there can be no denying that his talents are wasted. Essentially there to flex muscles and throw people around, before succumbing (of all things) to a bite on the leg and a kick in the balls, the fact that Enter the Dragon squanders an opportunity for the big man to face off against the Little Dragon is insufferable. Bolo has one of the coolest looking onscreen fighting styles to grace the silver screen, the so called ‘no looking kung fu style’, in which he fights while not actually looking at his opponent. Said style could have provided Enter the Dragon with some much needed variety to its action scenes, but alas it wasn’t to be.
Sammo Hung could have choreographed the action
Sammo Hung taps out of choreographing.
By 1973 Sammo already had over 10 choreography credits to his name, and was gradually starting to develop his own distinctive style. While he does get to appear in the opening scene of Enter the Dragon, as Bruce Lee’s sparring partner (providing the best fight of the whole movie), the rest of the action would have benefitted greatly from Sammo’s touch. Instead, what we’re left with is Lee decimating whoever gets in his way with minimal effort, and lacklustre fights when he’s not directly involved. Lee’s strength lay in choreographing himself, with a style that rarely worked well when choreographing others (see his work on The Wrecking Crew for further proof of this). With Sammo at the helm, at least we would have gotten some worthy exchanges, and not just a one-man army with no sense of danger or risk.
Bruce Lee is invincible
“Bruce Lee the Invincible” Theatrical Poster
Not to be confused with the more entertaining Bruce Lee the Invincible (featuring Chan Wai-Man versus gorillas), Bruce Lee’s seeming immunity to having anyone land a hit on him is one of the biggest detractors of Enter the Dragon. For the people that complain about Steven Seagal not being hit in his movies, man, they should check this one out! One of the most well-known lines has Lee declare “Boards don’t hit back.” But apparently, that also applies to most of his opponents. When he finally does have some damage inflicted in the finale, it’s nothing more than aesthetically pleasing scratches, there to make him look cool rather than bruised and battered. In fact the only person who even gets close to Lee is a leg grabbing Bob Wall, which if you wanted to get technical doesn’t count, because it’s actually Yuen Wah. Go figure.
Bob Wall is the most unintimidating villain ever
Billy Zabka (The Karate Kid) and Bob Wall (reprising his O’Hara character) on the set of a commerical for TwinLab.
When Bruce Lee decided to bring in karate champion Chuck Norris for the finale of Way of the Dragon, he probably thought he could recreate the intensity of their confrontation by bringing in another one, this time in the shape of Bob Wall. Wrong. Unlike the Little Dragon’s evenly matched showdown in the colosseum, there’s never any doubt he’s going to beat the living daylights out of Wall. With the scarred villain resorting to a pair of smashed bottles, Lee channels the audiences rage at Angela Mao being given so little screentime by making quick work of his opponent, which in a more merciful world would have signalled the end credits. While Wall’s time in Enter the Dragon was short, the career he built off it was quite the opposite, and he still gives interviews to this day discussing the lame fight scene in question.
Angela Mao is wasted
Angela Mao is featured in a flashback of a flashback of a flashback.
You may have noticed the recurring trend of martial artists that Enter the Dragon wastes the talents of, and so it continues with the inclusion of Angela Mao. Hot off the heels of starring in the likes of Lady Whirlwind and Hapkido from the year prior, Mao had it all – the intense stare, a furious energy to her fight scenes, and an onscreen charm that was impossible to deny. To hear she was going to feature alongside Bruce Lee must have been pretty exciting news. But what do we get? A pitiful few minutes of screentime, which consist of her being little more than a damsel in distress, one which doesn’t get to show off any of the many talents that made her the icon that she was. Instead, we had to wait for the following year to see her team up with a legitimate thespian, in the form of “the other fellow”, George Lazenby.
Sek Kin acts like a useless old man
Listen to Sek Kin’s battle cries. He sounds old and scared.
Legendary HK villain Sek Kin may have already been 60 by the time he appeared in Enter the Dragon, but it still doesn’t justify the way he’s reduced to a rather lame Asian hybrid of Dr. No and Blofeld from the 007 franchise. Kin still had the moves, just check out the shapes he pulls in 1985’s Hong Kong Godfather, made 12 years later! However for whatever reason his extensive kung fu repertoire was decided to not be utilized, so instead we have him running around in a hall of mirrors, a role which practically anyone could have played. For anyone watching Enter the Dragon for the first time, Kin comes across as one of the least threatening villains in the history of cinema, which is a huge disservice to the man and his talents. You want to see Kin facing off against a Bruce? Watch the classic Bruce – The King of Kung Fu.
It’s a James Bond rip-off
“Asia-Pol” Chinese Theatrical Poster
The influence of Bond drifts in and out of Enter the Dragon like spliced footage in a Godfrey Ho movie, making it come across as shoehorned in rather than a natural part of the narrative. Look, if you want to see an Asian version of 007, check out Jimmy Wang Yu in Asia-Pol from 1967 to see how it’s done. Released the same year as Roger Moore’s debut as Ian Fleming’s most famous creation, the secret agent styled shenanigans on display in Enter the Dragon were dated even before it hit cinema screens. Casting Geoffrey Weeks as a poor man’s M, and a head scratching plot of a rogue Shaolin student using a martial arts tournament as a front to his opium smuggling operation, Robert Clouse and co. should have taken a page out of the ‘less is more’ manual of filmmaking.
