Bruce Lee: The Man, the Myth

The movie opens by giving away the ending - Bruce Lee is dead! Not too much of a spoiler actually. Our hero, Bruce Li, appears and does his Wing Chun dummy routine then talks to his master. He must go to America. Hello Seattle! Bruce is already the big man on campus. He works at the gas station. We are deviating from history again. Two black karate experts attack for the movie's first fight

Looking at Bruce Li's execution, focus, and speed, I would say the fights are good. The stunt men vary from okay to pathetic. The stunt man who hit himself in the head with the nunchucks was in Bruce Lee's movie. This movie is certainly only for fans of the genre. That is it's only entertainment value for back then and even for now. In consideration of that and the year it was made it rates as simply average.

I have been watching martial arts movies of the golden age from 1967 to 1984 in chronological order and writing my reviews. It is interesting to watch the progression of these movies in that way. Curiously, when I reached 1976, there were three movies in a row starting with "Bruce Lee" in the title. The man had an impact in many ways.

Bruce Lee was certainly a fascinating and talented individual, but the makers of this movie were either ignorant of those facts or were just instead more interested in making a quick buck. We learn very little about Lee in this movie - there's never a scene where we get into his head and get an idea of what he's thinking or feeling. Also, a lot of his background is ignored or glossed over; for example, we suddenly see him with a wife and two children halfway through the movie with no previous footage showing how he got them. The movie is more interested in delivering fight sequences instead. Now, the fight sequences in this movie are a bit better than usual for a 1970s Hong Kong movie, but the contrived ways the movie gets Bruce into fight sequences are so laughable that a lot of potential excitement is lost. If you want to learn more about Bruce Lee, find a printed biography of the man instead.

After Bruce Lee's untimely death, a series of Martial Arts films followed to capitalize on his fame and the growing popularity of Martial Arts films. Bruce Li (AKA - HO-Chun-Tao) assumes the role of the great Bruce Lee and did a remarkably good job. He has the look and the overall presence to convince the audience he's the real deal. He may not have been as fast or as skilled as Lee himself, but then again, who was?

This fictionalized biography touches on the key points in Lee's life from his days at Washington University, his personal relationships, his competitions, his film career and his marriage. The marriage is briefly shown as we get merely two minutes of screen time with his wife and two children. We also see his struggles and eventual success with convincing the Production studios to make him an Action film star. Lee had the looks, the skill and charisma to carry Martial Arts cinema into a mainstream genre. But this film biography puts a huge emphasis on fight scenes. From how the screenplay is presented, it's as if Bruce Lee was a man who was constantly being provoked and tested by thugs who were unfortunate enough to test themselves against him. And Lee was not a guy who was known to back down or turn the other cheek. Street thugs harass him or an innocent bystander which is thus followed by a valiant display of heroism and fighting power. Along with the fight scenes is an ongoing battle of fighting disciples: Kung Fu VS. Any other discipline from Karate, Thai boxing, Judo, etc. While Lee represents the Kung Fu philosophy this theme runs concurrently with his overall methodology which was an amalgam of various disciplines as he subsequently developed his own brand known as Jeet Kwon Do.

The downside was that it's not well made. Poor dubbing and dialogue look laughable at times. The acting is fairly wooden. The story doesn't backdate itself. We start in late 1950's Hong Kong up to the present day and the fashion and styles all remain 1970's. The filmmaker didn't put an emphasis on authenticity. But what stuck out in my mind most was a workout session where Lee is measuring his punching speed through this sophisticated battery of equipment. He pokes his finger through this electronic device to have these mounted bulbs light up indicating his accuracy and impact. I've never heard of such a machine being used in the early 1970's and I am guessing this was pure fiction, but it does give the scene a futuristic and Avant Garde feel. 1970's Futurism. LOL.

If you are looking for a more accurate and deeply personal portrait of Bruce Lee, this may not be the best film for you. It does, however, carry some nostalgic and sentimental value for Bruce Lee fans.

I've watched this movie long time ago, and more recently after watching Young Bruce Lee (2011). It was curious to find that this movie picks up right where Young Bruce Lee ends. Put both of them back to back, and you get a complete story of Bruce's rise to stardom.

While Young Bruce Lee was a recent production and style was of modern people and props made to look like '50s Hong Kong, this movie was made in the '70s, and all the fashion, and hairstyle are authentic '70s style. It was such a different world back then.

Bruce's greatness was he believed in himself when no one else believed that he could be a star. He had to battle his way up both as martial artist and a movie star. Without his pioneering effort, likes of Jackie Chan wouldn't have had the market to thrive in. All the kung fu movie stars of the world owes a lot to Bruce in this sense.

It's amazing that after almost 40 years since his death, his presence has not diminished.I guess that's the true quality of a star. In this sense, he's maybe topped the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Joan Crawford etc. in that they remain as old actors, but Bruce Lee continues to find new audiences.

It would be interesting to see how this segment of Bruce Lee's life would be remade into a movie using modern production.

As a kid, Bruce Lee was (& still is) one of my biggest heroes.

I saw this movie on the big screen during a revival of it sometime in the early 80's and absolutely ate it up.

FF to this week I revisited this & watching it again through adult lenses gave me a very different perspective of it.

This often unintentionally funny movie is a wild hybrid- It's part documentary (complete with occasional narration), drama, low budget kung fu flick, & biopic.

Of all the Bruce Lee clones that came in his wake, Bruce Li was arguably the best of the bunch.

"The Man, The Myth" loosely (& I emphasize *loosely*) follows his life starting as a young man in Hong Kong before he was sent to the US. It takes enormous liberties with his real life story with several ridiculous embellishments & outright fabrications of altercations with rival martial arts schools. Also some greatly exaggerated depictions of his training regimen.

(The massive machine he threw punches in) The scene that stuck with me as a kid (that was likely yet another total embellishment) was when he was advised to go into hiding for 10 years & return in 1983. I recall hoping that was true.

What was funny to me about this film (& so many kung fu movies of that era) is the way they really drove the point of putting other martial arts down in favor of kung fu. Any long time fan knows this is something Bruce Lee would never do as he was always looking at other fighting styles to improve what he strove for. Taking what was useful & leaving behind the unnecessary.

I always wonder what Linda Lee went through during the 70s having to see all these sub-par movies being made with cheap imitations of her husband.

Still, nostalgia is a powerful thing & it was fun to revisit this movie again.

Do I recommend it? I'll say this is definitely Not a must-see. If you want a FAR more accurate retelling of Bruce's life watch "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" with Jason Lee.