For tonight's DVD Club, we're watching classic martial arts action flick/James Bond knock-off Enter The Dragon.
Join us on Twitter at 8pm.
But how did the film's star, Bruce Lee, become such a universally recognised icon, despite completing only four movies and dying at the age of 32?
1. He was the first action hero.
Before Lee, on-screen combat was stiff, polite and unconvincing.
His training in multiple martial arts and background in dance (he was a champion cha cha dancer) inspired a more fluid, realistic approach.
He wanted on-screen fights to look both brutal and elegant - a theme that's fuelled action movies ever since (see Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Matrix...)
American filmmakers also lapped up the concept of a lone figure who at first seems like a regular guy but, when pushed, transforms into a one-man army.
No Bruce Lee, no Bruce Willis.
Next: Martial Arts For All...
Comments
RobBuckley
Jun 9th 2009, 12:47
That's true to a certain of the US and Chinese martial arts. But there was a long tradition in the UK and Australia, for example, of Japanese martial arts such as jiu jitsu and judo being taught openly in classes available to everyone. Jiu Jitsu practitioners used to tour music halls in the 19th century and both men and women were taught techniques.
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alowe
Jun 9th 2009, 13:55
Fair point. So was Lee's Seattle school the first outside China? I had a quick rummage around whether Chinese martial arts were taught secretly in the US/UK/Australia before Lee but couldn't get a solid answer.
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