ENTER THE DRAGON - Bruce Lee (1973)

 

Tonight's Saturday Night Special is Bruce Lee's last movie...made in 1973.....

"ENTER THE DRAGON!"

I'm sure that "Enter The Dragon" has been covered over the years by people far more literate than me, but.........I've thought about it long and hard, who cares? This is just my take!

 

Very arty KIAI!!!

The only thing I can tell you about Bruce Lee that is an original thought is that the one person I know that ever had any contact with him, and was a very intense person himself, said that "when he first saw Bruce Lee in person, he was scared to even make eye contact with him!"

I don't know if John (Blood Beast From Outer Space, Queen Of Blood) Saxon ever had any real martial arts training, but he is fairly credible in this role! John is still going strong today, just turned 82 a couple of months ago, and has one movie in pre-production, and one in post-production!

Born in Paris, Kentucky, Jim (Black Samurai) Kelly was the real International Middle Weight Karate Champion in 1971, so like Bruce Lee, he brought some legitimate skill to the dance! Paris, Kentucky can't help but remind me of the Bo Diddley song, about Hong Kong, Mississippi! "You don't sound like where you come from!" Don't believe me, then check it out for yourself!

While I was investigating that subject, I stumbled upon a video of a guy explaining how the Bo Diddley beat worked, and a modern example was a song by KT Tunstall called "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" that I was totally unfamiliar with, but I thought was pretty hot!

Bolo Yeung might be only five foot seven inches tall, but he was in good enough shape to be Mr Hong Kong Bodybuilding Champion for 10 years in a row! Looking tougher than Hell, Bolo was actually a student and good friend of Bruce Lee! Also known as "The Beast From The East," Bolo is still kickin' today!

As tough as he was, Bruce Lee seemed to like making funny faces!

I like this shot! I think it's the juxtaposition of the olde and the new!

Lookin' a lot like some kind of board game, the evil emperor has his own island, and his own army of martial arts experts!

And here he is! "Welcome to my island!" 

Kien Shih was only in 247 features over the course of fifty freakin' years!!

You really need to see the movie to appreciate the weirdness of this party scene! Tons of bird cages suspended from the ceiling, roaming acrobats, and center stage two guys grappling!

 There's a hip soundtrack with music composed by Lalo Schifrin!
Here's 29 seconds to whet your appetite!

 This is one of the funniest screencaps ever! It really looks like Jerry Kelly is giving a cartoon fisted hand salute!

On the other hand, homeboy wannabe ruler of the world has an arm with a socket in it that accepts various diabolical hand variations!

 There gets to a point where even Bruce admits that the thrill is gone!

It must pay to be an asshole in the movies, because Kien Shih lived to be 96 years old!

 The taste of his own blood makes Bruce tougher than tough, and rougher than rough!

 

 Two of my favourite consecutive shots ever!
This is exactly what needs to happen to a whole bunch of people from all walks of life in modern society!!

We were about a third of the way through a full-length film we were making called "Voodoo Club" when it all went up in smoke! It was really pretty amazing, because out of nowhere, the whole project just collapsed in one day, and the final straw was.........

......The day almost none of the cast showed up, and the free location was in a roomful of mirrors in a gym! If you've only got one camera and no money, a roomful of mirrors is a real nightmare!

"Voodoo Club" R.I.P.