Should Bruce Lee’s Enter The Dragon ever be remade?

Enter The Dragon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ 

It should be noted we are not fans of the vast majority of remakes, especially when it comes to classic movies. If the movie was great to begin with, if it’s a classic, then why to try to redo it … except for money. That’s not a good enough reason to try. There has to be something else gained besides money.

Not saying that no remakes should ever be made. There are cases, a very small percentage, where a remake is justified.

Also, doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a remake like Greta Gerwig’s take on Little Women in 2019, but there are some movies where the star is so utterly iconic that there is no suitable replacement for the role.

Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon is one of those people.

Seriously, who can possibly ever replace the martial arts sensation? I don’t like to use the word “never” very often, but Lee was an extremely rare individual and there will never be another Bruce Lee.

There is also the time era that the movie was made, the early 70s, the fact that Bruce Lee fought to make his first film to show the Asian culture and fought against Hollywood racism and intolerance. Lee fought to change a ton of things in the film.

There is a really insightful podcast by Lee’s daughter, Shannon with a guest of Bruce Lee’s wife Linda Lee Cadwell where they discuss the making of Enter The Dragon (see: Linda Lee Caldwell: Making “Enter The Dragon” – October 2018). You’ll most certainly learn things, as I did, behind the scenes of this movie that you didn’t know about. It’s quite a story.

The article quoted below is from 2018, so no idea where things are at two years later. Most production of movies have been impacted by the current events of 2020 — and not for the positive. Heck, even Netflix is canceling production of projects that I had previously greenlit. Something tells me if there is an Enter The Dragon remake on somebody’s table, it’s gathering significant dust.

Some films are sacrosanct that ought to be left untouched and for many, Enter the Dragon falls into that category. Despite the purists’ argument that both Fist of Fury (1973) or The Big Boss (1971) probably have better character arcs or narrative, it’s unquestionably Enter the Dragon that brings greater joy. A large part of the audiences’ connection with Enter the Dragon is essentially emotional as this was the film that Lee never lived to see. Irrespective, a remake of the film might ultimately not be as controversial as ‘who would play Lee’s character’ in it.

Remake of Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon could get complete overhaul in post-Black Panther world – Entertainment News , Firstpost

This leads to the question asked in the headline: should Enter The Dragon ever be remade?

My answer is no.

Probably not in my lifetime, anyway, am I interested unless some young martial arts sensation comes along that could fill the role not only on talent but also the cultural history, importance and raw passion that Lee brought to the project. Bruce Lee’s name literally means “little dragon” and the title refers to him. It’s not only professional, it’s personal.

Jackie Chan is far too old — and he was already in the original film anyway. Jet Li comes to mind, but not sure he’s young enough either. I think the youth, although this sounds ageist, matters quite a bit. Could Shannon Lee be in it? She says no in the podcast, but that is kind of an unusual and somewhat intriguing concept. Too bad her brother Brandon didn’t survive because he could have been an interesting choice to star in his dad’s place. We’ll never know.

What do you think? Is Enter The Dragon one of those rare films that should probably never be remade?

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