It’s boring
Just short of 100 minutes, Enter the Dragon is at least 15 minutes too long. To think there’s people out there who are looking for additional footage is, quite frankly, unfathomable. The plot should have been simple – Bruce Lee partakes in a martial arts tournament to avenge the death of his sister. Chaos ensues. Instead, we’re subjected to some nonsense about him being a hired secret agent from Shaolin, Saxon’s completely uninspired backstory involving gambling debts, and Jim Kelly acting like he’s in a completely different movie all together. Considering Lee’s co-stars have little to nothing to do in terms of contributing to the finale, the amount of time we have to spend with them leading up to it provides more padding than his punchbag.
It’s hard to argue. I’ll watch FIST OF FURY a dozen times before I put ENTER THE DRAGON on.
Excellent article Paul, and I agree with many of the points you mkae, even if I am a much bigger fan of the movie, than you are.
When I first saw this fick, it was missing the nunchaku segment and most of the stronger violence, from the scene with Bolo beating up the guards. Being someone brought up on 90’s actioners, it looked ropey and dated.
That said, it’s another of those films, that to fully appreciate, you had to be brought up in another era. My Dad said he’d seen nothing like it back in 73, as someone brought up on the old Hollywood John Wayne school of action, with the wide swinging arm style beat down’s. A completely different context to in which I first viewed it.
One of my major gripes is, Clouse filmed most of the fights, with the camera lens cropping off most of the action, even in the widescreen print. Lee’s rythmic fighting style, looked better when the camera is zoomed further out, rather than closer in.
Bolo’s death was lame, but the fight in the current print, is missing the origial ending, involving the knife Bolo cuts Lee free with.
And what about poor Autralian Martial Artist Peter Archer, he doesnt get any favourable screen time at all?.
It’s just regular old Anglo-American cultural hegemony that plagues global film and television. It was a Hollywood coproduction with a lot of white actors which also happened to be how most Westerners were first exposed to Bruce Lee–because it was a Hollywood coproduction with a lot of white actors–so it has to be the most iconic!
I’m exaggerating the importance of the white bit, rather the U.S. has a cultural hegemony in media distribution. I’ve been to or lived in many countries, or even if you simply talk to someone online, you’ll know American film and television shows air worldwide regardless of their quality. Even UK productions come nowhere close in its distribution; they’re not aired globally. Very few British shows even air in the US, and it’s the same language! So forget about films from France, Germany, Hong Kong and other countries. Even a C grade Hollywood film will outdo an A grade foreign film worldwide or overseas in terms of eyeballs.
The internet has helped shift the dynamic, but it’s just gone from no overseas eyeballs for foreign films to some; films from other countries are still very niche, even more so for non-English/Chinese and non-Anime film and television. Even Japanese television shows are extremely hard to find, outside of anime. Turkey is currently the second largest exporter of TV series behind the US, and you’ll struggle to ever find English fansubs, but you can find Turkish soap operas in Spanish dubs easy, and they air everywhere from Latin America, Eastern Europe, Middle-East and South/Southeast Asia. South Korean soaps are easily available in English though.
Boxer-turned-cinematographer James Wong Howe would have been my pick for director. The studio looked it as a B-movie, but the Hollywood (and I am sure Hong Kong) industry respect for Howe might have helped elevate the production overall.
It might have been interesting if Robert Conrad had been considered for Roper. The fight scenes would have been better, but also Conrad might have been ok with the original version of Roper dying instead of Williams (John Saxon had it changed) in order to show he could transition from invincible TV star to a movie actor willing to be vunerable if the story needed it.
Here is an interview with Robert Conrad that explains his martial arts training and respect for Bruce Lee: http://martial-arts-network.com/qa_robert_conrad.html
If Raymond Chow would have offered Conrad a seperate three picture deal (similar to George Lazenby, but with more money/control as Conrad was a bigger name compared to Lazenby having to take any offer since he walked away from Bond), Conrad might have agreed to second billing/death scene.
During this time, Conrad was starring in TV series Assignment Vienna, and in this French dubbed compilation I found, Rockne Tarkington punches him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNvkqVpK65Y&feature=youtu.be&t=2m11s
I believe it’s difficult to fully process Enter the Dragon’s legendary status fully if you weren’t around when it was originally released. Now, more than forty years after the fact, it’s easy to downgrade it with the countless number of films that have come in its wake with varying degrees of martial arts competency onscreen.
I saw Enter the Dragon opening day in 1973 in Cleveland, Ohio. I was in high school and had seen one of the handful of kung fu films that had been released stateside to that point. Bruce Lee had a cinematic debut in The Big Boss that was immediately more impactful than the other kung fu films that had been previously released . Even though the film was slow and he didn’t fight until past the midpoint of the movie, his charisma and skill put him heads and shoulders above Jimmy Wang Yu, Lo Lieh, Ti Lung and the rest.
His evolution as a filmmaker grew exponentially with each film. By the time Enter the Dragon opened, the theater line was around the block and the audience (largely African-American) screamed every time the camera was on him, whether he was in action or not. Seen by 2018 standards, it looks cheap, had faulty directing and acting, but in 1973, Bruce Lee was our Star Wars: never anything like him before or since. He set a new course for other to follow. And the Hollywood gloss of the period was a nice polish on a genre that until then, looked like $10 home movies.
