Max’s Drive-In Movie – Enter The Dragon

Enter The Dragon Final

I remember black velvet paintings in the 1970s. Two of the biggest subjects of those paintings were Elvis Presley and Bruce Lee and at one time I had a Bruce Lee painting. Lee was one of my non-musical and non-baseball childhood heroes. This guy was the MAN. Bruce Lee was Rambo, Rocky, and the Terminator rolled into one…but with one difference…he was real. He also had a coolness about him.

After watching his movies when I was young I also purchased some nunchucks when I was a teenager and konked my noggin enough times to realize I was no Bruce Lee. Lee was the first actor to bridge East and West. He understood how to speak to both audiences no one else ever had. Enter the Dragon was the first film co-produced in Hong Kong and Hollywood. Bruce greatly influenced the action movie genre from the 70s to now.

Bruce would run into nut cases at times. Some person idiot would call him out and want to challenge him to a fight while he would be walking down the street and Bruce would have to defend himself while teaching the person a lesson. Imagine being the dolt who saw Bruce Lee and thought it would be a good idea to fight him. A boxer who sparred with him said “Body of a lightweight with a hit stronger than a heavyweight.”

Bob Wall who appeared in some of Bruce Lee’s movies said this.

One day, while filming Enter the Dragon, an extra taunted Bruce Lee and challenged him to fight. The extra told Bruce he was just an actor, not a martial arts expert… The whole thing went won like this. This kid was good. He was no punk. He was strong and fast, and he was really trying to punch Bruce’s brains in. But Bruce just methodically took him apart.

I mean Bruce kept moving so well, this kid couldn’t touch him…Then all of a sudden, Bruce got him and rammed his ass into the wall and swept him, he proceeded to drop his knee into his opponent’s chest, locked his arm out straight, and nailed him in the face repeatedly.

This 1973 movie was Bruce Lee’s final completed film before his death. The movie contributed to martial arts’s global popularity and helped make Bruce Lee’s legacy. I also want to include John Saxon in this. I’ve always been a fan of Saxon in whatever movie he was in. He plays a character named Roper in this flick. Saxon was also a student of Bruce Lee.

The movie’s plot is about a British intelligence agent named Braithwaite to participate in a martial arts tournament organized by the mysterious and reclusive crime lord named Han. Han is suspected of being involved in illegal activities such as prostitution, and human and drug trafficking, and the tournament is a cover for these operations. Lee’s mission is to gather evidence against Han and bring down his criminal empire.

It’s a good story movie with plenty of action scenes. I’ve seen some martial arts movies that dump the story and just go for action. This one is not like that…quality writing and acting throughout the film. It influenced many of the action films that came later. The film keeps the action, drama, and some comedy flowing. It’s worth it to see Bruce Lee with his almost balletic moves.

While filming Bruce in fight scenes Bruce had to slow down his movements so the camera would catch it. His training methods were legendary and some say he was the fastest human they had ever seen.

Before this, Bruce had problems finding acting jobs after the TV series The Green Hornet. He became a private instructor to the stars such as Steve McQueen, John Saxon, and more. He moved to Hong Kong in 1971 and made three Asian movies, Fists of Fury, The Chinese Connection, and Return the Dragon. 

The next movie was a joint production between Hong Kong and US production companies. The movie was Enter the Dragon and it was Bruce’s breakthrough movie. Unfortunately, Bruce Lee died six days before the film’s Hong Kong release.

