“It was wonderful because I didn’t know anything about martial arts, I didn’t know anything about Hong Kong, and I was learning along the way,” Allin later recalled. Once Lee’s success in Hong Kong was felt around the world, Weintraub and Heller decided the time was right to strike, and Heller drafted a young writer named Michael Allin to script Blood and Steel, specifically as a Bruce Lee vehicle. LEE CLASHED WITH THE WRITER OVER THE SCRIPT. From there, the sketches were turned over to set builders in Hong Kong, and construction was underway. So, with Terry and the Pirates in mind, Heller began working with a sketch artist to design various sets, including Han’s (Kien Shih) underground layer, the banquet hall on the island, and other key areas of Han’s domain. “It was high chroma reds, blues, golds, and it just lent itself to this project so closely,” Heller said. To do that, Heller looked to his childhood and to a comic strip about adventures in China that he’d loved, Terry and the Pirates. As a result, Heller and Weintraub had to start concerning themselves with getting sets built in Hong Kong even before Michael Allin’s script was completely finalized. THE LOOK WAS INSPIRED BY A COMIC STRIP.Įnter the Dragon was made quickly, on a tight schedule, and with a budget much more constrained than what we commonly associate with action movies today. It was a long road, but it all grew out of Lee’s frustrations with American executives and their failure to recognize his talent. That was enough to finally convince Warner Bros., and in late 1972 Weintraub and producer Paul Heller were able to offer Lee a film then-called Blood and Steel, which would eventually become Enter the Dragon. Fists of Fury), The Chinese Connection, and The Way of the Dragon-all of which made him an immediate superstar in Hong Kong, so much so that he had to wear disguises to walk around in public. In 19 Lee released three films from Chow’s Golden Harvest studio- The Big Boss (a.k.a. executive and eventual Enter the Dragon producer Fred Weintraub, who believed that with the right film to show to American executives Lee could eventually achieve international stardom. Lee was encouraged in this endeavor by Warner Bros. ultimately gave the starring role to David Carradine, in part because they did not believe a Chinese star would connect with American audiences.įrustrated and stagnant in America, Lee accepted an offer from Hong Kong producer Raymond Chow to come make martial arts films with him. Lee contributed to the project on a conceptual level, but Warner Bros.
BRUCE LEE THE LAST DRAGON FULL MOVIE SERIES
for a series about a Shaolin monk in the American west, an idea that would eventually become the hit series Kung Fu.
BRUCE LEE THE LAST DRAGON FULL MOVIE TV
Hoping for an even bigger TV break, in the early 1970s Lee began discussions with Warner Bros. In the late 1960s, Bruce Lee was a martial arts instructor-turned-actor with an eye on becoming a major star after appearances in television series like The Green Hornet and Ironside. THE FILM GREW OUT OF BRUCE LEE’S FRUSTRATION WITH HOLLYWOOD. So, to celebrate nearly 50 years of Lee’s legend, here are 11 facts about the film, from live cobras on set to some unlikely inspirations. release, and it remains an essential pillar of the genre for longtime fans and novices alike. It cemented the legend of Lee after his untimely death just weeks before the U.S. Today, 45 years after its release, Enter the Dragon remains one of the greatest martial arts films ever made. They faced a star’s nerves, language barriers on set, and a script that didn’t take shape right away, but ultimately they created a masterpiece. In 1973, a group of American and Chinese filmmakers gathered together in Hong Kong to make a film that was supposed to transform Bruce Lee-then a Hong Kong action star best known to American audiences for a few TV appearances-into an international sensation.