Movie Death DB Heading
Home | Categories | Deaths | Reports | Forums | Search | Submit a Death | Links | FAQ | Contact

Enter the Dragon, Williams (Jim Kelly)

Site Rating: 70%
(ratings: 4)
Editor Rating: 64%
Writeup Rating: 93%
(ratings: 3)
Film: Enter the Dragon (1973)
Deceased Character: Williams (Jim Kelly)
Archetype: Goody (Minor)
Killed by: Han (Kien Shih)
Killed with: Physical Blows


Register in our forums to rate deaths - it's free!
'One on One' icon 'Melee' icon 'Martial Arts' icon 'Bludgeoning' icon
Offsite Links

Written by Old Bluffer 25th Nov 2006

Williams is a jive talking, too cool for words, slickly dressed kung fu archetype. When defeat comes, in his own words, he won't even notice it, he'll be "too busy lookin' gooood!"


Williams does have a weakness - he is a man of exceptionally strong appetites. So, whereas most competitors in Han's island contest have been restraining themselves to just one "handmaiden", Williams has been entertaining the female population of entire villages in his bedroom every night.
This puts a huge grin on his face every morning, but must surely take toll on his fighting prowess...

On the final day of his life, Williams is summoned to Han's private study, and is accused of being the nocturnal ninja who has been causing havoc on the island.
(It is interesting to note that the culprit here is actually Lee, who has foresworn any bed pleasures in favour of killing Han's incompetent guards instead).
Williams is somewhat offended that his sexual exploits haven't been reported to Han.

"Williams: Mr Han, suddenly I wish to leave your island."
- It is not possible.
"Bullshit, Mr. Han-man!"


Even after numerous practical demonstrations showing that his guards cannot fight, Han still beckons them into the room to detain Williams.
Before beating these Useless Guards up, Williams delivers one of the greatest lines to a Movie Villain ever:

"Man, you come right out of a comic book!"


With sharp hair and sideburns like that, there is no way some scrawny light brown costumed guards are going to take Williams.


It comes as no surprise to anyone that these hired goons are bitch-slapped into unconciousness within scant heartbeats, and an infuriated Han is forced to challenge Williams himself.


Han deals with Williams in a heavy handed manner.


Williams, ever cocky, sneers "Bin practissin, Huh?!"

He then throws a forceful roundhouse kick, which Han blocks with his hand. Surprisingly, this causes our Afro-styled hero to wince in agony - evidently Han's hand is not what it seems!
The fight continues, with Williams undoubtedly getting the worst of it. During the fracas, a bird cage is smashed, and doves flutter in amongst the two fighters, causing even more confusion.

Williams is soon smashed into the adjoining room, which turns out to be an opium den, where the harlots he's been enjoying in the evenings spend their days.
He is literally beaten to death in front of them, not that they will remember, as they are clearly off their tits on smoke.
After turning Williams into pulp, Han pauses to remove his left glove, revealing a solid metal hand - no wonder he uses it to block with...


The beating from Han is bad enough, but the drugged up giggling of the skangers must be unbearable!


Williams' role in the film isn't entirely over after he is pummelled to death with prosthetic fingers. In a later scene, Roper is invited into his secret underground lair.

A moment must be taken to describe this lair, as it proves Williams was being damned perceptive with his "Comic book" jibe.

First of all, in order to get there, Han places his pet cat (white of course) onto a guillotine and prepares to pull the blade release rope. Roper risks both his hands by lifting Puss to safety, which amuses Han no end.
He then pulls the rope to reveal that it merely operates the lift to descend down into the lair.

Once inside, it is apparent that Han must have had it lovingly fitted out by professional Lair Makers, as it has loads of nice features. Gormless looking guards, check. Emaciated prisoners behind bars, check. Corpse strung up over pool ringed with rather odd spikes, no problem.
This corpse turns out to be Williams, and his presence there is to provide a grisly example to Roper about how Han deals with people who cross him.
Lesson over, the bloodied body is then for no apparent reason lowered into the pool of water.

Han's explanation for killing one of the competitors in his contest is typically dramatic:

"There were some questions I was forced to ask...
...I got no answers!"



