Bruce Lee: The Man, the Myth

Bruce Li turns in one of his best performances in this mostly fictional biography about the life of Bruce Lee. Li does a very good imitation of Bruce Lee but not surprisingly, falls slightly short of capturing the true essence of what made Bruce Lee such a special presence on film.

While this was supposed to a biography about the life of Bruce Lee, it is much more concerned with presenting Kung Fu street fights rumor and gossip, whether based on any true factual reality or not, might have at one time had it said Lee had a penchant for getting involved in. The fights themselves are not badly executed and again Li has most of Lee's mannerisms down pat. Still he always falls slightly short of the mark as you might well expect even from the best of imitators.

In the end, I have to admit to enjoying this film on a pure guilty pleasure level. It really is just using Bruce Lee's name as an excuse for yet another Kung Fu movie and cleverly ties itself to his legacy most likely hoping to cash in on his name. Still, Bruce Li isn't half bad at that and this movie moves at a nice, brisk exciting pace and is filled with decent Kung Fu fighting action. There's certainly worse efforts that this out there that also tried to cash in on the Lee name and legacy.

This is a biopic of the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee staring Bruce Li. It's actually quite an effective film about his rise to stardom. Li has one half the charisma of Bruce Lee but that's not unexpected. The plot follows his life especially in his epic fights. The action is solid with loads of hand to hand combat. Li is at least competently skilled in that arena. There are some missing story elements and some liberties are taken as always. His family life is mostly in the background. The production value may not be that high but in a way, it matches those Bruce Lee movies of that era. It's a functional biopic and that's more than expected.

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.

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.