Bruce Lee's third feature film has noticeably aged over the years but Lee's peerless charisma and abilities remain well intact.

This film and the unfinished Game of Death were the only films Lee directed and wrote himself. Unlike his first feature, The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, Lee made an obviously attempt to incorporate humor into the story. The opening of the film sets the tone for Lee as a foreigner out of his element in Rome. He gets looks in the airport and upon entering a restaurant, inadvertently ordering four bowls of soup since he is unable to read the menu. This is a refreshing change for Bruce's onscreen character although much of his comical mugging is generally overacted and lacks maturity.

Lee's plot comfortably remains similar to his previous films. In place of a factory or martial arts school is a Chinese restaurant in Rome run by Chen Ching Hua, played by Nora Miao who had appeared opposite Lee twice before. Once again, a group of thugs are out to give the innocent proprietors trouble. In this case, they want Chen to sell her business but she refuses. Lee's character is unable to speak English which allows him to focus on his substantial body language to get his point across to the baddies. It also just happens that most of the restaurant's young cooks are aspiring karate practitioners. Their initial skepticism turns to idol worship once they see Lee kick the tar out of some thugs. Set in the modern day and in an environment where guns are available could have presented Lee with a problem. He overcomes this obvious disadvantage by crafting wooden darts which he throws at his victims to disarm them. Sure, its a stretch but then one of the things that made Lee a great entertainer was the fact that he knew when to embellish or stretch reality in order to heighten a film's entertainment value. In an interview conducted for a documentary on Bruce Lee, co-star Chuck Norris once mentioned how Lee began using kicks a lot more after his onscreen fight with Norris at the film's climatic end, something Norris apparently encouraged. While this may or may not be true, Lee's own belief's concluded that high kicks were not practical in a street fight because it took too long to connect and left the attacker vulnerable, something which Sammo Hung once proved to great effect in a training routine with Yuen Biao in The Prodigal Son. Yet, one of Lee's most memorable scenes came in "Enter the Dragon" as he flies through the air to kick the villain in spectacular fashion. Its worth noting that in Way of the Dragon, Lee replicated on screen the move that wowed casting agents for the television series, "The Green Hornet." Lee leaps up in an amazing show of dexterity and power to kick out a light bulb from a socket hanging directly above him.

Champion martial artist, Robert Wall appears as Norris' student. He would appear again as Mr. Han's body guard in Enter the Dragon. Norris himself a karate champion had yet to make a name for himself in Hollywood and some might argue that he never did considering that he has never had much charisma or great acting ability. In truth, he proves to be a terrific opponent for Lee. Although not present throughout the bulk of the film, Norris' only fight with Lee at the end of the film is considered by many to be classic and one of the best onscreen match ups ever. In a stroke of genius, Lee got permission to shoot the fight at the Roman coliseum, a fitting location where gladiators once fought to the death for their Emperor. In reference to those ancient days, Norris turns his thumb down at Lee as they first lay eyes on each other, once the Emperor's signal to have a gladiator killed. After a short game of cat and mouse, the two final stand face to face and begin preparing for their epic fight with a series of stretches. The distinction between the two could not have been greater, excepting Lee's match up with former student, Kareem Abul Jabbar in Game of Death. While Lee is dark and bare skinned and moves with the reflexes of a cat, Norris is stocky with pale skin and a full chest of hair. His moves are sure but more like those of a heavyweight boxer. The only witness to this fight is a mangy kitten who is shown in cuts throughout the fight. The whole fight is well done, although if one were to place the encounter within the context of the story, the question of Norris' motivation must be asked. He's obviously been paid to take out Lee, but no mention is given to whether Norris is a professional killer for hire or just a guy who likes a good fight.

Purely as a story, Way of the Dragon is a very sophomoric effort that lacks depth. When not in his trademark menacing mode, Lee loses his potency. Yet, the film features Lee once again at his best when he's fighting and his expert use of nunchakus is featured here even better than in Enter the Dragon. The final battle with Chuck Norris is rightly legendary and certainly provides more than enough reason to see this film. Budding students of Jeet Kun Do will also note that Lee's philosophy of effect over form is voiced in the film as the merits of Chinese boxing are challenged.

- Mark Pollard (See here)

Wow, this is one fully packed out DVD surprisingly all on one disc which is great. At last, the complete uncut version of Bruce Lee’s masterpiece ‘Way of the Dragon’ has been digitally restored and remastered for DVD transfer.
This is the only self-directed project he ever did and it shows, in my mind this is better than ‘Enter the Dragon’. Now re-instated are the 10-minutes of incredible hi-impact fight footage previously prohibited by the BBFC, including Bruce’s stunning double nunchaku battle sequence which is totally unique to this movie, you just want to keep re-watching the scene again and again. So the movie is now available to the UK audience just as director Bruce Lee intended originally.

The special features for this title include, digitally restored movie, 16:9 Anamorphic version enhanced for widescreen, audio commentary with Bey Logan and Jon Benn, AC3 5.1 digital audio, original trailer, photo gallery, rare on location photo gallery, reflections on ‘The Little Dragon’ promo and making of ‘Way of the Dragon’ text files. So all-in-all this is one great DVD with stunning extra’s and its all on one disc, a dream for Bruce Lee fans everywhere.

Hope my review helped someone.(See here)

Now, some years ago I wasn't intrested in Bruce Lee neither his movies. I watched one of his films years ago and didn't appreciate it. Now, years on I gave another spin to Bruce Lee by watching Enter The Dragon (Which Is Loved) Then, I bought the Bruce Lee 30th Anniversary Collection and I watched The Way of the Dragon again. Let me tell you, a few years ago when i said he was not good, I was very wrong. This movie is brilliant from start to finish. It has Drama,Comedy & Action. A brilliant story. This has the finest one-on-one battle ever commited to a movie, Bruce Lee Vs. Chuck Norris which takes place in the Colliseum. This is top quality martial arts. If you love Kung-Fu flicks and haven't seen this, there is something wrong with you. This is martial arts at it's finest. Watch it now, and you wont regret it, trust me. -phil455

I have been a big fan of Bruce Lee for several years now, ever since i started martial arts myself, and i have to say that 'Way Of The Dragon' has to be one of his best films, and well worth buying. Also, this DVD now allows us to see the whole thing uncut, which is great.
Bruce Lee plays a man called Tang Lung is sent over to Italy to help protect a family resturant from the Mafia who are intent on buying the place. However, when they send for three top, martial arts experts, Tang Lung engages in three battles of life and death.

I have to say that out of all five Bruce Lee films, this one has probably the best set of fight scenes which is down to the great choreography all done by Lee himself. The bit at the end where he fights Chuck Norris has to be the best part of the whole film and is probably the best fight sequence in the history of films. And thankfully we even get to see the legendary double nunchaku duel which was taken off the vhs version.

Overall this is an all time great martial arts film and so long as you don't mind the subtitles then you are guarenteed to love this film. Even the music is good and very catchy. Definately recommended even if you are not a Bruce Lee or martial arts fan.