Enter The Dragon (1972)

The martial arts film makes up a whole genre by itself, with its own devoted audience and a large collection of films. Despite its cult popularity, the genre has rarely produced films that have appealed to a wider audience than than the martial arts fans. Most cinema goers probably haven't even heard of many martials arts films, but if they have heard of some then it's likely that one of them is the Bruce Lee film, “Enter The Dragon”.

Bruce Lee is probably the most famous star of martial arts cinema, even though (or perhaps because of) his untimely death shortly after completing filming on Enter The Dragon. There is no doubt that he is the star of this film, his martial arts skills are astounding and, although he's not a great actor, he acquits himself well enough in the acting department with a charismatic performance.

Martial arts films aren't renowned for complex plots, and this is no exception. Lee (Bruce Lee) is recruited by British Intelligence to infiltrate the island fortress of crime-lord Han (Kien Shih) – a man whose minions attacked Lee's sister. Fortunately, Han is obsessed with martial arts and is holding a major tournament on his island, inviting fighters from all over the world – including gambling obsessed American Roper (John Saxon) and his friend Williams (Jim Kelly).

There's not much more to the plot than the above paragraph, the rest of the film is devoted to a relatively slow build-up followed by a number of impressive action scenes, culminating in a one-on-one duel in a hall of mirrors.

The action scenes may lack the special effects of later films, but their simplicity may be their strength as there's nothing to get in the way of the impressive feats of physical prowess displayed in this film.

The actors have obviously been chosen more for their martial arts skills than their acting ability, and the script tends to be quite bland – but for such a movie these things aren't the highest priority.

This is a simple but effective film that deserves it's place as one of the most famous martial arts films in history.

Rating : 7 / 10

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All content ©2003 William Marnoch.

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