Enter the Dragon is a 1973 martial arts film produced by and starring Bruce Lee.[2] The film, which co-stars John Saxon and Jim Kelly, was directed by Robert Clouse. It would be Bruce Lee's final completed film appearance before his death on 20 July 1973 at age 32. A joint American and Hong Kong production, it premiered in Los Angeles on 19 August 1973, one month after Lee's death and went on to gross US$90 million worldwide,[1] equivalent to US$549 million adjusted for inflation.
Enter the Dragon is widely regarded as one of the greatest martial arts films of all time.[3] In 2004, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4] Among the first films to combine martial arts action with the emerging Blaxploitation genre, its success led to a series of similar productions combining both genres.[5] Its themes have also generated scholarly debate about how they reflect the changes taking place within post-colonial Asian societies following the end of World War II.[6]