Hi, I work for a large mobile telecomms company. I live in Oxford but was born in Toronto, Canada. ...
Hi, I work for a large mobile telecomms company. I live in Oxford but was born in Toronto, Canada. Engaged to a lovely guy from Birmingham (see Sonatine on Ciao [love you babes xx]). Love playing guitar & midi keyboards when I can afford it. Have 2 ca...
Member since:03.01.2001
Reviews:86
Members who trust:8
Not only is it sad to see the early death of such a promising young performer as Bruce Lee, who had finally hit the Hollywood big time after years of struggle and movie bit-parts. But it is also sad that given a few more years he could have made some truly marvellous high quality production movies on a James Bond scale.
As it is all we have left to be thankful for are his earlier movies where plots & production values simply do not do justice to the name of Bruce Lee.
A lot of people compare him to a modern day Jackie Chan, although even Chan would freely admit that he owes a great deal to the great man especially when it comes to the years of dedicated training & mind control required to get as far as Bruce did.
Enter the Dragon, is a far from perfect martial arts film. The story is a little clumsy, the acting totally unconvincing by all concerned (including Bob Wall & John Saxon). The settings are little chintzy & vapid and the dubbing is quite terrible.
So why is this film revered above all the other martial arts movies? Because its where Lee is given the freedom to excel in his profession; for once the entire western world got the chance to see some truly amazing martial arts action and realise that none of it was stunt-doubled, none of it was down to special effects or camera tricks.
What you see from Bruce is very much what you get. Of course we all went ga-ga during his first proper fight sequence in the underground caverns, but it's not just the physical aspect that Lee aspired too, but also the mental & the spiritual, something we don't always get to see in the movie. Although if you look at some of his strained facial expressions you can tell he is putting an awful lot of psychological will as well as muscle into what he does.
Of course, the latter day pretenders like Chan, have it relatively easy now that Lee broke the mould and introduced martial arts to a disbelieving western world. And along with Chan comes big budgets for bigger & more intricate set-pieces, to which Chan really aspires.
But doesn't this miss the true point of martial arts? Lee never had to resort to such Hollywoodesque extremes as jumping through a dozen windows on a motorbike before beating up the baddies; Lee knew his own limits and respected his art. Enter The Dragon is a poor film by modern day standards but remains perhaps the best visual example of natural martial arts anywhere!
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Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1996 - Action/Adventure - Director: Tom Clegg - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Daragh O'Malley, Oliver Cotton, Jason Durr, Sean Bean, Allie Byrne
Production Year: 1995 - Action/Adventure - Director: Tom Clegg - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Sean Bean, Daragh O'Malley, Allie Byrne, Oliver Cotton, Emily Mortimer, Michael Cochrane
Believe it or not, I've never seen a Bruce Lee film, but after reading a few opinions, I probably will soon, Chris.
htanaka 20.05.2001 02:50
Great review..I would put the bad acting in the advantages bit though...that's what makes it so Bruce Lee!
becky77 03.03.2001 20:18
I'm glad this is a cult film because it deserves to be put on a pedestal, in my mind! It's in a class of its own as far as other Martial Arts film go! Thanks for great honest op.
Advantages: martial arts sequences, one of Bruce Lee's best films Disadvantages: Cheesy script, could have been better for the timid anti-oriental producers
Jan 31st, 2001
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