Enter the Dragon

In British-administered Hong Kong, "Braithwaite" (Geoffrey Weeks) seeks to engage the services of renowned martial arts expert "Lee" (Bruce Lee) to help the authorities thwart the heroine running activities of local, gloved, kingpin "Han" (Kien Shih) - who looks like a man straight out of "Dr. No" (1962). Luckily, this villain is organising a tournament on his island and that might provide for an excellent opportunity to bring the man down. "Han" is no fool, though, and has his own henchman "Oharra" (Robert Wall) and John Saxon's accomplished fighter "Roper" and his pal "Williams" (Jim Kelly) are also there to be contended with. Now, it isn't really fair to judge this too harshly fifty years on. It was groundbreaking at the time, offering an unique look at a culture which Hollywood had done little to engage with. Now, though, it's actually quite annoying to watch. The editing is a shambles, as is the continuity and the direction isn't much to write home about either. The dialogue is stilted and though nimble as any ninja, Bruce Lee is just not an actor. To be fair to him, the rest of the acting talent isn't really up to much nor is the rather un-oriental Lalo Schifrin score - so it's all left to the acrobatics. They are grand scale, impressive at times, and showcase the undoubted skills of the star, but the whole production reminded me of an hybrid from "Fu Manchu" meets "The Man from U.N.C.L.E". Maybe it is sacrilegious to say so, but I found it vaguely amusing in it's earnestness and well past it's use by date.