Bruce Lee’s most iconic Enter the Dragon scene actually faced opposition from the actor himself. In addition to being the most memorable part of the 1973 martial arts classic, the final battle with Han is remembered as one of the best fight scenes in Bruce Lee’s career. At the end of the movie, Lee’s character and Enter the Dragon’s main villain famously faced off in the latter’s mirror room.
Enter the Dragon’s ending deviated from the standard, one-on-one showdowns that typically wrap up kung fu movies. By using a room full of mirrors, Enter the Dragon created a very different kind of battle for its big finale. Since the presence of so many mirrors obscured Han’s real location, Lee struggled to pinpoint his whereabouts, creating what was almost a game of cat-and-mouse. Lee had to rely on his senses and instincts to figure out where Han was hiding and wound up destroying the mirrors to get to him. Since then, the scene has developed a reputation as one of the most electrifying sequences the actor ever filmed.
Bruce Lee Didn’t Originally Like Enter The Dragon’s Mirror Scene
Lee’s reservations make sense. It’s admittedly a departure from his other fights, which were much more straightforward where the action was easy to follow. Because these scenes showed the full fights with few cutaways, Lee was frequently able to adequately showcase his kung fu skills and talent for martial arts choreography. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that Lee was hesitant to try something different, After all, it was Enter the Dragon’s final fight, making it of utmost importance that it be done right. But in the end, Lee wound up going along with Clouse and Heller’s vision.
Why Bruce Lee Changed His Mind (& Why The Mirror Scene Was Great)
Heller claims Bruce Lee’s problems with the scene went away once they were able to fully show him the set piece constructed for the fight. It was said that moving around in the mirror room helped Lee get a better feel for how it would translate to the big screen. It seems Lee realized that this unique way of filming a fight scene wouldn’t deprive the finale of its excitement. In fact, it became a fitting way to end Enter the Dragon. Due to the heavy emphasis on Lee’s fighting process, the villain would have otherwise been the underdog. Creating the mirror room and giving him his claw weapon erased any perceived advantage Lee had and made the fight the highly-contested showdown it needed to be.
