Rent Enter the Dragon (1973)

Weirdly and Cheesy Fun Kung Fu Film - Enter the Dragon review by GI

When the martial arts film gained a massive popularity in the early 70s Hollywood soon perked up and invested in this star vehicle for Bruce Lee. It was a huge worldwide hit enhancing the production values yet retaining the cheesy action and wooden acting. Lee died before this was fully released and so the film has held a certain place in the hearts of fans and in the cycle of Kung Fu films and especially those starring Lee this is arguably the best of the bunch. It's certainly great fun and has all the tropes of the genre including the added on sound effects unique to martial arts films. Lee gurnes his way through the fighting making his trademark squeals and groans as he despatches multiple enemies. The story matters little really as this is all about the fight scenes but there is a story of sorts here that is clearly based on the James Bond series with the main villain modelled on Dr No, right down to his metal hands and oriental style jacket, and to top all of that he's given a Blofeldesque white cat to stroke. Here Lee (retaining the name for his character) is a secret agent sent to the fortress island of heroin producer Han (Kien Shih) to participate in a brutal martial arts contest but really to get evidence of all the criminal activity. He gets assisted by a dodgy American gambler, Roper (John Saxon), who is also a top Kung Fu expert Actually everyone on the island is a Kung Fu expert and Lee and Roper get to fight most of them, Lee with a variety of weapons to showcase his skills including nunchucks which the British censor had real problems with as kids with Bruce Lee posters on their bedroom walls either bought or made their own and beat each other up until the UK Government banned them. The whole thing is totally daft and some aspects of it have not dated well including a scene with karate champion Jim Kelly and some racist cops. But as an example of a genre that was hugely popular within a certain time this is worth checking out if you've never seen it.