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Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon
Alternative titles (real)
The Deadly Three; Long zheng hu dou; Operation Dragon
Studio executives summary / pitch

Cult US/Hong Kong martial arts motion picture, release delayed because it's star, Bruce Lee, died in 'mysterious circumstances'.

Short plot summary

A Shaolin temple Monk dude has gone bad. The authorities know he is involved with drugs, some women have been found dead because of heroin overdose, but can't prove anything... that's where Lee (Bruce Lee) comes in...

... there's a once every three years martial arts tournament organized on the bad guy's island coming up... Bruce, go see what's up wontcha? Tar mate... Oh, and, by the way, the bastard killed your sister...

Rating
Adult caution rating: Contains scenes of face slapping, crotch whacking, 'eeeeeyyyaaaooooo!' screaming, outrageous 1970's black racial stereotype hairstyles, significant amounts of upper body male nudity, moments of flashback story telling.
What our panel of critics thought

"Those sumo's were clearly taking the piss, stopping like they were statues when the master of ceremonies welcomed our hero's to the martial arts tournament... I want my money back!"

"Those weren't sumo's you idiot, they were belly rubbers."

"Mr tall martial arts man: My! what a nice frizzly haired perm you have my dear, but how rotten you were to those fine upstanding officers of the law!"

"Toughening your hands up in the hot coals? I always got a nose bleed when I did that, although I always managed to projectile-snot it on to some sorry ass's clean white robes! Hooray for violence!"

"Some of the fight scenes are really quite realistic."

"I always find it amazing that the baddy never grabs Lee's neck from behind, there's no getting out of that one."

"Has everything, including the Asian baddy with the white cat! Bravisimo!"

"I know Mr Bruce is supposed to be a nice person, but what a rotter he was to that young student at the beginning! I was once kicked out of karate school for slapping back!"

Please tell me the ending

Everyone is slapped or kicked to unconsciousness by our hero.

In a room filled with mirrors, the baddy gets it but only after scratching our hero's upper body and left facial cheek just enough for the iconic posters.

Imprisoned black coats are then released and they beat up the white coats. Everything then ends, the bad guy dead. Not sure what happened to the white cat though...

Justify this movie's existence in the classic strand. From theVoiceof Reason.com's classically trained Veritable Cornucopia

One has always fancied oneself as a martial artist, but could never be much bothered to turn up for class, let alone to launder ones white togs to the required fluorescence. The kicks alone are justification for the screams of Bravisimo which left ones mouth at times during this enterprise. However, one is unsure if this movie would have been half as revered had its star not died before this movie was released.

Bruce Lee went to bed early one eve with a headache and didn't regain consciousness. An open verdict was returned, the most likely cause was a swollen brain from too many hits to the head. Of course, conspiracy theories spread across the world, and this movie became a smash hit and Bruce Lee became a massive star.

This movie is little more than a martial arts actioner with a little bit of philosophy, which today we have seen many times. A rather skinny fighter (in real life a true champion, legend has it) but in a movie such as this the visuals have to get precedence to the reality and what we are left with is a very nicely dancy display of martial artistry, and thoughts of what might have been...
Quotable quotes (real)
"I see your talents have gone beyond the mere physical level."
"The style of no style."
"What is your style?: The art of fighting without fighting."
"We are all ready to win just as we are born knowing only life."
What snack should I eat while watching this movie?

Crispy locust on crunchy toast.

If I were to watch this at home how best should I sit?

In the in-boat position of flash back remembrance of times past.

Could this movie be improved with more eeeaaoowwww! screams?

It takes a bit of getting used to if you are not used to hearing grown men making this noise. I can remember, in the school playground, around this time, lots of wanna be hard nuts would screech so. A good hard knuckle sandwich to the upper arm was generally enough to scare them off lest one would be forced to go ballistic on their shins.

How philosophical is this film?

Summed up in the following quote:
What is your style?: The art of fighting without fighting

If you had to invite five friends to watch this movie with you, who would you invite?
  • Friends more advanced than pink belt in Karate
  • Any friend who has ever done the 'breaking of the bricks' with their hands or elbow, or a big hammer
  • Friends who look good with their shirt open all the way
  • Relations who can do the eeeaaoowww! noise on cue
  • Friends who's lips are slightly out of sync with their words, as if being dubbed in post production.
What can I take from this movie to make me a better person?

Martial arts are probably safer than skydiving in the scheme of things, however in the movies this isn't true.

If you are ever asked to a martial arts tournament where there is real neck snapping, probably best to run for the hills (after bowing politely, before, of course).

Estimate number of minutes of slapping in this movie.

12 minutes, including 2 minutes of back of hand slapping and 3 minutes of foot slapping madness.

How much would you pay for a copy of this movie in goods?

A ten week course in the 'one inch punch'.

How up its own ass is this movie?

No doubt Bruce Lee was a great martial artist, however the fights in this movie are probably not possible in real life.

WARNING: The eeeoowwww! screech is very dangerous - beware - this could deafen if attempted close to the ear.

Would this movie win awards for performances of the f-word?

No f-word noticed, a terrible, missed, opportunity.

Other comments

One of the first Asians in a lead role in a (sort of) US movie. Lead actor (Bruce Lee) dies in mysterious circumstances in real life (or at least that's what they said when the movie's release was delayed due to it). A pretty bog standard martial arts effort by today's standards but in its time there were many new things here and that is probably why the movie is so revered.

Had Bruce Lee not died, we probably would have put this movie in the popcorn strand. He seemed like a really great guy.

The fact that they lip sync the sound in later really annoys (just imagine having to do the eeeeaaaooowww! in a studio afterwards!)

Date of Review

July 20 , 2003 (30th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death)

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