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Regular
Price $79.98
Starring:
Bruce Lee,
John Saxon,
Kien Shih,
Ahna Capri,
Angela Mao,
Directed By:
Robert Clouse,
Rated: R (Restricted)
Release Date: 1973-08-19
Studio: Steeplechase Video
Format:
Anamorphic,
Closed-captioned,
Color,
DVD-Video,
Widescreen,
NTSC,
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Editorial Reviews and
DVD Information about
Enter the Dragon - Limited Edition Collector's Set
Amazon.com
The last film completed by Bruce Lee before his untimely death, Enter the Dragon was his entrée into Hollywood. The American-Hong Kong coproduction, shot in Asia by American director Robert Clouse, stars Lee as a British agent sent to infiltrate the criminal empire of bloodthirsty Asian crime lord Han (Shih Kien) through his annual international martial arts tournament. Lee spends his days taking on tournament combatants and nights breaking into the heavily guarded underground fortress, kicking the living tar out of anyone who stands in his way. The mix of kung fu fighting (choreographed by Lee himself) and James Bond intrigue (the plot has more than a passing resemblance to Dr. No) is pulpy by any standard, but the generous budget and talented cast of world-class martial artists puts this film in a category well above Lee's primitive Hong Kong productions. Unfortunately he's off the screen for large chunks of time as American maverick competitors (and champion martial artists) John Saxon and Jim Kelly take center stage, but once the fighting starts Lee takes over. The tournament setting provides an ample display of martial arts mastery of many styles and climaxes with a huge free-for-all, but the highlight is Lee's brutal one-on-one with the claw-fisted Han in the dynamic hall-of-mirrors battle. Lee narrows his eyes and tenses into a wiry force of sinew, speed, and ruthless determination. --Sean Axmaker
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Customer Reviews for
Enter the Dragon - Limited Edition Collector's Set
Classic movie!!!
To reviewer anticlamagus: YOu think wire-fu is better. Thats all you have to say, theres no need to write an entire page to express that,and call people who doesnt share the same view lunatics.
Bruce written,directed,and choreagraph most of his movies. Which means
all his movies are will be influenced by his own personal beliefs and philosophy.One would probally be his ideal of the ultimate
warrior(very obvious in the game of death, when he had to overcome various and very different styles to reach the top) and most importantly
JKD, which literally translates to method of the straight fist( because the straight line is the most direct and quickest route from point a to point b). So his movies does not really contain longish types of choeagraph action. If thats what you want, you need to look elsewhere.Enter the Dragon - Limited Edition Collector's Set
Bruce Lee's enter the Dragon
My Dad is going to love this when he comes back to visit in Dec. 2008. He took us to the movies to see this film in 1973 or 1974 can't pin point it I was about 7 or 8yrs old. My kids say whose better Bruce Lee or Jet Lee? My son said Bruce of course, so I said lets have a history lesson. Classic good digital color and sound. Must have in your library.Enter the Dragon - Limited Edition Collector's Set
Superb!!!!!!!!
I finally saw Bruce Lee's acting!!!
That's what impressed me the most with this movie. Bruce Lee was not just the martial arts pro in this one. I saw a quality ACTOR. Kudos!!!Enter the Dragon - Limited Edition Collector's Set
Legendary extradonaire
Bruce lee's creative and outstanding performance is highlighted in this extraordinary movie. This is his finest quality performance exhibiting his Legendary skills which were ahead of his time and even to this day still inspiring and engaging. The beginning of the film where he spars Sammo Hung is an awesome setting for what is to come in the movie. What sets Bruce a part from all of the rest is his character energy and his extraordinary power and speed from such a small framed man. Now that Enter the Dragon is in Blueray, it is sheer pleasure and excitement as on the big screen! What a legendary Martial Artist, actor and human being!!!Enter the Dragon - Limited Edition Collector's Set
Only Certifiable Lunatics Could Possibly Think That "Enter the Dragon" Has Great Action Scenes
If there's one thing I personally hate with every ounce of my body, it's a mediocre film that gets propped up on an undeserving pedestal for nostalgic reasons. Why? Because frequently the film's proponents will mask their nostalgia by magically transforming mediocrity into greatness with their rose-colored glasses. Meanwhile, these fanatics will demean other movies that are objectively better than their beloved film for no valid reason. Yes, I know that the enjoyability of a movie is subjective to each viewer, but the most superlative claims made by these fanatics venture dangerously into assertions of objective fact.
