Because many modern flicks feature high levels of martial arts material, it can become hard to remember a time when those elements seemed exotic. In that vein, many of us are too young to remember the days before Bruce Lee helped popularize the genre in the US.

Lee’s sad death at the age of 32 occurred with him on the brink of superstardom. 1973’s Enter the Dragon did a lot to create his legend.

Shaolin Temple student Lee (Lee) learns that former pupil Han (Shih Kien) brought disgrace to the temple so Lee needs to reclaim the lost honor. British agent Braithwaite (Geoffrey Weeks) entreats Lee to attend Han’s martial arts tournament that takes place on his “island fortress”. There Han runs his own school of martial arts and only has contact with the outside world during the triennial contest.

Han also gets beautiful women addicted to drugs and sells them into slavery. Braithwaite tells Lee, “We know everything - we can prove nothing”, so he wants Lee to gather as much evidence as possible. Lee also learns that operative Mei Ling (Betty Chung) went to the island previously but lost touch with the agency.

Before Lee heads to the island, we learn a little history. It turns out that Han’s personal bodyguard Oharra (Bob Wall) and his other men earlier accosted Lee’s sister Su Lin (Angela Mao Ying) and apparently planned to rape her. She fought back ably, but when cornered with no hope of escape, she killed herself.

As the film progresses, we meet some other tournament contestants on their way to the island and see a bit of backstory for them as well. Roper (John Saxon) suffers from massive gambling debts, while Williams (Jim Kelly) gets hassled by police and needs to flee. Both know each other from time spent in the military in Vietnam. Those two, Lee, and others take a boat to the island from Hong Kong and get to know each other.

When they arrive at Han’s fortress, the host pampers his guests and even offers them women for their pleasure. Lee sees Mei Ling and gets her to share what she knows.

Soon the tournament starts and Lee continues his investigation. Gradually Roper and Williams also become involved and the plot thickens.

Sort of. Don’t expect much substance from Dragon, as the story exists as little more than a loose framework for the action.

It’s a paper-thin plot that doesn’t offer much to keep us interested, especially since Han’s sleaziness never becomes in question. Who cares about the investigation? We don’t learn anything, and these moments feel like filler.

I could forgive those flaws more easily if the action sequences fared better. Actually, when given a chance to shine, the fighting adds some good spark to the piece.

After all, Lee became a star for a reason. He couldn’t act his way out of the proverbial paper bag, but he boasted a strong physical presence and pulled off the martial arts elements with style and flair.

Unfortunately, the movie spits out action sequences so fitfully that it fails to do much to keep us involved. The film’s story never becomes interesting, and the characters seem thin and dull.

I don’t regard that as the fault of the actors, as none of them do much in their roles, but they don’t get the chance based on the flat and bland personalities. Roper had the most potential, but he goes nowhere, and Williams is little more than a generic “black power” stud.

Han comes across as your basic Bond villain, which seems intentional, as one can tell from his look. Not only does Han have fake hands ala Dr. No but also he carries around a white cat just like Blofeld!

These references don’t seem subtle, and the movie really feels like an attempt at a Bond tale. We get the megamaniacal villain on an island fortress with subversive plans, and the large-scale battle at the end feels just like something out of a Bond movie, though without the gadgets.

Dragon ends up with too much spy nonsense and not enough fighting. When I think back on the flick, I don’t remember the battle sequences or the characters.

Instead, I mainly recall dull shots of Lee as he slinks through the complex. This acts as an indication that the movie suffers from too much bland exposition and not enough action.

When it fares well, Enter the Dragon offers some ably-executed fight scenes. Unfortunately, it meanders too much with a dull spy story line that adds nothing to the proceedings. In addition, the flat characters, and obvious notions make it a less than satisfying experience.

Enter the Dragon appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This was a good representation of the source.

Overall sharpness was good but erratic. While most of the movie exhibited solid clarity, exceptions occurred, so we occasionally got some soft images.

These appeared to stem from the original photography – cheap action flicks from the 70s didn’t worry too much about perfection – and the instances didn’t cause substantial concerns. Much of the movie became accurate and precise.

No issues connected to jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I noticed no edge haloes. With a natural layer of grain, I witnessed no obvious signs of digital noise reduction, and print flaws weren’t an issue. The movie seemed clean and fresh.

