The Way of the Dragon

Bruce Lee really rules. Before this I had seen only "enter the dragon". It is usually considered to bee his best film, so I didn´t really know what to expect from "way of the dragon". I liked it very much. Biggest problem I had with it was that I had to watch the english dubbed version. I prefer the original language! Lee really knew how to entertain the audience. He was funny, but not too funny. I particulary enjoyed the last fighting scene when "Colt" was defeated. For once the bad guy went down with honour! I recommend this to anyone who likes a good kung-fu movie. There might be better ones, but no complains. 8/10

If, like me, you have only seen Bruce Lee in the wonderful, but portentous, ENTER THE DRAGON, than you might be surprised by this quite potty earlier film. In ENTER THE DRAGON, Lee was amused, but sombre; a fighting machine, pivotal piece in a deadly serious mythological puzzle, his strength never in doubt.

The first third of this film couldn't be more different. Played as (very funny) comedy, Lee is passive (we first see him waiting for someone), a figure of fun, a fish out of water, exagerratedly polite, bewildered by alien custom and language, as well as his own bowels. A number of scuffles take part early on in which he takes no part, and which make us doubt his prowess.

Lee directed this film, and his visual conception is much more inventive that Robert Clouse's (ENTER). Although it lacks the insane invention of A TOUCH OF ZEN, or the dizzy verve of Tsui Hark's films, Lee is not content with simple ego gratification. His two directorial mentors seem to be Melville and Leone. The former (hugely influenced by Oriental martial discipline himself) gave him a hero who is narcissistic (check the opening shot), whole; whose physical prowess is ironically the result of mental superiority, an almost Zen laid-backness; concealing the coiled, taut, muscle-burst of Lee's beautiful body.

Kung Fu is primarily an art of self-defense, and this film returns to these roots: its conception of protecting the oppressed rings throughout the film (in the seemingly gratuitous picture-postcard scenes, Lee makes the connection between European colonial splendour, and the poverty and repression of Hong Kong). Chuck Norris's character has betrayed Kung Fu by siding with the oppressor - his art is bestial and clumsy, lacking the spare geometric elegance of Lee's.

But Kung fu's self-defense is also a defence of one's 'self' (this is where Melville comes in) - it protects one from any threat to one's powerful wholeness, especially women (and men. There is a slight whiff of homophobia, mitigated by the outrageous campness of the film (all that red! The whole idea of SHANE recast in a restaurant!). This is ironic, since it is the proof of Lee's martial art power that makes the initially sceptical heroine (very stylish and lovely) fall for his charms (and who can blame her?).

Lee's second master is Sergio Leone, from whom he has learnt an irreverent approach to genre, with jokey zooms, close-ups and cuts; mocking, yet mournful and melancholic Morricone-esque music; a ritual stand-off between mythical archetypes (an awesome set-piece in the Colosseum), with the film's heart belonging to the slightly silly, but loveable, subsidiary characters.

The use of these iconoclastic directors adds a reflective and critical dimension to a genre previously (in its most populist form) a showcase for male vanity (although Lee never lets us forget how gorgeous and sweetly small and cuddly he is). A supremely entertaining film which unexpectedly achieves a climactic power and melancholy.

The United States and the world would discover Martial Arts actor Bruce Lee until 1973 with the release of his first (and only) Hollywood film, "Enter the Dragon", a masterpiece of the Martial Arts genre and arguably the film that started the trend of Kung-Fu films. However, before making "Enter the Dragon", Lee had already participated in three major films in Hong Kong, two of them under the direction of Wei Lo and the third the only film of his where he had complete control under everything, "Meng Long Guojian", the "Way of the Dragon". Better known as "Return of the Dragon" in the U.S. (where it was released as a sequel to "Enter the Dragon"), "Meng Long Guojiang" was Lee's first film as a director, and like his following two final films, a movie where he was able to express not only his physical abilities, but also the philosophy he developed to achieve them.

In "Way of the Dragon", Bruce Lee plays Tang Lung, a young man from Hong Kong who is sent to Rome by his uncle in order to help a family friend, "Uncle" Wang (Chung-Hsin Huang). At his arrival, he is informed that the problem is that the Italian Mafia wants the family's restaurant, and uses violent intimidation to pressure the owner. While at first not everyone is convinced that Tang Lung would be of any help (as he is not used to the city), soon they discover that Tang is in fact a talented Martial Artist. With Tang Lung's help, the Restaurant's waiters manage to defend themselves from the gangsters, but the Mafia Boss is completely decided to get the Restaurant, so he hires a group of Martial Arts experts, including the famous Colt (Chuck Norris) to eliminate Tang Lung.

After proving he was a bankable star, Bruce Lee finally got the opportunity of not only writing, but also directing his own film. Free at last to make his vision of a Martial Arts film come true, Lee builds up a film focused on two very personal themes for him. On one hand, his very own experience as a stranger in a strange land, and the feelings of being like a fish out of the water; and on the other, his ideal of the hero who uses his very own technique to fight against the established disciplines. While the plot is very straight forward, and a bit typical, Lee uses it effectively to showcase his own ideals and philosophies as martial artist, delivering finally an action film with some depth beyond watching the character overcome the enemies.

