Game of Death

When you see that Bruce Lee did not acknowledge “Way of the Dragon” to look right for international release, we can only think at what he would have done with the horrible mess of “Game of Death,” released in 1978.

Lee had started to work on film in 1973, but once he was offered the starring role in “Enter the Dragon.” That’s when he put “Game of Death” on hold but sadly he never completed the film since he died after finishing “Enter the Dragon.” In 1978, new footage using three Bruce Lee doppelgangers was shot to join the few scenes Lee had completed – a terrible attempt  to make a feature-length movie.

Almar Haflidason said in his review, “The result is, at times, nothing short of ludicrous but there are plenty of enjoyable moments: the standard of the choreography is excellent, and the final 20 minutes - which are almost all of Bruce fighting - are well worth holding out for.”

Lee plays Billy Lo, a famous movie star who fakes his death so he can get revenge on a gang of criminals that want to ruin his career. What is really said is that the producers actually used real footage from Lee’s real funeral for Lo’s funeral scenes!

Everything aside (there is good handful), this allows the character of Billy to reach the tower of death where, on each floor, he must fight a warrior of different fighting arts. This is where we get to see Bruce fighting and it’s the best parts Haflidason noted, “The new DVD release contains all the fights in the correct order, including the previously banned scene with Dan Inosanto.”

Including a John Barry score (Haflidason said, “often similar to his music for "The Specialist"), the action direction of the new scenes by Sammo Hung, mixed with the international thriller look that director Robert Clouse adds, makes this a really entertaining if kind of uncertain pleasure.

Famous basketball player and former student of Bruce Lee, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is in here as the last person Billy fights, but I don’t think that’s a spoiler. I actually found the real footage that Lee shot for this film on YouTube, which I also happened to have seen on TV a long time ago, and I found that to be much better than the mess that we got.

This is where a new genre called Bruceploitation was introduced, once of which is “Game of Death II” or “Tower of Death,” released in 1981. These two movies are included in the Bruce Lee DVD Collection, that both state star Bruce Lee. Except “Tower of Death” only has stock footage of Bruce Lee. But is it a good movie?

When Bruce Lee died in 1973, he only had four completed films and one – “Game of Death” – where he only had shot the ending fight scenes that are exciting. “Game of Death” was completed by producer Raymond Chow with the help of Lee stand-in, Kim Tai Chung, and released in 1978. Even though that was a mess (Lee’s fight scenes excepted), it was a huge hit , worldwide, mainly in Japan. Daniel Auty stated in his review, “So when Japanese investors, eager for a sequel, were offered more unused Game of Death footage, they snapped it up; what they actually got was a couple of minutes of Enter the Dragon outtakes, none of which happened to feature the great man in combat.” However, it was enough to put Lee’s name on the credits, and in 1981, “Tower of Death” (aka “Game of Death II”) was released.

“Game of Death’s” protagonist Billy Lo (Kim Tai Chung, except a few footage of the real Bruce Lee) returns to his home in China to see his master Chin Ku (Hwang Jan Lee) and his misbehaving brother Bobby. Chin Ku dies mysteriously and Billy senses something wrong – unfortunately he is also murdered, leaving Bobby (Tai Chun) to find out what happened and avenge his brother’s death. The mystery takes him to the stronghold of American kung fu expert Lewis, played by Roy Huran, who tells him about an inverted tower underneath the land that may have the answer to Billy’s murder.

“Tower of Death” is in no way a good martial arts movie. Auty said, “Storylines are obviously not the genre’s strongpoint, but this one is so poor that it really does take a lot of fighting to pad the film out to even 82 minutes. The cutting from a bewigged Kim Tai Chung to shots of the real Bruce Lee is so jarring that it’s a relief when Billy Lo is killed off after half an hour, although when his ‘disguise’ does come off, it becomes clear that Tai Chung wasn’t hired for his acting abilities or martial arts skills (much of his fighting was doubled by star-to-be Yuen Biao).” Again, the dubbing in the English version is bad even by the low standards in the genre (thankfully the UK DVD also has the film subtitled in Cantonese), and there’s a scene where Bobby is attacked by a lion that’s so noticeably fake that you think if it is really meant to be a man in a panto suit!

