Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • Shows by Decade
        • 1950s Television
        • 1960s Television
        • 1970s Television
        • 1980s Television
        • 1990s Television
      • Shows by Genre
        • Comedy
        • Drama
        • Kids TV
        • Variety
        • News & Sport
        • Advertisements
      • Shows by Country
        • UK TV
        • USA TV
        • Australia & NZ TV
        • Canada TV
        • Europe TV
        • Japan TV
      • Shows A to K
        • Shows A
        • Shows B
        • Shows C
        • Shows D
        • Shows E
        • Shows F
        • Shows G
        • Shows H
        • Shows I
        • Shows J
        • Shows K
      • Shows L to Z
        • Shows L
        • Shows M
        • Shows N
        • Shows O
        • Shows P
        • Shows Q
        • Shows R
        • Shows S
        • Shows T
        • Shows U
        • Shows V
        • Shows W
        • Shows X
        • Shows Y
        • Shows Z
      • Shows 0 to 9
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • 1950s Music
        • 1960s Music
        • 1970s Music
        • 1980s Music
        • 1990s Music
      • Music A to K
        • Music A
        • Music B
        • Music C
        • Music D
        • Music E
        • Music F
        • Music G
        • Music H
        • Music I
        • Music J
        • Music K
      • Music L to Z
        • Music L
        • Music M
        • Music N
        • Music O
        • Music P
        • Music Q
        • Music R
        • Music S
        • Music T
        • Music U
        • Music V
        • Music W
        • Music X
        • Music Y
        • Music Z
      • Music 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • 1950s Movies
        • 1960s Movies
        • 1970s Movies
        • 1980s Movies
        • 1990s Movies
      • Movies by Country
        • UK Movies
        • USA Movies
        • Australia & NZ Movies
        • Canada Movies
        • Europe Movies
        • Japan Movies
      • Movies A to K
        • Movies A
        • Movies B
        • Movies C
        • Movies D
        • Movies E
        • Movies F
        • Movies G
        • Movies H
        • Movies I
        • Movies J
        • Movies K
      • Movies L to Z
        • Movies L
        • Movies M
        • Movies N
        • Movies O
        • Movies P
        • Movies Q
        • Movies R
        • Movies S
        • Movies T
        • Movies U
        • Movies V
        • Movies W
        • Movies X
        • Movies Y
        • Movies Z
      • Movies 0 to 9
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Radio
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»1970s Movies»Movies 1973
    Movies 1973 Movies E 4 Mins Read

    Enter The Dragon (1973)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Enter The Dragon was a defining moment for martial arts films and for Bruce Lee (real name Lee Jun Fan).

    The first martial arts film produced by a major Hollywood studio came from Warner Brothers and made a star of Lee in the Western world.

    Before Enter The Dragon, Lee had appeared as Kato in the short-lived US TV series The Green Hornet but was already a household name in Hong Kong.

    enterdragonHe wanted more, though, and he knew he would only get it in Hollywood (ironically he was born in San Francisco).

    This was no art-house movie. It’s a classic thriller. Lee – a Shaolin Monk and Asian James Bond figure – infiltrates a small island – home to the bad guy Han (Kien Shih) and his illicit drugs and prostitution racket.

    Han holds a martial arts tournament on the island every three years, providing Lee with the perfect opportunity to gather evidence against the drug lord on behalf of the British secret service.

    Lee also has a personal interest – Han’s sidekick Oharra (Bob Wall) caused the death of Lee’s sister. Cornered by Oharra, she committed suicide to prevent herself from being raped.

    Among the men accompanying Lee to the tournament are two Americans – white trash gambler Roper (John Saxon), and a black playboy named Williams (Jim Kelly). Both men are first-rate fighters.

    The film concludes with the fight to end all fights between the main adversaries, Lee and Han. This sequence is made all the more astonishing by Han’s prosthetic hand, fitted with blades in place of fingers.

    The showdown is a marvel of martial acrobatics and is unrivalled for its visual ingenuity, not least because it is staged in a house of mirrors.

    enterthedragon_489The plot was thin, but the fight scenes showed Lee’s genius, turned him into a Hollywood icon and captured the imagination of popular culture for generations.