Colors appeared positive. The movie offered a bright palette that the disc reproduced nicely, so the tones consistently came across as peppy and full. HDR added vivacity to the hues.

Black levels also were deep and resonant, while low-light shots mainly appeared concise and well-defined. Shadows occasionally seemed slightly opaque, but not in a significant way.

HDR gave whites and contrast added impact. Though it showed its age at times, this remained a pleasing presentation.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film’s remixed Dolby Atmos soundtrack also worked well for a movie from the early 1970s. The mix opened up the soundfield in a moderate manner and gave us a decent sense of environment.

Music showed solid stereo imaging, and effects blended acceptably to the sides. Occasional panning occurred, such as when we’d heard a guy get tossed from the middle to the right. Mostly the mix stayed with general elements, though, as it preferred to depict the material in sporadically specific terms.

Surround usage seemed reasonable, with reinforcement of music and effects from that domain. A smattering of unique moments came from the rear, though, and these brought involvement.

Audio quality varied. Dragon featured so much awkward dubbing that it occasionally looked like a film shot in a language other than English.

It wasn’t, but it was shot silent and had the speech looped later. The lines blended poorly due to their quality as well, for virtually all of them sounded artificial.

The intelligibility remained fine, but they didn’t connect well with the action. The dialogue completely lacked any natural feel.

Effects tended to be over the top – think the exaggerated “wham!” material from the 1960s Batman TV series - but they maintained a good sense of range and accuracy. The hyper hits and kicks seemed concise and worked fine.

Music was surprisingly bright and rich, as Lalo Schifrin’s uber-70s score showed solid clarity and fair dynamics. Overall, the track mixed highs and lows to earn a “B”.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray from 2013? The Atmos mix showed similar sound quality but became a bit more expansive the its 5.1 counterpart.

As for visuals, the 4K’s definition meant soft spots became more obvious. Nonetheless, it displayed improved delineation as well as better colors and blacks to become the stronger rendition.

The 4K includes both the film’s Theatrical Cut (1:39:02) as well as a Special Edition Version (1:42:32). What does that extra time buy us?

More talk, really, as the SE adds some philosophical musings and other dialogue-based snippets. These neither help nor hurt the film.

Note that the 2013 Blu-ray and the 2004 DVD only included the longer version. However, a 2020 Criterion boxed set included the Theatrical Cut.

Only minor extras appear here, and we find an audio commentary from producer Paul Heller, who offers a running, screen-specific track. In addition, we get occasional snippets when a speakerphone conversation between Heller and writer Michael Allin get edited into the chat.

That makes it sound like we might learn a lot about Dragon, but we don’t. Some of the topics covered include the origins of the flick and its development as a vehicle for Lee, locations and issues connected to shooting in Hong Kong, stunts and the cast, and the original title and reasons for its change.

Mostly we depend on solo remarks from Heller, as the bits with Allin pop up only a handful of times. Those actually offer the most interesting moments, but they’re so rare they make little impact.

Instead, we mainly listen to Heller meander about… not much of anything. A few decent tidbits appear, but he mostly tells us about generic elements and doesn’t let us know a lot of solid information.

Vast amounts of dead air appear, though Heller becomes a little more active toward the end. Those moments can’t redeem this dull track.

In addition, the disc includes an Introduction to the “Special Edition” version. Here Bruce Lee’s widow Linda Lee Cadwell tells us a little about the movie as well as changes for the longer cut. This becomes forgettable.

Note that the 4K package fails to provide a Blu-ray copy, so we lose a slew of extras from that set. This seems to be the new MO for Warner 4Ks, and it seems like a bad choice on their part. Why not toss in the Blu-ray as usual so fans can enjoy all the behind the scenes stuff in one place?

Enter the Dragon remains an influential flick and an important one in the history of martial arts movies. Unfortunately, it does not actually seem good. It boasts a smattering of strong fight sequences and little else, as it suffers from a thin story and a general lack of inspiration. The 4K UHD delivers good picture and audio but it doesn’t include most of the pre-existing bonus materials. The movie looks better than ever but the absence of the old supplements disappoints.

To rate this film visit the original review of ENTER THE DRAGON