Enter the Dragon

Released shortly after his untimely death in 1973 Enter the Dragon is rather ironically the film that would solidify Bruce Lee as an international star, one whose small body of work on the silver screen would forever be immortalised and has naturally seen numerous releases on the DVD format. Casting a critical eye on the film you’ll most likely find the narrative somewhat contrived with the premise merely serving as good reason to place Lee into a scenario where he can best show off his talent. This coupled with poor attempts to develop the central characters and some staggeringly dull use of the camera in the more lengthy exposition sequences leads to a film that I often struggle with in its opening act, but one that is ultimately worth your patience (or just the wonder of scene-selection) to see it through to the most memorable action sequences.


Before we get to those however I’d like to give some props to the casting of John Saxon and Jim Kelly who possess a welcome chemistry onscreen, adding to the cocksure swagger of their characters and bringing their playful dialogue to life. This allows them to find their way out from under Bruce Lee’s shadow at select moments during the film, but so looming is that shadow that ultimately Enter the Dragon is Lee’s film and no one else’s. Free to develop the action choreography himself there are for me two main highlights in the film. The first is his match with Bob Wall, playing a character Lee’s has reason to seek revenge upon and the fight we see is one of brutal intensity designed to embarrass his opponent, with the initial punches and subsequent barrage of kicks showcasing an incredible amount of power that is contained within Lee’s somewhat slight physique. Then of course you have the battle with the guards in Han’s underground base, one made infamous in the UK by the long excised nunchuku sequence, something that I had never seen until I imported the old Region 1 DVD back in 1998. But it’s not so much Lee’s impressive but short use of the nunchuku which makes it, but the sequence as a whole which shows Lee’s trademark conservationist approach at its best, taking out the never-ending supply of enemies with an effortless ease, quickly and assuredly. That he uses not only the nunchuku, but other weapons along the way is just the icing on the cake.

Lee brings much more to the film than just finely crafted action though, and that’s the belief in him and his martial art philosophies which he delivers on screen to great effect. Really it’s just Lee being Lee, a larger than life character we’ve seen in numerous interviews that you just can’t help but be drawn to. And that’s what ultimately makes Enter the Dragon more than “just another martial arts film”, because with any other leading man of the era in his place that’s what it is.

The Disc

My first Warner HD DVD, it opens with a trailer advertising the new format and what it and Warner releases will offer consumers. Of particular note are the themed menus which I have to say impress no end. It’s not so much the choice of background texture or sound effects Warner have used here, but the layout described in the trailer which makes a lot of sense. Hitting the menu button (the film starts playing automatically and menus are overlaid on the image) brings up the usual options, but when you go to the Special Features everything found on the disc is listed in a clear and concise manner. Additionally there is a small window which offers a brief description of the content along with a note of the running time. It’s clean, simple and elegantly implemented with the running time listing in particular very useful as you can decide whether or not you have the time or energy to watch the bonus content.

Presented in 2.35:1 1080P Widescreen the transfer here appears to share the same master as the most recent DVD releases and with that come some problematic sequences which appear to be inherent to the filmmaking process. The easiest way to describe the transfer would be uneven, with the less controlled environment shoots looking somewhat rougher than the staged interiors. A particularly disappointing segment is Roper’s flashback on the golf course, with poor light not exactly helping matters along. Elsewhere however the print is generally very good with just a few specks of dirt cropping up along the way coupled with some natural grain. The transfer here does a fine job of reproducing the action, with the added resolution bringing out many of the finer details such as Lee’s stunning muscle definition which impresses more than usual, while numerous details begin to emerge throughout the film. Colours are extremely good as well, with the vivid red, white, yellow and black outfits of the spectators in Lee’s opening bout bursting to life without ever bleeding into one another while the more subdued but varied tones found later in the film are equally well rendered. Finally I saw no signs of artifacting in casual viewing, and only some minor edge enhancement on highly contrasting colours (such as Lee’s blue outfit against the bright blue sky in the opening monastery exposition scenes). There is a documented problem with this release which is described as ‘stair-stepping’, which results in jagged edges. This problem was definitely visible but only when I sat a few inches away from my screen (a 1366x768 37” Toshiba LCD), though apparently with a true 1080P display it becomes a lot more visible in general viewing. These issues aside the transfer can be ultimately judged on the source material which is often good, but rarely perfect and occasionally quite lacking as described above.

The English Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 track is adequate, offering clear dialogue and some well placed sound effects but very little to really justify the remix. Most importantly the excellent original score is well balanced across the soundstage with Lee’s battle cries most prominent throughout.

French DDP 1.0 and Spanish DDP 2.0 audio tracks are also provide alongside optional English, French and Spanish subtitles for the main feature only.


The bonus materials here are extensive, ported over from the two-disc special edition and presented in standard definition (a mixture of 480i and 480p). Being as this is essentially the US disc in UK clothing (it comes complete with FBI and MPAA warnings) there are no subtitles on any of the extra features.