Quotes:

  • Lee: Teacher?
  • Shaolin Abbott: I see your talents have gone beyond the mere physical level. Your skills are now at the point of spiritual insight. I have several questions. What is the highest technique you hope to achieve ?
  • Lee: To have no technique.
  • Shaolin Abbott: Very good. What are your thoughts when facing an opponent?
  • Lee: There is no opponent.
  • Shaolin Abbott: And why is that ?
  • Lee: Because the word “I” does not exist.
  • Shaolin Abbott: So, continue…
  • Lee: A good fight should be like a small play, but played seriously. A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come. When the opponent expands, I contract. When he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Bruce created a jambalaya of martial arts, adding and discarding moves that were less effective. No wasted movements I took it to heart, I dedicated myself to preparation by maintaining complete focus during basketball practice and my training with Bruce. As a result, I became stronger, faster and a much more intense player. Bruce was an innovator and caused martial arts to move forward. … The skyhook is the embodiment of an efficient shot that requires minimal movement but sudden speed.

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

44 thoughts on “Max’s Drive-In Movie – Enter The Dragon”

    1. Thanks! Lee had everything…it’s incredible how strong the guy was and highly tuned. Yea the fight scenes look so real in this.

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      2. I would love to see this on the big screen. I’ll go over that one again. I like how they injected some comedy in there as well during that scene with some nods and shakes.

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      3. Moments of comedy in martial arts movies make a big difference. Some martial arts films take themselves way too seriously while being unintentionally humorous. I loved the work Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung did together.

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  4. Bruce Lee made the best noises and when I was young, I used to try and imitate him. He should have had the lead role in the TV series Kung Fu, but that was given to David Carradine. At least Bruce Lee did star on the Green Hornet as Kato.

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    1. No telling. I’ve read where modern martial arts people are aghast on how much he trained. Two finger push ups and he used weights but used them to tone himself…He had things built to train with…like a device like a metal ring type thing where he would punch through…if he didn’t punch fast enough and pull his arm out (we are talking split seconds) in time it would shock the hell out of him.

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    1. Yea…it was a mystery on how he died. That could have caused some of it or led to it. I just can’t believe how strong he was being as small as he was.

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  7. “Boards don’t fight back.” Greatest movie line ever! Bruce was a martial arts superstar — and then he was dead. It was devastating to hear he died. And then his son after him 😦

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    1. I know…it was so sad. I’m watching as I type this…the outtakes to his movie he was working on when he died…Game of Death with Kareem Abdul Jabbar if I spelled that right!
      Lee was a hero growing up…he was almost super human…. his son…yea that was just awful!

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  8. This is a great film and certainly Bruce was a remarkable person. I worked a Repertory Theatre in the mid 70’s and we showed this movie and several martial arts films, to be honest it put me off the genre but I will say Bruce was a stand out.

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  9. I’ve never been much into martial arts films. The one exception was the 70s TV series “Kung Fu” starring David Carradine, which was also shown in Germany. That one I watched fairly frequently – in retrospect, I’m not quite sure why! 🙂

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    1. I saw both with people on the side of the road selling them in different places. Those two are the ones I remember….I would actually like to have one to add to my 70s collection…Elvis or Bruce.

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  11. I remember as a young teen walking into a house that smelled like weed and seeing a velvet painting of a nude black woman with a three foot tall Afro and breasteses the size of the biggest cantaloupes you’ve ever seen! Man that was an inspirational painting. I’ll never forget that.

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  12. Yeh, he was something else. Almost an otherworldly figure. I enjoyed reading this article a lot Max and learnt a few things. I am still ‘p(%ed’ how Tarantino portrayed him in his ‘Hollywood’ movie, but may be we should leave that alone considering you are a big fan of that one.

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    1. I am PISSED (I’ll say it) …I’m a huge Tarantino fan but I thought it was cheap to do that to Lee. Lee would have kicked a stuntmans ass and then some. I’m glad you brought it up…I meant to include it in the article.

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      6. I like that one as well.
        I just saw Fist of Fury yesterday for the first time. I missed that one through the years… it was really good

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      7. They play his movies here on Cable regularly. It’s really cool. I reviewed the biopic of him based on his wife’s memoirs called ‘Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story’ which I thought was the best expose of his artistry and legacy for a Bruce layperson.

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      12. From what I’ve read he threw away any wasteful move… and the little I read of his ways…it revolved around water….being water.

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