“Enter the Dragon” is a tour de force, full stop. This film is Bruce Lee’s Magnus Opus and also his first and last English-speaking performance. In the years since his bizarre and tragic death, martial arts legend and master Bruce Lee, has become a sort of icon within the Kung-fu movie circuit.
The movie is about a shady underworld crime lord who controls most of the world’s opium drug ring and a lot of other illegal dealings. British Intelligence is stumped, so they seek out someone who’s slick, stealthy and who can whop some ass. They find their man: Mr. Lee. After a great deal of convincing, they get him to go to the island and participate in the crime lord’s fighting tournament. Along the way, Bruce meets two American fighters (John Saxon and Jim Kelly) who are in the tournament for various reasons. Whilst on the island, Bruce does his nightly snooping around so he can find out more about the crime lord and his illegal activities.
Lee is not merely content to let us watch him bash people, though; some of his philosophy penetrates the movie, which is probably the real reason why “Enter the Dragon” has stayed so fresh so long. Lee talks about spiritualit and even gives us an amusing and illustrative lesson in his . Lee also shows us the flip side; the show-offs and the power-hungry, who are only in it for the physical and material advantage. He takes care to show us how debased they are before taking care of them.
Bruce Lee worked a great deal on this picture. He wrote most of the screenplay, filmed all of the action scenes, and directed several scenes without being credited for any of it.
Worth seeing for the sets and settings alone, especially the classic “Hall of Mirrors” fight sequence where he goes against the one-handed villain Han, this film is driven well by its fast pace, simple but engaging story line, and the sheer raw talent and unstoppable force of nature that is Bruce Lee.