These spikes serve no purpose other than to make the pool cleaner's job unnecessarily dangerous.



4 categories : One on One, Melee, Martial Arts, Bludgeoning

Register in our forums to rate our writeups - it's free!

Other Death Reviews for Enter the Dragon (1973)

Su Lin (Angela Mao)
OHarra (Robert Wall)
Williams (Jim Kelly)
Bolo (Bolo Yeung)
Han (Kien Shih)

Last Updated: 8th Dec 2006
This review has 10 comments. Reply to the comments
Comment 1 by 'Meat Hook' (reply to this comment)
Yes, there was something very like a Bond villain in Han.
Comment 2 by 'commanderblue' (reply to this comment)
Williams would've kicked Hans ass had that metal hand not been on him....or not, I mean Han is the main villain, gotta give the old geezer some credit.
Comment 3 by 'Mr. Briggs Inc.' (reply to this comment)
[quote=Blue team leader]Williams would've kicked Hans ass had that metal hand not been on him[/quote]I agree, just look at his later fight with Lee, that hand is the only thing that stopped him from getting killed right off.

On an unrelated note, having seen this film two nights ago I notice that you cut out the fact that they did fight a bit more once Williams was knocked into the den (even if it was all for naught). I also notice you you... Exaggerated certain parts of the dialogue...

"Bin practissin' Huh?"
Comment 4 by 'old bluffer' (reply to this comment)
(old bluffer wearily appears once more on the site after a month of hard labour in the real world sad smiley)

Which bits of the dialogue did I exaggerate?
Comment 5 by 'Mr. Briggs Inc.' (reply to this comment)
You just erm... pushed the American accent a bit.

So what's been up in the cruel real world lately?
Comment 6 by 'old bluffer' (reply to this comment)
I don't think I pushed it enough. Williams' accent has a healthy dose of jive - for example, it sounds more like "boool sh*t mister han man!" grinning smiley

I really like the Williams character - he gets far more screen time and backstory than you'd expect for the genre of film - especially given that he dies.

I've just looked up Jim Kelly and am pleased to hear he's alive and well in California. Wouldn't it be great if Tarantino decided to cast him in a new film?!

I also need to catch up on his back catalogue - Black Belt Jones would appear to be an essential purchase...

In the real world, I am suffering on a daily basis in London's incredibly efficient underground people crushing device, known affectionately as "the tube" (presumably named after the goit who designed it).
Comment 7 by 'Matt' (reply to this comment)
[quote old bluffer]I really like the Williams character - he gets far more screen time and backstory than you'd expect for the genre of film - especially given that he dies.[/quote]Appaently John Saxon's (Roper) agent managed to convince the producers to swap Roper and Williams fates. Apparently, Roper was the one going to die. This is according to the IMDb trivia section. This makes sense to me, as Williams chatting up the women seems more suited to Roper, as he seemed more in awe of Han's lair and hospitality. Roper's "uh oh" reaction to drugs in Han's lair seems more suited to Williams, personally.

Good to see you around, OB. I thought you might have forgotten about us!
Comment 8 by 'old bluffer' (reply to this comment)
Interesting, but I wish IMDB's trivia notes were backed up by citations. I know they're just a bit of fun, but without references they are far from authoritative.
Comment 9 by 'Mr. Briggs Inc.' (reply to this comment)
Who knows, maybe they come straight from the actors/crew themselves?

[quote=Old Bluffer]I've just looked up Jim Kelly and am pleased to hear he's alive and well in California. Wouldn't it be great if Tarantino decided to cast him in a new film?![/quote]I definitely wouldn't be surprised, heck I'm surprised he hasn't already after Tarantino "revived" another famous blaxploitation star! On a side-note Kien Shih is also still alive, but I doubt he'll be making an appearance in any upcoming Tarantino films. :tongue:
Comment 10 by 'Matt' (reply to this comment)
[quote Mr. Briggs Inc.]Who knows, maybe they come straight from the actors/crew themselves?[/quote]Well, I've often found they are lifted from DVD commentaries and such.

I should take this moment to say that OB's reviews convinced me to buy the film back in January. Well, that and the fact it was £2.99.