User Reviews

"Fury of the Dragon" or "Return of the Dragon" or ¨Way of the Dragon¨ is a classic Chop-Socky in which wild fighting scenes provide an overwhelming view of Bruce Lee's skills . A man named Tang Lung (Bruce Lee choreographed his own fight scenes) arrives in Rome to visit his relatives , he helps his cousins (Nora Miao who along with Lee played ¨Fists of Fury¨) in the restaurant business . However , they are being pressured to sell their property to the syndicate, who will stop at nothing to get what they want. There Tang has to defend them against brutal gangsters harassing them and attempting to take over . The syndicate boss hires the best foreign martial art fighters (Robert Wall who played some films with Lee) to face off Tang , but he easily finishes them off . The American martial artist Colt (Chuck Norris film debut) is also hired and takes place a deadly ending combat .

This violent Chop-Socky displays action-packed , thrills , fast-paced and wild fighting images . It is a corny , action-filled and violent film , being entirely filmed in Rome , Italy . Breathtaking fights and embarrassing acting , the whole thing was shot without sound, with the actors looping their lines in post-production . Overwhelming final duel between Lee and Norris , in fact it was last movie to be filmed in the actual Roman Colisseum ; Bruce Lee had Chuck Norris put on weight so he would looks less impressive by comparison . This is a top-notch Kung-Fu movie with the unforgettable Bruce Lee , though he does not fight till almost 30 minutes into the movie . It was billed "Return of the Dragon" during its western release in order to cash in on the success of "Enter the Dragon" as its "sequel". Bruce Lee produced , directed and even wrote and also dubbed almost all of the English speaking characters in this film .

Bruce Lee played and directed this Return of the Dragon , one of the biggest international hit smashes , it was previously realized to his American box office ¨Enter the dragon¨ that was made by an expert on Chop-Socky movies , Robert Clouse , and he directed Bruce Lee's last film : the incomplete ¨Game of the death¨ . This ¨Enter the Dragon¨ was made later but released before ¨Lee's Return of dragon¨ , and Lee had formerly starred ¨Fists of fury¨ or ¨The big boss¨. ¨Enter the Dragon¨ is his last complete movie character but his next film ¨ Game of death¨ was absurdly edited after his death . This Kung-Fu actioner titled ¨Return of Dragon¨ was well made by Bruce Lee himself . According to the Bruce Lee documentary, this is Linda Lee Cadwell's (Bruce's wife) favorite of all her husband's films. ¨Return of the Dragon¨ is indispensable and essential seeing for Lee fans and art-martial enthusiasts . It is not ¨Enter the Dragon¨ but his fans -who have so few to choose from- undoubtedly will want to see it again .

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs, then again in the early 2k on a dvd which I own.

Revisited it recently.

As a kid from the 80s n aft seeing this movie, i was in awe aft witnessing the nunchukas fight sequence.

This one gets a bit repetitive cos of the same goons who keeps on getting thrashed by the character of Lee but they keep on coming back. One of the fat goon with a beard looks like poor man's Russell Crowe.

The best n the most memorable is the treatment of the fight in the Colosseum with Chuck Norris with a cat as a spectator.

In this one Lee plays Tang Lung, a kung fu expert who is sent from Hong Kong to Italy by his uncle to help family friends whose restaurant business is threatened by a mafia boss.

This one showcases Lee's immense energy n amazing fighting skills, especially the way his feet moves.

He mimicked Mohammad Ali's float like a butterfly style.

Lee is allowed to have a sense of humor in this movie.

This one aint gory like The Big Boss.

Ping-Ou Wei (famous for playing the interpreter in this one n the Fist of Fury) acted very well. His body language is total effeminate, especially his limp wristed n running style is a big lol.

Another best fight sequence is the one in the alley with the nunchukas.

Bruce Lee demonstrates why without ever being a tournament champion that he was one of the best martial artists of all times. His speed and technique easily out class the other real martial artisits this film presents. His fight with Chuck Norris in this film is legendary. Watching Chuck in his prime is intense, high speed and accuracy. What scares me is that Bruce is faster. And even though he is lacking size, its obvious that the little dragons power is intense. Yes the scenes in these movies may be choreographed, but it's hard to make duplicate the skills shown by these fighters with trick photography and ballet lessons.

