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THE
WAY OF THE DRAGON (1972)
A.K.A.
- Return Of The Dragon
Reviewed
by Tony Ryan
This
was Bruce Lee's directorial debut following the huge success
in the East of 'Fist
of Fury', and he plays Tang Lung, a country bumpkin from
China who travels to Rome in order to help a family friend
whose restaurant is being harassed by thugs.
In
a similar role to his Hong Kong Action debut 'The
Big Boss', it is a while before we see Bruce in action,
but when we do he shows why no one in Hong Kong cinema at the
time could touch him for skill, speed, grace or screen
presence.
Until
recently, all scenes featuring nunchaku had been excised by
those lovely chaps at the BBFC, and as a result, Lee's finest
moments had barely seen the light of day in the UK, helping to
line bootlegger's pockets. One such scene takes place in a
back alley and showcases Tang Lung taking on a group of thugs
using 2 pairs of nunchaku simultaneously!
This
movie is famous in the West for giving us Chuck Norris as the
main villain fighting Bruce in the Coliseum. While some
exteriors and stills of the Coliseum were filmed, the fight
actually took place on a Golden Harvest soundstage. However,
to this day, Norris still claims the fight actually took place
in Italy!
The
name Tang Lung may ring a bell with many Kung fu fans, and
this is because following Bruce's death many doubles were
hired to make some bad films cashing in on his fame while
killing the industry at the same time. One such double was
given the name Tang Lung in a vain bid to boost sales.
This
was a groundbreaking movie in 1972 as the farthest any other
Hong Kong film travelled to film at the time was Taiwan or
Korea. As a result, The Way of the Dragon's fantastic scenery
and powerful fight sequences made this Bruce Lee's highest
grossing movie in Hong Kong and a cult classic worldwide.
While
'Fist of Fury' is the Little Dragon's best film, this comes a
close second and would not be out of place in the DVD rack of
any martial arts movie fan.
Rating:
 
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