“Enter the Dragon” was released August 19, 1973 by Warner Studios. Directed by Robert Clouse, it was a martial arts film that starred Bruce Lee as the main character. This was the first Chinese martial arts film that was produced by a major American studio working together with an Asian production company. Since the movie is predominantly Asian oriented, the movie was shot mostly in Hong Kong. After its release the movie was a hit and became one of the highest grossing films of the year.

The movie plays out with Bruce Lee as the main character, Lee, who is a Xiao Lin martial artist and is very adept at his art. In the movie, he is invited to fight in a tournament by Han, who happens to be a corrupted Xiao Lin student. Lee is also approached by Braithwaite, who is from an international intelligence organization, and asks Lee to help him gather information on Han. Han is believed to be involved in different crimes but part of his island is outside of international jurisdiction so Lee is asked to gather information to persecute Han.

The film helped set Bruce Lee as a cultural icon and helped spark an interest in karate. Bruce Lee played an Asian version of James Bond, an undercover agent trying to reveal the plots of an evil mastermind. During the time period when Asians were generally seen as more feminine and submissive, Bruce Lee showed the world a different side to Asian culture. He was masculine, muscled and able to defeat his enemies with nothing more than his own strength and knowledge. Bruce was the complete opposite of the typical stereotyped Asian at the time changing what people thought they knew about Asians. Bruce also showed, during the Vietnam War, that Asians are not just enemies as in the movie he was an assistant to help take down a common enemy.


Along with breaking down stereotypes, the movie sparked a major interest in the different forms of martial arts. Following “Enter the Dragon” were many other martial arts based films such as “The Karate Kid,” “Drunken Master” and “Shaolin Temple” among many others. Since karate was seen as an Asian form of fighting, it helped make Asians more accepted in American culture as well as making them more prominent. Karate was not only affecting popular culture through film but was also popularized by Carl Douglas’s song “Kung Fu Fighting.” Through the popularity of “Enter the Dragon” martial arts became integrated into American society, popularizing a largely Asian style of fighting and helping Asians gain more recognition.