Regarding John Saxon, I believe he was the right guy at the right time. As much as I like Robert Conrad, he was too much of a star in his own mind to be ok with giving Bruce Lee his time to shine. And make no mistake, this movie was Bruce Lee’s coming out party, not a vehicle to create parity for Saxon, Kelly or anyone else. The producers knew that they needed a white co-lead in order to get the necessary financial and promotional support, and Saxon served his purpose, as did Jim Kelly, who was a better ‘Williams’ than the original actor cast ( former football player Rockne Tarkington) would have been.
There have been many martial arts and action films since that have made more money, are more polished and are arguably better films, but 45 years after seeing it first run in a movie theater, for me, Enter the Dragon will never be topped. I’ve seen (and continue to see) thousands of movies since, in movie theaters around the world and I have never come close to being in an environment of sustained fever pitch crowd mania like I experienced (more than once) with Enter the Dragon.
But to each his own. I respect that art is subjective and you either feel something a particular way or you don’t. I’m just sharing the POV of an old timer who was there when the movie opened, and my passion for the film has never abated and am glad that nearly a half century after its release, Enter the Dragon can still generate passionate dialogue.
i agree with the author, and even agreed a few years after the movie was released. I read the making of the film and agreed John Saxon was horrible and should have died instead of Jim Kelly. Compared to THE RAID, or Raid 2, it stood for its time in the midst of horrible action movies at that time such as Billy Jack, Jimmy Wang Yu, etc. And I agree how could Lee hit people with one punch, especially so called fighters, and they drop? This makes the movie lose it credibility and authenticity. All of that talent wasted (Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Jim Kelly) on poor fight scenes…. and I am sixty with a six pack and could have fought better than the villain AND Saxon combined. Now we know why Jim Kelly was so angry at Hwood. I had questions in my 14 year old mind when I saw it in 1973 and have see far superior movies but I realize that Bruce broke the mold.
I was too young to have experienced ETD as a first run film. I was alive but too young. I did become immersed in Bruce-mania after his death. You know, all his books, Bruce posters on the wall, Black Belt magazine, Inside Kung-Fu magazine — reason being that almost every edition of these magazines featured Bruce Lee.
Now, let me take you back to what I believe was either 1976 or 1977. You see, back in those days movies stayed in theaters for years, or they would be withdrawn and then re-released over multiple years. Well, I finally got to see ETD at the theater and the atmosphere was electric and supercharged. You’re right I have rarely again experienced a movie event like that in the sense that the audience participation and whooping and hollering would subsequently become unacceptable as the years went on. You could barely hear the dialogue in some sections because the audience was going crazy. We didn’t care, we knew they were just talking nonsense as a bridge between fight scenes. Think back to Kung-Fu Theater on TV. Did anybody really care about what the dubbed actors were saying? Most of which was spoken with a weird accent you couldn’t understand anyway.
Long story short, even 3 or 4 years after the initial run of ETD, I had much the same experience at the theater that you had.
I’ve read comments from people over the years putting this movie in its place, but it’s always great to see new ones.
Yes, American audiences have never seen anything like Bruce Lee at the time, but when you take him out of this movie, you’re left with a cheap exploitation flick by a hack director.
I’d like to think more people who watched other martial art films afterwards realized how much this movie sucked in retrospective. It’s amazing how Shaw Bros films are still great by today’s standards, but Enter the Dragon is obsolete.
It can be argued that it’s “enjoyable” in the same way as other 70’s trash, but Enter the Dragon’s importance is over exaggerated.
John Saxon vs Bolo Yeung was laughable in that Bolo didn’t lay a finger on him. It’s like John was supposed to be just as invincible as Bruce.
Sammo Hung directing the action would have been great. I’d like to think Bruce would excel under his direction, but his ego wouldn’t allow it.
“Overrated” is my least favorite word, but unfortunately it rings true here.
I don’t understand how you can ‘take him out’ of the movie. Without him that movie just doesn’t get made. I also don’t understand how ETD is obsolete when almost any image of Bruce Lee that you see, whether it’s the Newsweek special edition or Matthew Pilly’s New bio, features an image from that film, which has grossed more than $400 million in its lifetime across theaters, television and home entertainment, while Shaw Bros films struggle find consistent dvd release. In the hard, hardcore martial arts movie community Shaw Bros film enjoy deserved respect, but it’s a broad and I think, inaccurate statement to write Enter off as obsolete.
Finally, Sammo is a great choreographer, but I doubt that his chops in 1973 were anywhere close to the work we know him for. I don’t know of him even doing fight choreography back then, but maybe he was.
And unless you saw a different cut of the film than I did, Bolo man handled Roper for the first half of their fight.
Thanks for an entertaining conversation!
What I mean is that if another actor was in Bruce’s place, you would have a trash film that blends in with other trash films of that era. Bruce was the only aspect of ETD that stood out, and that is why his images from the movie are used today.
It certainly wasn’t “his” movie. You have a charismatic martial arts master trapped in an exploitation film that doesn’t mesh with his style.
The reason why the movie made so much money is because of “word of mouth.” People who never saw martial arts films before ate it up while ignoring other films that didn’t have American actors attached.
Sammo was already a good fight choreographer since 1969, and would only get better as years went on. I’m sure he would do well here. He actually did some uncredited stunt coordination for ETD without Bruce.