This is the first film Bruce took a major role in both on and off the set. He searched for quality martial artists for the fight scenes and was the one who reccomended Italy for this shoot.

The film revolves around a restaurant in Italy run by Lee's uncle and his (assumably ) cousins. Local gangsters try to close the restaurant down and get a piece of the action. To avoid complications with the law, they try and man handle the resteraunt owner and workers and Lee comes to the rescue.

Although this is technically not Lees greatest film, it is a personal favourite since Lee was in full control and everything is pure Lee. Many have wrongly stated this film is bad, having not seen the originals where you can really appreciate the composition of the showdowns (visual director with potential - see the rare 'rocking chair' shot in Game of Death). The script is bad in a few places, particularly the humour, but this film was never inteneded for the west, but designed to appeal to his country men.

Now, the film features the best array of fighting sequences ever commited to celluloid. Obviously influenced by Sergio Leones trilogy, tension is excellently built up before fight. The sequences are not overly choreographed or played in slow motion or 'lightly' then speeded up, but contain a raw, feral edge combined with breathless technique. The perfect marriage between art and realism.

The fights with Wong Ing Sik and Bob Wall while short, are underrated even by Lee fans. Those who have been lucky enough to see the double nunchaku sequence in full, will have witnessed one of the best display of weaponary ever shown on the silver screen (along with the 'original' and 'complete' nunchaku footage from Game of Death and the wonderfully comprehensive display of martial arts in the underground Enter the Dragon sequence).

And then theres THAT coliseum fight. Perhaps the start is abit overdone (But Lee wanted to put forward a point i.e. don't play to your oponents strength), but it is undoubtedly the best expression of the human body ever, whether fighting, dancing, running whatever. Those brought up on Latter day Chan stuff and in particular Jet Li fights, will not appreciate this piece, but those knowing anything about the fighting arts or good choreography will be shaken not just stirred.

The Way Of The Dragon had the potential to be Bruce's best film in my opinion but was bogged down by the dubbing and acting. But it still stands solid as one great Bruce Lee film and boasts the greatest fight scene ever in my opinion. Bruce plays Tang Lung who travels to Rome to help his family battle local gangsters who are trying to take over their resturaunt. Bruce almost plays a Charlie Chaplin type role here which would later be more fitting to Jackie Chan's slapstick style. Much like the Big Boss the first Bruce fight scene is way into the film but in my opinion this good because it creates a good build up, the nunchuka scene is second only to the one in Fist Of Fury or the uncut Game Of Death. The fight scene in the Roman Colliseum deserves the credit it gets because of one simple reason, its a simple fight, there are no gimmicks, sure its set in the colliseum and the fight is supposed to reflect two roman gladiators but there are no weapons and no sweet talk. It truly has epic scale. The thing that also makes this fight scene work is the end when Tang Lung out of respect covers Colt with his Karate jacket. There may have been better fights since on screen and I havn't seen many Hong Kong films with Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen etc but this is the first great one on one fight, therefore it set the standard.

There will indeed never be another Bruce Lee. I find it fascinating to imagine what Bruce would have done if he had lived, the 80's and 90's would have been very different if Arnie, Stallone, Wiilis, Seagal and Van Damme had Bruce to compete with, Bruce is sometimes critcised for being a bad actor, but i disagree, if anyone has seen his episodes of `Longstreet' or `Marlowe' they will see that Bruce could convincingly carry a dramatic scene given the right script and no dubbing and he oozed charisma, and he showed glimpses of good acting in Enter The Dragon.

Being a Bruce fan i kind of wish that Jet Li would do the films that bruce did or was planning on doing, Jet's early work in Honk Kong like the Shaolin Temple or more recent stuff like Fist Of Legend(remake of Fist Of Fury) and Once Upon A Time In China was very promising and it seemed he was the successor to Bruce but instead now he's doing crap in Hollywood with DMX and Jason Statham. Strangely the mediocre Lethal Weapon 4 is Jet's best Hollywood film, Maybe Jet should do a project with John Woo, it would be interesting and they'd probably get the best out of each other.

