Decade Defining Cinema - Enter The Dragon Part 3: Cultural Impact
Channel: definingcinema
Date: 29/06/2020

Defining Cinema - Enter the Dragon Part 3: Cultural Impact

For part 1 you can watch here: https://youtu.be/9dUWG3xDEbY
For part 2 you can watch here: https://youtu.be/4WK72CwVay0


Enter The Dragon Defined the 1970s in many ways. For one, it encapsulates the decade with its hip score composed by Lalo Schifrin. The film also ushered in a huge wave of martial arts appreciation in the US. A spark Hong Kong Cinema needed to start competing in the global market, and incentive to up their quality. But Bruce Lee leading in the feature made the biggest impact. It was the first time a non white lead a box office smash in a Hollywood picture.

The film is chock full of Martial Arts super stars green in experience, but would go on to become superstars. Most visibly, Bolo Yeung, who played Bolo "DAAA", went on to star in many movies, including being the arch nemesis in many Jean Claude Van Damme movies, such as Blood Sport. But, Most notably Jackie Chan was a visible extra in Enter The Dragon. Perhaps even more influential than Chan though, Samo Hung played a part in the introductory fight scene in the Shaolin Temple. Hung is most known in the west for choreographing the fight scenes in the Ip Man movies. 

Less visible stars include Yuen Biao, who shared the screen with Jackie Chan in movies like Meals on Wheels, and Operation Condoor. Not easy to spot would be Wah Yuen, who performed Bruce Lee's flash kick against O'hara. Wah Yuen has played in hundreds of Hong Kong pictures, but perhaps most known in the west as the Landlord in Stephen Chow's, Kung Fu Hustle. Lastly, a non Hong Kong film star, Bob Wall, who played O'hara, went on to become one of the Executive Producers of Walker Texas Ranger with Chuck Norris.

The film didn't only introduce the West to martial arts in mass, but also a lot of deep Taoist philosophy, which was incorporated into the Enter the Dragon script by Bruce Lee. Sadly, due to Bruce Lee's passing, he was unable to continue his philosophical influence in Hollywood. It wouldn't be until the Karate Kid via Mr. Miagi, that we would see such a direct philosophical voice in a main stream picture.

Another huge influence in the film, is many of audience's second favorite star, Jim Kelly as Williams, who influenced a lot of Blacksploitation cinema great Rudy Ray Moore's work. Kelly's presence in the film helped strengthen the bond formed between Kung Fu pictures and Black Culture in the 1970s. 

Enter the Dragon cost 850,000 to produce, but it has made over 300 million since its release. Making Enter the Dragon one of the most financially successful movies of all time. It was the perfect storm for Asian culture exposure to the west and a catalyst for the amount of cultural change seen throughout the 1970s.