    Everyone wanted to do it, a hundred martial arts rip-offs were popping up, every TV cop knew how to use his legs, and the disco movement had another fad to grasp on to.

    Enter The Dragon has every 1970s and martial arts cliché you could hope for. From bad dubbing to the ultra cool cat performance of ultra afro’d Jim Kelly, to the funky wakka-wakka guitar music – and a swooshing and smacking sound effect accompanying every punch and every kick, even if nothing is actually hit.

    Lee was the first Asian star to make it in Hollywood – but he never knew it. Three weeks before the premiere he was found dead in a Hong Kong apartment.

    The conspiracy theories ran riot; some said he had been hit in the head too hard, or that he had been poisoned.

    Then there was the ‘vibrating palm’ theory that certain Asian martial artists knew how to simply touch you and cause your internal organs to vibrate rapidly until you died.

    The official verdict was that Lee had died of a brain oedema from a mysterious reaction to aspirin, and 100,000 people attended his funeral in Hong Kong. He was just 32.

    If you see only one movie this year where a man with knives for fingers gets the crap kicked out of him in a hall of mirrors, let it be this one.

    TRIVIA
    Jackie Chan can be clearly seen in a cameo appearance, getting his neck broken in the elaborate underground cave fight sequence.

    Lee
    Bruce Lee
    Roper
    John Saxon
    Williams
    Jim Kelly
    Tania
    Ahna Capri
    Han
    Kien Shih
    Oharra
    Robert Wall
    Bolo
    Yang Sze
    Su Lin
    Angela Mao Ying
    Mei Ling
    Betty Chung
    Parsons
    Peter Archer
    Braithwaite
    Geoffrey Weeks

    Director
    Robert Clouse

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Terminal Island (1973)
      Terminal Island (1973)
      In an alternate future, the US Supreme Court has outlawed the death penalty and the state of California has subsequently…
    • Satanic Rites of Dracula, The (1973)
      Satanic Rites of Dracula, The (1973)
      Following Dracula AD 1972 came Hammer’s modern dress entry in the Dracula series. The Satanic Rites of Dracula is a science fiction/horror/thriller hybrid…
    • Exorcist, The (1973)
      Exorcist, The (1973)
      This classic tale of a girl possessed by a demon was the first and still is the best of its…
    • Pyx, The (1973)
      Pyx, The (1973)
      Within the first five minutes of Canadian film The Pyx, Elizabeth Lucy (Karen Black) plummets from the penthouse apartment of a…
    • Wicker Man, The (1973)
      Wicker Man, The (1973)
      Edward Woodward plays Sergeant Howie, sent to the remote island of Summerisle off the coast of Scotland to investigate an…
    • Homecoming, The (1973)
      Homecoming, The (1973)
      The Homecoming - based on a play by Harold Pinter - concerns an English household so overrun with male energy…
    • World's Greatest Athlete, The (1973)
      World's Greatest Athlete, The (1973)
      Equal parts Disney slapstick fantasy, Tarzan movie and underdog sports flick, The World's Greatest Athlete had enough zany spirit for several films. With a…
    • Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, The (1973)
      Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, The (1973)
      When Catherine Crocker (Sarah Miles) leaves the mining executive husband she married for money (George Hamilton) and rides off into…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleEntertaining Mr. Sloane (1970)
    Next Article Equus (1977)

    Comments are closed.

    A Labour of Love

    Nostalgia Central has been a labour of love for me since 1998.

    If you find the site informative or enjoyable, please consider a donation – no matter how small – to help me with the running costs of the site and ensure I can keep Nostalgia Central running for your entertainment and education.

    Thank you so much, and please enjoy your trip in the time machine!
    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    You May Also Like
    • Lunch Hour (1962)
      Shirley Anne Field gives a fiery performance as a young designer […]
    • Adventures of Peter Simple, The
      1 9 5 7 (UK) 6 x 25 minute episodes This early BBC series was […]
    • Pigsty
      1 9 9 0 (UK) 18 x 10 minute episodes Anthropomorphic American […]
    • Fun With Dick & Jane (1976)
      When aerospace executive Dick Harper (George Segal) loses his […]
    • Nichols
      1 9 7 1 – 1 9 7 2 (USA) 24 x 60 minute episodes This NBC […]
    • Cor!! (Comic)
      Cor!! was a Fleetway comic, first published on 6 June 1970. The […]
    Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

    OUR LATEST FACEBOOK POSTS

    60 years of Billy Liar: how the Bradford locations have changed today ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    60 years of Billy Liar: how the Bradford locations have changed today

    theb.fi

    Not everything is at it seems about the shooting locations for this classic story of a Yorkshire daydreamer.
    3 days ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 7
    • Shares: 2
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    “I’ll tell you what Charlie, there’s always been a Holroyd at Holroyd’s mill and by god there always will be” Love this film.