First up is the audio commentary (which isn’t a listed extra on the cover) with producer Paul Heller and the occasional edited in contributions by screenwriter Michael Allin. This is a well documented snooze-fest with frequent and lengthy gaps in amongst the occasional anecdote from the set and some details on the locations and set designs (Heller’s background is in this area).

Making up somewhat for his surprising lack of production knowledge on the commentary track is a 30-minute documentary “Blood and Steel: The Making of Enter the Dragon” which Heller wrote and directed. Comprised of a series of talking-head interviews cut together with stills from the set, out-takes and on-the-set footage provided by actress Ahna Capri this is a concise yet comprehensive look at the production of the film with input from most of the major players involved both in front of and behind the camera.

“Bruce Lee: In His Own Words” is a 20-minute piece featuring audio and video from the well known interview Bruce did on the Pierre Burton Show cut together with rare photos and padded out with clips from his film and television work that include his philosophical teachings. It’s good and certainly worth a look for some great photos but you’ll see much of this repeated later in the two feature-length documentaries on the disc.

A series of extended interviews with Linda Lee Cadwell are also included and these feature her talking very fondly of Bruce and his memory, though like most of the interviews I’ve seen with her these feel very much rehearsed and lacking in true detail.

“Curse of the Dragon” is one of two feature-length documentaries on the disc, running at 87-minutes it tracks Bruce Lee’s life and career through a series of interviews with his family, friends, students and associates in the film industry. Narrated by George Takei the documentary is actually produced and directed (along with Tom Kuhn) by another of Enter the Dragon’s producers, Fred Weintraub, who also contributes to the piece with some revealing insight to the troubles faced on the set of the film, not through the difference in workforce and language as touched upon in the “Blood & Steel” documentary, but through Lee’s temperament at the time and the numerous challenges he was accepting on set. As a whole the documentary is somewhat uneven, something which is made worse by a terrible editing technique which blends the talking-heads into one another, often when one person is still talking so their words are simply faded out as another’s words and face are tuned in. This is quite a jarring effect and particularly irritating when an interviewee you wanted to hear more from is cut off mid-sentence. Fortunately the choice of interviewees is very good so we have many of Lee’s students offering their experiences and personal understanding of his mood at the timeline being examined. Contributing interesting points of view are the likes of Dan Inosanto, Kareem Abdul-Jahar and James Coburn who are joined by less well known students along with various representatives of different martial arts styles from the time period Lee was marking his presence in the US. The documentary focuses heavily on the final year of Lee’s life, taking time to understand the troubled mindset of the master striving for perfection and through the contributions of those involved it paints a very stark picture of the hurdles Lee created for himself. Beyond his death and a decision to open the floor to all the possibilities rather than choose a single one and defend it the documentary ends with some very brief comparisons between Bruce and Brandon Lee and their deaths, something which appears to be more of an afterthought and somewhat disrespectful to Brandon as they make his death all about the father.

“Bruce Lee: A Warrior’s Journey” is the second feature-length documentary on the disc, running for 99-minutes it was built around the once thought lost footage from The Game of Death and features one interpretation of Bruce’s original vision of the fight sequences from that film. Originally released around the same time as Hong Kong Legend’s Platinum Edition release of The Game of Death - which features another interpretation of that same vision – I would suggest seeking out that DVD release for a better way to enjoy the simply magnificent choreography Lee mapped out and successfully shot for the last three stages of the pagoda sequence. The version found here is not without merit however, it’s just that it’s presented in non-anamorphic widescreen so is not the best way to be viewing the fights. Looking beyond the restored footage (which is found at the end) this documentary by John Little offers a great deal of insight to Lee’s development both as a martial arts teacher and practitioner, eschewing the usual focus on his goals for movie stardom and instead looking deeper into the genesis of his way of the intercepting fist. Of course it’s just one of several often voiced takes on this development, with key moments such as the fight to decide if he would continue teaching non-Chinese or not described in a manner completely different to that on the “Curse of the Dragon” documentary, but it’s presented very well with a fine array of rare footage, photographs and more familiar clips from interviews and television appearances blended in amongst interviews with his students, wife and others well placed to comment.

A vintage featurette from 1973 “Location: Hong Kong with Enter the Dragon” features an amusing voice-over but plenty of behind-the-scenes footage (I love how the elaborate sound effects are in place) so is well worth 7 minutes of your time. There is also a short “Backyard Workout with Bruce Lee” segment which is simply some home movies showing Lee working out in his, well, back yard. Lastly there is a veritable bevy of lengthy, over-the-top and somewhat misleading Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots for you to peruse at your leisure. Some trailers from the Hong Kong theatrical release would have made an interesting contrast here, as it’s notable how both Robert Saxon and Jim Kelly are named ahead of Bruce Lee in the majority of these.


Overall

If you’re coming to Enter the Dragon for the first time then this HD DVD release by Warner offers a comprehensive set of bonus features alongside the best home presentation of the film available. The transfer, while sometimes very good, is not the best example of just how good high definition can look so it’s not one that I would immediately recommend to owners of the Special Edition DVD release.