Movies
“Enter The Dragon” Is Wonderfully Gleeful And For Sure Better Than “47 Ronin”
“A Shaolin martial artist travels to an island fortress to spy on an opium lord – who is also a former monk from his temple – under the guise of […]
“A Shaolin martial artist travels to an island fortress to spy on an opium lord – who is also a former monk from his temple – under the guise of attending a fighting tournament.”
Director: Robert Clouse
Writers: Michael Allin, Bruce Lee
Staring: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Kien Shih, Bolo Yeung
Release Date: August 19. 1973
IMDB
I watched Enter The Dragon (1973) in the morning on a lazy Saturday at home. And let me tell you. It was a delightful way to start a weekend. The premise of the movie is simple, but the action and passion infused within it are outstanding. Bruce Lee is a presence, but most people know that already. I love John Saxon as the traditional white American in a foreign land, and Jim Kelly is immediately iconic for his cool nonchalant attitude. Enter The Dragon has it, whatever you define it as.
The basis for Enter The Dragon is incredibly simple. And in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter at all. Lee (Bruce Lee) is a Shaolin martial art expert and he has been recruited by a government agency to attend an elite fighting championship on a desolate island that’s under the watchable evil eye of Han (Kien Shih). Joining Lee on the island are Roper (John Saxon) and Williams (Jim Kelly), both of whom are worthy fighters of their own with their own personal agendas.
You know how in Mortal Kombat games or movies there are one-on-one battles and if you win you move up to the next level? There are background stories happening in between the fights, but the cut scenes are just filler until we see more fists flying. Enter The Dragon has a bit of that mojo, but it also carries a bit of the old school 2D arcade games like TMNT or X-Men. Do you know what I am talking about? The type of games where you need to side scroll through a level as countless enemies bound at you from either side and hidden doors?
Regardless, I am digressing. But Lee is the hero who as countless enemies come flying at him from all directions. Lee, with the fastest hands alive, takes down all of these foes with passion, pizzazz and a gleeful happiness. The sound effects he makes are both stereotypical in terms of what you’d expect, but perfect in tone and pitch. His “WHOAAAA” screams are contagious. You will be doing playful fist-a-cuffs on the couch following along with mania.
There isn’t much to say about Enter The Dragon besides the fact that it is a ton of fun. Emma walked into the living room from time-to-time and asked me to turn the volume down because Bruce Lee was being too energetic with his thrusts and kicks. She didn’t necessarily believe me when I said that this movie is one of the most world renowned kung-fu movies, but then we went to go see Oppenheimer (2023) and a special 50th anniversary screening is going to air in theaters as a Fathom event.
I am not going to see it in theaters, but it was just a nice bit of validation for myself that I ended up watching it around its 50th year anniversary.
Right after I watched Enter The Dragon I put on 47 Ronin (2013) because somehow this Keanu Reeves’s homage to Japanese culture was stuck inside the Netflix Top 10. I can say definitively, without a doubt, that Enter The Dragon is better than 47 Ronin. Yes, I know, I am very brave for saying this. No need to applaud.
Enter The Dragon is streaming on MAX and I would heartily endorse anyone who wants a good laugh to watch it. You have good chuckles and great fights. You get the gist of the plot within the first five minutes and from there it’s just a nice cruise on a lazy river of flying kicks and lighting quick nunchucks.
STANKO RATING: B
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