The Making of Enter The Dragon
Enter The Dragon is no doubt one of the finest Martial Arts films to date. This book goes behind the scenes, and Bruce Lee fans or cinematic enthusiasts will find it interesting.
Behind the scenes footage of the movie was originally shot and 9,000 feet of footage was to be used to make a ten minute television documentary to promote the film prior to cinema release.
The 9,000 feet of 16mm film equated to approx 5 hours of film time - which apparently featured mostly Bruce. When the documentray was completed, the film company destroyed the remaining 4 hours and 50 minutes of footage.
To this day not one copy of the ten minute documentary can be found, so this significant book is all that remains that documents the behind the scenes events of one of the best and iconic martial arts films ever to be made.
Written by Enter The Dragon director Robert Clouse, the book gives a great look at many of the actors involved, the processes that were both more and less challenging than expected, and of course, a look at Bruce Lee from an insider’s perspective.
Not only does the book contain many rare images (one was used for our Heavenly Glory tee which was released some years ago) but it documents the hurdles Clouse overcame producing the movie. Considering the obstacles he had, which included the budget, lighting, props, gang fights, and challenges toward Bruce, etc., he and Bruce did a remarkable job.
Some of the highlights from the book for me included:
Bruce and the scriptwriter Michael Allin had an increasingly antagonistic relationship. Allin apparently rewrote dialogue for Bruce containing as many “R's” as possible, since he had trouble saying the letter.
Many of the extras for the fight scenes came from rival gangs, so when the director would cut a fight scene, sometimes they just kept fighting.
It is also reported that whiles on set Bruce would be regularly challenged by the extra's who claimed he wasn't as good as everyone made out. Whiles Bruce laughed off most of these challenges, apparently a couple of times the extra's learnt the hard way.
The scene with Bob Wall and the broken bottles had a pretty sinister backstory. Bruce was injured by a mistake and was apparently plotting a lethal revenge on the actor during the reshoot as a face-saving measure.
Bruce was talked out of this by being told that Bob Wall was still required for further filming in the states. This was actually untrue as all filming had been completed in the states.
However, Wall and others strongly deny these allegations stating the whole event was blown out of proportion. The famous running thrust kick Lee delivers to O'Hara's chest was real and invited by Wall (O'Hara), who agreed with Lee that fake kicks would not look realistic on film. Lee's kick subsequently broke Wall's sternum, and broke the arms of two extras in the crowd behind Wall who attempted to catch him.
Overall this book is a must have for anyone who has ever been dazzled by the movie Enter the Dragon. It shows how much effort went into making it and gives an insight into what goes on, behind the scenes when the cameras stop rolling. If you have Enter the Dragon in your movie collection then this is a must have companion for it.
Behind the scenes footage of the movie was originally shot and 9,000 feet of footage was to be used to make a ten minute television documentary to promote the film prior to cinema release.
The 9,000 feet of 16mm film equated to approx 5 hours of film time - which apparently featured mostly Bruce. When the documentray was completed, the film company destroyed the remaining 4 hours and 50 minutes of footage.
To this day not one copy of the ten minute documentary can be found, so this significant book is all that remains that documents the behind the scenes events of one of the best and iconic martial arts films ever to be made.
 |  |
Not only does the book contain many rare images (one was used for our Heavenly Glory tee which was released some years ago) but it documents the hurdles Clouse overcame producing the movie. Considering the obstacles he had, which included the budget, lighting, props, gang fights, and challenges toward Bruce, etc., he and Bruce did a remarkable job.
 |  |
Bruce and the scriptwriter Michael Allin had an increasingly antagonistic relationship. Allin apparently rewrote dialogue for Bruce containing as many “R's” as possible, since he had trouble saying the letter.
Many of the extras for the fight scenes came from rival gangs, so when the director would cut a fight scene, sometimes they just kept fighting.It is also reported that whiles on set Bruce would be regularly challenged by the extra's who claimed he wasn't as good as everyone made out. Whiles Bruce laughed off most of these challenges, apparently a couple of times the extra's learnt the hard way.
 |  |
The scene with Bob Wall and the broken bottles had a pretty sinister backstory. Bruce was injured by a mistake and was apparently plotting a lethal revenge on the actor during the reshoot as a face-saving measure.Bruce was talked out of this by being told that Bob Wall was still required for further filming in the states. This was actually untrue as all filming had been completed in the states.
However, Wall and others strongly deny these allegations stating the whole event was blown out of proportion. The famous running thrust kick Lee delivers to O'Hara's chest was real and invited by Wall (O'Hara), who agreed with Lee that fake kicks would not look realistic on film. Lee's kick subsequently broke Wall's sternum, and broke the arms of two extras in the crowd behind Wall who attempted to catch him.
Overall this book is a must have for anyone who has ever been dazzled by the movie Enter the Dragon. It shows how much effort went into making it and gives an insight into what goes on, behind the scenes when the cameras stop rolling. If you have Enter the Dragon in your movie collection then this is a must have companion for it.
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