I was wrong about Saxon vs Bolo. He did get hit a few times. All I remembered from the first time was that Saxon beat him too easily, and that’s still the case to today. Saxon may have been a legit martial artist, but he shouldn’t have had it that easy.
One could edit this movie to only have Bruce’s scenes, and you’d be left with something interesting. But the film as a whole still sucks. It’s only other contribution besides Bruce was inspiring Mortal Kombat.
Paul’s articles are always thoughtful and fun reads and while I strongly disagree with this one, it’s no exception! I shan’t indulge in a lengthy defence of Enter the Dragon because it’s a hugely popular movie, but it is a massive favourite of mine. I’m fond of ’70s kitsch and to me there is simply no better example. The Bond comparison is very apt, but it’s another plus point for me – I’ve long argued that Dragon is actually by far the best Bond movie of the decade.
If I may make a bold statement of my own, I’ve always been quietly aghast at fans of Way of the Dragon, which I personally find to be a frankly dreadful film. The comic scenes are desperately unfunny and honestly quite embarassing as a Lee fan, and what is worse is that the fight scenes are few and far between. The much-lauded final fight with Norris, set on a laughably bad attempt to recreate the Coliseum, I find to be lame in the extreme.
I agree with you regarding Way of the Dragon: anything that isn’t action is painful to watch. It’s my understanding that Lee never intended for it to be shown in the US, but once he died, commerce ruled.
Cheers Andy! ‘Way of the Dragon’ is to Whang In-sik what ‘Enter the Dragon’ is to Bolo. Both are criminally wasted.
I do totally agree with the author of this article about Enter the Dragon – when I first watch it it was presented to me as the pinnacle of Lee’s screen achievements, instead I’ve found both documentaries on the 2 disc DVD edition to me more interesting than the film itself, which was poorly written, poorly executed and even more poorly choreographed.
Despite Lee’s charisma and martial arts skills this is a movie which falls flat for me on every aspect. It is overrated to a point that it receives a cult status, although no significant qualities are there to justify its existence, Lee made it his flagship and after his untimely death lots of people were quick to praise all of his screen efforts. I do give Lee credit and respect for his efforts to popularize martial arts movies on a global scale, however I’ve found his exploits quite boring and unattractive, and Enter the Dragon is no exception. What I saw was a slow, dull and full of laughable action choreography which didn’t resonate with Lee’s character and furthermore his supporting actors are top of the line wooden performances.
If Lee had put his energy into making Game of Death a fully fledged movie, now this would have been something extraordinary, instead he made this production, which I found insulting to Lee’s strengths and skills… I know that after my words lots of defenders would jump at me, but sadly for them this is my opinion and nothing is going to change it.
Good points, but I’ll have to stop you when you say Iron Monkey 2 is better than ETD. First off, Donnie Yen’s double has way more screen time than Donnie himself. Yuen Wah did only a couple of flips in ETD.
But yeah, ETD is my least favorite Bruce Lee movie. Bruce is the Kato of his own movie. The fights would have been better if they focused more on the tournament aspect. The character arch is focused on John Saxon more, but still… miles better than the piece of shit Iron Monkey 2.
I mean Donnie Yen and Billy Chow could’ve had a great fight at the end. Instead we are left with some sloppy editing and Taiwan budget wire work.
Good article though. Bet you’ll have the peeps talking
Hold up for a second there, at no point did I implicitly say ‘Iron Monkey 2’ is a better movie than ‘Enter the Dragon’….just that I’d rather watch it. Something about Donnie Yen in a pointy brass hat and cape just does it for me.
Wow, Paul. You feel about this movie the way I feel about every Jimmy Wang Yu movie ever made.
While Enter the Dragon is not my favorite of Lee’s films (that would be Way of the Dragon, which I believe has just as many iconic moments as ETD), I would have to say that, to gain any true enjoyment of it, the viewer probably needs to regard it as being a product of its time. It has its merits as well as its mistakes.
Paul’s writing of any MA film topic is always informative and well presented. I always thoroughly enjoy reading his work, and this is no exception. He brings many good critiques to bear regarding the film’s foibles. I actually didn’t get to see this movie until I was in high school, almost 10 yrs after its release. At the time, I still found it to be a great movie for what it was. Of course now, I know much more about its history, and viewing it 40+ yrs later…yeah, it’s a bit dated. But it did serve to help Lee fulfill a dream, and that was to thrust martial arts and that genre of films into the international spotlight and incite a fervor for such movies, especially in the US.
I don’t know that Sammo would have been up to snuff to choreograph Lee at this time. He was still cutting his teeth and developing his own sense of choreography. And I doubt Lee would have been game for it anyway. Lee knew how he wanted his fighting style to come across and be represented onscreen. The thing that always impressed me with ETD with regards to the fight choreography is that Lee was all about the impact. His was not the “patty-cake” flow of “shapes” choreography that was typical of HK films. (And I’m not knocking that. I love good “shapes” choreography, but many times it can be substandard and overdrawn to the point that impacts within the fight sequences are few and far between.) I get the gist of the comparison of Lee to Seagal in that he never gets hit in the movie, though overall that strikes me as a hyperbolic dig. Lee certainly took some licks in his other films.
Clouse certainly was the wrong choice for director, though I personally can’t think of anyone off the top of my head at that time who would have been a viable pick, and odds are any director worth their salt would have been leery of directing a MA heavy film with a Chinese lead. (Though I don’t get that. Lee was freakin’ Kato!)