I've never been to Rome. I'm sure it's a beautiful city, a wonderful vacation spot, and then of course there's the Roman Coliseum - a landmark in a region of the world that revels in its own beauty. So you have to wonder if Rome would make a good place for a kung-fu movie. (Why not?) Apparently Bruce Lee thought so, and it is this lush city that he selected as the setting for his 1972 film "Return of the Dragon."

Most movie experts (as well as fans of kung-fu movies, Lee, or both) will realize that "Return of the Dragon" marked Lee's third film in China, his first time behind the camera, and he also had credits on the screenplay. After the disappointing "Fists of Fury" (1971), I was glad to see Lee in a role that was less bombastic and less comic in nature. ("Return of the Dragon" also happens to be my personal favorite Bruce Lee film from when he was still working in Asia.)

In "Return of the Dragon," Lee is of course, the country boy named Tang Lung, who returns to aid friends and family in peril. In this case, said relatives own a successful Chinese restaurant in Rome, Italy, and are constantly being harassed by a powerful gangster and his legion of disposable henchmen - Tang's frequent encounters with them eventually leading to one of the greatest Nunchaku showdowns I've ever seen in a martial arts movie.

Tang Lung annihilates most of the bad guys sent in his direction, many times leaving them beaten and bruised. Most of them are played for laughs to begin with, so that makes their beatings even funnier (though you really shouldn't laugh at the pain of others, even if they are villains).

When Tang proves to be too big a problem (in fact, WAY bigger than they expected him to be), the gangster boss uses his contacts to hire an American martial artist, Colt (Lee's most skilled opponent in the film and world karate champion Chuck Norris, in his breakthrough film role), to deal with him. The action then escalates into the film's brutal, take-no-prisoners climatic showdown between the two combatants at the Roman Coliseum, in what is widely said to be one of the greatest fight scenes ever filmed.

With its goofy humor, horrendous dubbing and comic book bad guys not withstanding, "Return of the Dragon" is actually one heck of a good movie. None of Lee's sparring partners in the film really stand up well against him, except of course, Chuck Norris in the film's climax. And Lee also makes the best of the stranger-in-a-strange-land scenario that he's set up as the film's premise.

"Return of the Dragon" is the second Bruce Lee movie I've commented on at IMDb (Lee's last film, 1973's "Enter the Dragon," was the first) and I really liked "ROTD." Lee demonstrates in this movie why he is the greatest martial artist that ever lived. His direction here is a little choppy in spots, but for the most part, the action is intact.

7/10

This is the best Bruce Lee movie, period. The single reason is that this movie shows him off a lot more than the other ones.

In this film, the one and only Bruce Lee made his directing debut. Not only the movie showed the world why he is the greatest martial artist to ever live, it showed that he is way ahead of his time. This film showcased his astounding skills, agility, and charm much more so than the brilliant classic "Enter the Dragon", and this film will show how truly fast and nimble Bruce Lee is with his fists and feet (the people had to accelerate the frame rates of all his films in order to catch his movements properly). The fight scenes are unbelievable, and it is already widely regarded that the final Colloseum battle between Tang Long (Bruce Lee) and Colt (Chuck Norris) is the best fighting sequence ever filmed for a movie.

Do yourself a favor by watching the original Way of the Dragon with all it's original fighting noises intact. Those who are content on only watching the English-dubbed version are missing out on a lot!!!! Any true fans of Bruce Lee can attest the massive difference it makes in experiencing the real voices of Bruce Lee when he is fighting on-screen.

Really, the only part of this film worth praise is the fight scene between Bruce and "Colt" at the end. The rest of the movie, as a comedy, works in a sort of "The Gods Must Be Crazy", "What's Up Tiger Lily?" way. But as a martial arts film? No way. It's so bad at times that you really believe he made this movie with the full intention of spoofing martial arts films. The one thing that keeps this movie on its feet is the Gay Translator. That character alone carried the sagging weight of the movie as a kung-fu film. Unfortunately, the weight was picked up and carried as a comedy. Still, there are some notable fight scenes, and if you are kung-fu nut I suppose story doesn't really matter much anyway. I'm a film student, and I've always looked at movies as movies. In watching Kung-fu films I've had to discipline myself in detaching the genre from all other standards of film. These films are about the martial arts, and it's not supposed to matter how utterly bad the movies can be. This is where knowing a lot about movies actually impairs me, where I can't get used to the concept of a movie not existing for the sake of being a good movie.

