Enter The Dragon (1973)

"A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come... And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself."

When you think of the words "Kung" and "Fu" and "Hollywood" you will almost certainly think of Mr. Bruce Lee - prowling around, screaming like a mating monkey and kicking many villains in the face. He is, and still remains, the greatest of all time when it comes to the martial arts sub-genre of film and probably the most famous entry into his catalogue was this one - 1973 smash-hit, Enter The Dragon.

The legacy of the film cannot be overstated. Almost single-handedly, it spawned the very concept of the 'beat em' up brawler' style of video game. From 'Double Dragon' to 'Street Fighter' to 'Mortal Kombat', none of these beloved games would exist without this film first paving the way. And, upon re-watching, it is immediately clear why. The initial concept is a thoroughly intriguing one - there is a shady, former Shaolin Monk, mega-baddie living on a remote island wherein no worldwide authorities have any jurisdiction. Every 3 years, this mysterious figure hosts a martial arts tournament, inviting the best of the best from all over the planet to fight each other for not much other than his pleasure (oh, the life of a supervillain). One of these participants, Bruce Lee, is recruited by British Intelligence to infiltrate the island and confirm criminal activity - which would give them probable cause to move and decimate the operation.

This all provides the premise for a moody, atmospheric, journey to this strange, exotic island somewhere off the coast of Hong Kong and allows for a host of characters - not too dissimilar, coincidentally, to what you might see in a beat 'em up style video game - making their way there. The main three we focus on are Williams (Jim Kelly), Roper (John Saxon) and Lee (Bruce Lee, in a master stroke of inventive character-naming). We get each person's brief back story along the way ensuring we, the audience, have reason to care about the plights of these people and this fairly meticulous build-up is crucial in raising the stakes for the big tournament itself.

Once they get to the island, they are encountered by 'Han' - the previously mentioned supervillian - who presides over a large compound populated solely by bad guys, about 900 martial arts trainees and hooker assassins. Why is there a martial arts academy? No one knows. Where do these seemingly fresh-faced trainees live, eat and sleep? Again, we can't say. Why are there so many sex-workers highly trained in the art of murder? In fact, it's probably best that we leave the thinking caps at the door for this one and, in order to to help you appropriately determine what to expect when watching this film, I took the liberty of preparing this handy decision tree to save you some trouble:

Plot aside, where this film really shines is in it's execution. The atmosphere and mood, for the first hour or so, is outstanding. It subtle ways, we are lured into the creepy shenanigans on Han's island and the off-kilter way that things are presented almost adds to the feeling of disorientation that one tends to experience in these kind of situations. On top of that, there aren't many things more exhilarating in the history of cinema than a Bruce Lee fight sequence and the further we get into the story, the more of these we see. In fact, by the time he gets to his first official tournament fight - against none other than Han's right hand man and (we come to find out) murderer of Lee's sister, O'Hara (played by big white giant, Bob Law) - you find yourself, or at least I did, almost jumping out of your seat with sheer visceral pleasure. Especially during the stunning slow-motion sequence where Lee commits to his final move. The music is weird. The action slows down and the look on his face while delivering a fatal blow is everything all at once - rage, calm, satisfaction, perhaps even sexual climax - either way, as fight drama goes, it really is up there with the best scenes ever committed to the genre.

In fact, for two thirds of this film, the bar is set high. The tone is great, mostly provided by strong directorial choices and an all-time classic score from Lalo Schifrin, but it is Bruce Lee himself who reminds everyone why he was so successful in his field. The man just radiates charisma. Yes, he also happens to be a physical specimen of the highest order (his body fat percentage must've been in negative figures during this period) but his steely gaze and ice-cool demeanour are what make you really engage. No matter how preposterous the story gets, Bruce always remains grounded, assured, and really really (and I mean really) cool. All of which makes it all seem not too over the edge in terms of believability. This is a real skill which not many actors have and all of the qualities that made him movie royalty in his time really shine through in this performance. He is, in short, the man.

Despite the quite frankly outstanding opening hour, hour and 20 mins, things sort of unravel quite spectacularly in the final act. It's almost as if everyone involved makes the conscious decision of "We've done enough plot and trying to make sense. Let's just get Bruce's shirt off and let him kick some ass!" . If this was the goal, then you can consider the last half hour a success. But for all the intrigue and atmosphere that felt expertly crafted in the proceeding two acts, it all just sort of descends into chaos. We learn, in quite quick succession, that Han has no real interest in crowning a champion to this tournament and instead uses the whole thing as a ruse to recruit talent for his international crime operation. This is all well and good, but the whole intrigue in the first place was around this tournament of highly specialised athletes, so to not only have this be completely unresolved but just abandoned altogether feels like a bit of a jip.

Furthermore, what exactly is Han's enterprise? It is never made clear. For no discernible reason, in his underground lair he has the following items: cages full of old men, imprisoned western women being seemingly experimented on, some sort of strange stew being made for export - is it heroin? Human remains? - and an acid bath for anyone who challenges his authoritahhh. To be honest, this entire portion of the film feels a little bit Connery-Era James Bond, more specifically a knock-off version of Connery-Era James Bond, which makes the whole thing feel very Austin Powers and starts to tickle the old 'doesn't quite ring true' button.

Finally there is a Han's greatest fighter - Bolo. Played very unsettlingly by Yeung Sze, he is a muscle-bound killer who crushes mortals to death using only his bare hands and, as such, makes for a quite terrifying presence throughout. So to see him fight Roper at the end, get pretty easily battered, and then die from a kick in the testicles is quite disappointing. I mean, would he be in extreme pain from such a blow? Almost certainly. Would his ability to have children be affected long-term? I'm not a doctor but I'm sure it wouldn't help. But to actually LOSE HIS LIFE from a kick to the nads, especially for such strong presence in the film, feels once again like we're being a little bit short-changed.

All that aside, the one area that most certainly isn't lacking is highlighting Bruce Lee's superior skills. All fight sequences were staged by the great man and watching him in full flow is a pure joy. His technique is flawless and there are very few hits that don't feel real. One shot is staged in such a way that when he ferociously kicks a man out of frame you really do feel it in loins. Personally, I rose out of my seat a good 6 inches, giggling like a naughty schoolboy. This can only be a good thing. Plus, there is the final house of mirrors battle which is nothing short of iconic. If you know anything about filmmaking, it's hard not to marvel at how wonderfully this sequence is executed and the sheer skill it must've taken to light, stage and shoot that scene is worthy of all praise available under the sun. Bravo to all involved.

When a film has the ability to transport you out of your daily life and provide that rarest of feelings - escape - you can forgive just about anything narratively. Fortunately, this film has that quality in spades. Upon tuning in you are, almost immediately, transported to a weird version of the far east. You can almost touch, taste and feel what's going on around you and when something achieves this level of texture it makes for an altogether more rewarding cinematic experience. So when Bruce starts going absolutely bezerk in the final act, it feels earned and lands that extra little bit harder as a result. While not a perfect film by any means, as a kung-fu thriller it makes for a thoroughly exhilarating ride and serves as the pinnacle of Bruce Lee's screen career, which is worth 2 hours of your time in and of itself.

★★★★☆

JB.