How the hell is this movie rated 7/10?

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I rated it 7/10. The fighting is good, but the rest of it is pretty corny (Schifrin's score doesn't help). The mirror-maze showdown is too long (and dull) in my view (hint: if you ever face your arch-nemesis in a mirror labyrinth, ignore the images and watch the floor). Bruce Lee's handling of the bully by "fighting without fighting" was predictable. Much of the dialogue is silly. Han must've studied 007 films for Big-Bad style/organizational tips: Nehru jacket, remote hideout/base infested with colorfully jump-suited but incompetent minions, sinister prosthetic hand (Dr. No).

In other posts I stress that movies, including martial arts movies, are highly subjective. Some people's idea of masterpiece is another's idea of cornball.

I sat in a movie theater watching "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and the punks behind me were snickering at the movie. Within a few weeks it was considered a martial arts movie masterpiece.

My personal opinions of ETD are as follows:

1. It is not Bruce Lee's best movie. That distinction goes to Fist of Fury (aka The Chinese Connection), or The Big Boss. ETD's pacing is slow, and it takes 1/3rd of the movie before we see Bruce fly into action.

2. It was then, and now, a B-movie albeit a good B-movie. A B-movie is one that does not have A-list celebrities, low or limited budget, and one that a studio does not put a lot of money behind. ETD was a "sleeper" hit in that no one expected it to do so well. The director, Robert Clouse, was an episodic film director and inexperienced at making feature length movies at the time and they used Hong Kong film crews and techniques (e.g. filming without synched sound) as another budgetary limitation. John Saxon and Ahna Capri were not exactly A-listers.

3. It is considered by some as a low-budget martial arts "rip off" of Dr. No.

4. It has some of Bruce Lee's most unexciting and anticlimactic fight scenes. I suspect this is due to either lack of time or budget to establish complex fight scenes. Most of Lee's fight scenes are far too short unlike the extended fight scenes he has in movies like Fist of Fury, the end of Big Boss, and the famous Chuck Norris battle in Way of the Dragon.

5. Many martial arts movies have surpassed ETD in terms of high octane action, and production value from Jackie Chan's 80's and 90's films, to the period pieces like Hero, to Hollywood movies like The Matrix.

What I do give it credit for...

1. It had Bruce Lee in it whose charisma and intensity is unrivaled. I don't care whether you are Alexander Fu Sheng, Yuen Woo Ping, Sonny Chiba, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris,...no one can match the on screen intensity of Bruce Lee. NO ONE.

2. It introduced North America to the martial arts film genre and everyone, White, Black, Yellow, or Red, wanted to be Bruce Lee. Furthermore, I think Bruce Lee would have been okay that other martial arts films would outdo ETD because his own martial arts philosophy was that everything had to evolve for the better.

3. Bruce Lee's high pitched ki-ai, is still used whenever martial arts is parodied in TV or movies. Can James Dean even say he left that much of an impression in modern culture? You don't see a lot of people quoting Dean's, "You're tearing me apart!" But everyone knows whenever someone says in falsetto, "ahhhhhhhyiiiiiii".

The best of it's era, no doubt. Way ahead of it's time, as far as quality, and free flowing action. Look at action films after that through the 70's and early 80's, and you'd think they were made before Enter the Dragon..But, Best Ever? nope...in ensuing 40 years, there have been some great films, which stand on the shoulders of Enter the Dragon. Also, I think it's difficult to say BEST, in the martial arts realm, when there are so many different styles, even just out of Hong Kong. Drunken Master, Drunken Master II, Prodigal Sun, Millionaires Express, Wu Xia, SPL, Flash Point, Special ID, The Grandmaster, Ip Man, Ong Bak, The Raid, Dragons Forever. and the list goes on. That being said, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Don Wilson, JC VanDamme, Donnie Yen, Panna Rittigrai and Tony Jaa Panum, ALL readily admit to being Bruce Lee fans, and take inspiration from his work. I had lunch with Bruce's widow, Linda Lee Caldwell in early October, and she still gets letters, emails, etc (via the Bruce Lee Foundation), saying what an inspiration Bruce was in their lives, interest and training in martial arts, etc.

I think this movie should at least enter the 250 IMDB list.
This movie should be preserved. It's a real classic and oozes with its own style. From the 70's camera recordings, to clothing, comic characters, great soundtrack, classy lines, natural martial arts scenes and Bruce Lee's charisma.
Just like The Matrix.

"The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering" - Bruce Lee

It's really, really not. There are a bunch better than it. But still, 7 is too low.

This film is already in the National Film Registry as being "Culturally and artistically significant". So it sits in a fallout proof time capsule with Wells' "Citizen Kane", Bergmen's "The Seventh Seal" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

The second it hits public domain you know Criterion will do the DVD.

(it should still be rated higher)

Bruce said this looks like the film that would get him fame in america, so I think he was probably at least moderately happy with it. If he had finished The Game of Death though, that would of outweighed Enter The Dragon,

I an't afraid of no ghosts!

You've got to give them a break. They were trying to break into America as someone said. Still this is a "culturally significant" film. I was a youngster when it came out and I can tell you that it had a hell of an impact on me and my friends. Although I wouldn't argue that it is a bit of a cult classic. Makes you wonder what Lee could have done if he hadn't have died. A real shame.

I think I agree. I gave it 6/10. I'm shocked at how high its score is. If, as some have said, this is the best martial arts movie, that doesn't speak well for martial arts movies.

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