Oh well.

The fight scene at the end makes you forget about everything else. The way they portray Chuck Norris' character is simply amazing. During the fight scene there was a surprising depth to it all, in which you actually sympathize with Colt. He keeps getting up, and all the while he has this look on his face that shows that he doesn't want to fight anymore, and that he knows he has lost the battle. But he keeps fighting, because that is what he has to do. He knows if he keeps fighting he'll probably die, but he goes on anyway, wearily.

That alone makes the movie, and I hope I've made sense to people.

If, like me, you have only seen Bruce Lee in the wonderful, but portentous, ENTER THE DRAGON, than you might be surprised by this quite potty earlier film. In ENTER THE DRAGON, Lee was amused, but sombre; a fighting machine, pivotal piece in a deadly serious mythological puzzle, his strength never in doubt.

The first third of this film couldn't be more different. Played as (very funny) comedy, Lee is passive (we first see him waiting for someone), a figure of fun, a fish out of water, exagerratedly polite, bewildered by alien custom and language, as well as his own bowels. A number of scuffles take part early on in which he takes no part, and which make us doubt his prowess.

Lee directed this film, and his visual conception is much more inventive that Robert Clouse's (ENTER). Although it lacks the insane invention of A TOUCH OF ZEN, or the dizzy verve of Tsui Hark's films, Lee is not content with simple ego gratification. His two directorial mentors seem to be Melville and Leone. The former (hugely influenced by Oriental martial discipline himself) gave him a hero who is narcissistic (check the opening shot), whole; whose physical prowess is ironically the result of mental superiority, an almost Zen laid-backness; concealing the coiled, taut, muscle-burst of Lee's beautiful body.

Kung Fu is primarily an art of self-defense, and this film returns to these roots: its conception of protecting the oppressed rings throughout the film (in the seemingly gratuitous picture-postcard scenes, Lee makes the connection between European colonial splendour, and the poverty and repression of Hong Kong). Chuck Norris's character has betrayed Kung Fu by siding with the oppressor - his art is bestial and clumsy, lacking the spare geometric elegance of Lee's.

But Kung fu's self-defense is also a defence of one's 'self' (this is where Melville comes in) - it protects one from any threat to one's powerful wholeness, especially women (and men. There is a slight whiff of homophobia, mitigated by the outrageous campness of the film (all that red! The whole idea of SHANE recast in a restaurant!). This is ironic, since it is the proof of Lee's martial art power that makes the initially sceptical heroine (very stylish and lovely) fall for his charms (and who can blame her?).

Lee's second master is Sergio Leone, from whom he has learnt an irreverent approach to genre, with jokey zooms, close-ups and cuts; mocking, yet mournful and melancholic Morricone-esque music; a ritual stand-off between mythical archetypes (an awesome set-piece in the Colosseum), with the film's heart belonging to the slightly silly, but loveable, subsidiary characters.

The use of these iconoclastic directors adds a reflective and critical dimension to a genre previously (in its most populist form) a showcase for male vanity (although Lee never lets us forget how gorgeous and sweetly small and cuddly he is). A supremely entertaining film which unexpectedly achieves a climactic power and melancholy.

I am not a huge fan of the genre, so I only give the movie a 7--though it IS one of Bruce Lee's best films (the only one better being ENTER THE DRAGON--which has nothing to do with this film, despite the title). I am more of a samurai movie lover and only watch kung-fu movies on occasion. So please keep this in mind when you read this--if you are a huge fan, you'd probably give the movie an 8 or 9 but if you have little interest in the genre, this film probably will only rate a 4 or 5. If you can suspend disbelief and just enjoy the great stunt-work and cute story elements, you'll probably be pretty satisfied.

