For my money, this is the Bruce Lee classic - an excellent story, which is simple but has historical basis and lots of emotional power, a strong support cast, superb fight scenes. It's set in early 20th century Shanghai, where the Chinese were second class citizens in their own country - in particularly, according to this movie, they were persecuted by the Japanese.
Bruce Lee is the student of a real life Chinese martial arts guy who genuinely died under mysterious circumstances (we never meet him) who is determined not to take it from the Japanese. There are some very rousing moments like the Japanese (who are pretty much racially vilified in this film) taunting the Chinese, the sign that says "No dogs or Chinese allowed" (with a Sikh guard played by a browned-up Chinese), Lee's spectacular final leap (freeze frame death).
This movie has a great atmosphere of doom and menace - the constant racism of the Japanese, the struggle of the school to survive, Lee taking out the baddies one by one but ultimately being doomed, the massacre of the Chinese school. The love affair subplot is simple stock stuff but provides some necessarily relief.
Of course there are the fight scenes which are incredible - particularly the one where Lee walks alone into the enemy school and takes them apart. All the others are of high quality too. Lee is in stunningly good form - lithe, charismatic, furious, deadly. Fantastic music score.
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