Enter the Dragon

The doyenne of American critics, Pauline Kael, once described Bruce Lee as "the Fred Astaire of martial arts", and he's at his balletic, brilliant best in this kung fu classic that, tragically, proved to be his last completed film. When his sister kills herself rather than succumb to the henchmen of a ruthless master criminal, Lee leaves the Shaolin temple where he teaches kung fu and spiritual discipline to become a James Bond-like secret agent. When he arrives at an island fortress to take part in a notoriously brutal martial arts tournament, he finds himself having to smash an opium ring and a white slavery racket, as well as fight for his own life. Director Robert Clouse broadens the action from the intimacy of Lee's earlier movies, in the process producing a series of fast, furious, intricate and athletic fight scenes that, in the opinion of many aficionados, have yet to be bettered. John Saxon and Jim Kelly provide muscular support, but it's the Hong Kong cast that catches the eye, notably Yang Sze, who is still one of chop-socky's most hissable villains. It's clear from this why the Lee legend lives on.