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Bruce Lee Movies: Enter the Dragon, Seen Through the Eyes of a Martial Arts Movies Expert

Dr. Craig D. Reid, author of The Ultimate Guide to to Martial Arts Movies of the 1970s, examines the Bruce Lee masterpiece from several vantage points: cinematic, martial and cultural. Read his findings here!

Editor's Note: Enter the Dragon is the third film in our Bruce Lee Movies List. The following review originally appeared in The Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies of the 1970s.

Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon officially unites Hong Kong and Hollywood under the parasol of kung fu. In this $500,000-budgeted gasp of fresh air in Tinseltown, Bruce Lee plays secret agent Lee. He's sent by the British to break up a suspected drug ring organized by the inscrutable Han (Shiek Khan), who uses martial arts tournaments to recruit bodyguards and lackeys. The idea of the tournament is actually based on the ancient Chinese sport lei tai, which first appeared during the Song dynasty (960 to 1279). The tournament winner would either become the emperor's bodyguard or a martial arts instructor for the imperial army.

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