Borrowing heavily from Spaghetti Westerns (even some score by Morricone is used), Lee creates a magnificent epic set on the beautiful locations of Rome, where his lonely hero Tang Lung arrives as a modern day cowboy to right some wrongs. While of course not an expert filmmaker (it was after all, his first film as a director), Lee shows a great eye for visuals, as the camera becomes an essential part in the creation of the sublimely choreographed fights, and the highly stylish set pieces (again, influenced by Sergio Leone's westerns). "Meng Long Guojiang is definitely the basics for what Lee conceived as a Martial Arts film, and many of what he developed for this movie would become of great influence for future directors of the genre.

Due to his character in "Enter the Dragon", most people remember Bruce Lee's acting as a serious, dark personification of the perfect martial arts warrior, however, "Meng Long Guojiang" is a chance to discover a way different side of Lee's persona, as he allows himself to be as funny and human as skilled in Kung-Fu. "Way of the Dragon" offers insight into Lee as a comedy actor, as Tang Lung's personality (and probably Bruce's real one too) is that of a happy man who enjoys life. The rest of the cast ranges from good to average, with one amazing exception: Ping-Ao Wei. As the treacherous translator Ho, Ping-Ao Wei delivers one of the best comedic performances of his career, and an excellent (and effective) comic relief for the film.

As written above, the cast (mostly the case of the many extras in the film) most of the time doesn't seem up to the challenge of the film, and the awful dubbing done doesn't really help with that. Another truly big problem is that Lee didn't had enough budget to fulfill his vision and in some scenes it really shows. This two problems really hurt the film badly, and while Lee's inexperience behind the camera is quite obvious, it's safe to say that he delivered a great job against the odds. The epic tone of the film and the superb climatic scenes really make up for the notorious flaws the film has, and one gets to wonder how would "Game of Death" may had turned up if Lee had lived enough to complete it.

It's a shame that Lee died so soon and was unable to craft his ultimate Martial Arts film, leaving the world wondering what would he do to top this film (and the reliable sources agree that "Game of Death" was really going to be his best). This flawed masterpiece may not be perfect, but it's monumental when one realizes how influential it became. Sure, "Enter the Dragon" may be the better film of the two, but "Meng Long Guojiang" is the film that shows us how Lee really was, and what he really believed in. In more than one sense, "Meng Long Guojiang" is truly, the real Way of the Dragon. 8/10

The Way Of The Dragon had the potential to be Bruce's best film in my opinion but was bogged down by the dubbing and acting. But it still stands solid as one great Bruce Lee film and boasts the greatest fight scene ever in my opinion. Bruce plays Tang Lung who travels to Rome to help his family battle local gangsters who are trying to take over their resturaunt. Bruce almost plays a Charlie Chaplin type role here which would later be more fitting to Jackie Chan's slapstick style. Much like the Big Boss the first Bruce fight scene is way into the film but in my opinion this good because it creates a good build up, the nunchuka scene is second only to the one in Fist Of Fury or the uncut Game Of Death. The fight scene in the Roman Colliseum deserves the credit it gets because of one simple reason, its a simple fight, there are no gimmicks, sure its set in the colliseum and the fight is supposed to reflect two roman gladiators but there are no weapons and no sweet talk. It truly has epic scale. The thing that also makes this fight scene work is the end when Tang Lung out of respect covers Colt with his Karate jacket. There may have been better fights since on screen and I havn't seen many Hong Kong films with Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen etc but this is the first great one on one fight, therefore it set the standard.

There will indeed never be another Bruce Lee. I find it fascinating to imagine what Bruce would have done if he had lived, the 80's and 90's would have been very different if Arnie, Stallone, Wiilis, Seagal and Van Damme had Bruce to compete with, Bruce is sometimes critcised for being a bad actor, but i disagree, if anyone has seen his episodes of `Longstreet' or `Marlowe' they will see that Bruce could convincingly carry a dramatic scene given the right script and no dubbing and he oozed charisma, and he showed glimpses of good acting in Enter The Dragon.

Being a Bruce fan i kind of wish that Jet Li would do the films that bruce did or was planning on doing, Jet's early work in Honk Kong like the Shaolin Temple or more recent stuff like Fist Of Legend(remake of Fist Of Fury) and Once Upon A Time In China was very promising and it seemed he was the successor to Bruce but instead now he's doing crap in Hollywood with DMX and Jason Statham. Strangely the mediocre Lethal Weapon 4 is Jet's best Hollywood film, Maybe Jet should do a project with John Woo, it would be interesting and they'd probably get the best out of each other.

Even though this movie was dubbed, and the dubbing isn't that great. the whole movie is great. I actually find this movie way better then Enter the Dragon. Plus, you got Bruce Lee, writing, starring and directing it, and he knew what to do to make this kung fu movie awesome. I reccomend this one to any kung fu fan who has not seen this one yet... i give it 9 out of 10.