In the end, there is some really nice kung fu fights, thanks to Yuen Woo-Ping, the famous fight choreographer famous currently for “The Matrix” trilogy and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” The momentum may be slightly low during the final act, but you get some exciting action as Bobby fights minions through the underground tower.

I don’t think people should see these movies, but if you want, then it wouldn’t hurt, but these movies are definitely weak. I can’t really say I like these movies, especially since Bruce Lee didn’t really have anything to do with the sequel and the original never came to fruition the way Lee wanted. However, this is what we have, so what can we do?

Sorry for posting this, today was a really busy day. However, we have now ended “Bruce Lee Month.” I hope everyone enjoyed and stay tuned next month when I do my seventh annual “Black History Movie Month.”

Enter the Dragon

Bruce Lee’s last movie is the only one that gives him the highlight actor he earned. His fascinating appearance is awesome in “Enter the Dragon,” released in 1973, and it’s sad he didn’t have the chance to become the greatest martial arts actor he looked to become.

Alan R. Howard said in his review, “The movie itself, produced by Fred Weintraub and Paul Heller in association with Raymond Chow of Hong Kong's Concorde Productions, is a whoop-and-holler entertainment, which is to say that it's a lavish, corny action movie, not boring for a second and as outrageously wry as it is visually appealing.”

Michael Allin’s creative screenplay brings Lee to the island fortress of gang leader Shih Kien to find evidence to make him guilty of white slavery and opium trade. Kien puts together a martial arts contest, which is really a way to find salesman to market his goods all over the globe.

John Saxon is really good as an uncontrollable gambler who joins the contest to find some way to end a losing streak. Jim Kelly is equally great as a black American trying to earn money for the movement. Peter Archer is an evil New Zealander contestant.

Bob Wall is a huge villain who murdered Lee’s hapkido belt sister, played by Angela Mao Ying in one great action scene. Yan Sze is Shih’s muscle bound bodyguard. Geoffrey Weeks is Lee’s English Interpol contact. Betty Chung is a secret agent inside the fortress.

Howard noted, “Ahna Capri floats through the movie the way Myrna Loy used to in the early Oriental period of her career, dispensing pretty women to the tired contestants like sleeping pills.”

However, this is Bruce Lee’s movie. Howard said, “He's a strange, otherworldly presence, a man of wisdom who excels at action, who speaks of the emotional content of the fight scorning the notion of anger. Lee staged the fight sequences himself, and they lift the movie the way Astaire and Rogers used to when they danced in movies of a different fantasy genre.”

Howard continued, “Robert Clouse's fluid direction brings this three-ring circus to action climax, so to speak, after action climax, wringing full potential out of the production. His work is an excellent example of a genre director proving his ready for more ambitious material. Clouse even steals, and quite deftly, from the mirror funhouse scene in Orson Welles' Lady From Shanghai.”

Howard noted, “Lalo Schifrin's gigantic orchestral score inflates the movie with an appealing epic feeling that sometimes falls out of its story. Gilbert Hubbs' garish photography is entirely appropriate to the Fu Manchu-like decor of James Wong Sun and costumes of Louis Sheng.” Even though the movie feels just a little too long, film editors Kurt Hirschler and George Watters keep the movie going at a great pace.

This is hands down, the best Bruce Lee movie ever. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, stop reading this review and go watch the movie. You have to see it to know the sheer magnificence of this film and how great it is. This is my all time favorite Bruce Lee movie and another one of my favorite movies of all time. I give this a high recommendation.

Next week, we’ll end “Bruce Lee Month” with a movie that Bruce Lee was supposed to make, but died before he even had the chance to finish the movie.

The Way of the Dragon

Bruce Lee Lives! Maybe not completely, but seeing the almost overwhelming amount of conspiracy theories around the master of martial arts and his sudden passing 30 years prior to the film’s release, it’s a magazine headline wanting to be written now or never. Jo Berry noted in his review, “So, although the man-myth does live on in a very real sense through his movies, the knotty issue of unravelling the star from the legends - let alone separating out the films - is a perpetual headache. One that often fogs the true brilliance of Lee’s performances and his feline prowess as a martial artist.”

