[Bruce took the day off yesterday to eat some turkey but he's back now. Here ends our A Bruce A Day series with a look at Lee's final completed film.]
Though his life would end tragically just as he hit his prime, having completed just four feature films, at least Bruce Lee fans can take solace in the fact that the iconic performer left at the absolute peak of his game, his final completed work standing as an absolutely indisputable classic of martial arts film.
With Enter The Dragon, Bruce Lee achieved the sort of cross over success he had longed for. Produced cooperatively by Hong Kong and Hollywood interests, Enter the Dragon allowed Lee not only all the resources that Hollywood could offer - resources clearly seen on screen - but also the ability to appear on screen as he wanted - as a distinctly Asian leading man, rather than as a Hollywood caricature or piece of token casting. This was Lee arriving at the peak, hailed by both the US and Hong Kong as a legitimate star on his own terms - the sort of opportunity that rarely comes to any performer and one which the star certainly did not squander.
Lee stars - conveniently enough - as Lee, a young Shaolin master set on a collision course with the villainous Han, a former student of Shaolin who has abandoned the teachings of the temple and instead used his skills to create a vast criminal enterprise. The temple wants Lee to cleanse away the shameful stain of having trained this evil man. Western secret service forces need Lee to act as an infiltrating agent, going places they cannot reach. Lee himself? He is hungry for revenge against the men responsible for his sister's death. His point of access? A high stakes martial arts tournament hosted by Han on his private island once every three years. Once there, Lee will not only have to survive the tournament itself but also find the evidence needed by law enforcement officials to move in and then, finally, face Han himself in a battle to the death.
Enter The Dragon is a striking feature on a number of levels. First, it is notable for the visual look and feel of the thing. The highest budgeted film of Lee's career, Enter the Dragon boasts some stunning set and location work - all of it beautifully captured on film. The early boat passage through the crowded Hong Kong harbor is a particular favorite in this regard, and the higher budget is also reflected in the size and scale of the action sequences once they begin in earnest.
Second, it is a surprising reminder of just how much standards have changed and attention spans have shrunk for this sort of film in the intervening years. Oh, no mistake about it, Enter the Dragon moves at a fast clip with a variety of interesting characters and environments but this is a also a martial arts film in which the first real fight doesn't come until around the half hour mark and the first big fight involving Lee himself does not arrive for nearly twenty minutes after that. While very much a fight film this is also a picture that takes its characters and story very seriously and it takes the time needed to get those elements right as well, a factor largely forgotten in most current action films.
And third, Enter The Dragon is a remarkable example of the fusion of influences that made Lee such a universal star int he first place. While very much concerned with being an Asian star, Lee refused to adhere to the normal boundaries that entailed and fused a huge variety of other influences in to his work and nowhere was that more evident than here. The casting of international stars such as John Saxon and Jim Kelly is the first big tip off to what is being done here and, sure enough, the Hong Kong influences are matched square on by blaxploitation, seventies spy adventures and more mainstream Hollywood action tropes, the multiple influences merging cleanly into one compelling and unique whole.
Lee, of course, is in top form here, delivering the most charismatic performance of his career. Killer cool, Lee is a coiled mass of energy just waiting to be turned loose. The fight sequences are classic, the attitude spot on, the serious tone of the film lightened by just the right comic touches.
As with all the Lee films I've been reviewing over the past week, this review is based on the recent Hong Kong BluRay edition of the film. Picture quality is comparable to the rest of the discs in the series - which is to say perfectly fine but not exceptional - with the one big surprise being the complete omission of the English language track, the audio being presented only in the Cantonese, Mandarin or Thai dub versions. Surprising? More of a shock considering that the earlier Way of the Dragon disc leaves the English intact on the primary audio track of that release, presenting it by default in a mixed-language mode, which would have been the ideal thing here as well. The absence of any audio track that presents the dialogue in the original spoken languages is a serious draw back.