I agree with Paul, too, in that it would have been better if Lee had finished & released Game of Death first before launching into ETD. That might have given Lee more box office clout, and then ETD might have been a much different film.
But a saying we have at my house is: “You get what you get, and you don’t pitch a fit.” So at least we, as MA fans, have another BL movie, even if it is this version of ETD…which is still better than anything Jimmy Wang Yu ever did.
I’m just going to put it out there, the finale of ‘Knight Errant’ from the same year, that pits Jimmy Wang Yu against Yasuaki Kurata, is far more exciting than anything found in ‘Enter the Dragon’!
I always found it ironic that both Bruce Lee and Jimmy Wang Yu’s attempted international breakouts utilize Sammo Hung in their opening action scenes. While ‘Enter the Dragon’ may give us an MMA version of Sammo, in ‘The Man from Hong Kong’ (from 1975, which he did have a hand in choreographing!) we have him literally running up Ayers Rock in the middle of the Australian desert, and then fighting on top of it! It’d be an interesting question to ask which opening fans think did it better.
This fantastic article pretty much pointed out all the reasons why Enter the Dragon is my least favorite Bruce Lee film (I even liked Game of Death better than this!). Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever watched Enter all the way through in one sitting (and I’m a huge Bruce Lee fan). There’s just way too many rhythm-breaking scenes to get a decent hour of smooth entertainment.
One thing I despise about the film (that Paul didn’t mention) were all the slow-motion scenes. Too many of them. ONE is too many, in my opinion. I mean, for a guy who is known for his speed…. it’s a fucking crime. For those who deny cameras catching the magic of Bruce’s speed, just watch Way of the Dragon – its choreography is light years ahead of Enter… and actually still holds up today.
About Robert Clouse…. I’ve read that Bruce Lee wanted Clouse to direct based on the director’s 1970 film, Darker than Amber, which features a very long, bloody fight scene with the film’s star, Rod Taylor (he was one of the choices for Roper, before Saxon got the part). The fight is actually on youtube… by no means was it groundbreaking, but for the time, I’m sure it was considered “brutal” (link to fight).
The fight was even featured as a “selling point” on the film’s poster!
That fight scene certainly was ahead of its time. It’s almost like a more violent version of Sean Connery vs Robert Shaw in From Russia with Love.
It’s too bad Clouse couldn’t make his style work for eastern martial arts as all of his other movies have proven. His final movie before he died was horrendous.
“His final movie before he died was horrendous.” wasn’t that the one with Bolo? Something “Heart”, right?
Ironheart….it may be bad, but it still go a Blu!
Well, makes sense it would be released on Blu overseas. That same company would release a Blu-ray of Clouse taking a piss.
Ninja 2: Shadow of a Tear is my new #1 movie of all time. Then both RAID movies.
I can see plenty of degenerates have crawled out from the sewers to support your article, an article that is only fit to be published on toilet paper, dirty toilet paper at that.
John Saxon is a great actor who performs the action in his scenes brilliantly. And I’m sure he would beat the shit out of you to this day. Bruce Lee wanted him in the film, and it was his choreography that John was following. I’m sure John can sleep comfortably knowing Bruce was satisfied with him. He isn’t worrying about some tasteless fool like you.
I’ve seen Bolo in how many other films, and he never looks 1% of what he looks in Enter The Dragon. That’s Bruce’s choreography and direction yet again.
As for you having the nerve to question Bruce Lee’s choreography, don’t make me laugh when I’m feeling so disgusted, it feels in poor taste. This comment alone makes you exempt from being able to talk about how a fight scene should play out:
“Bolo has one of the coolest looking onscreen fighting styles to grace the silver screen, the so called ‘no looking kung fu style’, in which he fights while not actually looking at his opponent. Said style could have provided Enter the Dragon with some much needed variety to its action scenes, but alas it wasn’t to be.”
Yeah, if Bruce wanted a comedy scene to proceed the finale, he might have gone with that idea.
And you have no right to suggest that Bob wall is not an intimidating villain when you know you would shit yourself if you had to go up against him. Get real.
In regards to Bruce being invincible in his scenes, you should respect that he was going for realism, and anything less would of been the opposite of reality. I know you may get upset, because you probably wanted to see a fifteen minute long fight scene where each opponent gets kicked in the head a thousand times during the fight, but Enter The Dragon was never intended for people like you.
As for Sammo directing the fight scenes, it’s hilarious that I’m 100% certain the great man himself would disagree with you!
Angela Mao is not “wasted” by not being in the whole film. Was Bruce Lee “wasted” in Marlowe?
All cameos for example, they must be a waste for you. David Bowie’s Young Americans album features John Lennon on a couple of tracks, to you he must be wasted, not being on the whole album. You say:
“But what do we get? A pitiful few minutes of screentime, which consist of her being little more than a damsel in distress, one which doesn’t get to show off any of the many talents that made her the icon that she was.”
What total, complete and utter nonsense. A “pitiful” few minutes? Some of the greatest few minutes of her career you mean. And I’m a fan outside of just seeing her in Enter The Dragon if you want to scream ignorance. Little more than a damsel in distress? I’ve seen people complaining about women being portrayed as the “damsel in distress” in films before, but I don’t think a woman fighting off a whole gang on her own, kicking them in the groin and scratching them in the eyes would quite fit their view of the stereotype. And the scene didn’t show her talents? It shows her talents perfectly. If you think this scene doesn’t show any of her talents, which is an absurd statement, you must be blind.
