Enter the Dragon (5 Stars)

The first film that I saw which starred Bruce Lee was "The Big Boss", now better known by its American name, "Fists of Fury". I went to see it with my friend Mick Cooksey in a small cinema next to the Christian Science church at the bottom of the Parade in Sutton Coldfield. That was the only time I ever went to that cinema, and the only time I ever went to any cinema with Mick. He was a good friend of mine during my school and university years. We shared a love of Klaus Schulze's music. I lost touch with him when I moved to Germany. That's a shame.

I'd seen a few martial arts films before, some Chinese and some Japanese. At that time I couldn't tell the difference between the races or the fighting styles. It all seems so obvious now. I'd heard the buzz about Bruce Lee and how good he was, so I was excited about seeing the film. It was no disappointment. As soon as Bruce got into his first fight I knew I was watching something special. There's never been another fighter like him in films. The fights of today's top martial arts stars like Jet Li and Donnie Yen look as good as Bruce's, but that's due to the superior film technology we have available now. I'm sure that Jet and Donnie would be the first to admit that they're following in Bruce's footsteps, but at a distance.

Shortly after that I saw "Enter the Dragon" at a cinema in Birmingham with my sister. I've forgotten the name of the cinema, it was a small cinema in New Street, near the Town Hall, which has long since gone. Later I saw "Way of the Dragon" with my girlfriend Louise. "Enter the Dragon" was actually the last film Bruce made, but due to a delay "Way of the Dragon" was the last film shown in English cinemas. As far as I know Bruce's second film, "Fist of Fury", was never shown in England. I didn't see it until years later on videotape.

Apart from early films that he made as a child star in Hong Kong, those were his only four films. And yet these four films have changed cinema forever. His fighting style is what all other actors aspire to, whether they are trained martial artists or not.

I admit that "Enter the Dragon", which was made in 1973, seems very dated today. The racial stereotypes are ever present. The dialogue is stilted, partly because the Chinese actors were speaking in English, partly because the American actors weren't actors at all, they were professional fighters starring in their first film. But guess what? I don't care. This film stands up as a masterpiece. Maybe it has less fighting in it than "The Big Boss", but what it does have is amazing. If I ever get round to making a list of 50 films to watch before you die, "Enter the Dragon" will be in it.