Okay, the casual kung-fu viewer will certainly notice that the film is very grainy and washed out as well as possessing pretty awful dubbing. I really wish these films were available with subtitles instead, but in the 1970s distributors thought Western audiences wouldn't see a film with subtitles, so they slapped on absolutely terrible dubbing tracks. While this isn't the worst I've seen, it is bad and the film has no background sounds (other than slaps and celery crunching during the fight scenes)--so it sounds pretty weird. Also, the music is ultra-cheesy.

However, despite all these shortcomings, it's obvious that the germ of an excellent film is hiding underneath. That's because the plot and idea of putting kung-fu action in Rome is inspired! Instead of the usual problems occurring in Hong Kong (or elsewhere in China), here we have something different. Plus, many times the action is pretty funny--with cute fight scenes and parodies of some of Lee's earlier films. For example, one of the Italian thugs uses Bruce's own trademark thumb brushing against his nose move. I also liked the cheesy effeminate voice used for the dub of the Chinese guy who worked for the mob--it was so silly and over the top you had to laugh. In addition, seeing Lee impaling the gunmen's hands with darts was a good way to explain away why this mob didn't just shoot Lee (though, inexplicably, again and again despite their hand being pierced, the wounds disappeared an instant later due to continuity problems).

The film ended well with some excellent fights--particularly the finale in the Coliseum with an evil Chuck Norris. It's just a shame that they didn't have Chuck shave off his icky back hair first! This scary sight is repeated, by the way, in the first few minutes of THE GAME OF DEATH--Lee's final film and a total mess of a film due to his being dead during most of the filming!!

The United States and the world would discover Martial Arts actor Bruce Lee until 1973 with the release of his first (and only) Hollywood film, "Enter the Dragon", a masterpiece of the Martial Arts genre and arguably the film that started the trend of Kung-Fu films. However, before making "Enter the Dragon", Lee had already participated in three major films in Hong Kong, two of them under the direction of Wei Lo and the third the only film of his where he had complete control under everything, "Meng Long Guojian", the "Way of the Dragon". Better known as "Return of the Dragon" in the U.S. (where it was released as a sequel to "Enter the Dragon"), "Meng Long Guojiang" was Lee's first film as a director, and like his following two final films, a movie where he was able to express not only his physical abilities, but also the philosophy he developed to achieve them.

In "Way of the Dragon", Bruce Lee plays Tang Lung, a young man from Hong Kong who is sent to Rome by his uncle in order to help a family friend, "Uncle" Wang (Chung-Hsin Huang). At his arrival, he is informed that the problem is that the Italian Mafia wants the family's restaurant, and uses violent intimidation to pressure the owner. While at first not everyone is convinced that Tang Lung would be of any help (as he is not used to the city), soon they discover that Tang is in fact a talented Martial Artist. With Tang Lung's help, the Restaurant's waiters manage to defend themselves from the gangsters, but the Mafia Boss is completely decided to get the Restaurant, so he hires a group of Martial Arts experts, including the famous Colt (Chuck Norris) to eliminate Tang Lung.

After proving he was a bankable star, Bruce Lee finally got the opportunity of not only writing, but also directing his own film. Free at last to make his vision of a Martial Arts film come true, Lee builds up a film focused on two very personal themes for him. On one hand, his very own experience as a stranger in a strange land, and the feelings of being like a fish out of the water; and on the other, his ideal of the hero who uses his very own technique to fight against the established disciplines. While the plot is very straight forward, and a bit typical, Lee uses it effectively to showcase his own ideals and philosophies as martial artist, delivering finally an action film with some depth beyond watching the character overcome the enemies.

Borrowing heavily from Spaghetti Westerns (even some score by Morricone is used), Lee creates a magnificent epic set on the beautiful locations of Rome, where his lonely hero Tang Lung arrives as a modern day cowboy to right some wrongs. While of course not an expert filmmaker (it was after all, his first film as a director), Lee shows a great eye for visuals, as the camera becomes an essential part in the creation of the sublimely choreographed fights, and the highly stylish set pieces (again, influenced by Sergio Leone's westerns). "Meng Long Guojiang is definitely the basics for what Lee conceived as a Martial Arts film, and many of what he developed for this movie would become of great influence for future directors of the genre.

