The '70s, like any decade, produced its share of forgettable rubbish as well as a handful of iconic gems that may be dated but are beloved nonetheless.
"Enter the Dragon" is one of those films.
Lee (Bruce Lee) is recruited by an agency to attend a martial arts tournament on an island fortress owned by a man named Han (Kien Shih), who they suspect is using the tournament as a front for dealing heroin. Roper (John Saxon) and buddy Williams (Jim Kelly) are also at the tournament, hoping to win big (Roper because he's a gambler and Williams because he wants the sweet life but being black in 1970s America is hampering that dream).
The tournament is a lavish spectacle, with exotic food (Williams is like "Oh hell no!"), complimentary female companionship (Williams is like "I'll take you... and you... and you..."), and an underground heroin lab complete with cages stuffed full of involuntary volunteers on which to test the product.
Lee is there to check on Mei Ling (Betty Chung), an operative the agency has lost touch with, but he's also there for a personal reason: to find the man (Robert Wall) who killed his sister Su Lin (Angela Mao). (She left him with a telltale scar down one side of his face.)
Eventually there is a big showdown between Lee and Han, which is kind of a letdown because Han, with his clunky wood-and-knives fake hand seems a pitiful opponent for Lee, who is in absolute prime condition. This movie is worth watching for the locations and the cinematography, but Lee is worth watching because he is a wonder, for lack of a better word. He doesn't have an ounce of fat on him, every muscle is taught, he is mad graceful and cocky as hell (deservedly so)...
On a side note, Jackie Chan is among the hordes of martial arts students (?) that Lee cuts through like a hot knife through butter. (I haven't spotted him myself, but I'll be looking for him the next time I watch "Enter the Dragon.")
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