Bullet Points: Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger

When I first saw Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger… 7 or 8 years after its initial release mind you… I thought I had stumbled upon a special moment in history. The moment where the iconic Bruce Lee officially passed the torch to Bruce Li.

I remember going to school and telling all my friends about the movie and the man who would be the next Bruce Lee and we all marveled at the possibilities. I should point out that while this conversation was taking place during recess, Bruce Li’s acting career was pretty much over… ignorance really is bliss.

Now being much older and slightly wiser, I found myself going back and revisiting 1976’s Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger… a movie that once blew my mind.

• Quick Exit: The movie opens up on July 17, 1973 with David aka Tiger (Bruce Li, Iron Dragon Strikes Back) visiting his friend Bruce Lee aka Dragon on the set of Bruce’s latest film being shot in Hong Kong. David is concerned for his friend Bruce, pointing out that Bruce doesn’t look well. Bruce says he is fine but does mention some strange phone calls he has been receiving. The conversation takes what would end up being a prophetic turn as Bruce tells David that if anything should happen to him, David will be his successor. David then says his goodbyes and heads back to his martial arts school in Singapore. Three days later on July 20, 1973 Bruce Lee dies. Insert actual Bruce Lee funeral footage here.
• Return of the Tiger: Meanwhile in Singapore, David is mourning the death of his friend Bruce Lee. Two of David’s students ask David if he thinks there was foul play involved in Bruce’s death. That question triggers David and he immediately vows to avenge Bruce if that is the case. David decides he must go back to Hong Kong and find out for himself what happened to Bruce.

• Tiger PI: When David returns to Hong Kong he looks up his newspaper reporter friend George to get all the info he can on what the police are saying about Bruce Lee’s death. David learns that Bruce died at the apartment of actress Susie Yang and that there were drugs found on the scene. David quickly shoots down the notion that Bruce used drugs. George then mentions the theory that Bruce died of an illness, but what was this illness that could cut down a man in such prime physical condition? David wants to talk to Susie, but George tells him she herself has been hospitalized and the police are making sure no one can get near her. So David decides to check out Susie’s apartment.
• Ships Passing in the Night: David manages to sneak into Susie’s apartment, but David’s investigation is quickly interrupted when he realizes he is not alone in the apartment. Gangster Lung Fei (played conveniently by Lung Fei) is also in the apartment, but he’s not there looking for clues about Bruce Lee’s death. Lung Fei is there looking for a tape that would incriminate his crime boss known as The Baron. The Baron wanted to use Bruce Lee to help move drugs all around the world, figuring that a beloved icon like Bruce Lee would not be hassled by the sure to be star struck airport security. The Baron was trying to get to Bruce through his friend Susie. When The Baron finds out that Susie pulled a Richard Nixon and taped all of their private conversations he sent Lung Fei to get the tape. There’s a small scuffle between David and Lung Fei, but Lung Fei manages to get away like a thief in the night without finding the tape.

• More Like Bruce Lies: After getting nowhere at Susie’s apartment, David decides he’s going to go to the hospital and see if he can’t get by Susie’s security detail. And to his credit he does… and how does he do it? David tells the guard that he is Bruce Lee and that his death was all a publicity stunt for a movie that he’s making with Susie Yang. The guard falls for it and David gets to Susie’s room only to find Lung Fei inside posing as a doctor! Lung Fei takes off and David gives chase. Lung Fei once again gets away, but David manages to find out about a club that Lung Fei is known to frequent and he makes his way over there.
• Business Picks Up: David’s visit to the club proves to be another dead end, but he is officially on the radar of The Baron and Lung Fei. After he leaves the club, David gets into a street fight with a bunch of goons and it is a fight that David comes out on top of. The next day Lung Fei pays George a visit to find out who this David character is and why he is sticking his nose in the business of The Baron. When David finds out that Lung Fei roughed up his friend, David puts on his sweet leather jacket and tracks down the bad guys to kick some more ass… unfortunately the odds catch up with David this time and he ends getting beat with a stick and then having his body dumped in the middle of the street and ends up hospitalized.

• Back and Forth: After David recovers, the human game of chess between David and The Baron continues for the remainder of the film. Things hit really close to home when Baron’s men kill George and kidnap Susie Yang and David’s girlfriend Tia, who came in from Singapore when David was in the hospital. The Baron has Tia and Susie tied up to some giant rocks on the beach and this becomes the dramatic setting for the final fight between David aka Tiger and The Baron.

There are Bruce Li movies that I enjoy much more than Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger but none of them can ever be the sentimental favorite that Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger is to me. The movie opened my eyes to the world of Bruceploitation and increased my interest in kung fu cinema.

Now let me open your eyes to the world of Bonus Bullet Points…

• AKA: Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger was also known as Bruce Lee – The Star of All Stars.
• The Chinese Connection: At one point, David infiltrates one of The Baron’s hide outs by disguising himself as a telephone repairman, much like Bruce Lee did in 1972’s Fist of Fury.
• This One’s For You Chappy: When David goes to the Aloha Bar looking for Lung Fei, there is band playing their cover of the Spencer Davis Group classic, “Gimme Some Lovin”
• Familiar Voice: The TV news reporter reporting outside the gates of Summit Studio early on in the film was dubbed by the one and only James Hong.
• Lofty Goal: “If I can mean as much to you as Bruce Lee did, I’ll be very happy.” – Tia to David
• The Clones Cast: Michael Worth and Matthew Whitaker covered Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger on Episode 13 of The Clones Cast!