The Way of the Dragon

The United States and the world would discover Martial Arts actor Bruce Lee until 1973 with the release of his first (and only) Hollywood film, "Enter the Dragon", a masterpiece of the Martial Arts genre and arguably the film that started the trend of Kung-Fu films. However, before making "Enter the Dragon", Lee had already participated in three major films in Hong Kong, two of them under the direction of Wei Lo and the third the only film of his where he had complete control under everything, "Meng Long Guojian", the "Way of the Dragon". Better known as "Return of the Dragon" in the U.S. (where it was released as a sequel to "Enter the Dragon"), "Meng Long Guojiang" was Lee's first film as a director, and like his following two final films, a movie where he was able to express not only his physical abilities, but also the philosophy he developed to achieve them.

In "Way of the Dragon", Bruce Lee plays Tang Lung, a young man from Hong Kong who is sent to Rome by his uncle in order to help a family friend, "Uncle" Wang (Chung-Hsin Huang). At his arrival, he is informed that the problem is that the Italian Mafia wants the family's restaurant, and uses violent intimidation to pressure the owner. While at first not everyone is convinced that Tang Lung would be of any help (as he is not used to the city), soon they discover that Tang is in fact a talented Martial Artist. With Tang Lung's help, the Restaurant's waiters manage to defend themselves from the gangsters, but the Mafia Boss is completely decided to get the Restaurant, so he hires a group of Martial Arts experts, including the famous Colt (Chuck Norris) to eliminate Tang Lung.

After proving he was a bankable star, Bruce Lee finally got the opportunity of not only writing, but also directing his own film. Free at last to make his vision of a Martial Arts film come true, Lee builds up a film focused on two very personal themes for him. On one hand, his very own experience as a stranger in a strange land, and the feelings of being like a fish out of the water; and on the other, his ideal of the hero who uses his very own technique to fight against the established disciplines. While the plot is very straight forward, and a bit typical, Lee uses it effectively to showcase his own ideals and philosophies as martial artist, delivering finally an action film with some depth beyond watching the character overcome the enemies.

Borrowing heavily from Spaghetti Westerns (even some score by Morricone is used), Lee creates a magnificent epic set on the beautiful locations of Rome, where his lonely hero Tang Lung arrives as a modern day cowboy to right some wrongs. While of course not an expert filmmaker (it was after all, his first film as a director), Lee shows a great eye for visuals, as the camera becomes an essential part in the creation of the sublimely choreographed fights, and the highly stylish set pieces (again, influenced by Sergio Leone's westerns). "Meng Long Guojiang is definitely the basics for what Lee conceived as a Martial Arts film, and many of what he developed for this movie would become of great influence for future directors of the genre.

Due to his character in "Enter the Dragon", most people remember Bruce Lee's acting as a serious, dark personification of the perfect martial arts warrior, however, "Meng Long Guojiang" is a chance to discover a way different side of Lee's persona, as he allows himself to be as funny and human as skilled in Kung-Fu. "Way of the Dragon" offers insight into Lee as a comedy actor, as Tang Lung's personality (and probably Bruce's real one too) is that of a happy man who enjoys life. The rest of the cast ranges from good to average, with one amazing exception: Ping-Ao Wei. As the treacherous translator Ho, Ping-Ao Wei delivers one of the best comedic performances of his career, and an excellent (and effective) comic relief for the film.

As written above, the cast (mostly the case of the many extras in the film) most of the time doesn't seem up to the challenge of the film, and the awful dubbing done doesn't really help with that. Another truly big problem is that Lee didn't had enough budget to fulfill his vision and in some scenes it really shows. This two problems really hurt the film badly, and while Lee's inexperience behind the camera is quite obvious, it's safe to say that he delivered a great job against the odds. The epic tone of the film and the superb climatic scenes really make up for the notorious flaws the film has, and one gets to wonder how would "Game of Death" may had turned up if Lee had lived enough to complete it.

It's a shame that Lee died so soon and was unable to craft his ultimate Martial Arts film, leaving the world wondering what would he do to top this film (and the reliable sources agree that "Game of Death" was really going to be his best). This flawed masterpiece may not be perfect, but it's monumental when one realizes how influential it became. Sure, "Enter the Dragon" may be the better film of the two, but "Meng Long Guojiang" is the film that shows us how Lee really was, and what he really believed in. In more than one sense, "Meng Long Guojiang" is truly, the real Way of the Dragon. 8/10

Although this is technically not Lees greatest film, it is a personal favourite since Lee was in full control and everything is pure Lee. Many have wrongly stated this film is bad, having not seen the originals where you can really appreciate the composition of the showdowns (visual director with potential - see the rare 'rocking chair' shot in Game of Death). The script is bad in a few places, particularly the humour, but this film was never inteneded for the west, but designed to appeal to his country men.

Now, the film features the best array of fighting sequences ever commited to celluloid. Obviously influenced by Sergio Leones trilogy, tension is excellently built up before fight. The sequences are not overly choreographed or played in slow motion or 'lightly' then speeded up, but contain a raw, feral edge combined with breathless technique. The perfect marriage between art and realism.

The fights with Wong Ing Sik and Bob Wall while short, are underrated even by Lee fans. Those who have been lucky enough to see the double nunchaku sequence in full, will have witnessed one of the best display of weaponary ever shown on the silver screen (along with the 'original' and 'complete' nunchaku footage from Game of Death and the wonderfully comprehensive display of martial arts in the underground Enter the Dragon sequence).

