MASTER PLAN: deal in opium, prostitution and recruit henchmen. 'An island fortress, really,' our hero is told. Indeed. When Chinese peasantry used an early form of martial arts to defend themselves, little did they dream it would culminate in this. Bruce Lee and his characters represent the peasants - the little man, seemingly innocuous - who can fend off Communist forces, groups of gangsters or melodramatic villains such as we see here, all with the power of an intercepting fist. Lee's character here is transplanted into an adventure derivative of a James Bond action thriller, so popular in the sixties and continuing into the seventies, with Lee the special agent. However, the story presents a trinity of heroes here to up the ante: a Chinese (Lee), a white man (Saxon) and a black man (Kelly). It's a simple yet so effective presentation and a wonder it's not done more often (probably because everyone knows it couldn't surpass what we see here, anyway). All three heroes have a lot of hubris: though Lee is on a mission, it's tainted by his need for revenge. Saxon, as Roper, is hedonistic, with a serious gambling problem, a target of the mob back home. Kelly, as Williams, as with many black heroes in the seventies, is a target of racist cops and probably wanted on various charges. These back-stories lend a bittersweet tone to the action and the whole thing comes across as a minor epic-like morality tale, the kind we would tell our grandkids 30 years from now and on.
The plot itself seems quite simple: all 3 heroes proceed to the island of master villain Han, who holds a martial arts tournament every 3 years. Han, again, is patterned on Bond villains such as Dr.No, having created his own private kingdom and beyond the law in most ways. Han has his own deadly henchmen: the brutal Oharra and the Herculean Bolo, who appear to be more than a match for the heroes. Yet, even in the progression of this plot, there are moments of surprising audacity; consider the early scene of Lee on the junker in the atmospheric Hong Kong harbor. A flashback begins with Lee and his uncle, who begins to tell Lee something; then, we're in a flashback within the flashback, which details the fate of Lee's sister. It's so smooth, so integrated, we don't even notice these transitions. Clouse is never given much credit as director, but he and his editor deserve some kudos; check out, as another example, the quiet arrival of the heroes to the island - the shot widens gradually and suddenly we're observing a hundred martial arts masters going thru their paces. The audience is plunged into an exotic, huge location, in a style reminiscent of those great epics of the previous decade, whether they be historical or war, and this flavor would continue throughout the film, especially in that early banquet scene. This was the big leagues of martial arts action and everyone knew what they were doing.
Saxon's experience and Kelly's fresh energy as actors served them well in their edgy heroic roles and they're very good but, as we all know, the one who emerged as the most dynamic superstar of the decade was Lee. He set new standards, such as being a coiled spring on screen, and has yet to be equaled on those terms. This also instructs us all on what it takes to become a Chinese superstar in cinema: physical near-perfection and nearly superhuman abilities. But even this might only make one a good fighter and not much else; Lee radiated charisma and feral intensity on screen. It's amazing that American audiences of '73 were probably most familiar with him as just the Green Hornet's sidekick on TV. Here, he's the undisputed leader. And, what places viewers on notice is the unsettling possibility that he really is lethal, not just an actor; watching him in action on film makes us all wince at least once, when we're not wide-eyed. No one, before or since, could do great fight scenes on film like Lee - no one. There probably would have been sequels to this had Lee not gone into legend, more missions for the invincible Dragon-agent; as it is, this instant classic spawned a parody - 'A Fistful of Yen' - in the "Kentucky Fried Movie" and imitations such as "Kill or Be Killed." Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so they say. Heroes:10 Villain:9 Femme Fatales:8 Henchmen:10 Fights:10 Stunts/Chases:8 Gadgets:6 Locations:9 Pace:9 overall:9
The plot itself seems quite simple: all 3 heroes proceed to the island of master villain Han, who holds a martial arts tournament every 3 years. Han, again, is patterned on Bond villains such as Dr.No, having created his own private kingdom and beyond the law in most ways. Han has his own deadly henchmen: the brutal Oharra and the Herculean Bolo, who appear to be more than a match for the heroes. Yet, even in the progression of this plot, there are moments of surprising audacity; consider the early scene of Lee on the junker in the atmospheric Hong Kong harbor. A flashback begins with Lee and his uncle, who begins to tell Lee something; then, we're in a flashback within the flashback, which details the fate of Lee's sister. It's so smooth, so integrated, we don't even notice these transitions. Clouse is never given much credit as director, but he and his editor deserve some kudos; check out, as another example, the quiet arrival of the heroes to the island - the shot widens gradually and suddenly we're observing a hundred martial arts masters going thru their paces. The audience is plunged into an exotic, huge location, in a style reminiscent of those great epics of the previous decade, whether they be historical or war, and this flavor would continue throughout the film, especially in that early banquet scene. This was the big leagues of martial arts action and everyone knew what they were doing.
Saxon's experience and Kelly's fresh energy as actors served them well in their edgy heroic roles and they're very good but, as we all know, the one who emerged as the most dynamic superstar of the decade was Lee. He set new standards, such as being a coiled spring on screen, and has yet to be equaled on those terms. This also instructs us all on what it takes to become a Chinese superstar in cinema: physical near-perfection and nearly superhuman abilities. But even this might only make one a good fighter and not much else; Lee radiated charisma and feral intensity on screen. It's amazing that American audiences of '73 were probably most familiar with him as just the Green Hornet's sidekick on TV. Here, he's the undisputed leader. And, what places viewers on notice is the unsettling possibility that he really is lethal, not just an actor; watching him in action on film makes us all wince at least once, when we're not wide-eyed. No one, before or since, could do great fight scenes on film like Lee - no one. There probably would have been sequels to this had Lee not gone into legend, more missions for the invincible Dragon-agent; as it is, this instant classic spawned a parody - 'A Fistful of Yen' - in the "Kentucky Fried Movie" and imitations such as "Kill or Be Killed." Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so they say. Heroes:10 Villain:9 Femme Fatales:8 Henchmen:10 Fights:10 Stunts/Chases:8 Gadgets:6 Locations:9 Pace:9 overall:9