Due to his character in "Enter the Dragon", most people remember Bruce Lee's acting as a serious, dark personification of the perfect martial arts warrior, however, "Meng Long Guojiang" is a chance to discover a way different side of Lee's persona, as he allows himself to be as funny and human as skilled in Kung-Fu. "Way of the Dragon" offers insight into Lee as a comedy actor, as Tang Lung's personality (and probably Bruce's real one too) is that of a happy man who enjoys life. The rest of the cast ranges from good to average, with one amazing exception: Ping-Ao Wei. As the treacherous translator Ho, Ping-Ao Wei delivers one of the best comedic performances of his career, and an excellent (and effective) comic relief for the film.

As written above, the cast (mostly the case of the many extras in the film) most of the time doesn't seem up to the challenge of the film, and the awful dubbing done doesn't really help with that. Another truly big problem is that Lee didn't had enough budget to fulfill his vision and in some scenes it really shows. This two problems really hurt the film badly, and while Lee's inexperience behind the camera is quite obvious, it's safe to say that he delivered a great job against the odds. The epic tone of the film and the superb climatic scenes really make up for the notorious flaws the film has, and one gets to wonder how would "Game of Death" may had turned up if Lee had lived enough to complete it.

It's a shame that Lee died so soon and was unable to craft his ultimate Martial Arts film, leaving the world wondering what would he do to top this film (and the reliable sources agree that "Game of Death" was really going to be his best). This flawed masterpiece may not be perfect, but it's monumental when one realizes how influential it became. Sure, "Enter the Dragon" may be the better film of the two, but "Meng Long Guojiang" is the film that shows us how Lee really was, and what he really believed in. In more than one sense, "Meng Long Guojiang" is truly, the real Way of the Dragon. 8/10

A man (Bruce Lee) visits his relatives at their restaurant in Italy and has to help them defend against brutal gangsters harassing them.

I am by no means an expert on martial arts films or on Bruce Lee. I happen to enjoy the films of Donnie Yen, who I presume was heavily influenced by Lee (because, after all, everyone was influenced by Lee).

This film has the distinction of including multiple jokes about Bruce needing the bathroom far more frequently than the average human being. More interestingly, it also features Chuck Norris as the villain Colt. Younger people today (2013) may barely recognize Norris, as he has no beard here and has some strange 1970s clothes.

In Rome, the Chinese Tang Lung (Bruce Lee) arrives from Hong Kong to help his family in their business. They have a restaurant aimed by an Italian mobster, who uses his gang to threaten clients and employees. Tang Lung is an eminent Chinese Kung Fu fighter and defeats the bad guys. I borrowed this DVD from a friend of mine to see Bruce Lee fighting (I had never seen a Bruce Lee's film before, 'Return of the Dragon' was my debut). I found a horrible storyline and terrible 'acting'. The weird noise that Bruce Lee makes while fighting irritated me. The end of the story a la spaghetti western fits with the rest of the movie. I laughed a lot so bad this flick is, indicated for fans of Bruce Lee only. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): 'O Vôo do Dragão' ('The Flight of the Dragon')

Even though this movie was dubbed, and the dubbing isn't that great. the whole movie is great. I actually find this movie way better then Enter the Dragon. Plus, you got Bruce Lee, writing, starring and directing it, and he knew what to do to make this kung fu movie awesome. I reccomend this one to any kung fu fan who has not seen this one yet... i give it 9 out of 10.

The plot in this picture is ordinary and used 100 of times before. But what makes this worth of time is the legendary fight Lee Vs. Norris For me the fight is the best ever topping even my all-time favorite film The Matrix. The scene itself is actually that god that even today i doubt eny1 could make it better than the legend himself.

I feel like the entire world has been robbed when Bruce died. The man who had a dream that became a realty, too sad it came to late.

The acting in this film is very very bad but its the fights that are worth watching and worth of your time.

Sure there will never be another Mr. Lee but we have his films to keep him alive and when we have children his films are the right choice to show to them and find a great role model.

Movement #4...dragon seeks path.

That one scene sets the whole film for me.

