燃えよドラゴン (Enter the Dragon) 

RMoe yo Doragon (1973), the Japanese release of Enter the Dragon, was directed by Robert Clouse and distributed in Japan by Warner Bros. Japan under the Warner Communications Company. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Ahna Capri, and Shih Kien. This Japanese B2 theatrical poster exemplifies the height of 1970s martial-arts cinema through its dynamic collage layout and striking photomontage. Bruce Lee dominates the composition in a cruciform stance with his nunchaku extended, presenting him as both a central icon and a mythic hero. Surrounding him are explosive fragments of key fight scenes and character portraits rendered in vivid reds and yellows, colors that symbolize energy, danger, and masculine vigor in the visual language of 1970s action advertising. The title typography, 「燃えよドラゴン」 (Moe yo Doragon), meaning “Burn, Dragon,” is hand-brushed in thick red strokes, visually echoing the flames behind Lee. Below it, the angled English subtitle Enter the Dragon connects the design to Western marketing while framing the film for an international audience captivated by Hong Kong cinema.

Culturally, its 1973 Japanese release coincided with the peak of the kung-fu boom, fueled by Bruce Lee’s global stardom and television’s growing influence on martial-arts imagery. The poster reflects how Japan absorbed and localized foreign visual language through its design sensibilities, favoring photographic realism, asymmetrical composition, and bold typography. Unlike Hollywood’s illustrated versions, this design focuses on Lee’s physical presence and kinetic authenticity rather than abstract heroism. In this way, the Moe yo Doragon poster serves not only as promotional art but also as a visual record of how international heroism and Japanese design aesthetics converged during the Shōwa era’s wave of pop-culture globalization.