Enter the Dragon - Classic Martial Arts Movie DVD | Action Packed Bruce Lee Film | Perfect for Movie Nights & Martial Arts Fans

ENTER THE DRAGON (recorded 1972) (reviewed 2012)Among those who know about such things, Lalo Schifrin is legendary for his distinctive and unforgettable film and TV soundtracks.If you don't know about such things, you might consider taking a course. The great composer/conductor's work is worth it.Lalo Schifrin's film and TV scores are unique and dynamic and exhilarating. He is equally comfortable in front of a symphony orchestra or a jazz ensemble. And his soundtracks make every scene in every movie he scores better than even the screenwriter and director thought it could be."Enter the Dragon" is one of his most enduring soundtracks.Released decades ago (1972), the film itself is a favorite of Bruce Lee aficionados. Tragically, the martial arts actor died of a cerebral edema a few weeks before its release. But even Lee's most adoring fans concede that it is Schifrin's driving soundtrack that elevates a routine James Bondian plot into a cult classic.Lalo Schifrin was born in Argentina in 1932. At age 20 he attended the famous Paris Conservatoire and studied with Charles Koechlin, a devotee of Maurice Ravel.At night, after class, Lalo played jazz piano in the Paris clubs. In time he developed his own band and his own beat and sound, and word got around.In 1968 Hollywood director Don Siegel took a chance on the no-name composer for his new film. It was a low-budget vehicle called "Coogan's Bluff," featuring a fugitive from spaghetti Westerns in the lead role. Fellow named Clint Eastwood.The film was an unexpected hit and so was Eastwood. And so was Lalo Schifrin.Soon he was scoring some of TV's most popular series, including the rousing tracks for "Mission Impossible" and "Mannix." Schifrin's themes and scores were as popular as the long-running series themselves, and they eventually outlived their source productions by many decades.Meanwhile Schifrin had earned a permanent place on the speed dials of Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel.He became their security blanket, scoring the entire Dirty Harry canon among other projects. Some of those projects were second-rate or worse, but Schifrin's tracks provided them with their one best shot at respectability.Since then Lalo Schifrin has scored more than a hundred films and TV series. But the pounding rhythms of "Enter the Dragon" continue to rank it near the top of his most memorable and enduring soundtracks.* * *Getting to own the CD isn't easy. The "Enter the Dragon" soundtrack has been out of print for years.Enter Amazon.com. Its far-flung network of collectible book and record outlets is a priceless resource for every collector with specific and enduring tastes.The process isn't complicated. You click on "Search" and hope something good will happen. And amazingly, it nearly always does.And when that timeless treasure arrives - well, you know the feeling. Nothing else quite like it.- Al Hooper- More reviews at E-HOOPER.COM.