I will definitely say I really love this film. No matter how many countless times I've seen it ever since I was a kid watching it on the Big Apple movie (old skool!!). This movie introduced me to kung fu and the legend Bruce Lee. His character is very interesting in this one, because he's a stranger in another land (Rome). The people he's supposed to help don't even trust him (hilarious scenes of awkwardness between Bruce and Miss Chen). Ha Goon plays a great comic relief (CHINESE BOXING!). Although the movie takes a dark turn, there are many moments of laughs. I will never forget that you can't order "chinese spare ribs". For the action, Bruce dominates as he takes on a whole gang of thugs using everything from fists and kicks to darts, a pole, and of course his awesome nunchuk scene (MOMMA MIA!!). I love the sound effects when Bruce hits his opponents and the WOOSH sound is great!! His training scenes show that Bruce Lee had 0% body fat and is good motivation for working out. The finale between he and Chuck is a classic kung fu moment. Great shots before the fight including the cat too!!

This is a great film. Another example of a great martial artist.

In an age where CGI effects and wires can make the most impossible move possible and can turn your average Hollywood actor into a fighting machine, I feel great relief when I watch a movie like "Way Of The Dragon". Because its real, all of it. Because I know that someone has taken the time to study and perfect his skills. Instead of the usual post production editing so that the fight scenes and moves could look cooler, they are great and without the need of it. Bruce Lee's amazing skill is what made this movie so good, no wires, no need for fast forward photography, just pure skill.

Way Of The Dragon casts Lee as a simple man from the outskirts of Hong Kong who is sent to Rome to help some relatives fight of members of the mob. Not the strongest of premises but then again this is a Bruce Lee movie (even more so then the rest since it is also his debut as a director) so chances are you're not watching it for the plot but for the action scenes. And boy are they something, starting from the restaurant fights with the two nunchaku to the final fight against Chuck Norris , this Lee in his best form, giving his best. You could easily forget the bad dubbing and the not so good picture quality , when Lee is on the screen.

A definite must have for any kung-fu enthusiasts out there. This is one of if not the best martial arts movies of the seventies.

Bruce Lee really rules. Before this I had seen only "enter the dragon". It is usually considered to bee his best film, so I didn´t really know what to expect from "way of the dragon". I liked it very much. Biggest problem I had with it was that I had to watch the english dubbed version. I prefer the original language! Lee really knew how to entertain the audience. He was funny, but not too funny. I particulary enjoyed the last fighting scene when "Colt" was defeated. For once the bad guy went down with honour! I recommend this to anyone who likes a good kung-fu movie. There might be better ones, but no complains. 8/10

This film is good when a little bit of story and a little bit of anything else besides fighting appears but thats not saying much. The fights in this movie are not anywhere nearly as well choreographed as Sammo Hung's movies for example, but that simply cannot be expected from Bruce Lee. Realism or not, its simply not very engaging. And there are plenty of fights in this movie. The biggest flaw would be something found in all Bruce Lee movies, that being his nigh invulnerability. At not one point during any fight does he seem to be having a hard time. The second thing is that while Karate and Kungu are very interesting to compare, Bruce less slanders Karate a bit too much.

Low budget Way of the Dragon shows Bruce Lee in top form as he battles thugs who want to close down a Chinese Restaurant.

This movie is loaded with top-tier martial arts and a dose of good humor as well. A good supporting cast helps bring it all to life. The famous confrontation with Chuck Norris is one of the best martial arts battles ever shot.

They used to call this movie Return of the Dragon.

Meng long guojiang opens with Lee in Rome, the first ten minutes being a comedic culture clash, as he cannot speak Italian and has to use mime. The joke was stifled somewhat on one version that had both Lee and the Italians dubbed into English, meaning the joke literally lost something in translation.

Production for this one is a step back from Jing wu men with the film stock poor and the overdubs (not a fault of the original version, of course) once again mismatched. The incidental music also seems designed specifically to get on your nerves. Lee's direction isn't awful, but it's far from exceptional, with garishly unsubtle usage of the location, except for canny utilisation of a coliseum at the climax. And I loved the pussycat meow that initiates that final battle.

Tang Lung, Lee's dopiest character, continues to be embroiled in fairly amusing comic setpieces, the plot not kicking in until the half-hour mark. Lung eventually finds himself fending off a protection racket from his uncle's restaurant, becoming embroiled in gang warfare. There's even an unexpected twist during the final third, perhaps something you wouldn't expect from this type of movie.

