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The Way of the Dragon

£350.00

Film

The Way of the Dragon

Additional information

Year

1973 (first year of release in UK)

Size/Type

UK Quad (30" x 40") / Printed in England by W.E.Berry Ltd. Bradford

Country of Origin

UK / British

Condition

Very Fine plus; originally folded (as issued)

Director

Bruce Lee

Actor/Actress

Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Nora Miao, Robert Wall

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“The Colosseum Rome…the battleground of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris !”

From first UK release in 1973 comes one of the greatest martial arts film poster produced and one of the defining action film of the 1970’s as Bruce Lee as writer, producer and director takes centre stage in “The Way of the Dragon”. Released in Britain after the worldwide success of “Enter the Dragon” this dynamic original 1973 uk quad poster is a treat, a real guilty pleasure with superb prominent artwork of Lee offset against the Colosseum, Rome, scene of arguably the finest and best remembered martial arts showdown as Bruce Lee takes on Chuck Norris. Originally folded (as issued) this unrestored, totally original  poster presents to excellent effect with the bold vibrant, bright and unfaded colours and a pure white background. A scarce poster and certainly the best example of this key Bruce Lee poster I have ever seen, let alone have had the pleasure to sell with only the very minimal handling and age wear… This hard to find UK quad movie poster represents a fine piece of very collectable and desirable original Bruce Lee film memorabilia.

 …more detail

Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria... read more +

Film Description

The Way of the Dragon Movie Poster

“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. The American martial artist Colt is hired and has a showdown with Tang in Rome’s famous Colosseum.”

I know, you have heard all about the climactic Chuck Norris / Bruce Lee fight, it alone is worthy of owning this movie for. There are many other great fights where Lee takes on a gang of men; one where they completely surround him. The authenticity of the fights can be seen visually, where clouds of dirt and dust fly off of sleeves as Lee kicks full force against their arms. The plot is standard martial arts boilerplate, Lee arrives in Rome and finds that his restaurant friends are being shaken down by the local mafia chieftain. After Lee makes short work of a gunman, gangs of goons, the British guy decides to bring in Chuck Norris. We get a display of how quick Norris was in his prime. That is my pithiest review of this classic: Norris and Lee at the height of their powers. Yes, detractors, the dubbing is often shaky, with some unintentionally comic moments. Look, I cut martial arts movies even more slack than action movies. I focus on these criteria: How many fights? How well are they done? Lee’s speed is breathtaking, his kicks often reaching above his head as he does one of his signature knock the light out jump kicks (Later repeated in Marlowe). There are a few punches and kicks where you can see a miss but also many kicks that connect full force. As the movie plays, mob boy gets progressively more and more desperate.

There are the usual features: the close ups, the war drums, the quisling working with the mobster against his own people. Yes, Enter The Dragon is great, but this has some of the best of Lee’s fights of any of his movies. There is a cool touch where the final fight is paralleled by a cat imitating Lee’s actions during the fight (Playing with the toy, stretching). The finale between Lee and Norris has to be seen to be believed. Norris was no slouch and Lee is not too proud to allow Norris to whale on him for the first part of the fight. That is what was so great about Lee: we see bruises, cuts and bleeding this is not a comic book movie. There is also a great use of Lee’s favorite weapon of choice that is better than the more acclaimed scene in Enter The Dragon. This is the tragedy of Bruce Lee: many of his greatest fights were in his non-Western movies and are not seen by as many people. If you get tired of the hammy dialog, the stilted acting, just skip to the fights; they are why you want to own this movie. The man’s speed was a force of nature; can you tell that he practiced all day most of his entire life ? The Way of the Dragon is a great Bruce Lee classic From the Master.

 

Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria

Mint
A poster that has never been used or displayed and may show the most minor signs of age and wear. The poster should have no holes or tears.

Near Mint
A generally unused poster with fresh, saturated colors. May have minimal tears at folds. Has no significant holes, no paper loss, may have minor tears along edges, may have fine pin holes.

