History Film / EnterTheDragon

%%* TranquilFury: Roper vs. Bolo

* TheDanza:
** Lee, played by Bruce Lee.
** In an inversion, actor Yang Zse took the stage name of Bolo Yeung to cash in on his sudden exposure in this film as the villainous Bolo.

* ExecutiveMeddling:
** In the original script, [[spoiler: Roper dies and Williams survives.]] This was reversed by John Saxon's agent to land him a bigger part; it was ''not'' an example of racist executives.
** Lee, playing a secret agent, wanted to use a gun in at least one scene. See WhyDontYouJustShootHim below.

* GoodColorsEvilColors: The FinalBattle is a sign that this film was made in China. In chinese culture ''white'' is associated with death and ''black'' is associated with death. In the FinalBattle, Han's mooks all wear white (the grey security guards are few in number) and all of the freed martial artists fighting them wear black.

* PoliceBrutality: Averted in Williams' back-story when he kicks the crap out of racist police officers and then drives off ''in their car''.

* SoulBrotha: Williams is a skilled martial artist that is 'too busy looking good' to have time for losing.

** It also happened in an earlier Bruce Lee film "Fist of Fury" where Lee does it John Baker's character Petkov in about the same Armbar position, too.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The leisure suits, turtle necks, the funky music, Williams' afro and [[JiveTurkey manner of speech]] along with mentioning the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar was only a few years ago, all point to this movie being in TheSeventies. Also, this movie is mostly responsible for kick-starting the kung-fu craze in the US during this time.
** More recent visitors to UsefulNotes/HongKong will notice how much the city has changed since then.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The leisure suits, turtle necks, the funky music, Williams' afro and [[JiveTurkey manner of speech]] along with mentioning the VietnamWar was only a few years ago, all point to this movie being in TheSeventies. Also, this movie is mostly responsible for kick-starting the kung-fu craze in the US during this time.

** Lee delivers one to O'Hara during their fight

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Han throws a spear at Lee, resulting in it sticking straight through a wall. As the fight continues, Lee kicks Han into the spear because it is still sticking straight out of the wall.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: For all of Han's villainy, he is dead serious about the tournament rules and not even [[spoiler:[[TheDragon O'Hara]]]] is exempt; Han is visibly and audibly angered by [[spoiler:O'Hara]] attempting to grab Lee's leg after being knocked down, and the last straw is when Lee assumes victory and bows to Han[[hottip:*:which demonstrates Lee's self-control in eschewing revenge beyond defeating O'Hara]] only for [[spoiler:O'Hara to break bottles behind Lee's back]]. As soon as [[spoiler:Lee kills O'Hara then presents himself before Han ''again'']] and a henchman verifies [[spoiler:the kill]], Han declares that "[[spoiler:O'Hara]]'s treachery has disgraced us."

* AfroAsskicker: Williams, the UrExample, is a blackman with an afro and serious martial art skills.

* CombatPragmatist: Roper is caught in an armbar and instead of using a martial arts technique to get out of it, opts to simply bite his leg.

''Enter the Dragon'' is the fourth and final (completed) film of martial arts legend BruceLee. It premiered in August 1973, one month after Lee's untimely death. ''Enter the Dragon'' was the first of Lee's movies to premiere in America and the first to be recorded in English.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: For all of Han's villainy, he is dead serious about the tournament rules and not even [[spoiler:[[TheDragon O'Hara]] is exempt; Han is visibly and audibly angered by [[spoiler:O'Hara]] attempting to grab Lee's leg after being knocked down, and the last straw is when Lee assumes victory and bows to Han[[hottip:*:which demonstrates Lee's self-control in eschewing revenge beyond defeating O'Hara]] only for [[spoiler:O'Hara to break bottles behind Lee's back]]. As soon as [[spoiler:Lee kills O'Hara then presents himself before Han ''again'']] and a henchman verifies [[spoiler:the kill]], Han declares that "[[spoiler:O'Hara]]'s treachery has disgraced us."

''Enter the Dragon'' is still considered one of the finest martial arts films in history. It has often been praised for its ethnic equality, since it features heroes of European, African, and Asian descent. It also features Lee as a philosophical warrior, allowing him to tie in his own personal philosophies of martial arts (by virtue of his personally rewriting the script to add dialogue at the opening Shaolin Temple scenes). Of course, the real beauty of the film is in the exquisite fight sequences showcasing Lee at the top of his game, along with an excellent supporting cast and stunt crew (including future martial arts stars SammoHung and JackieChan ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8CtOqJy6xM really]]).

* AfroAsskicker: Williams, the UrExample.

* BittersweetEnding: It's a Bruce Lee movie, it's either this or a DownerEnding.

* BodyguardBabes: Mr. Han's daughters.

* BullyingADragon: There were about a dozen or so people on that boat. The New Zealand fighter decided Lee was the best one to pick a fight with.

* CoDragons: Bolo and O'Hara.

* ConservationOfNinjitsu: Every hero (and even a villain in at least one scene) gets the chance to kick the crap out of 3-5 guys at once.
* CurbStompBattle: The fight between Lee and O'Hara. There's also Lee's fight with Mr. Han's minions in the drug factory; by the time Lee's captured, he's already mowed down dozens of them. An off-screen Curb Stomp Battle happened when some dumbass intruded on Bruce Lee's family area and scared his kids. [[PapaWolf Bruce Lee sent the guy to the hospital with one kick.]]
* DaddysLittleVillain: Although they are never actually seen in action, Han has trained his daughters to be his personal bodyguards on the theory that no one will be more loyal to him.
** One of Han's daughters still managed to knock Roper clear off his feet rather than give him a handshake.
** [[spoiler: Another is seen dead on the courtyard stage after the fight is over.]]
* TheDanza: Lee, played by Bruce Lee.
** In an inversion, actor Yang Zse took the stage name of Bolo Yeung to cash in his sudden exposure in this film as the villainous Bolo.
* DivideAndConquer: Averted. Han tries to force [[LetsYouAndHimFight Roper and Lee to fight]] to the death but they refuse. He sends Bolo in to do the job instead.

