Enter the Dragon

Enter the Dragon was Bruce Lee’s 4th movie and his first and last Hollywood picture. It was to be his big break through in the West but unfortunately he died before it premiered. Compared to his earlier movies this one has more of real story and also co stars John Saxon and Jim Kelly playing an important role in the movie. It is a mix of the spy movie and martial arts genres in a Hollywood production. So in that respect it is a more classical movie with a plot driving the action instead of the other way around like in his previous movies. The acting is at a higher level as well and the attempt at slapstick humour is luckily absent. From a story and production quality point of view this is definitely his best movie by a long stretch. And it has all the typical Bruce Lee elements incorporated in the fight sequences. Some of them are truly classic, like the final confrontation with the villain Han in the mirror palace or his revenge on Bob Wall. This is said to be the most influential martial arts movie of all times and watching it again it is easy to make connections to various other martial arts movies but also to scenes in spie movies like ‘The man with the golden gun’. Bruce Lee was far ahead of his time when it comes to fight scene choreography and watching this 50 year old movie doesn’t feel like a trip back in time from story or action point of view. The one thing that is really outdated is its rather misogynistic representation of women. In some scenes it is so exaggerated that it is no longer funny. But then again, a few years ago we had Donald Trump campaigning for president and his misogynie was apparently no reason not to elect him. There is also a scene in which Jim Kelly is assaulted by openly racist policemen. The language used by the policemen feels ‘outdated’ but their racism not. The motives that propel the action in this story like poverty, racism, drugs, prostitution and crime are unfortunately still very relevant today. For the movie this is good news as it makes the story still enjoyable today. A true classic and the Best Bruce Lee movie for sure. Not necessarily the best martial arts movie of all time but a must see for almost everyone.