YMMV / Way of the Dragon

• Alternative Character Interpretation: What is Colt's deal anyway? Is he a Sensei for Scoundrels in bed with the Mafia? A Blood Knight who doesn't care who he fights as long as he gets to fight? Simply feeling obliged to help out his student even if he knows the latter's in the wrong? Misled somehow into believing Bob and co. were the wronged party in the whole mess?^note this one admittedly strains Willing Suspension of Disbelief but still.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: Italy, especially Rome, actually has a very high Chinese emigrant population.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Ho, the Camp Gay mafioso, is such a distasteful character by modern standards (and played in such a deliciously hammy way by Paul Wei) that is hard not to find him even a bit hilarious.
• Evil Is Cool: Colt, big time. Being played by Chuck Norris, he is a worthy opponent to Bruce and their fight scene is unambiguously the most memorable part in the whole movie.
• Magnificent Bastard: The seemingly kind Uncle Wang is in truth working with the mafia in an attempt to sell his and Chen's restaurant to them for the sake of living a rich life with his family. Throughout the film, Wang subtly discourages Tang Lung and the restaurant staff from attacking the mafia by saying it would just lead to the mafia being more persistent. Knowing how much of a threat Tang Lung is to the mafia, Wang later convinces his niece, Chen, to try and get Tang to leave Italy. After he, Tang, and multiple workers at the restaurant are ambushed my martial arts masters hired by the mafia, Wang convinces Tang Lung to go on ahead before stabbing the surviving staff members in the back. When Tang Lung is about to return, Wang wounds himself to convince Tang that he and the staff were attacked after Tang left. He then takes the opportunity to try and stab Tang Lung to death while he's focusing on Ho, only failing due to the untimely arrival of the mafia boss alerting Tang.
• Moral Event Horizon: Uncle Wang crosses it when her stabs two of his own employees In the Back.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Chuck Norris' first real film role. It retroactively turns this movie into an Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, even though he was virtually unknown outside of the world of karate at the time.
  • Robert Wall, who plays Bob, one of the other big name enforcers in the film, would go on to co-star with both Lee and Norris in later productions. He would play O'Hara in Enter the Dragon and several different characters in Walker, Texas Ranger.
• Signature Scene: Bruce Lee vs. Chuck Norris.
• Values Dissonance: If Way Of The Dragon were to be remade in modern times, there's no way they'd be able to get away with presenting a character like the effeminate Camp Gay Mr. Ho, at least not without serious backlash. And if they do include him, he'd have to be a completely different character than the cowardly, devious Sissy Villain he is in this movie.

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