JAN 28 , 2023
Return on the Dragon (1972)
This film was released in America after Bruce Lee’s death in 1973 and after the release of Enter the Dragon, so it was called Return of the Dragon.
Directing, writing, and starring in the film, Bruce Lee finally creates a film that he respects while Hong Kong audiences agreed since this film became the biggest grossing Hong Kong film of all time. Enter the Dragon would not make as much money in Hong Kong.
He plays Tang Lung (China Dragon), who travels to Rome to work in a Chinese restaurant but encounters the Mafia. He fights them and they hire various thugs to attack him, an American (Fred, played by Bob Wall) and a Japanese (played by Korean Hwang In-Shik). They also hire Colt (Chuck Norris).
He ends up fighting Colt at the end in the Roman Colosseum. Wei Ping-Ao or Paul Wei (Ho), reprises his roles as a feminine translator, translating between Chinese and Italian. He played a similar role in Fist of Fury, translating between Chinese and Japanese.
The Rebirth
Bruce Lee was born with the Chinese name, Lee Jun-fan (李振藩), which means one who returns. After his death, he returned to America to be buried and with three films: Enter the Dragon, Return of the Dragon, and later the completed Game of Death.
The US version deleted some scenes it felt were not important. One scene is where Tang Lung orders from a menu. Since he cannot read Italian, he points. He is brought several bowls of soup.
Some consider the fight with Chuck Norris the greatest one-on-one, on screen, martial arts battle ever filmed. Bruce Lee had trained with Chuck Norris. Here is an excerpt from an interview with Chuck Norris about their encounters:
Well Bruce and I met when I won the world (karate) title in New York City in 1968. He was doing that TV series The Green Hornet at the time. He was at the tournament as a special guest. We hit it off pretty well and so we started working out together in Los Angeles for a couple of years. Then he left for Hong Kong to pursue his movie career. He called me up in 1972 and said “I’ve done two movies in Hong Kong and I’m really big over here.”
He said, “I want to do a movie with a fight scene that every one will remember and since you and I have worked out together so much how about you being my opponent (in the film)?” So kiddingly I said to him “who wins?” (Laughs) Bruce said “I win, I’m the star (laughs).” I said “Oh, I see you want to beat the world champion (laughs).”
But any way, you know at that time I was teaching, I had no aspirations toward acting but I went and did the fight scene in the movie with Bruce just as a kind of a break out of my schedule.
Doc Nirvana
AKA Professor Wayne STEIN