There are some funny moments, such as Ping-Ao Wei as a stereotyped homosexual, though at times the screenplay is a little too flabby to satisfy its medium. Often impressive, though often unfocused, this is a worthwhile, though only semi-successful attempt at a lighter vehicle for the star.

Tang Lung, a skilled martial arts fighter from Hong Kong, visits friends in Rome to find that their restaurant business is being threatened by a criminal gang. The gang are not above using violence to try to get the restaurant owner to sell. He helps them defend their business but the gang then escalates proceedings.

Starring Bruce Lee, this was the first film that he also wrote and directed. He puts in his usual action-packed performance but the writing and direction are quite weak: basic plot with random plot developments, isolated scenes that are weird in their pointlessness and dialogue that is often quite laughable.

This is not helped by a supporting cast whose performances are generally very lame.

Quite appropriate then that this is filmed in Rome as it is essentially a Spaghetti Martial Arts film, a martial arts version of a Spaghetti Western.

The action scenes, however, are great and make the film watchable. Lee is at his best and he meets a formidable opponent in the character of Colt, played by Chuck Norris in his first credited film role.

Overall, okay but not great.

This is my first Bruce Lee movie I've ever seen, I've just finished watching it, 20 years after its production. It's a bad movie, really bad: the story is stupid, the dialogues are surreal, the gags are not amusing, the direction and the the narration even worse. I must confess that I am not particularly interested in watching kung-fu movies, because beyond the fight scenes - that can be amusing sometimes - rarely there is a worth watching movie. However I HAD to see this movie because of the Lee legend and I don't regret my choice because I think there is some sociological reason to see it.

As citizen of Rome I am not particularly proud of the use of Rome in this movie. In the initial scenes the movie shows some of the well-known Rome monuments while the car of the protagonists pass through the city center. The girl drives her car even through the michelangiolesque square at the Campidoglio, where cars are not allowed to pass...

All these scenes are just mediocre post-cards that could be avoided. Better would had been to show these monuments in the narration of the movie, as in the final scene inside the Colosseum. But even in this scene a good director would have done better: the entire fight is among brick walls, barely you can recognise they are inside the Colosseum! Would had been enough to build a little stage inside the arena and have the fight where the real gladiators fought and died. The spectacularity of the scene would have gained a lot I think.

Apart from this, the movie could have been filmed in China. Most of the scenes are inside the restaurant (that really doesn't seem a chinese restaurant as we have in Rome) and in apartments (with post-modern furnitures, never seen in Rome).

The bad boys are all but romans: blacks, indians, americans, even a japanese. Maybe the stupid fat man that yells "Mamma mia!" is italian.

This international team seems to act as Rome was its headquarter, police is a ghost (excepting the conclusion). If you are eating at a chinese restaurant and a team of armed bad boys invites you to go out what do you think you'll do? will you just go out looking for another restaurant, without bad boys if possible? If you are a character of a kung-fu movie probably yes.

"Ok ok, but the audience doesn't care of this, the audience wants kung-fu" that's the answer that probably the producers would say. I agree but this movie seems to lack even real kung-fu scenes! I mean, half of the movie doesn't show any fight, and in the rest the fight scenes are slow, short and without special tricks or effects. I appreciate more fight scenes of Jackie Chan or Matrix or even Bud Spencer!!

The american fighter is beated in one minute, and so the japanese one. The chinese waiters, without honour I would say, after Bruce Lee slayered the japanese fighter, continued to beat him without mercy even if he could not react. Is that the chinese philosophy of fight? I'm sure not. In this scene I think the movie shows the hate that chinese people feel against japanese people. Probably chinese people have their good reasons: during the last world war Japan committed huge massacres in China and never apologised for this. But this scene has not a good message for humankind I think.

In conclusion if this wasn't a Bruce Lee movie I would say: "don't waste your time watching it". However this IS a Lee movie and if Lee is a legend for so many people we are forced to see his movies just to understand why he is a legend.

As I said this is my first Lee movie. I probably have to watch the other movies because so far I can't understand why.