10/10
The "Citizen Kane" of the martial arts films genre
16 February 2004
What more can be said of the man whom millions consider one of the greatest action stars of all time. Enter the Dragon is the Citizen Kane and Bruce Lee is the Orson Welles of the martial arts film genre. This film marked the most successful merging of both Hong Kong and American cinema. From the opening scene to the final fight scene it was Bruce Lee at his best. His near perfect physique, leading man good looks and innate charisma transcended the derivative script and gave it a timeless quality. Having read the original draft of Enter the Dragon originally titled "Blood and Steel", The final film is a far cry from it. He turned major monologues into short but memorable phrases like "It is like a finger pointing away to the moon". Very few people then, and now could utter those words and be taken seriously. It was Bruce Lee not writer Michael Allin who gave the movie it's spiritual core and it was Bruce Lee not directed Robert Clouse who gave it its sense of cinematic style. Proof of this lies in the fact that both Allin and Clouse were never able to reproduce the quality or success of Enter the Dragon before or after Bruce Lee. Bruce borrowed heavily from Clint Eastwood's persona and gave it his own unique twist. After all these years, Enter the Dragon stands alone in the genre and stands as one of Hollywood's most profitable feature films.
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