Enter the Dragon takes Lee to a martial arts competition held on an isolated island ruled by the evil Mr Han. The plot is considerably more sophisticated that on any of the previous Bruce Lee martial arts films. Lee plays a secret agent who has been hired to uncover Han's illegal opium ring. Interlaced with the central storyline however, is the sub plot that involves Lee being on another mission - to avenge his sister who has lost her life after being attacked by a gang of Han's henchmen.

There is yet another sub plot which is touched upon which is the idea of Han being an estranged Shoalin (monk?) who has disgraced the Shaolin temple. Combine these three elements with a large international cast of martial arts film stars, along with an exciting martial arts tournament and it's no surprise that Enter the Dragon is regarded by many as the greatest martial arts film of all time.

The director of the film, Robert Clouse, managed to convince Bruce Lee to make his character less exaggerated and more sophisticated than in previous Bruce Lee films. Sure enough, Enter the Dragon brings the audience a different Bruce Lee that on Lee's previous outings; this time round Lee is a man of impeccable dress sense, he is always calm and in control, he is highly intellectual, he never raises his voice, he is well educated and cultured.

From a martial arts perspective, Enter the Dragon appears to deliver much more than just dazzling kung-fu entertainment. The film gives the audience a rare insight into some of the philosophies and practices of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. We even have the privilege of watching Lee's character lecturing a young martial arts student on some Jeet Kune Do principles. Needless to say, much of Bruce Lee's dialogue from Enter the Dragon has been (and still is) heavily scrutinised and quoted by countless martial arts teachers and students across the world. Thanks to Enter the Dragon, the martial arts community now has a selection of seemingly sacred catchphrases in which they can indulge themselves for many generations. Phrases such as;"the art of fighting without fighting", "like a finger pointing the way to the moon" and "you need emotional content" are constantly cropping up in martial arts books, clubs, videos and websites across the world.

Enter the Dragon differs from other Bruce Lee films in several other ways. This is the only Bruce Lee film where we get to see impressive fight scenes that do not involve Bruce Lee at all. Ok, so there were fight scenes where Lee was not present in some of his other martial arts films, but all of these previous fight scenes were very brief and appear to be nothing more than token gestures- dispensable additions that serve no purpose other than to make Bruce Lee look good, or to make the baddies look more bad. Enter the Dragon is different. In Enter the Dragon all of the fight scenes are incredibly impressive. We have black belt Hap Ki Do champion Angela Mao Ying at the helm of a superb fight scene near the start of the film. We have the pleasure of watching international middle-weight karate champion, Jim Kelly at his best. We have Yang Sze, the Shatogun Champion of Asia giving us a rousing display as the ruthless Bolo. And, even though he may not have been a lifetime dedicated martial arts practitioner, the fight scenes with John Saxon are also very entertaining.

In terms of overall production value, no rational human being could seriously dispute Enter the Dragon's rightful place as the greatest of all the Bruce Lee films. Every aspect of the film has clearly been worked at and polished for what must have seemed like an eternity. Even the soundtrack is regarded by many in the music industry as being one of the great masterpieces of the 70s!

All of Bruce Lee's other films depend 100% of the presence of Bruce Lee. If you had replaced Bruce Lee with any other actor at the time then it seems unlikely that his other films would have been remembered. With Enter the Dragon however, there is a glimmer of hope that the film could have stood up in its' own right.

Of course, whether or not Enter the Dragon is Bruce Lee's greatest film in terms of martial arts action is another issue altogether and one that is probably best left to the martial arts community. Another issue that is uncertain is whether or not Enter the Dragon is Bruce Lee's best film in terms of revealing Bruce's true, jovial personality. Close friends and family have been quick to point out that in real life, Bruce Lee was a completely different person altogether from the intense and inexpressive character we see in Enter the Dragon.

-David Connelly