Enter The Dragon. The title couldn’t have been more prophetic for it was this movie’s success that really proved to be the entry point in Hollywood for many Hong Kong-based Chinese actors and moviemakers. Sadly the film’s main lead- Bruce Lee couldn’t see its spectacular success for he had made his final exit from this world one month before its theatrical release.

 

Remembering this landmark film is more about remembering Bruce Lee- a legend that has become a part of the movie- folklore. Born in San Francisco, Lee spent most of his childhood years in Hong Kong. A bespectacled, hot-headed boy who always got embroiled in street fights, Lee enrolled as a martial arts student-mainly to curb his wayward aggressiveness but such was his talent that he went on to become a master who invented Jeet Kune Do - his own style of martial arts, which combined elements of boxing, Thai Kick-boxing and Kung-Fu.

 

Warner Brothers decided to make Enter The Dragon after seeing Lee’s tremendous box-office appeal and cult status in Hong Kong and China where his martial arts dominated TV-series The Green Hornet and movies like Big Boss, Fist Of Fury (Chinese Connection) and Return Of The Dragon were a huge success. The formula used in Enter The Dragon has now become the prototype for all major martial arts movies produced by Hollywood. So the film has a basic Good V/s Evil plus revenge plot, an East- West lead pair (Bruce Lee – John Saxon), a generous helping of humor and loads of breathtaking action- sequences.

 

A talented martial artist Lee (Bruce Lee) is recruited by British intelligence to investigate a reclusive millionaire Han, a renegade martial arts expert who now owns an island and indulges in illegal activities. Lee is given a task of entering the tournament and getting concrete evidence against Han. Since Lee’s sister had died earlier trying to save her honor from Han’s men, there is a lot at stake personally. How Lee achieves his mission with a minor helping hand from a fellow competitor (John Saxon) is the movie’s core part. Director Robert Clouse made it a crisp, stylish movie which still retains its appeal.

 

Lee’s lithe and chiseled physique, penetrative gaze and lightening fast kicks and punches made for a perfect screen spectacle. With his wry humor and expressive face, he showed that he had a good acting sense as well. But a promising acting career was nipped in the bud when Lee died in mysterious circumstances at the young age of 33. The conspiracy theories linked to his death added to his mystique.