Bruce Lee fans are a perfect example. While reading comments for "Enter the Dragon", I hear endless put downs for every martial arts movie that doesn't star Bruce Lee. Considering the fact that none of his movies ever succeeded to crack the ceiling of mediocrity, a non-nostalgic observer (absent of brainwashing) can only conclude that these are certifiable lunatics trying to convince themselves that "Enter the Dragon" is a great movie, either due to nostalgic reasons or coersive pressuring from media (and fanboys) to jump on a bandwagon with square wheels.
As a fan of martial arts cinema, I can ignore a mediocre script, wooden acting, and an inept storyline if the film gives me what I want in terms of action. "Enter the Dragon" fails to provide what it so desperately attempts to accomplish: well-choreographed, entertaining fight scenes.
Some Bruce Lee lunatics start their reviews by saying that the opening fight is a "brilliant sequence of moves." I can only respond to this as I would someone who says that the sun is black - shake my head in disbelief and slowly walk away in fear of being assaulted. When one watches this scene (as with most of Bruce's fights), there is a noticeable lack of two things: combinations and countermoves. Bruce will typically engage in a series of one-hit exchanges with his opponents while mixing in a few three-move combos. Meanwhile, his opponents act like sparring dummies to be owned as necessary. While this has the potential to work in a one-vs-many scene, it simply doesn't work in a one-on-one scene. If you think that the beginning fight in "Enter the Dragon" is "brilliant", then you need to watch the Wu Jing/Andy On exchange in "Fatal Contact" (2006) for an example of a truly scintillating martial arts fight with combinations and countermoves executed with great speed and precision. If you still think the Bruce Lee/Sammo Hung fight is better, please seek psychological counseling immediately.
Afterward the viewer is treated to some lame fights with John Saxon, Jim Kelly, and a Chinese lady, none of which look convincing on screen. After some incredibly bloated and overly long shots of boats on water (as well as some partying) we finally get to see Bruce do something again. This time, he goes stealth and takes out a few guards using nothing more than a few incredibly basic punches and chops. Mediocrity at its finest.
Later on, Bruce goes stealth again but must now deal with a few dozen baddies in what many lunatics claim to be a spectacular one-against-many scene. In all honesty, I thought it was good and entertaining, with a bit of welcomed variety in terms of weaponry and moves. However, at least 70% of the baddies were dispatched with a simple fist to the face, which undermines this scene from being anything more than "good." If you think this one-against-many fight was "spectacular", then you need to watch the Tony Jaa finale in "Tom Yum Goong" (2005), where he dispatches over 40 guys using over 30 different strikes, holds, and take-downs. The sheer variety of that scene easily overpowers anything Bruce Lee ever did. If you still think the Bruce Lee scene was better, please look under "Psychiatrist" in your Yellow Pages.
We finally come to an overrated finale where Bruce takes out 90% of his opponents using the same exact kick and punch. Virtually no effort was put into the fight choreography, and it's obvious to anyone without a platinum membership to Rose Colored Glasses, Inc. It gets a little better when Bruce spars with the main villain, but the all-too-common shortcomings of Bruce Lee fights - the lack of combos and counterattacks - rears its ugly head even here. Sure, there are a few good exchanges, but for the most part it's incredibly bland (Bruce's slow-mo jump kick being a case in point) and the actor playing the villain is just too slow and unconvincing. Unlike Bruce's other films (e.g., "Way of the Dragon"), they had other credible stuntmen and martial artists in this movie. Why not choose a more athletic lead antagonist (Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, etc.) to provide for some sparks? As is, it's a decent but disappointing scene that's very drawn out with lots of unnecessary slow motion.
Now, I'm familiar with the dangers of expressing an unpopular viewpoint in the realm of movies, and I am convinced that Bruce Lee fanatics have unknowingly established an organized religion of sorts that will stop at nothing to insult and demean anyone who doesn't like Bruce's movies - one may as well call it the "Cinematic Inquisition." Don't misunderstand me though. I have a great deal of respect for Bruce Lee as an intelligent person and an exceptional martial artist, but whether or not his movies are entertaining is a completely different issue altogether. The fact still remains that we have an incredible martial artist in middling action films.Enter the Dragon - Limited Edition Collector's Set
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