review by Jerome
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WAY
OF THE DRAGON (1973) HK *
review by Jerome
Support the Site by Buying from YesAsia
Cantonese:
Mang Lung Gwo Gong
Literal meaning: The Brave Dragon Crosses the River
Bruce Lee... the legend....
The story goes like this Tong Lung (Bruce Lee) is sent to Italy to aid his uncle's
friend Miss Chen (Nora Miao) with her restaurant. The problem is a bunch of
mafia crooks want the land that the Chinese restaurant occupies. When Tong Lung
arrives the other workers doubt his martial arts abilities, while having learnt
that the other workers have been practicing Karate. To convince them of his
unique abilities, he shows them what kung fu is all about. On several occasions
when the mafia goons attempt to ruin the business, Tong Lung confronts them
and having felt the force of his kung fu, retreat. Until, a plot devised by
the mafia's Chinese henchmen (Wei Ping Ao) to bring skilled Karate champions
(Hwang In Sik, Bob Baker and Chuck Norris) to face off with Tong Lung, will
he discover a traitor and aid his uncle's friend.
The film
is one of Lee's finest, where he was director, editor, actor and action director.
His previous two films Fist of Fury and The Big Boss broke box office records
all over Asia, and to no surprise Bruce broke the records again with his directorial
debut in Way of The Dragon.
Having Karate champions Bob Wall and Chuck Norris and Hapkido master, Hwang
In Sik in the film was a clear sign that he wanted to target the world wide
audience, not just his native Hong Kong and south east Asia.
Tong Lung is basically a country bumpkin from Hong Kong with no knowledge of English. This is where most of the comedic elements that are showcased. Such scenes are when Tong Lung tries to communicate to a waitress in an Italian restaurant attempting to get an egg dish but instead getting various soups, accidentally picking up a local Italian chick and then him being shocked by her disrobing and the scenes where he asks where the toilet is.
The fights from this film that stand out include the double nunchaku sequence, the duel with Chuck Norris in the coliseum, the confrontation at the mob bosses office.
I
rate it 8.5/10.
Comment
on this movie on HK Neo Reviews Forum
Genre: Martial Arts
Director: Bruce Lee
Cast: Cast: Bruce Lee, Whang In Sik, Bob Wall, Chuck Norris, Nora Miao, Tony
Lau, Wei Ping Ao, Li Qun.
Reviewed by Jerome (Bart), October 2006