Very Fine
A poster with bright colour and crisp overall appearance. It may have very general signs of use including slight fold separation and fold wear. It may have pin holes or very minor tears. This is the highest grade allowed for a poster that has been restored either on linen or on paper.

Fine
A poster with good colors and overall clean appearance. It may have minor tears small paper loss and minor stains. It may have some fold seperation.

Good
An average poster with overall fresh color. May have tears, minor paper loss, minor hazing. Paper may be brittle due to age, may have minor stains. May have a small amount of writing in an unobtrusive place. May have medium or major restoration.

Fair
A poster with faded colors and brittle paper, showing significant signs of use. May have tears and paper loss. May have tape, writing, stains in image area. In need of restoration or had major restoration.

Poor
A poster that is worn, torn, and/or damaged. May have staining, cracking, dry rot, and/or large tears. May be heavily soiled, may have pieces missing. In need of major restoration.

All photographs and images used on our site are photographs of the actual poster/item you are buying, we do not use stock photographs.

Most Popular Poster Types

US Posters

LOBBY CARD
11 x 14″ printed on heavy stock paper. Used as display in theatre lobbies. Originally made in sets of eight. Some sets have a title card, which contains credits and artwork, essentially a mini-poster. The remaining seven cards are coloured photographic credits and poster artwork showing different scenes from the movie.

WINDOW CARD
14 x 22″ printed on heavy stock paper with the top 4-6 inches usually left blank for the local cinema owner to fill in the cinema and the date it was due to play. Largely discontinued during the 1970’s.

HALF SHEET
22 x 28″ printed on heavy stock paper. The image displayed is normally a smaller version of the main poster, although some do have different artworks and sometimes come in two versions.

INSERT
14 x 36″ printed on heavy stock paper. Inserts usually have the same artwork as a one sheet. Popular with collectors since they are smaller and easier to frame. Normally come tri folded or rolled.

STYLE Y/FORTY BY SIXTY
40 x 60″ printed on heavy stock paper. Rare since they were primarily used for major motion pictures only. Designed to be used outside the theatre, on an easel, normally at a drive-in movie theatre.

ONE-SHEET
27 x 41″ printed on paper. This is the most common size of poster, intended to be displayed in a glass “marquee” case. It is the most sought after size by collectors. Since the 1980’s most posters are sent to the theatre rolled and maybe slightly smaller measuring 27″ by 40″ and with the advent of backlit light boxes a growing number of modern movie posters are available double-sided and the more traditional single-sided.

THREE-SHEET
41 x 81″ printed on paper. These were printed on two or three separate sheets designed to overlap, few survive. Used for larger advertising spaces, normally posted on walls, perfect for huge movie theatres the drive-in, where people could see them from a distance. From the 1970’s on, three-sheets were sometimes printed in one piece and issued as “international” versions to be used abroad.

BRITISH Posters

BRITISH QUAD
30 x 40″ Most common poster size used in the UK. British Quads are horizontal and may have different artwork to the US one sheet. Like a US one sheet they normally come in two versions. Like a US one sheet they are usually supplied single-sided or more commonly now as a double sided poster.

BRITISH ONE-SHEET
27 X 40″, printed on paper. Very rarely used size.

ITALIAN Posters

ITALIAN LOCANDINA
13 x 28″ six inches shorter than the US insert, very nice size to frame. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

ITALIAN PHOTOBUSTA
18 x 26″ Glossy, high quality, used as lobby cards in Italy. Size may vary, either vertical or horizontal format. There are also double Photobusta or mini Photobusta.

2-FOGLIO (DUE)
(DUE): 39 x 55″ This is the standard poster size used in Italy. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

4-FOGLIO
(QUATTRO) 55 x 79″ Very large Italian poster printed in two pieces, often contains very beautiful artwork.

FRENCH Posters

FRENCH
47 x 63″ (GRANDE) or 24 x 33″ (PETITE) French movie posters normally come with different artwork to either the US or the UK. Like the Italian’s some of the artwork is extrememly beautiful.