Your perception of Han in the film is just as bizarre and twisted as your perception of Angela.
Quite simply, you have no taste. The film was never meant for you. It should of contained a warning that it wasn’t suitable for walking, soul free corpses. Then we wouldn’t have to put up with your confused ramblings about the film you just seen and was unable to appreciate due to your degraded state. Make me laugh: is the phony Ip Man film better for you? Or “The Raid” (modern crap, not the Tsui Hark classic) please give me something to laugh about. Make a list of what’s better.
“Or “The Raid” (modern crap, not the Tsui Hark classic) please give me something to laugh about.”
Everything was going so well, and then in the final moments you use the word “classic” to describe a movie which casts Dean Shek as an action hero. Instant credibility fail.
Dear Mr. Wilkinson, yes I am a degenerate who thinks that this movie is overrated and this is my personal view of the movie and the whole filmography of Bruce Lee. If you don’t like the fire, please stay out of the kitchen, the sole reason that some people thinks that this is not the film you are praising so much, does not give you the right to insult them at all. You think the author is disgusting, well I find you comment just the same.
You obviously don’t know how to participate in a discussion as your first comment shows arrogance and obscene behavior towards the rest of the people here. Please grow up a bit and don’t jump at everyone who does not share the same opinion on some subjects in entertainment industry as this shows your poor perception ans lack of respect.
As English is not my native language whatever words you use towards me won’t have any effect, so please try and use some constructive words in building your reply towards me and anyone in this comment section.
One of my guilty pleasures is Stoner with Angela Mao and George Lazenby. The movie is trashy exploitation, but it’s entertaining. George Lazenby is charismatic and does well in the fights while Angela Mao, of course, owns every scene she’s in.
I can understand people liking ETD in the same way, but I scratch my head when I see that this film was selected for the US National Film Registry’s preservation for being “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.”
Yes, the movie has a place in history, but it’s being overdone.
Stoner is my 3rd best George Lazenby film. 😉
Chuck Norris – the other “other fellow”. 😛
I couldn’t agree more Paul. I hadn’t seen Enter The Dragon for a while and caught it on TV recently, it was shocking how dated it was, with terrible dialogue and poor action. The end fight is unacceptably bad, featuring an old man being beaten up slowly. Bruce is never challenged, which is boring!
It is certainly a product of its era, and I think it laid the path for many great films of the late 70’s such as Kid with the Golden Arm and Eagle’s Claw.
Give me Hapkido any day!
An insightful and honest review of the film. I have had people threaten to take away my license to review movies because I do not love ETD. I don’t even like ETD and it did not show Bruce at his finest. If all I knew about Bruce Lee came from ETD I would not think much of his skills.
You also mentioned a couple of movies I had pushed into some dark region of my movie watching brain – Millenium Dragon and Gymkata – that brought back some nasty flashbacks.
Thanks for the terrific review!
Great Showcases my many reasons for playing Fighting games and is completely related to my own experiences with league type games
… id take Chan Wai Man and Yasuaki Kurata over Bruce Lee any day of the week.
If only Kurata had been in Fist of Fury instead of that fat Judo instructor.
On the most part most of the fights in Bruce Lee films are one sided fights. Never there was any fights in his films that Bruce and the villian fighting skills are on equal grounds so there will be an intense fight scenes like in the movie from the late 70’s ‘The Prodigal Son’ starring Yuen Biao, Lam Ching Ling(double for Shek Kin finale fight scene in ETD). Every major character in the film was protrayed to be top class fighters so all the fight scenes had you at the edge of your seat, especially the final fight scene Yuen Biao vs. Frankie Chan, it was off the chain.
It could be argued that his final opponents in Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon were meant to be his hardest challenges, but whether you want to blame the final results on Bruce’s ego, the lack of a good choreographer or director, the world wasn’t ready for something like Prodigal Son which was a masterclass in action film making.
The way the camera was pulled back so we could see everything along with the precision point movements of Yuen and Chan, and the emphasis on their speed and brutality was something the 70’s weren’t ready for.
agreed, the prowess of Lee’s opponents escalated in Fist, Way, Big Boss and actually what was filmed of Game of Death. He mowed thru underlings, but suffered set backs in final confrontations.
Oh yes. Revisiting the original footage for Game of Death showed that Bruce wasn’t invincible, and that made it more interesting.
I do wonder how Bruce would have worked with HK’s best if he were still alive. What kind of compromises if any would he have made with someone like Frankie Chan or Ti Lung?
What a load of crap
It always bothers me when people write reviews so that they can use it as a platform to show off their knowledge of a subject. What Paul Bramhall fails to understand is that none of the films he compares Enter the Dragon with are known to most people because they didn’t have the impact or staying power of ETD. Nor would they even garner a mention had it not been for the fact that ETD had the global impact that it did.
I have seen probably as many Martial arts films as Paul and yet not one of them stars anyone with the unique abilities that Bruce lee had. He was a true one off and maybe that’s part of the reason that ETD has become what it is today. I see ETD as a film of its time ,and to many, a ground breaking movie that established a genre that up until then been minor at best. It would take Bruce lee with his skills and charisma to establish martial arts films on a global basis via ETD and that alone should deserve praise not derision .It stands today as a truly remarkable film starring a truly remarkable guy and all Martial arts fans should respect that and honor it by supporting it’s place in Movie history.
