MARTIAL ARTS - MY FIRST INTRODUCTION. Review on Enter the Dragon - Bruce Lee

MARTIAL ARTS - MY FIRST INTRODUCTION

BRUCE LEE never looked so charming in any of his earlier films made in HongKong or China, he looked very handsome in ENTER THE DRAGON, this was the first film of KUNG FU I ever saw, I did not knew the word KUNG FU before this movie. Now in my country soap commercials, motorcycle commercials, car commercials using one or other aspect of kung fu to promote their products, my 5 year old daughter lifts up her hands ready to fight as soon she hears the word KUNG-FU.

BRUCE LEE holds the position of COLUMBUS in telling the world about Kung-fu, before him or before the film ENTER THE DRAGON our world was KUNG-FU less.

BRUCE LEE

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This man had a charming face, it is a feast to watching him walking, he seems like gliding on the air, my college friends used to copy this walk to make themselves look menacing and leathel to discourage any would be challengers . I feel there was a radience around BRUCE LEE’s head and face, his personality radiated confidence and kinetic energy, he was a 5 feet 7 inches tall giant who reached the heights of stardom no KUNG-FU star could ever touch.

Since 1977 We have seen 100 times ENTER THE DRAGON and still we cannot stop our amazement for this man’s art and skills, all the crouching lions, jumping monkeys or angry dragons could never come anywhere near to the admiration BRUCE LEE enjoyed all over the world.

BRUCE LEE was a GLOBAL STAR, GLOBAL HERO if there ever was a person who could claim this title, Bruce Lee had that status without arguements, he became a legend of KUNG-FU in China and everywhere else in the world, a film hero with no parallels.

JAMES BOND has that global fame and following, but to enjoy James Bond the viewer needs a bit of sophistication and higher awareness level, roughly speaking you need education to understand the charm of James Bond, BRUCE LEE is a hero who was a hero to the first time moviegoer, or the more polished regular movie goer. This man was a perfect example of body language study for experts in search of a icon for this global world. He will be acceptable in all corners North, South, East, West period.

There are so many actors and Kung-Fu master equal in skill to Bruce Lee, they could never reach the great grand master status Bruce Lee enjoyed, but it was only possible with the film ENTER THE DRAGON, a film which made Bruce Lee a hero in China into a Hero of the world. He died soon after this film, at the age of 33 years.

THE MOVIE REVIEW

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ACTORS : John Saxon, Kien Shih, Jim Kelly ,

Robert Wall, Bolo Yeung , Peter Archer and others with Bruce Lee, He is approached by government official to accept the invitation of Mr.Han’s tournament, Lee goes to Han’s Island to avenge his sisters death in the previous tournament and to help government uncover the activities of DRUG LORD Han. There is the angle of Temple of Shoalin too as they do not want criminals to use Kung-Fu for evil purposes. Heroin manufacture is done in underground facilities, beneath the martial arts school on Hans island, he has employed the instructors and students in the school as an army of body guards. John Saxon is a playboy who is hoping his financial problems will vanish in the tournament. Jim Kelly is angry with the rules of the island and looked good in the film, Bolo Yeung is very young and he inspires awe in all his films.

The settings of the film were very good and bright lit out in the open, not in some dark alleys or congested spaces, the spaces were well arranged to highlight fights. This film is fast riding its pace is engaging, small roles were done by Jackie Chan (in the Pub Fight, his neck is broken by Lee) and Sammo Hung (Martial Law fame) (as Lee’s partner in the opening fight sequence). In present day films, we have scenes digitally enhanced or involve wire hanging or Matrix like Kung-fu without actual stuntmen works. But ENTER THE DRAGON has classic fights, we can watch them over and over any number of times the images of BRUCE LEE come cross over from imagery into reality, I have never seen a actor become real life and a living person except BRUCE LEE in ENTER THE DRAGON, he is not in the film but in front of our eyes, just showing his skills and talents disconnected from the story or anything around him.

There were some other films after this for Bruce Lee but his magic was vey evident and very well presented in this movie, no other martial arts film has that magic, what with the Evil Face of Han and the Mirror room sequence and the island where cameras are placed to cover fights very well and no unnatural stunts, all are believable without stress or concentration.

Music was very fine, dialogues in the context of the scene were appropriate, like when Lee says to one person I specialize in the art of fighting without fighting, all these things lent a very special air to this film, not one role or one part in this film was unnecessary, the girls, the vallins, the actors and all made it a perfect diet of Martial Arts with no overdose and no sour ear drums.

Yo Martial Arts are good arts needs to be presented properly in a digestable manner.