** [[spoiler: Williams]] gets killed by Han after being set up as a major character.

* ExecutiveMeddling: In the original script, [[spoiler: Roper dies and Williams survives.]] This was reversed by John Saxon's agent to land him a bigger part; it was ''not'' an example of racist executives.

* GoodColorsEvilColors: Inverted in the FinalBattle.

* GoodWeaponEvilWeapon: Lee uses a SimpleStaff or ''nunchaku'' on occasion and [[BareFistedMonk his own style of martial arts]] the rest of the time, while Han's general evilness is emphasized by his penchant for sinister-looking [[WolverineClaws claw]] [[ArtificialLimbs hands.]] The "quick-and-to-the-point martial arts tend to be used by villains" clause is [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] by Roper's [[CombatPragmatist pragmatic]] tendencies.
* GroinAttack: Lee delivers one to O'Hara during their fight and Roper gives one to Bolo.
** Also, as expected, Lee's sister gives one to O'Hara in her flashback.
* GuileHero: Roper is a gambler who [[ThrowingTheFight begins to purposefully lose a fight]] in order to swindle a spectator out of money and is upfront about the fact that he [[ConMan plans to trick Lee into losing money]]. Despite this, he is still seen as charming to both the audience and the other characters. It's also apparent that he plans to double-cross Han at one point.
* FauxActionGirl: Mei Ling acts as TheMole in Han's island, is a special agent, and can shoot a dart into a thrown apple. Despite this, she seems unable to fight anyone.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Han throws a spear at Lee, resulting in it sticking straight through a wall. As the fight continues, Lee kicks Han who ends up getting [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaled]] by said spear as it is still jutting out from the wall.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Roper.

* MenOfSherwood: The imprisoned Black Robes in the FinalBattle; Han does manage to slash one of them.

* NeverBringAKnifeToAFistfight: Lee's uncle slashes O'Hara's face with a knife but is disarmed with a few punches and kicks. Later, O'Hara comes after Lee with two broken bottles and is similarly disarmed.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler:How Han kills Williams.]]

* NothingIsScarier: We never see exactly what part of O'Hara's body Lee landed on, but we see how powerful the jump is along with the disgusted reactions of Han, Roper and Williams reacting to it.

* RatedMForManly: ''Oh'' yeah.
* RedRightHand: Han's various prosthetic hands are an almost literal example. O'Hara's facial scar also qualifies.
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Williams.]]
* SaltAndPepper: Roper and Williams. Both seem to be pretty even-tempered, however.

* SoulBrotha: Williams.

* ToWinWithoutFighting: Lee described this as his style almost word-for-word.
* TranquilFury: Roper vs. Bolo
* TruthInTelevision[=/=]ShoutOut: (in RealLife) Bruce Lee was once put into an arm bar during a sparring session and his opponent asked what he'd do in this situation. Bruce responded "Why, I'd bite your leg, of course". Roper does this in his fight with Bolo.

* YellowPeril: Balanced by the fact that the main hero is also Asian.

** In the opening fight scene, Lee defeats his opponent via armbar.

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler: Su Lin (Lee's sister) stabs herself with a piece of broken glass when she is cornered by O'Hara and his henchmen.]]

* CurbStompBattle: The fight between Lee and O'Hara. There's also Lee's fight with Mr. Han's minions in the drug factory; by the time Lee's captured, he's already mowed down dozens of them. An off-screen CurbStompBattle happened when some dumbass intruded on Bruce Lee's family area and scared his kids. [[PapaWolf Bruce Lee sent the guy to the hospital with one kick.]]

* {{Stripperiffic}}: Bruce Lee's pair of back speedos in the first fight.

''Enter the Dragon'' is still considered one of the finest martial arts films in history. It has often been praised for its ethnic equality, since it features heroes of European, African, and Asian descent. It also features Lee as a philosophical warrior, allowing him to tie in his own personal philosophies of martial arts (by virtue of his personally rewriting the script to add dialogue at the opening Shaolin Temple scenes). Of course, the real beauty of the film is in the exquisite fight sequences showcasing Lee at the top of his game, along with an excellent supporting cast and stunt crew (including future martial arts stars SammoHung and JackieChan).

* EvenEvilHasStandards: For all of Han's villainy, he is dead serious about the tournament rules, and not even [[spoiler:[[TheDragon O'Hara]] is exempt; Han is visibly and audibly angered by [[spoiler:O'Hara]] attempting to grab Lee's leg after being knocked down, and the last straw is when Lee assumes victory and bows to Han[[hottip:*:which demonstrates Lee's self-control]] only for [[spoiler:O'Hara to break a bottle behind Lee's back]]. As soon as [[spoiler:Lee kills O'Hara -- and then bows to Han ''again'' --]] followed by [[spoiler:a henchman declaring O'Hara dead]], Han declares that "[[spoiler:O'Hara]]'s treachery has disgraced us."

* AsianGalWithWhiteGuy: Averted when Roper chooses the white madam over the Asian haremettes.
** Played with when Williams takes ''four'' of them and [[CrowningMomentOfFunny apologizes to the others because he's tired]]. Although to his credit, he did pick a few white girls too.
** Roper is shown flirting with some Chinese girls in the diner scene but nothing seems to come from it.

* TheCameo: Lee's real life mentor Ip Man appears as a ferryman in a scene early in the film

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: In the FinalBattle, all of Han's henchmen are dressed in white gi, while all of the shanghaied men are dressed in all-black attires.