By the Radio Reaper
Welcome, all lovers of martial arts tournament movies! Welcome to my Radio Spot Reliquary.
After the success of TV’s Kung Fu pilot movie and their hit Five Fingers of Death, Warner Brothers Studio decided to go big and produce a blockbuster martial arts film using an American/Chinese cast and a star of Chinese-produced martial arts films named Bruce Lee.
Fans of the TV show The Green Hornet already knew Bruce Lee as Kato, the Kung-Fu master sidekick of the Green Hornet. After guest spots on a few TV series, Lee went to Hong Kong to begin a career in film and soon became a major star with the films The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, and The Way of the Dragon, with Chuck Norris. In 1972 he was tapped as the lead in that new joint Hong Kong/Hollywood production which would eventually be named Enter The Dragon.
Released in August, 1973, it became an instant world-wide hit and propelled Bruce Lee to martial arts legend. Sadly, Lee died shortly after its release, but interest in his three earlier movies, now titled Fists of Fury, The Chinese Connection and The Return of the Dragon (released in 1974) received new interest. A cobbled together unfinished film titled Game of Death was released later in 1978.
Enter The Dragon is now considered a classic of martial arts film making and led the way for the worldwide interest in martial arts. Lee choreographed the fight scenes, making them more believable, and doing away with the gravity-defying stunts, such as leaping twenty feet in the air to clash with opponents. The film was shot in the usual style of photographing without sound, the audio portion of the film’s voices, music and sound effects added in post production. Having the music and sound effects elements separate made worldwide dubbing easier and more uniform.
The movie brought together many top martial arts practitioners such as Lee, Americans John Saxon, Jim Kelly, and Bob Wall, and Chinese stars Shih Kien, Bolo Yeung, Sammo Hung (uncredited) and a newcomer stunt extra named Jackie Chan. Many memorable scenes are featured including the showdown between Lee and Wall, Lee taking on Kien’s entire army of warriors, and the climactic scene between Kien and Lee in a mirrored room.
Enter The Dragon went on to be voted the best martial arts film of all time. Warner Brothers went all out in its advertising campaign and the following radio spots highlight the action and draw of the film. Listen!
Lee! Roper! Williams! Han! O’Hara! Bolo! Boards…don’t hit back! Enter The Dragon!! (ZC Note: And that awesome score by Lalo Schifrin!)