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-65006801 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Terry Hall: Coventry scooter ride-out pays tribute to singer

    www.bbc.co.uk

    Hundreds of people ride through Coventry on what would have been the singer's 64th birthday.
    1 week ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 12
    • Shares: 2
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    metro.co.uk/2023/03/13/the-whos-roger-daltrey-thinks-theres-no-point-releasing-an-album-18434779/ ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    The Who's Roger Daltrey thinks there's 'no point' releasing another album

    metro.co.uk

    Bad luck.
    1 week ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 1
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-64963359 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Sir Michael Caine's first Rolls Royce sells at Duxford for £120K

    www.bbc.co.uk

    The Italian Job actor hired a chauffeur to drive the 1968 Silver Shadow, with its doors still intact.
    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 3
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64900348 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Mystic Meg: Astrologer dies aged 80

    www.bbc.co.uk

    The TV star, whose real name was Margaret Lake, was a well-known TV figure in the 1990s.
    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 1
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    Do you think she know it eas going to happen

    PlayTalk Teletext (1976) | BFI Replay

    Talk Teletext (1976) | BFI Replay ... See MoreSee Less

    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 8
    • Shares: 2
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Gary Rossington: Lynyrd Skynyrd's last founding member dies aged 71.
    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Gary Rossington: Lynyrd Skynyrd's last founding member dies aged 71

    www.bbc.co.uk

    Guitarist Gary Rossington had survived a 1977 air crash that killed several of his bandmates.
    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 2
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    What a talented man. Lucky enough to see original band in concert. BRILLIANT.

    Rest in peace Dickie Davies. An absolute giant of British sports broadcasting.

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Dickie Davies, World of Sport presenter, dies at 94

    www.theguardian.com

    The broadcaster became something of a cult figure after fronting the ITV show for 20 years
    1 month ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 4
    • Shares: 1
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    Yes, one of the great presenters. R.I.P.

    For fans of the radio series Round The Horne (1965 - 1968) - starring the inimitable Kenneth Williams - there are several full episodes on Spotify. Some of the humour is still pretty close to the edge, even by modern standards. Bona! 

https://open.spotify.com/show/7DIM1wfGKwDis0uzsjHeP7?si=pG0_U0TjRKGzVDvrePs4vA

    For fans of the radio series "Round The Horne" (1965 - 1968) - starring the inimitable Kenneth Williams - there are several full episodes on Spotify. Some of the humour is still pretty "close to the edge", even by modern standards. Bona!

    open.spotify.com/show/7DIM1wfGKwDis0uzsjHeP7?si=pG0_U0TjRKGzVDvrePs4vA
    ... See MoreSee Less

    1 month ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 12
    • Shares: 1
    • Comments: 2

    Comment on Facebook

    For those interested, the complete “Jules and Sandy” is available on Audible…

    Bona to vada your jolly old eek. Lovely riah....

    RIP the beautiful Stella Stevens, who has died at the age of 84.

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Stella Stevens: Nutty Professor and Poseidon Adventure star dies at 84

    www.bbc.co.uk

    The co-star of Elvis Presley also worked in TV on series such as Murder She Wrote and Magnum, P.I.
    1 month ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Load more
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Tag Cloud
    Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games British Invasion Britpop Bubblegum music Canada Civil rights Cold War Computer games Crime Disc Jockeys Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Folk rock Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen James Bond JFK Kraütrock Labels Madchester Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave New Zealand Nixon Northern Soul NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Politics Power Pop Prog rock Pub rock Punk Radio Reggae Rolling Stones Scotland Ska Ska revival Skiffle Soul music Space Race Sport Surf music Video games Vietnam war
    Copyright © 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central. Run by volunteers. Funded by donations.
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.