Overview: Bruce Lee explodes onto the screen in the film that rocketed him to international superstardom, Enter the Dragon. Lee plays a martial arts expert determined to take down the ruthless gang leader, Han, who was responsible for the death of his sister. Recruited by an intelligence agency, he poses a student and attends a tournament at a remote island fortress.

His goal is to gather evidence that will prove Han’s involvement with drug trafficking and prostitution. With one man focused on crime and the other bent on revenge, the two engage in the now-classic fight-to-the-death finish.

They both enter a mirrored maze and deadly battle. Only one will exit.

Enter the Dragon will be available on Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc for $24.99 ERP and includes an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc with the theatrical version of the feature film in 4K with HDR, the Special Edition version of the film in 4K with HDR, and a Digital download of both versions of the film. Fans can also own Enter the Dragon in 4K Ultra HD via purchase from select digital retailers beginning on 8/8/23.

4K UHD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. Entertainment is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the highly-anticipated Enter the Dragon in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this August 8th, 2023.

For my money, this Enter the Dragon [4K UHD+BR+Digital] combo pack sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

A favorite mixture of camp, high adventure, culture clash and martial arts excellence, ETD survives today as the quintessential Bruce Lee film and breaks down into a straightforward structure, which works to minimize narrative subtlety, while simultaneously showcasing Lee’s inimitable fighting talents.

The backgrounds of the two main supporting characters, Roper (John Saxon) and Williams (Jim Kelly), is given in two flashback sequences, then hardly referred to again. No one would pretend that the dialogue, even when loaded with Lee’s own private significance, is anywhere more than adequate. Much conversation, whether the fighter’s own oriental lisping, or through the emphasis on arch phrases (apparently characteristic of men of action), provides unintentional pleasure.

The most interesting part of the film’s spoken elements is at the start, where in Lee’s so-called Monk Scene (missing from some original release prints), then also a little later, he reveals something of his personal philosophy. Lee, we are told, has taken his fighting technique beyond the mere physical level - to the point of spiritual insight.

For the fighter of this caliber opponents and all immediate combat concerns vanish, to be replaced by a notion of committed distancing, or emotional content (not anger). Interestingly, Lee remarks that each fight should be like a small play - but one played seriously. One can see that it is from a series of such martial dramas, gradually increasing in scale, that the tension and drive of the film emanates, rather than any traditional development of character.

Lee is at the center of the film. Throughout he provides moral, physical and sexual standards against which others are measured - most conspicuously, westerners. There is a revealing juxtaposition between the ultra-fit fighter and the middle aged, bespectacled Braithwaite, who briefs him at the beginning of the film.

While Lee has a personal interest in Han’s destruction, one immediately understandable and honorable, the Englishman’s professionalism is guarded and generalized. He represents only gatherers of information upon which governments can act. Braithwaite offers Lee a drink, (which, of course, the ascetic fighter declines), and confirms Lee’s unspoken judgement on the unattractiveness of firearms (Any bloody fool can pull a trigger).

Naturally it is Braithwaite, who is tucked up in bed, while Lee battles against superior odds out in the field. On the outward-bound junk, Lee proves his moral superiority to an arrogant competitor, leaving him adrift in a boat. Finally, by the end of the film, after winning every contest, the topless and blood-tasting Lee provides a far more convincing image of physical potency than ever do the sexually active Roper and Williams.

In real life Lee had an ongoing concern for the Oriental poor, seeing martial arts as one way to restore their dignity. His first film, The Big Boss/Tang Shan da Xiong (1971) set in and around an ice plant in its way is involved with commercial exploitation and corruption. For Enter The Dragon, it was partly through his insistence that director Clouse filmed the memorable scenes in Hong Kong harbor, setting the arriving contestants amidst a floating shanty town.

When, during the cavern fight, Lee finds himself in combat alongside the pens holding Han’s mute prisoners (his bar room dregs), his endeavors are explicitly and economically connected with the rights of those dispossessed. We realize then that he is fighting as much for their freedom as for Braithwaite’s secret masters, his sister’s memory or the honor of his temple. Fittingly, it is these discarded men who will eventually overrun Han’s island, restoring their rights.

In fact, Han’s private island is a dictatorship; one in which he lives like a king, and in which Nazi salutes of raised, punching fists greet the newly landed competitors, and where the ubiquitous fighting outfits are also a uniform of repression. The tournament becomes a showcase for Han’s philosophy, as well as a convenient recruitment means.

And first thing ashore, Clouse wisely lets his camera pan over a vista of striking fists with the martial shouts they engender. Like a Refensthal images of a Hitler rally, and aided by Schifrin’s insistent, garish score, such discipline en masse makes for a thrilling, ominous, spectacle.

Such an island also provides an excellent proving ground for Lee’s talents. But apart the relatively short opening taster bout, he hardly lifts an arm until reaching Han’s enclave - and even then spends long minutes as a calm observer of the opening bouts. In between he exercises more guile and restraint, sly humor and cat-like athleticism than the expected muscle.

By then, of course, we have seen just how his sister has been killed, and know he itches to tackle Han’s bullying bodyguard O’Hara. Lee is coiled and not yet sprung. The audience is eager to see him fight, just as we know hero Lee is himself aching to exact revenge. The resulting tension, a martial anxiousness, goes a long way to papering over any weaknesses in dialogue and leads to the highest expectations.

Fortunately for the viewer such expectations are fully justified. Lee’s legendary martial artistry is awe-inspiring, enough to catapult the film into the front rank of action movies. Frequently shown in slow motion so that the camera could catch his rapid-fire actions, he fights O’Hara, numerous cavern guards, different individuals en route and, finally, Han himself in a mirrored room - all with an authority and skill, with bare hands and nunchuka, which demands repeated viewing.

During his fights Lee frequently demonstrates the previously described emotional content of his martial philosophy: a mental posture which manifests itself as a calm self-collection, concentrated into cold fury for victory. On the point of dispatching O’Hara, for instance, Lee ruminates on his immediate aggression with an intense self absorption, killing his sister’s murderer through a contemplation of inner pain almost impossible to describe.

Later, as the ensuing melee swirls around Lee, the camera zooms again on its hero: typically, he is calm, perfectly focused. It is during moments like this, full of vengeful rectitude, that the actor provides overwhelming confirmation of star status.

Enter the Dragon Ultra HD Blu-ray disc and Digital the following previously released special features:
• Introduction by Linda Lee Cadwell (run time: 2:17 minutes)
• Commentary by Paul Heller and Michael Allin (run time: 110 minutes)

So, what we have is Enter the Dragon presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265, Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: HDR10, Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 and Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

As for the audio, well we get the choice of: English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1.

As part of the year-long centennial celebration for the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. Studio, the iconic martial arts film Enter the Dragon will be available for purchase on 4K Ultra HD Disc and Digital this August.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of its 1973 release, on August 8th 2023, Enter the Dragon will be available to purchase on Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc from online and in-store at major retailers and available for purchase Digitally from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu and more.

Enter the Dragon is considered one of the most influential action films of all time and is credited with bringing interest in the Asian martial arts genre to mainstream Western cinema.

The Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc includes both the theatrical version of the film and the Special Edition of the film which features three additional minutes of footage.

In 2004, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry for being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. In 1999, Bruce Lee was listed in Time magazine’s “100 most influential people of the century.”

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