Kung Foo martial artist Lee meets with Braithwaite, a British intelligence officer, to discuss the mysterious Han. Originally from the same martial arts school as Lee, Han has drifted from virtue and is suspected to run a drug and prostitution empire from his private island near Hong Kong. The island is closed to outsiders except for once every three years, when Han hosts a martial arts tournament. Lee accepts an invitation to this tournament. He intends to snoop around and gather intel on Han, to radio back to Braithwaite. On the way to the island, Lee meets gambling addict Roper and his black Vietnam War vet friend Williams, each themselves proficient in martial arts. Throughout the tournament, Han demonstrates how ruthless he can be, torturing and killing visitors and his own guards, as he sees fit. When Lee is captured radioing for help, it kicks off an island-wide martial arts melee for survival.
“Enter the Dragon” was a damn cool movie. With an over the top bad guy in an evil lair, with evil henchmen, staged on an exotic island with mysterious men and beautiful women, the film plays like a James Bond flick. The film was entertaining and suspenseful. I’m not really a martial arts guy (I came in after it was a bit out of fashion and hyper sanitized—think “3 Ninjas” films), but these fights were exciting and dramatic without the modern effects (fast-cutting, wire work, CGI) that are used today. I don’t have a take on the depiction of asian culture in the film, but Bruce Lee is clearly the real deal and the unquestionable hero of the film. I also loved the anti-hero contributions of Roper and Williams. I think some of the characterizations were a bit simple—each character had their one thing, and they stuck to that throughout the film. Again, this is no different than a James Bond film but my unfamiliarity with the film made it stick out. But I still found this to be a fun, entertaining, sexy, and fierce film.