Enter the Dragon (1973)

Globalizing martial arts

Enter The Dragon, considered to be one of the greatest martial arts films of all time, was the first Chinese martial arts film to be produced by a major Hollywood studio (it was produced in association with Bruce Lee’s Concord Production Company). Grossing more than 200 million dollars worldwide, Enter The Dragon was deemed to be ‘culturally significant’ in the U.S.A and was thus selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Lee used the film as a vehicle for expressing the beauty of Chinese culture, language, food, dress, and history. Lee managed to depict Chinese culture and tradition while endearing himself to a Westernized public; he harmonized Oriental and Western culture in order to create and portray values that could be appreciated across the world. The film’s impact on global culture was far-reaching: it greatly influenced the globalization of martial arts, to the extent that Oriental martial arts is now viewed as a mainstream sporting activities in the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, two of the bastions of Cultural Diplomacy in the sporting world.