The Way of the Dragon

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.

I've never been to Rome. I'm sure it's a beautiful city, a wonderful vacation spot, and then of course there's the Roman Coliseum - a landmark in a region of the world that revels in its own beauty. So you have to wonder if Rome would make a good place for a kung-fu movie. (Why not?) Apparently Bruce Lee thought so, and it is this lush city that he selected as the setting for his 1972 film "Return of the Dragon."

Most movie experts (as well as fans of kung-fu movies, Lee, or both) will realize that "Return of the Dragon" marked Lee's third film in China, his first time behind the camera, and he also had credits on the screenplay. After the disappointing "Fists of Fury" (1971), I was glad to see Lee in a role that was less bombastic and less comic in nature. ("Return of the Dragon" also happens to be my personal favorite Bruce Lee film from when he was still working in Asia.)

In "Return of the Dragon," Lee is of course, the country boy named Tang Lung, who returns to aid friends and family in peril. In this case, said relatives own a successful Chinese restaurant in Rome, Italy, and are constantly being harassed by a powerful gangster and his legion of disposable henchmen - Tang's frequent encounters with them eventually leading to one of the greatest Nunchaku showdowns I've ever seen in a martial arts movie.

Tang Lung annihilates most of the bad guys sent in his direction, many times leaving them beaten and bruised. Most of them are played for laughs to begin with, so that makes their beatings even funnier (though you really shouldn't laugh at the pain of others, even if they are villains).

When Tang proves to be too big a problem (in fact, WAY bigger than they expected him to be), the gangster boss uses his contacts to hire an American martial artist, Colt (Lee's most skilled opponent in the film and world karate champion Chuck Norris, in his breakthrough film role), to deal with him. The action then escalates into the film's brutal, take-no-prisoners climatic showdown between the two combatants at the Roman Coliseum, in what is widely said to be one of the greatest fight scenes ever filmed.

With its goofy humor, horrendous dubbing and comic book bad guys not withstanding, "Return of the Dragon" is actually one heck of a good movie. None of Lee's sparring partners in the film really stand up well against him, except of course, Chuck Norris in the film's climax. And Lee also makes the best of the stranger-in-a-strange-land scenario that he's set up as the film's premise.

"Return of the Dragon" is the second Bruce Lee movie I've commented on at IMDb (Lee's last film, 1973's "Enter the Dragon," was the first) and I really liked "ROTD." Lee demonstrates in this movie why he is the greatest martial artist that ever lived. His direction here is a little choppy in spots, but for the most part, the action is intact.

7/10

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.

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs, then again in the early 2k on a dvd which I own.

Revisited it recently.

As a kid from the 80s n aft seeing this movie, i was in awe aft witnessing the nunchukas fight sequence.

This one gets a bit repetitive cos of the same goons who keeps on getting thrashed by the character of Lee but they keep on coming back. One of the fat goon with a beard looks like poor man's Russell Crowe.

The best n the most memorable is the treatment of the fight in the Colosseum with Chuck Norris with a cat as a spectator.

In this one Lee plays Tang Lung, a kung fu expert who is sent from Hong Kong to Italy by his uncle to help family friends whose restaurant business is threatened by a mafia boss.

This one showcases Lee's immense energy n amazing fighting skills, especially the way his feet moves.

He mimicked Mohammad Ali's float like a butterfly style.

Lee is allowed to have a sense of humor in this movie.

This one aint gory like The Big Boss.

Ping-Ou Wei (famous for playing the interpreter in this one n the Fist of Fury) acted very well. His body language is total effeminate, especially his limp wristed n running style is a big lol.

Another best fight sequence is the one in the alley with the nunchukas.