The Way of the Dragon
Way of the Dragon | |
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File:WayofDragon.JPG Way of the Dragon Movie Poster | |
Directed by | Bruce Lee |
Written by | Bruce Lee |
Produced by | Raymond Chow Bruce Lee |
Starring | Bruce Lee Nora Miao Chuck Norris Hwang In-Shik Robert Wall Wei Ping-Ao Wang Chung-Hsin |
Cinematography | Tadashi Nishimoto |
Edited by | Chang Yao Chang |
Music by | Joseph Koo Bruce Lee |
Distributed by | Golden Harvest |
Release date | December 30, 1972 (Hong Kong) |
Running time | 99 minutes (Hong Kong) 88 minutes (US) |
Country | Hong Kong |
Language | Cantonese |
Way of the Dragon (Chinese: 猛龍過江; literally, "The Fierce Dragon Crosses the River"; also known as Return of the Dragon in the U.S.) is a 1972 Hong Kong martial arts action film directed by Bruce Lee. It was the third major film starring the martial arts legend. In addition to directing the film, Bruce Lee has the leading role and is also the scriptwriter. Unlike his other films, all of which are action-dramas, Way of the Dragon is essentially an action comedy.
Plot
Tang Lung is sent from Hong Kong to Rome to help his friend's niece Chen Ching Hua, and some family friends, whose restaurant is being targeted by the local Mafia, which has been trying to force them to sign a contract handing over ownership of the restaurant to the Mafia boss. After their offers to purchase the restaurant are repeatedly turned down, the gangsters resort to intimidation. Tang fends off the local gangsters and wins Chen's admiration, who had initially looked down on him for his naïvety. Tang had earlier been reluctant in putting all his savings into a bank and had even unknowingly gone home with a prostitute while touring Rome with Chen; he had further frustrated her by not being able to understand the Italian and English languages. After the thugs are defeated, Tang become friends with the other workers and teaches them Chinese boxing; they, in turn, combine them with their skills in Karate to help Tang fight off the gangsters.
The Mafia boss sends a gunman to kill Tang, but Tang defeats him by throwing wooden darts and fracturing his neck. The angry boss then takes a personal trip to the restaurant with his thugs to force Chen to sign the contract. Although they are armed with guns, Tang manages to defeat them after the boss forbids them to use the guns. Tang uses a wooden pole and a pair of Nunchakus during the fight. He warns the boss that he will take firm action against him if he continues to harass his friends. The boss later responds by warning Chen he will have Tang killed if he stays in Rome. However, Tang refuses to leave, even after being told of the mafia's intentions by Chen and Uncle Wang. The boss then sends a sniper (the gunman who now wears a neck brace) to kill Tang at Chen's apartment, but he fails again. Chen is kidnapped by the boss and compelled to sign the contract at his headquarters, but Tang and his friends appear and rescue her once more.
The Mafia boss hires foreign martial artists, two of whom have trouble communicating with each other, to challenge Tang Lung. Tang defeats them with help from his friends in the countryside near the Colosseum. However, when two of his friends (the only fighters on both sides still conscious) sit down for a rest, Uncle Wang kills them both, revealing that he would receive a large sum of money if he persuaded Miss Chen to sell the restaurant. Meanwhile, Tang has a final showdown inside the Colosseum with the Karate fighter Colt, the best of the hired fighters, and the only one able to fully communicate with him despite the language barrier. Colt is winning at first, but Tang eventually gets the upper hand since he's faster and more fluid and Colt is too slow, stiff and rigid. Tang wins the fight, and, because it is a battle to the death (and after he's reminded of this), he reluctantly kills Colt. He covers the body with Colt's white Gi to show his respect and admiration after the fight. As he's still overwhelmed with guilt, he hears the mafia boss's assistant. Tang angrily chases him down to the countryside only to find everyone there (other than himself, Wang, and the assistant) has been killed (Wang stabbing the others as they lay unconscious). There, the assistant tries to stall Tang whilst Wang is going to stab and kill him. The mafia boss arrives and shoots his assistant and Wang, but he fails to shoot Tang as he takes cover behind the tree. The police arrive with Chen, and the mafia boss is arrested. The final scene takes place in the graveyard, where Tang and Chen pay respects to the fallen. Tang bids farewell to Chen and leaves Rome alone as the credits begin to roll.
Cast
- Bruce Lee as Tang Long/cantonese Tong Lung (aka "China Dragon")
- Nora Miao as Chen Ching Hua
- Chuck Norris as Colt
- Robert Wall as Fred (aka "Bob")
- Hwang In-Shik as Japanese martial artist
- Paul Wei Ping-Ao as Ho
- Wang Chung-Hsin as (Uncle) Wang
- Tony Liu as Tony
- Unicorn Chan as Jimmy
- Tommy Chen as Tommy
- Chin Ti as Ah Quen
- Wu Ngan as Ah Chuan
- Robert Chen as Robert
- John T. Benn as Mafia boss
- Malisa Longo as Italian Beauty
- Yuen Biao as thug
Trivia
![]() | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (August 2009) |
- Bruce Lee's character Tang Lung has different names in the U.S. dubbed version. Ho calls him Li Lung in one scene.
- Robert Wall worked with Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon.