Though his life would end tragically just as he hit his prime, having completed just four feature films, at least Bruce Lee fans can take solace in the fact that the iconic performer left at the absolute peak of his game, his final completed work standing as an absolutely indisputable classic of martial arts film.
With Enter The Dragon, Bruce Lee achieved the sort of cross over success he had longed for. Produced cooperatively by Hong Kong and Hollywood interests, Enter the Dragon allowed Lee not only all the resources that Hollywood could offer - resources clearly seen on screen - but also the ability to appear on screen as he wanted - as a distinctly Asian leading man, rather than as a Hollywood caricature or piece of token casting. This was Lee arriving at the peak, hailed by both the US and Hong Kong as a legitimate star on his own terms - the sort of opportunity that rarely comes to any performer and one which the star certainly did not squander.
Lee stars - conveniently enough - as Lee, a young Shaolin master set on a collision course with the villainous Han, a former student of Shaolin who has abandoned the teachings of the temple and instead used his skills to create a vast criminal enterprise. The temple wants Lee to cleanse away the shameful stain of having trained this evil man. Western secret service forces need Lee to act as an infiltrating agent, going places they cannot reach. Lee himself? He is hungry for revenge against the men responsible for his sister's death. His point of access? A high stakes martial arts tournament hosted by Han on his private island once every three years. Once there, Lee will not only have to survive the tournament itself but also find the evidence needed by law enforcement officials to move in and then, finally, face Han himself in a battle to the death.
Enter The Dragon is a striking feature on a number of levels. First, it is notable for the visual look and feel of the thing. The highest budgeted film of Lee's career, Enter the Dragon boasts some stunning set and location work - all of it beautifully captured on film. The early boat passage through the crowded Hong Kong harbor is a particular favorite in this regard, and the higher budget is also reflected in the size and scale of the action sequences once they begin in earnest.
Second, it is a surprising reminder of just how much standards have changed and attention spans have shrunk for this sort of film in the intervening years. Oh, no mistake about it, Enter the Dragon moves at a fast clip with a variety of interesting characters and environments but this is a also a martial arts film in which the first real fight doesn't come until around the half hour mark and the first big fight involving Lee himself does not arrive for nearly twenty minutes after that. While very much a fight film this is also a picture that takes its characters and story very seriously and it takes the time needed to get those elements right as well, a factor largely forgotten in most current action films.
And third, Enter The Dragon is a remarkable example of the fusion of influences that made Lee such a universal star int he first place. While very much concerned with being an Asian star, Lee refused to adhere to the normal boundaries that entailed and fused a huge variety of other influences in to his work and nowhere was that more evident than here. The casting of international stars such as John Saxon and Jim Kelly is the first big tip off to what is being done here and, sure enough, the Hong Kong influences are matched square on by blaxploitation, seventies spy adventures and more mainstream Hollywood action tropes, the multiple influences merging cleanly into one compelling and unique whole.
Lee, of course, is in top form here, delivering the most charismatic performance of his career. Killer cool, Lee is a coiled mass of energy just waiting to be turned loose. The fight sequences are classic, the attitude spot on, the serious tone of the film lightened by just the right comic touches.
As with all the Lee films I've been reviewing over the past week, this review is based on the recent Hong Kong BluRay edition of the film. Picture quality is comparable to the rest of the discs in the series - which is to say perfectly fine but not exceptional - with the one big surprise being the complete omission of the English language track, the audio being presented only in the Cantonese, Mandarin or Thai dub versions. Surprising? More of a shock considering that the earlier Way of the Dragon disc leaves the English intact on the primary audio track of that release, presenting it by default in a mixed-language mode, which would have been the ideal thing here as well. The absence of any audio track that presents the dialogue in the original spoken languages is a serious draw back.
To my knowledge this has never been released in English on home video in HK. As far as I can tell Fortune Star does not own rights to the English audio track - those rights are at Warner Bros, and I'd hope Twitch-reading Hong Kong Cinema buffs are up to speed on what jerks they are by now.