The Way of the Dragon

Bruce Lee directed this, wrote it, played the lead, co-produced it and played percussion on the score. It was the first film from Concord Production, the company he set up with Raymond Chow. The budget was $130,000, and pre-sales to Taiwan alone had covered it before release. In Hong Kong it took HK$5,307,350.50, beating the records set by Lee’s own The Big Boss and Fist of Fury and becoming the highest-grossing film of 1972 there. It did not reach the United States until August 1974, retitled Return of the Dragon, where it went to the top of the North American charts. At the 11th Golden Horse Awards, held on 30 October 1973, after Lee’s death, it won Best Film Editing for Peter Cheung and was named a runner-up for Best Feature Film. This is Chuck Norris’s first credited role, not his first appearance on screen; he had a small part in The Wrecking Crew in 1968. Lee shot the closing Colosseum fight in long takes, framing it so that both fighters stayed visible head to foot. A good fit if you want to watch how a fight is framed and how long it is held before a cut. Not for anyone after a sturdy plot; reviewing it in 1974, Roger Ebert found the story simple and its conventions unbelievable.