Enter the Dragon (1973)

The Bruce Lee classic Kung Fu film which sees Bruce Lee go to the island of Han to participate in the tournament he runs. He is there to avenge his sister who was killed by Han. He is joined in the tournament by Jim Kelly and John Saxon and they are all there for their own reasons. This film is iconic for the fight scenes even from the start when the sister is being attacked right through to the end of the film when your heroes are fighting the foot soldiers. Then when Bruce is fighting the boss at the end, it plays a bit like a computer game from the 80’s, this is the first American Produce Martial arts film.

This is one of those iconic films that many people have heard of and I think that films in this category get a greater sense of hype. Well if everybody has heard of it and everybody likes it then surely it must be the greatest film ever made. Unfortunately whether it is the hype or expectation, very few films in this category live up to the expectations of the pop culture, however this film is awesome and I struggle to even say why. Bruce Lee famous for dying young and from being too fit, most likely a heart attack but he was dedicated and this film produces the most famous images of him and I was actually really surprised as he is actually a very good actor. This film is like a kung fu James Bond film with an Oriental twist and was probably aiming towards competing with the James Bond Franchise.

I really enjoy this film, thinking about it to hard I cannot really figure it out, other than the fact the story is good vs evil, the evil overlord is a true Bond villain crossed with Bond evil henchman and he has an army that attack one at a time. Really now it is quite cheesy but I loved it and cannot recommend it highly enough and would really like to know if anyone else feels the same way that I do. So in scoring this I am going to have to settle for 8 out of 10 for the kung fu fighting alone.

The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

Film of 2012 #26
No Spoilers

This film is the last Hammer film to star both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and is also the last film for Christopher Lee to play Dracula. It is a sequel of sorts to some of the earlier Dracula films but at the time I watched it I was not aware of any of the history, though the film itself clearly references previous stories and battles. Peter Cushing plays Lorrimer Van Helsing and his niece is played by Joanna Lumley who I did not recognise to begin with but later in the film you can clearly see that it is her. 

The film starts quite confusingly with a ritual and a prisoner escaping and through the main characters finding out what happened you are brought up to speed. Scotland Yard are investigating a group of influential individuals who appear to be up to no good and within their investigations they discover that the group are headed up by Christopher Lee. He turns out to be Count Dracula resurrected from the dead as Van Helsing had killed him two years previously. This film is one of those older films that just accepts supernatural goings on, you have a case when someone known to the main characters is turned and they shout she is a vampire and there is simple acceptance of this fact as it is normal everyday goings on in the Hammer world. 

This was really a very enjoyable film, there are some issues around the pacing of it and I think that modern audiences would struggle with it as it moves at it's own pace. It is a good vs evil story and you know where it is going. a big plus point is that it is near the end of the Hammer films as there are plenty of b**bs on show and there is still some tension built up so a three star film for me, very enjoyable.