The enduring legacy of Bruce Lee has continued many years after his death, with films like The Last Dragon paying homage to the martial arts legend by incorporating him into the narrative as a major plot point. Despite Bruce Lee having made only 5 movies before his tragic pᴀssing in 1973, he was able to become one of the most iconic names in cinema history, let alone the martial arts genre that he dominated. This has been endlessly proven by the mulтιтude of films that heavily rely on Lee’s influence as a story beat, including The Last Dragon.

Following his death, so many films inspired by Bruce Lee were released that an entire sub-genre of film, called “Brucesploitation”, briefly came and went in an effort to cash in on his influence. They range in quality from loving tributes to cheap, even tasteless money grabs, but one of the best of them in 1985’s The Last Dragon. Beyond the тιтle evocative of Bruce Lee’s famed nickname as the “Little Dragon”, not to mention his classics like Enter the Dragon and Way of the Dragon, the film is a hybrid martial arts flick and musical Blaxploitation homage.

The Last Dragon Uses Bruce Lee’s Huge Influence As A Plot Point

Not To Mention A Thoughtful Dissection Of His Teachings

The plot of The Last Dragon centers on a young, pᴀssionate martial artist in New York City named Leroy Green, frequently going by the name Bruce Leeroy due to his zealous love of Bruce Lee. The film sees Green embark on a journey to achieve “The Glow”, a mystical final level of heightened martial arts mastery that allows one to harness a supernatural light within themselves that glows, not dissimilar to the Chi powers of Iron Fist fame. Achieving such a level of expertise will grant Green the coveted тιтle of The Last Dragon, from which the film gets its namesake.

Bruce Leeroy’s pursuit of greatness sees him take on all sorts of dangerous opponents and wacky situations, including an evil “The Glow” user known as “The Shogun of Harlem” and a mysterious martial arts master that turns out to be a fortune cookie fortune printer. However, the references to Lee’s legacy go far beyond the protagonist’s appreciation and the тιтle. The only reason Green needs to find the aforementioned phony martial arts legend is because he (or it) was said to have the other half of his prized Bruce Lee medal.

This medal is a major MacGuffin that drives much of the film’s conflict, with Leroy refusing to allow it to fall into enemy hands and essentially turning it into a catalyst that fuels his eventual mastery of “The Glow”. At one point, Leroy is even seen watching one of Lee’s movies, Enter the Dragon, at a theater, and wears his iconic yellow tracksuit from Game of Death a la Kill Bill. But more importantly than the litany of Bruce Lee references is the film’s reverence for Lee’s philosophy of “fighting without knowing how to fight“, which ultimately unlocks “The Glow”.

Why The Last Dragon Is An Underrated Martial Arts Movie

The Last Dragon Is The Definition Of A Hidden Gem

It’s a shock that The Last Dragon isn’t a more popular film, considering it’s one of the best movies to pay tribute to Bruce Lee’s influence years after his death. The actual fight scenes are amazingly choreographed, and the humor, soundtrack, and aggressively ’80s sense of style make for an endearing time capsule that simply can’t be re-created. Most crucially, it’s one of the few films that understands the importance of Lee’s wisdom and philosophy through the lens of martial arts as well as his stylistic signatures.

Sadly, The Last Dragon remains relatively obscure to this day, having only a scarce cult following. The musical elements and uneven tone were a point of contention for many contemporaneous and retrospective critics. That being said, The Last Dragon is a sublime cultural touchstone for those in the know that pays loving homage to Bruce Lee‘s legacy in a way that few other movies can match.