And then theres THAT coliseum fight. Perhaps the start is abit overdone (But Lee wanted to put forward a point i.e. don't play to your oponents strength), but it is undoubtedly the best expression of the human body ever, whether fighting, dancing, running whatever. Those brought up on Latter day Chan stuff and in particular Jet Li fights, will not appreciate this piece, but those knowing anything about the fighting arts or good choreography will be shaken not just stirred.

Bruce Lee really rules. Before this I had seen only "enter the dragon". It is usually considered to bee his best film, so I didn´t really know what to expect from "way of the dragon". I liked it very much. Biggest problem I had with it was that I had to watch the english dubbed version. I prefer the original language! Lee really knew how to entertain the audience. He was funny, but not too funny. I particulary enjoyed the last fighting scene when "Colt" was defeated. For once the bad guy went down with honour! I recommend this to anyone who likes a good kung-fu movie. There might be better ones, but no complains. 8/10

The Way Of The Dragon had the potential to be Bruce's best film in my opinion but was bogged down by the dubbing and acting. But it still stands solid as one great Bruce Lee film and boasts the greatest fight scene ever in my opinion. Bruce plays Tang Lung who travels to Rome to help his family battle local gangsters who are trying to take over their resturaunt. Bruce almost plays a Charlie Chaplin type role here which would later be more fitting to Jackie Chan's slapstick style. Much like the Big Boss the first Bruce fight scene is way into the film but in my opinion this good because it creates a good build up, the nunchuka scene is second only to the one in Fist Of Fury or the uncut Game Of Death. The fight scene in the Roman Colliseum deserves the credit it gets because of one simple reason, its a simple fight, there are no gimmicks, sure its set in the colliseum and the fight is supposed to reflect two roman gladiators but there are no weapons and no sweet talk. It truly has epic scale. The thing that also makes this fight scene work is the end when Tang Lung out of respect covers Colt with his Karate jacket. There may have been better fights since on screen and I havn't seen many Hong Kong films with Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen etc but this is the first great one on one fight, therefore it set the standard.

There will indeed never be another Bruce Lee. I find it fascinating to imagine what Bruce would have done if he had lived, the 80's and 90's would have been very different if Arnie, Stallone, Wiilis, Seagal and Van Damme had Bruce to compete with, Bruce is sometimes critcised for being a bad actor, but i disagree, if anyone has seen his episodes of `Longstreet' or `Marlowe' they will see that Bruce could convincingly carry a dramatic scene given the right script and no dubbing and he oozed charisma, and he showed glimpses of good acting in Enter The Dragon.

Being a Bruce fan i kind of wish that Jet Li would do the films that bruce did or was planning on doing, Jet's early work in Honk Kong like the Shaolin Temple or more recent stuff like Fist Of Legend(remake of Fist Of Fury) and Once Upon A Time In China was very promising and it seemed he was the successor to Bruce but instead now he's doing crap in Hollywood with DMX and Jason Statham. Strangely the mediocre Lethal Weapon 4 is Jet's best Hollywood film, Maybe Jet should do a project with John Woo, it would be interesting and they'd probably get the best out of each other.

"Fury of the Dragon" or "Return of the Dragon" or ¨Way of the Dragon¨ is a classic Chop-Socky in which wild fighting scenes provide an overwhelming view of Bruce Lee's skills . A man named Tang Lung (Bruce Lee choreographed his own fight scenes) arrives in Rome to visit his relatives , he helps his cousins (Nora Miao who along with Lee played ¨Fists of Fury¨) in the restaurant business . However , they are being pressured to sell their property to the syndicate, who will stop at nothing to get what they want. There Tang has to defend them against brutal gangsters harassing them and attempting to take over . The syndicate boss hires the best foreign martial art fighters (Robert Wall who played some films with Lee) to face off Tang , but he easily finishes them off . The American martial artist Colt (Chuck Norris film debut) is also hired and takes place a deadly ending combat .

This violent Chop-Socky displays action-packed , thrills , fast-paced and wild fighting images . It is a corny , action-filled and violent film , being entirely filmed in Rome , Italy . Breathtaking fights and embarrassing acting , the whole thing was shot without sound, with the actors looping their lines in post-production . Overwhelming final duel between Lee and Norris , in fact it was last movie to be filmed in the actual Roman Colisseum ; Bruce Lee had Chuck Norris put on weight so he would looks less impressive by comparison . This is a top-notch Kung-Fu movie with the unforgettable Bruce Lee , though he does not fight till almost 30 minutes into the movie . It was billed "Return of the Dragon" during its western release in order to cash in on the success of "Enter the Dragon" as its "sequel". Bruce Lee produced , directed and even wrote and also dubbed almost all of the English speaking characters in this film .

Bruce Lee played and directed this Return of the Dragon , one of the biggest international hit smashes , it was previously realized to his American box office ¨Enter the dragon¨ that was made by an expert on Chop-Socky movies , Robert Clouse , and he directed Bruce Lee's last film : the incomplete ¨Game of the death¨ . This ¨Enter the Dragon¨ was made later but released before ¨Lee's Return of dragon¨ , and Lee had formerly starred ¨Fists of fury¨ or ¨The big boss¨. ¨Enter the Dragon¨ is his last complete movie character but his next film ¨ Game of death¨ was absurdly edited after his death . This Kung-Fu actioner titled ¨Return of Dragon¨ was well made by Bruce Lee himself . According to the Bruce Lee documentary, this is Linda Lee Cadwell's (Bruce's wife) favorite of all her husband's films. ¨Return of the Dragon¨ is indispensable and essential seeing for Lee fans and art-martial enthusiasts . It is not ¨Enter the Dragon¨ but his fans -who have so few to choose from- undoubtedly will want to see it again .