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Enter the Dragon - The Most Overrated Kung-Fu Movie Ever Made?


One Armed Boxer

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Angela Mao Ying told me to my face that Bruce was "the greatest: the best man I ever worked with".

That's good enough for me.

ETD and 'overrated' shouldn't exist in the same sentence.

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What a joy to watch the Theatrical ETD with mono on the Criterion Blu-Ray. Looked great. Some random observations- The karate guy assisting Bob Wall in his demo early on really looks like Tadashi Yamashita.  Some plot oddities- Bruce is undercover yet brings attention to himself by refusing to wear offical uniform. The lost, drunken old men who suddenly become 30 years younger when let out of jail. And for a film i've watched more than any other i think, today was the first time i noticed Phillip Ko in it.

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Killer Meteor

I wondered where Han's daughters went during the end fight, considering they were set-up as fighters. Was it too much to have them or Tania in a quick cat fight with Mei Ling?

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17 minutes ago, Killer Meteor said:

I wondered where Han's daughters went during the end fight, considering they were set-up as fighters. Was it too much to have them or Tania in a quick cat fight with Mei Ling?

I imagine there's a lot of extra footage filmed that we've never seen

Edited by saltysam
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Killer Meteor

Given Angela Mao played Lee's sister, if they wanted Mei Ling to be played by a fighter, I guess Cheng Pei-pei would have been the best bet - English speaker, Golden Harvest contract player, and experienced in on-screen fighting.

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I can never watch the whole of ETD these days. It has some real dull parts and the action is OK-ish. I remember wanting to see the uncut version with the nunchucks in the UK so I'd always scan the back of the VHS rental tapes and see what the running time was and once I found one with a 104 min running time so I got it, rushed home, put it on only to find it's still missing the scene!

When I eventually saw it (on BBC2 Kung Fu night iirc) I was like WOW that's cool................followed by, is that it!? I waited years for 30s or so! I was expecting a bit more than that! :P

One thing I will say is that I always found it amazing how they shot the hall or mirrors scene. No reflections of the camera crew or anything. :o

 

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I don't think its overrated, just taken out of context. When you call a movie "The best martial arts movie of ALL TIME" you will create controversy.

I feel ETD was The Best Martial arts movie of its time, look around and see what else was been made in 1973.

Also, we can agreee at least, that ETD has been "The most influential martial arts movie of all time" i think this is the appropiate way to describe this movie. Not the best, but the one who had the biggest impact all over the world and that's mainly because of Bruce Lee's premature death.

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6 hours ago, PandaPawPaw said:

I once I found one with a 104 min running time

 

 

 

That would be quite the find, a 104 minute version!

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Purely as movies for entertainment value without regard to influence, history, etc... every Bruce Lee movie is over rated...

 

 

Edited by paimeifist
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For me ETD is great fun and it shows off Bruce's charisma more than his other movies. That's not to say that it isn't hugely flawed. The fights are definitely not the greatest particularly the finale (why Bruce and Bolo never fought is one of cinema's greatest questions). 

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TibetanWhiteCrane

 

5 minutes ago, AbeRudder said:

For me ETD is great fun and it shows off Bruce's charisma more than his other movies. That's not to say that it isn't hugely flawed. The fights are definitely not the greatest particularly the finale (why Bruce and Bolo never fought is one of cinema's greatest questions). 

I think the action might actually be its worst feature.

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10 hours ago, AbeRudder said:

(why Bruce and Bolo never fought is one of cinema's greatest questions). 

 

It's rumoured that he was saving this screen fight for another a future project.

 

On 8/20/2020 at 9:08 PM, saltysam said:

The karate guy assisting Bob Wall in his demo early on really looks like Tadashi Yamashita. 

 

I've read about him being in the movie online, but he's still missing from the IMDB cast listing. Has Tadashi Yamashita ever talked about this movie in any interviews?.

 

IMDB has Bob Clouse credited as a thug #1, which scene did he appear in?.

 

Quote
Robert Clouse ... Thugs #1 (uncredited) - IMDB

 

Edited by DragonClaws
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5 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

 

 

 

 

I've read about him being in the movie online, but he's still missing from the IMDB cast listing. Has Tadashi Yamashita ever talked about this movie in any interviews?.

 

 

 

 

I think it's Yamashita, i'd bet money on it. IMDB isn't always accurate,i've watched two movies recently that IMDB listed Charles Bonet as being in, he wasn't in either one.

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On 8/22/2020 at 12:53 PM, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

 

I think the action might actually be its worst feature.

Not sure I'd go that far personally, I like the fight with Bob Wall during the tournament. It's well shot and Bruce flows really well in it. 

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TibetanWhiteCrane
6 hours ago, AbeRudder said:

Not sure I'd go that far personally, I like the fight with Bob Wall during the tournament. It's well shot and Bruce flows really well in it. 

Not so much a fight as a demo of how quick and cool Bruce is... which is pretty much true of all the action. I mean is anyone really excited about the Shek Kien finale? The only adversary that maybe would have presented Bruce with some actual resistance was Bolo, the one guy he didn't fight.

Edited by TibetanWhiteCrane
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Killer Meteor

That is true. I notice John Saxon looks a lot better in the Pat Johnson choreographed fight at the golf course than he does in Hong Kong,

 

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20 hours ago, saltysam said:

I think it's Yamashita, i'd bet money on it. IMDB isn't always accurate,i've watched two movies recently that IMDB listed Charles Bonet as being in, he wasn't in either one.

I rewatched the film the other day and that was my first reaction: Is that Tadashi Yamashita? It sure looked like him!

I'm currently watching my collection in chronological order, and watching Enter the Dragon after the likes of Spirits of Bruce Lee and Fist of Unicorn makes you appreciate what Lee was capable of. Also, the high production values help a lot, especially after the cheap-to-the-point-of-distraction Fist of Unicorn. Also, I've always noticed how little the nunchaku sequence contributes to the Underground Fight. He does his exhibition, beats up three people in three swings, and its over. His work with the staff and double sticks was a lot better.

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shukocarl1441996347
6 hours ago, DrNgor said:

I rewatched the film the other day and that was my first reaction: Is that Tadashi Yamashita? It sure looked like him!

I'm currently watching my collection in chronological order, and watching Enter the Dragon after the likes of Spirits of Bruce Lee and Fist of Unicorn makes you appreciate what Lee was capable of. Also, the high production values help a lot, especially after the cheap-to-the-point-of-distraction Fist of Unicorn. Also, I've always noticed how little the nunchaku sequence contributes to the Underground Fight. He does his exhibition, beats up three people in three swings, and its over. His work with the staff and double sticks was a lot better.

It IS Tadashi Yamashita! Also Lee's Nunchaku was it's introduction to international audiences....leave them wanting more?

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