“The Way of the Dragon,” released in 1972, is memorable simply for its final Coliseum fight between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris (at the time the champion of so many US and World Karate championships). This is the film that gives just about the best fight scene ever made. No fancy camera work, no tricks, just two guys at the prime of their career kicking seven colors from each other.

Berry ended his review by saying, “For better or worse, it’s also the film that launched Norris’ career and, whilst most of his straight-to-video output - along with that of Cynthia Rothrock, Michael Dudikoff and their ilk - is too easily dismissed, it was responsible for maintaining the momentum of martial arts films in America.”

This is a change of direction for Bruce Lee films because it has more of a comedy light to it than the others that we have seen. Maybe they wanted to change directions, so it may not be as good as some of the others, but it’s still a classic to check out. If you haven’t seen it, see it if you’re a Bruce Lee and/or martial arts fan. Sorry for posting this late, I was busy for a good majority of the day.

Look out next week when we look at the classic that really made Bruce Lee into a worldwide star in “Bruce Lee Month.”

Fist of Fury

Almar Haflidason started his review of “Fist of Fury,” released in 1972, by saying, “Bruce Lee might have a faithful and ever-growing fan base, but reviews of his films often veer between amateurish fanatical sycophancy to professional, ignorant disdain. Awful video releases of dirty prints with ludicrous dubbing of clumsily translated dialogue hardly help. With the immaculate DVD release, complete with English subtitles based on the spoken Cantonese, it is now possible to offer a fairer assessment of this striking movie.”

Bruce Lee plays a martial arts student who returns to his previous school to hear that the teacher he was close with has been murdered. Taking place in Shanghai in the 1930s, the Japanese are ruling, and it is one of their Bushido schools that are responsible for this murder. Knowing that the police will not try to arrest these murderers, Bruce Lee goes out to restore honor to the school and teacher with terrible revenge.

Haflidason noted, “In making this film, Lee tapped into a powerful sentiment that the normally undemonstrative Chinese audiences of the time stood up and applauded. The tag of 'Sick Man of Asia' was used in the 30s by the Japanese Imperialist forces to describe the subjugated Chinese, and in this movie, Lee exacts a visceral vengeance of mesmerising power.”

There is a strange romance subplot and the script and direction can sometimes be a little rough, but just seeing Bruce Lee is hands down the best. His movement in Kung Fu was just the best to see, and he reduces the rage of a tortured society into a physical act of revenge that puts this film into a lineup of Martial Arts classics.

This is another classic of Bruce Lee’s that everyone has to see. I give it another high recommendation because this film really is better than “The Big Boss.” If you thought that Bruce Lee’s martial arts weren’t as good as you heard, this one will be able to satisfy everything you want.

Look out next week when we look at a film that is a change in direction and style, but still has some great highlights in “Bruce Lee Month.”

The Big Boss

Happy New Year everyone! To start off this year, I thought it would be a great idea to talk about one of the greatest, if not “the” greatest martial arts actor of all time, Bruce Lee. Let’s get this exciting month started with “The Big Boss,” released in 1971.

Jo Berry started his review by noting, “Bruce Lee’s break-out movie is the latest (and confusingly last) to receive the ‘Platinum Edition’ treatment.”

This is the story of Cheng Chao-an (Bruce Lee), a young man from the city, who goes to work with his cousin (James Tien) in a factory, vowing for no more violence to make his family happy and keep himself calm. Sadly, keeping his promise is in trouble from the evil acts in the factory, where his co-workers, after having met the bosses (Han Ying-chieh and Tony Liu), are disappearing one by one.

Berry mentioned, “What earns it a place in every fu-fan’s collection is Lee’s rawness — the proverbial coiled spring unleashed to devastating effect.”

It’s interesting because it’s the first Bruce Lee film but also it holds a simplicity that is appealing to fans.

For the very first Bruce Lee film, I would say this is a powerhouse that needs to be seen. If you want a good introduction into how Bruce Lee films were like, this is a good place to start. You will absolutely fall in love with the movie. The action, the characters, the lines, the sets, everything about this movie is something that we don’t see anymore in Martial Arts movies. I give this a high recommendation.

Now that we got this month started off with a bang, stay tuned next week when we look at the next film in “Bruce Lee Month.”