Dynamic, exciting, brilliantly successful attempt to present Bruce Lee in a Hollywood movie. It plunders all sorts of inspirations, from James Bond to the house of mirrors finale in Lady from Shanghai, in this perfectly acceptable tale of Lee being asked by a vague intelligence organisation (Mr Braithwaite) to take part in a martial arts competition on an island run by an evil doctor. To add some personal connection it turns out one of the doctor's lackeys was responsible for the death of Lee's sister (in a flashback scene we get to see a girl do some martial arts, very successfully for the most part - there's also a female undercover agent on the island which makes this the Bruce Lee film with the two strongest female roles, ie. they're not just simpering good girls).
Two other men are invited to the island - Jim Kelly, who has one of the best Affros you'll ever see, and a great, wry presence, plus a fun gag where he takes a whole lot of women to bed (hey I said there were some good female parts, not all).... and a quite shocking death. There's also John Saxon, who isn't entirely convincing as a top rank martial artist (he looks too heavy and slow) but he's an excellent actor with perhaps the best character in the film - a dodgy guy who still has his own code of honour, and helps Lee in the end. I really enjoyed the mutual respect that grows between Saxon and Lee (yes I know that's in part because he's my Western surrogate in the movie but it's still true), as exemplified by their nod at the end. I was also a fan of the little subplot between him and the girl on the island who winds up dead.
Some fantastic fight scenes and plenty of them. Again, Lee tackles a really old dude at the end but it feels more equal here because the guy has a claw. All time classic music score and it looks fantastic - the extra money from Warners was well spent.
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