Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Enter The Dragon is pretty much the be-all, end-all chop socky flick. I personally think Jackie Chan has made better movies, and Bruce Lee would have if he’d had the chance. However, this movie has the real-life drama of being Bruce’s last completed film giving it an element of awe that might have not been there if overshadowed by later ventures. It’s the first meld of Hollywood and Hong Kong cinema, and I think both cultures are better for it. It set the stage for the popularity of Jackie, Jet Li, John Woo, and others.

First some plot info. Lee, Roper, and Williams are invited to a Martial Arts tournament on Han’s private island. Han is a criminal mastermind and a former Shaolin Monk. He uses the tournament to recruit new talent for his organization. Lee is there to stop him and has a personal vendetta related to the death of his sister. Roper is there to make his next big winning bet. Williams is there to overcome the racial discrimination of the U.S. law. Now they all must decide their moral limits and face those that would destroy them.

It’s a very simple plot with virtually no character development or unexpected twists. It is all Martial Arts eye candy and Jeet Kune Do philosophies. It has more Chinese-style Martial Arts than most American films of the day and much better quality as far as film and sound than Oriental movies. It even has a touch of the overdubbing effect seen in foreign movies because the actor playing Han was not understandable. They had to dub his voice using another actor so the sync is off sometimes. He doesn’t talk a whole lot so don’t let that scare you from seeing the movie if you don’t like that sort of thing.

Here’s a breakdown of the fighters.
Bruce Lee – He’s the man; incredible fighting particularly with Bob Wall. He doesn’t do as good a job with acting, but who really cares? This movie would not be worth watching with any less a master in the lead role. It’s Bruce’s near-superhuman abilities that he makes look so natural that really make the movie worth the time.

John Saxon – OK, so he really is a black belt, he has a few moves here and there, but he’s mostly unimpressive. He does a good job with his role as an actor, though.

Jim Kelly - Jim is in between the first two, a good fighter and a good actor. He has great style, great form, and great screen presence. I can’t believe he didn’t do more movies (virtually nothing after the 70’s). I’m giving away one of the few plot points here, but I wish his and Roper’s fates had been reversed. Not that I hate John Saxon, I just like Jim more and wish he’d had even more time to show off what he could do.

Bob Wall – Has some skills. Rumor is that Bruce really kicked him knocking him into the surrounding extras with such force that one ended up with a broken arm. If that’s the intensity of their pranks (all indication is Bruce and Bob were buddies off screen) I’d hate to be the brunt of their anger.

Sammo Hung – not an impressive showing, but we do get a few flips out of him. I thought it was funny as a kid watching this big guy do flips, but that was before I learned to respect his real skill. I love watching for cameos from him in Jackie Chan movies now.

Jackie Chan – we barely see him. He grabs Bruce from behind and gets his neck broken. His book tells of Bruce hitting him with a pair of nunchuckas and feeling terrible about it. Of course, I wish there had been a face-off between him and Bruce. Watching the two of them go at it would have been awesome!

Yuen Biao – again we don’t really see him, but Bruce’s flip in the Bob Wall fight is actually Biao. What a beautifully executed flip!

Bolo Yueng – He’s big, he’s bad, he was the first Chinese Martial Artist I really followed much because he was so easily recognizable and did some other American movies. Unfortunately they were all forgettable. He’s more about screen presence than fighting skill.

Chuck Norris – was rumored to be in the movie, but I don’t think he is. I’ve searched carefully for him and have yet to see him.

That really covers most of the important elements of the film. If you don’t want to see these guys beating the crap out of each other no other factor is going to matter, and you’re not going to watch it for any other reason than great displays of Martial Arts. One other thing I will say, though, is that the mirror room sequence is impressive. To have that many reflective surfaces in a film with no visible camera crew is no easy task.

Content:
Some bad language and violence. There’s a little bit of nudity and some mild sexuality. It definitely deserves an R rating but is tame compared to many others with that rating.

DVD:
The DVD version I have is the 25th Anniversary release. There is a newer 2-disc version. I haven’t seen it myself, but it looks like the features are the same with a few additions, the packaging is better, and the video quality is likely to be a little better. Still, the older edition is not bad at all. I am pleased with it with a few minor exceptions.

The original packaging was a cardboard snap case. I hate those cases anyway, but this one frustrated me because the gold foil on the cover pulled off when I removed the stupid security seal. The disc is double-sided with the extras on one and the movie on the other. I prefer that over not having the extras, but the 2-disc format of the newer release is better.

Linda Lee introduces the movie which is fine, I enjoyed hearing her comments, but it automatically plays first thing and cannot be skipped. That is annoying. I don’t want to see that every time I watch the movie! I hope they changed that for the new release.

The interface is very simple, but it does have a style reminiscent of Oriental designs. Video is anamorphic 2.35 widescreen. Audio is remastered to be 5.1 surround. I wish I had an original copy to compare to the remastered audio. It sounds very nice, I’m just curious as to how much difference there really is.

Some of the extras are on both sides of the disc (like the text), but mostly you’ll want to go to side 2 for them (except for alternate soundtracks, of course). Since I can’t say for sure what the differences are between the versions, I’ll tell you as much as I can about the extras on this one and let you compare that to whatever list you can find for the other.

The feature that is most likely to catch your eye first is the additional footage. A few minutes worth of deleted scenes have been restored. The chapter menu on the inside cover specifies which scenes are new. While it’s great to be able to see the completed work, the added scenes are not very exciting. It’s mostly philosophy dialogue.

One of my favorite features to have is the isolated score. Enter the Dragon offers that. Unfortunately the music throughout is not good enough that I like to listen to it by itself (with the exception of the opening credits).

There are 3 essays. One is a brief history of the film, another is a fairly long history of Hong Kong cinema including current stars and movies, and the other is a short explanation of the significance of belts in Martial Arts. All three are worth reading.

Also for your reading pleasure there is a collection of biographies which include filmographies. Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan both have extensive pieces, while the other stars as well as the director and others have shorter ones.

The last feature included on both sides is a movie recommendations list.

Side 2 has a Linda Lee interview that includes the intro piece from side 1 as well as much more. It’s divided into multiple segments according to topic and focuses on the life of Bruce Lee.

A behind the scenes feature offers a look at training and setup for some of the more complicated scenes.

A documentary offers a more personal look at Bruce’s life. It’s made up of old interviews and movie clips. The sound quality is poor but the content is great.

There is also a home movie of Bruce working out at home. It’s only a few minutes long, but is a rare look at the rigors of a real training session.

And finally, a collection of trailers rounds out the release. 11 promo pieces give a good look not only at the ad campaign but also the way advertising was designed during that time.

Final Thoughts:
It’s a great movie for any action and Martial Arts fan. It’s an influential movie with a nice set of unusual footage making it worthy of a permanent collection. Some of Bruce’s public demonstrations would have been a tremendous addition, but the material here is pleasing. You will probably want the newer release, but because of it this one may start popping up at clearance prices. Grab it up if you can! It gets a strong 4*. It might have gotten more except for the simplistic plot, loss of Jim half-way though, cardboard case with the gold foil damaged by the security seal, and Linda Lee intro that cannot be skipped. If there were a Bruce Lee vs. Jackie Chan brawl it would get another star just for that.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age