ActionCrime

The Way of the Dragon

- The Colosseum . . the battleground of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.

Tang Lung arrives in Rome to help his cousins in the restaurant business. They are being pressured to sell their property to the syndicate, who will stop at nothing to get what they want. When Tang arrives he poses a new threat to the syndicate, and they are unable to defeat him. The syndicate boss hires the best Japanese and European martial artists to fight Tang, but he easily finishes them off.

Release Date : 1972-12-30

Language :CantoneseMandarinEnglishItalian

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Orange Sky Golden HarvestConcord Productions

Production Country : Hong Kong

Alternative Titles : Return of the DragonThe Way of the Dragon

Cast

Character Name : Tang Lung

Original Name : Bruce Lee

Gender : Male

Character Name : Chen Ching Hua

Original Name : Nora Miao

Gender : Female

Character Name : Colt

Original Name : Chuck Norris

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ho

Original Name : Wei Ping-ao

Gender : Male

Character Name : 'Uncle' Wang

Original Name : Huang Tsung-Hsun

Gender : Male

Character Name : Fred

Original Name : Robert Wall

Gender : Male

Character Name : Japanese Fighter

Original Name : Hwang In-shik

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ah Quen

Original Name : 金帝

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tony

Original Name : Tony Liu

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jimmy

Original Name : Little Unicorn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Italian Beauty

Original Name : Malisa Longo

Gender : Female

Character Name : Waiter

Original Name : Ngan Wu

Gender : Male

Character Name : Robert

Original Name : Robert Chan Law-Bat

Gender : Male

Character Name : Robert

Original Name : Fu Ching Chen

Gender : Male

Character Name : The Boss

Original Name : Jon T. Benn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Quen (voice)

Original Name : John Kenny

Gender : Male

Character Name : Thug (uncredited)

Original Name : Robert Baker

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bank Manager (uncredited)

Original Name : Riccardo Billi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Man at Airport (uncredited)

Original Name : Russell Cawthorne

Gender : Male

Character Name : Man at Airport (uncredited)

Original Name : Franz Colangeli

Gender : Male

Character Name : Thug (uncredited)

Original Name : John Derbyshire

Gender : Male

Character Name : Thug (uncredited)

Original Name : Alexander Grand

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tang Lung (voice) (uncredited)

Original Name : Barry Haigh

Gender : Male

Character Name : 'Uncle' Wang / Colt / Japanese Fighter (voice) (uncredited)

Original Name : Michael Kaye

Gender : Male

Character Name : Man at Airport (uncredited)

Original Name : Giuseppe Marrocco

Gender : Male

Character Name : Thug (uncredited)

Original Name : Mark Metekingi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Restaurant Patron (uncredited)

Original Name : André E. Morgan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Thug (uncredited)

Original Name : Anders Nelsson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ho / Tony (voice) (uncredited)

Original Name : Matthew Oram

Gender : Male

Character Name : Child at Airport (uncredited)

Original Name : Marco Pane

Gender : Male

Character Name : Thugs' Chief (uncredited)

Original Name : Ho Pich

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gunman (uncredited)

Original Name : Homan Tapsell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Woman at Airport (uncredited)

Original Name : Pupita Lea Scuderoni

Gender : Female

Character Name : Woman at Airport (uncredited)

Original Name : Lisa Mantellini

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-12-17

You can certainly see that the camera loved the charismatic Bruce Lee in this otherwise rather predicable action adventure. He's the young "Tang" who arrives in Rome from Hong Kong to help out in a family restaurant that's under siege from the local mafia who want the premises for themselves. His arrival is quite timely as his adeptness with Kung Fu helps him to eradicate the local enforcers with comfortable ease. In the end they decide to get serious - perhaps the building is on an oil well, or something, so draft in the legendary "Colt" (Chuck Norris) who has the young upstart "Tang" firmly in his sights. There is astonishing agility on display here from an array of experts in this, and other, martial arts that showcase their athleticism and fleetness-of-foot using hands, improvised weapons, balance and precision to exhibit the artistic elements of this deadly form of combat really well. Away from those precisely staged activities, though, the rest of this is a rather ordinarily constructed drama that makes as much of visionary director Lee's limitations as an actor as it extols his skills as a fighter. Essentially, we can live without many of the first eighty minutes, especially the romantic interludes which come across as particularly wooden, and just settle down for a denouement that would have had Nero himself gripped from his throne in the ancient Coliseum.