My Review of The Way of the Dragon (1972) directed by Bruce Lee

 Happy Birthday to Bruce Lee!

I decided to celebrate by reviewing his only movie as director and his most ambitious Golden Harvest film completed during his lifetime: The Way of the Dragon (1972). This movie takes place in Rome, Italy and stars Lee as a martial artists from Hong Kong who comes to Rome to defend the Chinese community there. It is the second movie after The Big Boss (1971) to find Lee's character acting in such a capacity. We see the action increased as the henchman are more dangerous (I mean it is the Italian Mafia) and they have recruited a deadly martial artist of their own (Chuck Norris). The climatic fight at the Roman Colosseum would be one of the most spectacular one-on-one clashes in Kong Fu cinema until Enter the Dragon (1973).

Besides the action sequences, the most notable (and noticeable) thing about this movie is Lee's involvement behind the camera. Besides co-production of Raymond Chow (the Run Run Shaw of Golden Harvest Studio), the cinematography of Tadashi Nishimoto (a veteran of Hong Kong cinema despite being Japanese), and be edited by Yao Chung Chang, all the major roles of the crew are by Lee himself. This really shows the contrast between a professional like Lo Wei and someone who gets the idea, but is not polished. Lee as a film director is a little rough, but he was fortunate to have Cho, Nishimoto, and Yao working with him. Luckily, his skills as action-director are more than able to compensate for his skills as a screenwriter and film-director. The truth is, the fight between himself and Norris is the pay-off for everything we have to sit-through leading up to that point. The stretching sequence of those two in the lead-up to their fight is the most intense warm-up I've ever seen on film. Even without Enter The Dragon, this movie would've made him an international superstar either way. This film and The Big Boss are at the bottom of my personal Bruce Lee list, but are still worth checking out. Happy Birthday to the Master.

My Review of Fist of Fury (1972) directed by Lo Wei

 Possibly the greatest action star of all time. This is the greatest achievement (to me) of Bruce Lee. Equal parts actor and martial artist, Lee's movies from The Big Boss (1971) thru Enter the Dragon (1973) (or Game of Death (1978) depending on how you count it) changed the game for Chinese Martial Arts cinema and set the tone for the genre up to the current day. Until Lee's collaboration with Golden Harvest, most martial arts films were in the wuxia-style of Shaw Brothers or the Japanese swords-style of films like Sanjuro or the Zatoichi movies. Bruce Lee, who had spent his time in the United States developing Jeet Kune Do and being marginalized by Hollywood, traveled back to Hong Kong and hooked up with Shaw Brothers Studio's upstart rivals Golden Harvest. Instead of using the wuxia genre, Lee and director Lo Wei went for realism and raw aggression. Curiously, Lee decided not to display his Jeet Kune Do style, but to use Wing Chun style that he was taught by his mentor Ip Man. 

Fist of Fury (1972) was made of the times, revolution in the air. The setting is the colonial period in turn-of-the-20th-century China and sees a martial arts school in Shanghai be harassed by a rival Japanese bushido school. Lee's character Chen Zhen returns from abroad to Shanghai just after the death of his teacher under not-so-mysterious circumstances and the naked racist antagonism from the Japanese school basically makes Zhen go on a revenge mission against the Japanese. The dueling escalation leads to the colonial powers placing a bounty on Chen Zhen's head, but he makes sure the Karate school will not survive no matter what happens to him.

The righteous fury of his anger, the super-speed of his kicks, and the electrifyingly brutal use of his num-chuks makes this my favorite Bruce Lee film. It may not have the incredible backdrop of Rome like The Way of the Dragon (1972) or the Hollywood production and budget of Enter The Dragon, but the story and the action is perfect for me. I obviously empathized with the story here and seeing that sign being kicked still makes me nod my head yes. Fist of Fury (1972) is Kung Fu cinema at its purest. Also the director Lo Wei (who also directed Lee's previous film) plays the police inspector.