Hi Gary, thanks for your comments! I think there’s a clear difference between “failing to understand” and having an opinion. I understand the impact that ETD had, however the impact that a movie has isn’t necessarily a reflection of its quality. Just because the other kung-fu flicks mentioned are lesser known in popular culture than ETD, doesn’t translate to meaning that ETD is better than them.
Bruce Lee was a charismatic guy, and in ETD that intensity burns off the screen, however for me it has little else going for it. If I’m going to watch a Bruce Lee flick, give me ‘Fist of Fury’ any day of the week. Say what you want about Lo Wei, but he understood far better how to use Lee onscreen than Robert Clouse did.
Sorry all .But I love the film and so does thousands off others,Love to Know how old the author of this is ,You do not get it .I know hundreds of iconic films that dissected are crap i.e Jaws, Dracula.Towering Inferno the list is endless .However without them you would not have the genres we have today.Enter The Dragon is the film that gave Chinese martial arts films world iconic status.Most successful Kung Fu movie at the moment Ip Man 4 starring Donnie Yen and who appears in it Danny Chan as Bruce Lee . I think your going for a cheap shot to get a conversation going . Bruce will always be with us as for you Paul your just a critic with no sole leave Enter alone OK it could have been better in hindsight but so could thousands of other films.Not impressed !
Hi Andrew, thanks for the comment. At the time the feature was published in 2018 I was 37, so if you’re looking to point out that I wasn’t around at the time ETD was released, that’s a valid point. I put time into writing all of my reviews and features, so they’re definitely not intended as ‘cheap shots’, rather it was an opportuntiy to articulate why I find ETD to be a sub-standard piece of genre filmmaking. For some criticising ETD (and I intentionally separate the movie from discussions on Bruce Lee overall) is sacrilegious, and it’s impossible to have a coherent discussion on its merits, so this was a forum where those points could be made and commented on accordingly. Nothing cheap about that.
I do disagree on your comparative point implying that without ETD we wouldn’t have the martial arts genre today. By the time ETD was released it had already existed for 50 years, and even without it ‘King Boxer’ was making waves in the States a whole year prior. Lee already had huge success locally with ‘The Big Boss’, ‘Fist of Fury’, and ‘Way of the Dragon’, so the impact on his legacy (and the continuing popularity of the martial arts genre) had ETD never been made would likely be negligible.
PS I’ve checked both feet, and can confirm both of them have soles. 🙂
What does someone’s age have to do with their opinion of a movie? I’m younger than Paul and love Enter The Dragon. Very poor show, Andrew.
And Jaws rocks!
RIP John Saxon
If you wanna talk about this I’ll be in my room.
Gotcha.
This is an “opinion piece” and I write them for a living. Trying to change someone’s mind on something like this is pretty pointless, but some of the critique is a bit unfair:
* “Lee postponed filming of his sophomore directorial feature, Game of Death, to make Enter the Dragon. To put it into context, such a decision is the hypothetical equivalent of Jackie Chan placing Police Story on hold half way through filming, to head off and make The Spy Next Door.”
This is really well-written, but do you really believe the gap in quality between a completed Game of Death and Enter the Dragon is comparable to Police Story and The Spy Next Door? Do you really believe that?
* If not John Saxon, then who? Saxon had martial arts experience and moved a damn sight better than many of his Hollywood contemporaries. The original choice for Roper, William Smith from Darker than Amber, would have been a LOT worse. Regardless, the film isn’t really about John Saxon, it’s about Bruce Lee. As you say, Saxon is a co-star.
* A Bruce Lee-Bolo showdown would doubtless have transpired had the former lived. At the end of the day, Saxon needed to do something to justify him still being around in the final reel.
* Sammo could have choreographed? I get where you’re coming from, but this opinion is obviously based on what Sammo would accomplish over the next couple of decades. The choreography he was responsible for pre-Enter the Dragon was far from ground-breaking. Despite going on to become, for my money, the finest action choreographer of all time, he was in the embryonic stages of his career in early 73.
* Bruce Lee is invincible. This I agree with. Bruce Lee was in the business of making himself look good, however, you can’t single out Enter the Dragon here. You could count the amount of clean whacks he takes throughout the course of Fist of Fury on one hand. He leaves Suzuki’s school at the end with a single slash on his chest.
* Bob Wall is a top quality meat bag and a pain the ass. Seeing him getting back-fisted into oblivion and nailed with spinning kicks is like a feel-good movie within a movie. No complaints on him not landing a decent shot in the film, with the exception of his ass-whipping of a 70-year-old.
* Angelo Mao: As with Saxon, this isn’t an Angela movie. She’s a HK action star playing a bit part in a Hollywood feature. Her character is written into the script for a flashback sequence, which ultimately leads to Lee’s thirst for revenge. She actually beats the hell out of a pack of stuntmen. What else can you really do to flesh that out? I thought she was brilliant.
* Shih Kien: Yeah, I get what you’re saying here. Bruce Lee at 32 against a guy pushing 60 is slightly unnerving. I think that’s the reason the finale goes to the mirror room, rather than a straight feet and fists shootout. However, the mirror scene still looks great to this day and is iconic.
