Subtitles:
English (SDH), English,
French, Spanish, none
Extras:
• Blood & Steel: The Making of Enter the Dragon (30
min.)
• Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (100 min.)
• Bruce Lee: The Curse of the Dragon – narrated by
George Takei (87 min.)
• Bruce Lee: In His Own Words (19 min.)
• Linda Lee Cadwell (Bruce Lee's widow) Interviews
(16 min.)
• Backyard Workout with Bruce: Vintage Home Movies
(2 min.)
• Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots
The Film:
I think it's fair to say that, as far as the West is
concerned, Bruce Lee is the person most responsible
for bringing martial arts into the cinematic
lexicon. He died in mysterious circumstances
(reprised by his son, Brandon, 21 years later),
which has only enhanced his status as Icon. Though
born in San Francisco, Bruce Lee was raised in the
Hong Kong area and received formal martial arts
training during his adolescence. After running afoul
of
the local police, Lee (nee: Lee Juan Fan) was sent
back to the States where he eventually directed his
training to more popular and more socially agreeable
ends, among them a season for the 1966/67 television
series, The Green Hornet, and personal martial arts
trainer to the stars (e.g. James Coburn and Steve
McQueen.) Lee returned to Hong Kong where he was to
make a series of films that right from the start
became very popular, especially with Chinese youth.
The last of these was Enter the Dragon, financed by
Warner Bros., but made in Hong Kong. Lee's bizarre
and totally unexpected death, especially considering
the degree to which he seemed to care for his
personal temple, led to the international
distribution of his earlier films.
The theme that we see in each of Lee's movies is the
idea of Right eventually becoming victorious over
Wrong. There is also present a tradition of martial
arts for the sake of discipline rather than
brutality that gives way to violence following a
personal tragedy at the hands of ruthless criminals.
We've seen this theme played out in many a western
and in gangster and noir films. The good guy puts
away his guns, vowing never to use them again, until
. . . The idea has profound dramatic potential.
In Enter the Dragon, the idea is that martial arts
philosopher Lee is recruited by the good guys to
infiltrate an island fortress believed involved in
the narcotics and prostitution trade. The owner of
said island, one Mr. Han (Shih Kien), hosts a
martial arts tournament visited by competitors from
all over the world. Among the present group are two
Americans in need of escape and money (John Saxon
and Jim Kelly) and a couple of ferocious bad guys,
Bolo (Bolo Yeung) and Oharra (Robert Wall). Lee is
at first reluctant to join the operation until he
learns that Han's men (vide the face-scarred Oharra)
were involved in the death of Lee's sister some
years earlier. Once ensconced on the island, the
competitors engage in brief deadly encounters on the
mat that serves as foreplay for the sex – or
vice-versa – the sexism is so rampant it's hard to
tell. The final duel between Lee and Han evokes the
great Hall of Mirrors sequence in Welles' The Lady
from Shanghai. Everyone probably has their favorite
scene where Lee shows off his stuff. Mine is the
lightning fast move with his fist that takes the
breath away, quite literally.
Image:
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the
Blu-ray disc.
Image : 8 (7.5~8.5/10)
The score of 8 indicates a relative level of
excellence compared to other Blu-rays on a ten
point scale. The score in parentheses represents:
first, a value for the image in absolute terms; and,
second, how that image compares to what I believe is
the current best we can expect in the theatre.
The image is a little soft and saturated, lacking in
shadow information (both color and detail), though
this is no worse than we would have seen in the
theatre – probably better in most cases. The vistas
of Hong Kong harbor and the intimate shots of the
junks passing through are some of the more
interesting shots of the movie and are nicely
preserved. The source print is in surprisingly good
shape; grain and noise is generally unobtrusive.
Image quality for the extra features varies from
acceptable (widow Cadwell interviews) to dismal
(home movies) and everything in between. Aspect
ratio pretty much covers the possibilities, even
within a single feature, most often in 4:3 except
when quoting an excerpt from the movie.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio & Music:
Audio & Music : 6/6
In reviewing Chinese movies of this vintage tweaked
for the Western market, it's hard to ignore the
truly dreadful dubbing and looping of the Asian
actors. Even Bruce Lee sounds forced and
disembodied. On the other hand, this is all part of
the charm of Chinese martial arts movies until quite
recently, including the lack of variety in the sound
of the various kicks and punches. This all comes
with the territory, and the transfer clarifies the
intent shamelessly. The overall effect in remastered
5.1 is somewhat compressed, but not more than
expected – certainly a much more exciting and
involving mix than anything that Hong Kong cinema
was to produce on its own in those days.
Operations:
Operations : 5
Because of the many chapters of some of the extra
features (as many as 27) there appears to be no easy
route back to the main menu or main feature without
advancing through them one-by-one. Much easier to
Stop and Play. Selected thumbnail scenes are readily
identified (as can be seen from the screen capture.)
Likewise, the selection of the desired extra feature
is self-guiding, though something of a chore to
return to the movie or main menu.
Extras:
Extras : 8
This Blu-ray makes the point for the medium: a
feature film of nearly two hours plus another four
hours worth of supplementary material: all on a
single BD-50. With no High Def extras, we must rely
on our display's ability to upscale the various
Bruce Lee documentaries. And bloody good ones they
are – the 2000 Warrior's Journey is certainly more
absorbing than the feature film itself - pretty much
covering Lee's career and legacy from every
conceivable angle. Even though these supplements
probably could not have been presented otherwise, I
took off 2 points for image quality, since the
length of some of these becomes tiring to watch on a
large screen.
Bottom line:
Recommendation : 9
Enter the Dragon is seminal Bruce Lee. He even gets
help from Saxon, Bolo and Kien. The photography is
good and the choreography justifies all the
historical fuss. The transfer is better than we have
any right to expect. The Extra Features are
essential to an appreciation of Lee's place in the
history of action films. We should be grateful.
Warmly Recommended.
Leonard Norwitz
April 20th, 2008
June 2010
Ed. NOTE: There is an extensive comparison of 3 SD-DVD
editions
HERE