- Bruce Lee played the percussion instruments for the film's music. The film's music score is by Joseph Koo, who provided the music score for the Cantonese Dubbed version of The Big Boss.
- Bruce Lee whistles to the tune of Siu Lei Fei Dou (小李飛刀) in a few scenes. The song was composed by Joseph Koo as the theme song for the 1978 TV series The Romantic Swordsman.
- This film was released in Hong Kong on December 30, 1972. Filming started earlier within the year after Bruce Lee completed Fist of Fury. After completing Way of the Dragon, Lee then went on to film the fight scenes for Game of Death, which was put on hold due to Warner Bros. offering Lee a lead role in Enter The Dragon.
- Way of The Dragon was released in the U.S. after Enter The Dragon was released.
- National Review political columnist John Derbyshire appears in the film briefly as one of the Mafia thugs.[1]
- The film was featured in 2009 Knowledge Generation Bureau advertisements in which two men were arguing over who killed who in the film and another texts KGB to get the answer to stop a fight.
- The current U.S. DVD version, originally available in the Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection, from Twentieth Century Fox differs in two ways from the previous Fox release. First, the running time is actually 99 minutes rather than 88 minutes, and secondly, when the title screen for Way Of The Dragon appears, there is a subtitle that says A.K.A. Return Of The Dragon. This is due to the fact that the source material for the current DVD release is the Fortune Star digital remasters.
Home media releases
DVD releases
Universe (Hong Kong)
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2:35:1) letterboxed
- Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital 5.1), Mandarin (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Subtitles: Traditional, Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, Korean, Vietnamese
- Supplements: Star files, Trailer, Trailers for The Big Boss, Enter the Dragon, Game of Death, Legacy of Rage
- All regions, NTSC
Mega Star (Hong Kong)
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2:35:1) letterboxed
- Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital 5.1), Mandarin (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Subtitles: Traditional, Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, Malaysian, Korean, Thai, Spanish
- Supplements: Bruce Lee Museum (Text of Lee's biography, Synopsis for all 5 of his films, Explanation of The Way of Intercepting the Fist), Trailer, Trailers for The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Enter the Dragon, Game of Death
- Region 3, NTSC
Fortune Star - Bruce Lee Ultimate DVD Collection (Hong Kong)
- Released: April 29, 2004
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic
- Sound: Cantonese (DTS 5.1), Cantonese (Dolby Digital 5.1), Cantonese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Mandarin (DTS 5.1), Mandarin (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Subtitles: Traditional, Simplified Chinese, English
- Supplements: Original trailer, New trailer, Still photos, Slideshow of photos, Celebrity interviews, Unseen footage, Game of Death outtakes, Enter the Dragon alternate opening credits, 32-page booklet
- Region 3, NTSC
Fox (America)
- Released: May 21, 2002
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2:35:1) letterboxed
- Sound: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
- Subtitles: English
- Supplements: None
- Region 1, NTSC
Fox - Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection (America)
- Released: October 18, 2005
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic
- Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Mandarin (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (DTS 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Subtitles: English
- Supplements: Original trailer, New trailer, Celebrity interviews, Bonus trailers, Still photos, Slideshow of photos
- Region 1, NTSC
Hong Kong Legends Collector's Edition (United Kingdom)
- Released: June 11, 2001
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic
- Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Subtitles: English
- Supplements: Animated biography showcase, Trailers, Rare photo archive, Interviews with Andre Morgan, Russell Cawthrone, Jon Benn, Anders Nielsen
- Regions 2/4, PAL
Hong Kong Legends 2-Disc Platinum Edition (United Kingdom)
- Released: July 14, 2003
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2:35:1) anamorphic
- Sound: Cantonese (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Subtitles: English
- Supplemnts: Disc 1: Commentary by Bey Logan and John Benn, Introduction to the film by Robert Lee, Bruce Lee's younger brother Disc 2: Introductions to special features by Bey Logan, Interview gallery: "Double Edged Sword: An Interview with Robert Wall," "Memories of the Master: An Interview with Pat Johnson, " "Warriors Immortal: An Interview with Master Hwang In-Shik," "A Dragon Remembered: An Interview with Robert Lee," Trailer galley: Original trailer, UK Campaign trailer, Original UK trailer, teaser, TV spot, HKL TV spot, Bonus trailers, Production photo gallery, Info Library: "Way of the Dragon - A retrospective, Bruce Lee screen test, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Bob Wall, Nora Miao biographies, The Hong Kong Connection: "Inside Way of the Dragon: An Interview with Chaplin Chang, Louis Sit," "Artist and Warrior: An Interview with Tony Lau Wing,"
- Region 2, PAL
Blu-ray disc release
Kam & Ronson (Hong Kong)
- Released: October 15, 2009 [2]
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 2:35:1
- Sound: Cantonese (DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1), Cantonese (Dolby True HD 7.1), Mandarin (Dolby Digital EX 6.1), Thai (Dolby Digital EX 6.1)
- Subtitles: Traditional Chinese, English, Thai
- Supplements: Celebrity interviews
- Region A
References
- ^ Derbyshire, John (2003-10-15). "Thug (Uncredited)". National Review Online. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ^ YESASIA: The Way Of The Dragon (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version)