Blu-ray review - Martial Arts at it's best (Enter The Dragon (DVD))

Member Name: Bax88

Product:	Enter The Dragon (DVD)
Date:	12/09/08 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Bruce Lee's best and final film, tons of special features, sharp and detailed picture.

Disadvantages: A poor audio track which only appears to use the front two speakers of a 5.1 surround system.

Way back in 1973, 35 years ago now, arguably the best martial artist the world has ever known filmed his final movie before his saddening and mysterious death in the same year. Bruce Lee starred in Enter the Dragon, a film that has made over $200 million worldwide to date and therefore is undoubtedly the most successful martial arts film to date, and a screening which helped propel the fighting style to fame.

The charismatic Bruce Lee plays a martial arts teacher called Lee who travels and competes in tournaments around the world. An upcoming tournament is being ran by a man known as "Mr Han" who the British Government happen to have a keen interest in due to a suspicion that Han is responsible for drug smuggling and prostitution. Knowing Lee will be invited to the tournament due to his incredible martial arts skills, the British Government ask him to go undercover and gain proof of this misbehavings so the government can pounce and get their man. Teaming with American martial artists Roper and Williams, played by John Saxon and Jim Kelly, what pursues is an instant martial arts classic which captured the imaginations of people around the world and made martial arts popular again.

Enter the Dragon features some of the best and most intense fighting scenes ever shot on film. The film includes a scene where Lee takes on and defeats no less than 50 enemies by himself, and also shows his skills with the deadly Nunchucks weapon. The speed at which Lee rotates and duels with this rare weapon is a pure joy to behold. The Nunchuck scene being included in the Blu-ray version is a huge plus aswell; the scene had been left out previous DVD versions of the film due to being to violent. The end fighting sequence where Lee takes on the infamous Mr Han is worth buying the Blu-ray for alone, as it shows some tense action and is a technical masterpiece. Enter the Dragon will keep you hooked throughout its 102 minute runtime, with you surely wanting to view the film countless more times. I'm glad to say that Bruce Lee went out on a high, with his last film being his best film.

Video:

For a film made 35 years ago, Enter the Dragon looks fantastic on Blu-ray. DVD versions of the film include a vast amount of grain throughout which in my opinion ruins the effect and look the film portrays. Thankfully, Warner's Blu-ray release is totally grain-free which helps make the picture nice and sharp. A high amount of detail can be seen compared to previous versions of the film also, with the sweat on the fighters' bodies being easily seen during action scenes. If you have watched the DVD version of Enter the Dragon upscaled via a Blu-ray player then you might not be able to see a huge amount of difference to this edition, and therefore might not see the Blu-ray version as a worthy purchase.

Audio:

Unfortunately the fantastic picture quality isn't matched in the audio department. I've come to expect dazzling surround sound whilst watching Blu-rays and the indulging audio effects are one of the main reasons to purchase the Blu-ray edition over a DVD version for me. Unfortunately the audio is extremely poor in Enter the Dragon. I rather, if ever, heard audio coming from the back two speakers of my Sony 5.1 surround system throughout the film; all the dialogue and music was predominately being projected from the front two speakers and the subwoofer. This failed to produce a cinematic effect which was extremely disappointing to say the least.

Special Features:

There are plenty of special features to keep even the keenest Enter the Dragon fan happy. You can watch the whole film whilst listening to commentary by the Producer Paul Heller, watch the making of Enter the Dragon and even listen to Bruce Lee comment on the film himself; which is a very interesting piece and well worth watching. Along with these terrific features, you can also watch ten interviews with Bruce Lee's widow Linda Lee, as she reflects on life with her husband and his films, which again is another intriguing watch.

Fans of Lee and his martial arts skills might be interested in watching the feature called "Backyard workout with Bruce" where you can view the master train, practicing kicks and punches in his garden. Just watching the man train was inspirational to me and gave me motivation to watch Enter the Dragon once again. For those of you who want to learn more about Lee and his family, a mini-documentary has been put together called "Curse of the Dragon" which gives an insight into the Lee family and the events they encountered over the years.

Lastly, four theatrical trailers of the film are on offer along with seven TV spots which advertised the film as it led to its cinematic release back in 1973. Although most of these TV sports are similar, they are still worth a watch and show us how much modern advertising has changed since the day of the dragon.

Summary:

Enter the Dragon is arguably the best martial arts movie ever made and a must buy for Bruce Lee and fighting fans. The picture appears sharp and detailed on Blu-ray, but the audio unfortunately lacks any real spark. Special features are in abundance which will please fans of the film, but they are shown in standard definition which is a slight disappointment. To conclude, Enter the Dragon is undoubtedly Bruce Lee's best film; he sure went out with a bang. Only buy Enter the Dragon if you are an admirer of the great man or his fighting style, but certainly rent the film if you enjoy a solid action flick to waste a Saturday evening.

Summary: A must buy for fans of Bruce Lee and fighting films!