* James Bond rip-off. Does it matter? You’ll struggle to find a decent demonstration of the martial arts in any Bond movie, especially from that era. If it’s Bond-esque with Bruce Lee doing what he does best, I’m all for it.
* “It’s boring” Not a phrase I associate with Enter the Dragon,
Enter the Dragon, which I saw AGAIN at the cinema within the last fortnight, is my favourite martial arts film of all time. How much knowledge do I have on the genre? I’ve saw EVERYTHING worth seeing of Jackie, Sammo, Biao, Donnie, Tony Jaa etc etc. Lee’s charisma is off the charts in ETD and he can do now wrong. But, again, that is only my opinion. Thanks for providing yours.
James Coburn was better than Saxon at kicking, and even an embryonic Sammo was better than what most Americans were accustomed to. It’s like what Sam Raimi said about John Woo i.e. him at 75% is better than most U.S. action directors at 100%.
i won’t argue Enter the Dragon is as bad as it comes and definitely very bad, but i don’t think it’s overrated.
as far as i know no real kung fu movie geek ever gave a shit about this particular flick.
Hey, I liked it!
Robert Clouse wasn’t deaf. It’s a rumour someone started in IMDb. If you read his book, the making of enter the dragon” he had several exchanges with people and heard himself on film on page 177. Also how could he have served in the military being deaf?
Total agreement.
With the recent 4K release of Enter the Dragon and all those YouTube reactors seeing the movie for the first time, they think it’s the best thing since sliced bread. 🙄
I’ll take Fist of Fury and The Way of the Dragon over this overrated movie any day of the week.
Those people fawn over Enter the Dragon, because they’ve never seen anything like Bruce Lee before. Kind of like how people were when this film first came out.
Combine that with how many 20-30 somethings (not all) don’t know about any movie not from the current year, and you have something cringe-worthy.
Enter the Dragon was set in the 1970s and had some elements of blaxploitation which indeed makes it a bit dated today. It was also a bit like a James Bond movie. Most other kung fu movies at the time was set in historical eras which makes them more timeless today. But it doesn’t matter, it adds a certain charm.
There were also two Bruce Lee personas on screen, the inexperienced country boy in The Big Boss and Way of the Dragon (who still happens to be skilled kung fu fighter), and the tough invincible guy in Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon. Bruce is even called Lee in this film, he wanted to present himself in this image to a western audience.
It’s nice to hear his own voice in the English dub and Lalo Schifrin’s score is brilliant. I also think Bruce did most of the creative directing, like he did in Way of the Dragon. He didn’t just stage the fight scenes. Clouse was probably there mostly to organize everything on the set.
The monk scene together with the voice-over in the mirror scene in the extended dvd release, which we’ve had to endure for many years, makes the film much worse. The original theatrical release that is now available is better. However to me the UK vhs release without the nunchaku scene is even better, the nunchaku scene slows the cave scene down. Nunchakus was put to better cinematic effect in Fist of Fury. A few other bits here and there were also missing from the UK version which was also better.
I have not long ago also made a fan-edit for myself using video editing software, I trimmed a few other scenes as well, this makes the film flow even better than the UK version. When you’ve seen a movie over two dozen times you notice little things that you’d rather get rid of even though the movie as a whole is still great. Official so called Directors Cut-versions most of the time just make movies slow and boring, better the make them shorter and more fresh-looking for yourself, hehe.
I wish that the Hong Kong version had cut down on a lot of the non-Lee stuff. Maybe it would have done better at the box office.
It’s a good film, but it’s no Big Boss. That is Bruce Lee’s masterpiece. You’re headed straight for the freezer!
I love this film so much that I bought the CBS DVD as well as the new Blu Rays because I love it.
Enter The Dragon I’m merely fine with my Blu Ray.
A review of the article.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3voKVXXtZw
Yu No Hu, thanks for pointing us to it. =) There’s more discussion going on about it in COF’s FB page.
Gentlemen, you have our gratitude!
When people say Enter the Dragon is the best martial arts film ever – its laughable. Its not even the best Bruce Lee film, hell its not even better than Game of Death (1978 version). If you say its the best martial arts film ever you must really not like the genre or just really love tournament movies with tacky production value and poorly shot fight scenes.
The arthouse version of Enter the Dragon must be In The Mood for Love. In the mood for a nap more like. Its the film the criterion crowd love to celebrate even if they haven’t seen any other HK movie since 1997. And I love Wong Kar Wai. As Tears Go By is a genre classic. Chungking Express/Fallen Angels is just perfection and Happy Together is at least 20 years ahead of the curve.
I’ve looked at Stripey’s videos talking about Paul’s article and reading comments responding to it. He doesn’t seem like he’s a bad guy to be around, but he didn’t have anything constructive or insightful to say. His argument for why Paul is wrong came down to “no it doesn’t/didn’t/isn’t” or “yes it does/did/is.”
He also acts like the article didn’t give Enter the Dragon it’s due for starting the kung fu craze in America, and his reading of his supporters’ comments came off as blind and empty agreements. He also seems to go back and forth with admitting the movie is flawed and speaking of it like it’s immune to criticism. He should have asked his supporters to be more civil and not spew childish comments like Paul broke into their homes and took their Blu Rays away.
This doesn’t work with some die hard Bruce Lee fans lol
Unfortunately, the same can be said for the apologists of Jackie Chan, Chuck Norris, various politicians, and the list goes on and on.