Enter The Dragon

As you can see from the title I couldn't quite think of a witty and humorous title for this blog post, but oh well cest la vie and all that. And yes this is due to be my second essay thingy in one week. And no I haven't gone mad. What I have done is realise how much longer we have of our 'summer holiday' left. A week essentially, well with a few extra days. So since stumbling across this rather depressing reality I though I still have alot of work to do so here I am, bored as hell on a sunday so Im going to do another post.

This one is on Enter The Dragon. It was directed by Robert Clouse and released in 1973. And straight away this film is special as it is the first co-made Japanese and American martial arts film. Being the first martial arts film to be made by an Hollywood studio is pretty damned big news. Now although this film is deemed American/Asain to most people it is considered to be predominantly Asain due to the location as the majority of it is set in Hong Kong, the actors as it mainly stars Asians, and the films star Bruce Lee even revised of the script and even directed parts of it. It was made with Golden Harvest, a Chinese film production studio and Lee's own film production company Concord.

So although this film does have a bit of America in it, it is Asian at heart, this is mainly due to Bruce Lee wishing to portray this film not as another mindless action film but as a wway of expressing his beautiful Chinese culture.

The plot of this film revolves around Bruce Lee's originally named character, Lee as a martial artist/monk type guy who is asked by some suits (the FBI or the government, who knows) to infiltrate a karate tournament on an island hosted by Han, as Han is thought to be a heroine/opium dealer. Needless to say Lee agrees and becomes enthralled in a masquerade of murder and martial arts until the film flash kicks its way to one of the most iconic climaxes in cinema, the mirror maze fight between Lee and the claw handed, Han.

You don't mess with the Lee

As the picture above shows the star of this film is the late and very great Bruce Lee. He died 6 dyas before the release of the film mysteriously making this his last film and most well known, influential, iconic and money making. Bruce had previously starred in films before this, most notable were his martian arts films with Golden Harvest Studios such as the film that catapulted him to fame Big Boss. Now this article is not on Bruce Lee, but it could quite easly be given that this film helped him to achieve fame in the US and in Europe. But this film did not just make Bruce a legend. The film it self was a box office legend taking in an estimated 90 million dollars world wide with only 850, 000 dollars for a budget, making this one of the most profitable films ever made.

As well as making Bruce a hit all over the world even after his untimely death, Enter the Dragon also as my hypotheses states, changed world cinema forever. Not only did it introduce the world to the brilliance that was Bruce Lee but it also introduced the world to the martial arts sub-genre. Before Enter, martial arts films were a massive niche market of films only really found in Asia at the time. Enter changed all that. The box office taking show don't you think. But it was not just in cinema that martial arts was making an impact, it made an impact on the whole world with martial arts themed shows such as 'Kung Fu' and songs such as Kunf Fu Fighting. Enter had changed media at the time. People every where were taking up martial arts inspired by the film. That along with the fact it sparked a sub-genre in itself is reason enough as to why this film is so influential and had such an impact on world cinema. But it also paved the way for modern films such as the money spinning Rush Hour trilogy.

Which conveniently allows me to move on to my next point. If launching a sub-genre wasn't enough and establishing Bruce Lee as a popular culture icon, but also launching the acting career of none other than Jackie Chan. Chan starred as a stunt man in this film as well as having many other minor roles, this lead to further association with Golden Harvest Studios and arguably the launching of Chans film career. Further acting on world cinema as Chan has starred in 94 films himself. Thsi can only snowball really as arguing that it paved the way for Jet Li as well. I think you see where im going with this. Enter the Dragon = alot for martial arts to be thankful for really.

A financial and critical extrodianre. One of hte most culturally significant and one of the greatest films of all time. Taken into accont all it has done for cinema that is not really a surprise is it.

It is also constantly referenced in popular culture. A list on wikipedia to long for me to type out on this. Bruce and the film are referenced in countless number of video games, inspiring characters and move sets. Inspiring scenes from other popular films such as Pulp Fiction and many many more.

According to wiki a remake is even said to be in the works.

Bruce Lee's wife once said that we shouldn't dwell on how Bruce died but rather remember how he lived. Enter the Dragon is a prime example of the man and one of the best martial arts experiences there is as the jewel in the crown of martial arts films.

- Alex x