Enter
the Dragon (1973, Dir. Robert Clouse) the first American/Hong Kong coproduction
is arguably the greatest Kung Fu movie ever made. Featuring a who's who
of bad ass 70's cult stars the film is a mesmerizing, slam bang comic
book that never tires.
Enter
the Dargon has my favorite film cast of the 70's. Of course you get
Bruce Lee in his most electric and brutal performance but throw in Jim
"Black Belt" Kelly, John (Tenebre) Saxon, Angela "Lady
Kung Fu" Mao Ying and Yang "Chinese Hercules" Sze and
you have 98 minutes of the most colorful actors of the grindhouse era.
Enter
The Dragon's premise is simple enough and explained in the first ten
minutes. The British Government hires Lee to dig up dirt on a man named
Han who owns a fortress island that puts on a semiannual martial arts
tournament. It seems Han is involved in illegal drug trade and prostitution,
so Lee must join the tournament and take down Hans if necessary.
Soon Lee is busting
out his Jeet Kune Do (fist-intercepting way) on all sorts of silly
bastards and all hell breaks loose. Lee's fight scenes are all
equally brutal, busting heads with non chaku and crushing throats
with his heels (the incredible Oharra fight).
Other
famous scenes involve the death of Williams (Hans cheats, the bastard,
when he attaches an iron hand to his arm), The death of Lee's sister
(the spectacular Mao Ling) and the finale with Hans in the room of mirrors.
Lee's hands and feet were so fast in the fight scenes that they couldn't
be captured at 24 frames per second by the cameramen!
Rumors abound about
the making of Enter The Dragon. According to some present on the
set certain actors and extras tried to seriously hit Bruce Lee
while filming scenes. Apparently some wanted to test Lee or be
the man who knocked Lee out. Rumor has it Lee was so fast that
when he sensed somebody was really trying to hit him he'd block
and then obliterate them!