Written and created by Matthew Pejkovic

Contact: mattsm@mattsmoviereviews.net

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1973
ENTER THE DRAGON

STARRING:BRUCE LEE,JOHN SAXON,SHIH KEIN,JIM KELLY,AHNA CAPRI, ANGELA MAO,ROBERT WALL,BOLO YENG

WRITTEN BY MICHAEL ALLIN

PRODUCED BY PAUL HELLER,BRUCE LEE & FRED WEINTRAUB

DIRECTED BY ROBERT CLOUSE

GENRE:MARTIAL ARTS/ACTION

RATED:AUSTRALIA:MA/UK:18/USA:R

RUNNING TIME:98 MIN

Not being able to land a leading role in a western film for years -in the process becoming a huge star in China- actor and martial artist extraordinaire Bruce Lee finally got his break with Enter the Dragon.
Lee stars as (funnily enough) Lee, a martial artist from the Shaolin Temple who agrees to help British Intelligence by entering a martial artist tournament hosted by former Shaolin monk Han (Shi Kein) who the British believe is dealing with Opium. The only problem is they have no evidence to back their claims, so it is up to Lee to gather information while also bringing back respect to his temple and (in a ridiculous sub-plot) avenge the death of his sister who took her own life when faced with the prospect of being violated by
Hans men.
A film that greatly influenced the martial arts genre with the use of flash backs and themes of honour and revenge that are common place since this film was released (while the whole martial tournament angle has been used in everything from Blood Sport to Mortal Kombat), Enter the Dragon never the less suffers from the traits found in most martial arts films of the 1970's. The acting is wooden and the sound effects are even worse (especially in terms of voice dubbing). But the fight scenes are excellent especially in reference to Bruce Lee, who although may not be the greatest actor his presence and athletic ability sure as hell make him one of the greatest stars as he dazzles with his Jeet Kun Do.
In fact when the camera is not on him the film falters tremendously as neither John Saxon nor Jim Kelly have the charisma nor acting chops to hold centre stage. This is Bruce Lee's film, the one that finally broke him to a larger western audience and I am certain had he not passed away there would have been many more good films to come.
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