When I was growing up in the 1970s, boys in my school used to divide into two groups, based on their action movie preferences. The first one, myself included, liked movies that featured spectacular car chases, lots of machine-gun fire and huge explosions. The latter one preferred Hong Kong martial-arts flicks, probably because they could (or, to be more precise, thought they could) imitate its stunts in real life. Decades later, while refining my own cinematic taste, I began to appreciate and actually like those movies, probably because of overexposure to the shoot-'em-up idiocy of the 1980s 'ramboids'. Yes, most of the Kung Fu and other "martial arts" flicks were cheap, they had predictable and formulaic plots, and asked very little of production values aside from martial-arts skills. But, at the same time, those movies had their own rules and, in the hands of a capable director, could become a terrific guilty pleasure and source of relaxation.
The best of those movies, one that passed the test of time and managed to keep its own cult status after a quarter of a century, was Enter the Dragon. Made in 1973 in a joint Hong Kong–Hollywood venture, it was intended to bring Bruce Lee's skills and Kung Fu philosophy to the Western audience. It succeeded, but it is still debatable whether by its own merit or by the unfortunate and mysterious death of Bruce Lee that immortalised the myth about the actor.
Lee plays a quiet Shaolin monk who is a martial-arts expert. He is approached by an Interpol official who asks him to join a tri-annual martial-arts tournament that is held on a remote island, owned and controlled by Han, a renegade Shaolin monk. Interpol suspects that the martial-arts business is just a cover for narcotics, gun-running and prostitution operations, and Lee must find the evidence necessary for authorities to intervene. Lee accepts the mission because of personal reasons – O'Harra, Han's brutal bodyguard, was responsible for the tragic death of Lee's sister years ago. The island is also the destination for two colourful martial-arts experts from the USA – Williams (played by Jim Kelly) is a Black activist running from racist police, and his friend Roper wants to make money in order to pay gambling debts.
The plot of Enter the Dragon was in many ways influenced by James Bond (the 007 franchise itself would return the favour by using Kung Fu elements in The Man with the Golden Gun two years later). The main hero was faced against a power-hungry megalomaniac on a remote island, alone against an army of bad guys. On the other hand, Lee was a more believable hero than Bond; deprived of guns and super-tech gadgets, he had to rely only on his personal skills in order to survive. At the same time, the plot, although extremely thin, allowed him even some internal battles – between the natural instinct to avenge his sister and his own anti-violent philosophy. The latter provided some opportunities to evaluate Lee's acting skills and some new elements to his impressive screen presence.
Although two other main actors – John Saxon being the obligatory good white guy and Jim Kelly being the obligatory black good guy – were intended to share the top spot with Lee, they served as nothing more than comic relief. It is a real shame to see Kelly, definitely a worse actor than Saxon, steal the scenes from him only because his lines, being the worst possible blaxploitation clichés, sound so damn over the top. Other actors, not including Shih Kien, who turns Han into a typical, although not very convincing Bondian villain, are nothing more than fist fodder for Bruce Lee (among them is young Jackie Chan).
Fighting scenes are still impressive today as they were 25 years ago, although they mostly lack the gore associated with that genre. In many ways they are also more realistic (they were personally staged by Lee himself), demanding only a blow or two to incapacitate or kill an opponent. I'm not a martial-arts expert nor a martial-arts fan, but comparing those scenes with typical scenes today I simply can't avoid appreciating the difference in today's movie fights when masses of bloody pulp manage to get up from the floor and win in the end.
So, despite all the obvious flaws that preclude this movie from being one of the Top 100 All Time, Enter the Dragon is an incredibly entertaining piece of cinema and a martial-arts flick that can be enjoyed even by those who don't like that particular genre.
(Note: The original text was posted in Usenet newgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on May 4th 1998)
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