If you only see one martial arts movie, it should probably be Enter The Dragon.

I must admit I, these have never really been my thing, even during the kung-fu frenzy peak in the 70s. I also never quite ‘got’ why some people rave so much about Bruce Lee in particular. 

The only one of his movies I have seen start to finish is Enter The Dragon, which is reputed to be his best. I must admit I found it rather crappy – the plot (such as it is), is entirely predictable, the acting is barely serviceable, and the whole movie doesn’t have much style to it. Whilst I am sure Lee’s  kung fu fight sequences are impressive from a technical point of view, they are all very flatly shot and edited. I also find the endless “chop-socky” sound effects whenever anybody gets hit very irritating after a while. I have written elsewhere how I actually preferred the very filthy extended (and remarkably accurate) parody of the entire film in Kentucky Fried Movie!

That said, some people simply adore Bruce and this movie, and more power to them if they do – each to his own. The poster design (illustrated by the great Bob Peak) is iconic and very collectible, and this I do like. This is the French “moyenne” version, which I sold recently. (In France, the movie went by the title “Operation Dragon”, but the same illustration by Peak was used internationally).