10 Movies Every Action Fan Needs To See

Strangely, Enter The Dragon isn’t the movie that began the Kung Fu craze in America – that honour belongs to the otherwise unremarkable Five Fingers Of Death, released the same year.

Time’s a great editor, though, and it’s this near-perfect blend of martial arts and James Bond-style espionage that stands out. The movie passed into legend when its star died (aged 32) a month before the US premiere. Try to imagine what that audience felt when they saw Bruce Lee at his most charismatic, felling his opponents in some of the best action sequences of his career.

Not only is Enter The Dragon a fine showcase for the Little Dragon, there’s also a good supporting cast that includes Jim Kelly, John Saxon, Shih Kien, and Angela Mao. The movie made director Robert Clouse the go-to guy for low-budget kung-fu epics, and he promptly churned out the likes of Black Belt Jones, Game Of Death, China O’Brien, and the immortal Gymkata.