BY ROD BARNETT
As
anyone with any knowledge of the history of film could tell you, Bruce Lee is
an icon of both the worlds of martial arts and action cinema. He was a dynamic
and exciting performer who seemed born to be on the big screen. His untimely
death -just as his career was poised to become bigger than any previous Asian
film actor- is only one element of his legendary status. Lee was an astonishing
onscreen presence whose athletic abilities and kinetic style made him the
center of attention whenever he was present. Until he was afforded the chance
to star in his own movies, his bit roles such as a violent thug in Marlowe (1969) showed how thrilling he was to watch. His role in the short-lived TV
series The Green Hornet cast him as the sidekick but it was Lee who provided
the most memorable element in every one of those twenty six episodes. Once
you've watched him onscreen his natural charisma is evident and it is no
surprise that pictures of him often adorn the same walls as other 'gone too
soon' icons as Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. Like those screen legends, Lee
died in his prime with much promise laid out for the future and- like them- his
loss will be felt by his fans forever.
Sadly,
Bruce Lee's short film legacy is mostly unseen these days by martial arts movie
fans. Other than his last completed film, Enter The Dragon (1973), his film
history seems to have disappeared from the minds of most action fans. It almost
as if Lee's contribution to martial arts cinema began and ended with that one
excellent movie. Luckily, the fine folks at Shout! Factory have produced a
fantastic, affordable Blu-Ray set that presents Lee's earlier films in nearly
perfect transfers- and they have even
included a few hours of extras to provide some context for modern viewers.
First
up is 1971's The Big Boss which in many ways is the standard template for an
entire sub-set of Chinese martial arts adventures. Lee plays Cheng, a young man
from the countryside who is traveling to a bigger village to get a job (a
common fate for males living in rural China). He intends to work hard and send
money back home to his mother, who has extracted from him a promise not to
utilize his considerable skills as a street fighter in the big city.. Cheng's
uncle gets him a job in the local ice making factory but in just a few days our
hero discovers that the business owner is using the industrial-sized blocks of
ice to transport heroin. Cheng confronts the boss's henchmen and things get
violent quickly- and become even worse when his his co-workers turn up murdered.
Soon Cheng's (almost) girlfriend is kidnapped for the depraved boss' lustful
attentions and it is time for wrongs to be righted in vengeful style.
The
Big Boss was a huge financial success worldwide and made Lee's stardom
concrete. In many ways it is typical of the type of action film being produced
at the time in Hong Kong. The story is set in contemporary times and used the
usual plotline of drug smuggling as the story's engine. There were at least a
few dozen similar movies made in the 1970s what sets this production apart is
the presence of Bruce Lee. His experience in American television and film is
evident in his careful and fairly nuanced performance. Indeed, his more natural
style often contrasts sharply with some of his co-stars as they mug their way
across the screen like thy were projecting to the cheap seats. Lee's amazing
physical skills are shown well here, too, even if I cringe at the silly
trampoline work used to enhance the fights. The stunts are impressive and the
action well choreographed with the only real complaint being that the film's
pace is often leisurely to the point of irritation. The film clocks in at
nearly two hours and could have been a good deal shorter.
Next
up is 1972's Fist of Fury which is a period piece set in the early 1900's in
Shanghai with Lee playing Chen Zhen. In many ways this is very much a typical
martial arts film of the time with a plot seen often. Chen has returned to his
old school to marry his beloved but learns upon his arrival that his martial
arts master has died from what appears to have been natural causes. Chen is
incredibly upset and angry about this and doesn't believe his master's death
was natural. At the funeral students from a rival Japanese school insult Cheng even
going so far as too slap him repeatedly. Cheng refuses to disgrace his master's
funeral but he later goes to the rival school to challenge his harassers. In an
impressive display of ability, he defeats the entire Japanese school including
the master. This sets up an ongoing series of attacks and retaliations of
various kinds that culminates in much mayhem, death and vengeance leading to a
surprisingly downbeat ending. No one really wins in this terrible war.
As
a modern viewer it is interesting to see how strong a statement this film makes
about the horrors of racism. The war between these rival schools is based
mostly on ethnicity and is ginned up by wounded pride and the inability to let
old wounds heal. The emotions on display can feel over the top at times but
they seem to reflect the blind hatreds of these groups as rational thought is
ignored in the rush to inflict pain on rivals. Of course, this somewhat
depressing takeaway doesn't alter the fact that the action scenes are
incredible as a showcase for Lee, who demonstrates some amazing skills.. My
favorite fight scene in Fist of Fury has to be the excellent dojo battle wherein
Lee takes on an entire room of opponents and walks away unscathed. (The scene
is marred only by the distraction of flying dummies and bad wigs.)
The year 1972 saw Lee taking control of his
film career in a new way by writing and directing his next screen role. Way of
the Dragon was released in the United States as Return of the Dragon but no
matter what the title, it is a fascinating film. In Rome a Chinese restaurant
owner is having trouble with the local crime bosses. Help from home is
requested but when only one person appears in response to their plea, the
victims despair. Luckily for them this one person is Bruce Lee as Tang Lung.
Tang insists he is capable and even shows his open mindedness by stating that
any fighting style is good and can be incorporated into your own form. Soon the
mobsters are causing trouble, demanding payment and harassing the restaurant
owners in any way they can. After a missed opportunity because of a poorly
timed bathroom trip, Tang establishes his skills and warns the mafia bosses
that these people and their establishment are under his protection. Even though
a death threat on Tang is issued, he refuses to leave and ultimately is forced to take on his would-be
assassins. Seeing that the local killers are not up to the task, a Japanese and
an American martial arts experts are hired to finally take Tang out and it is
in these confrontations that the conflict will be resolved.
This is the film that contains the famous fight between Lee and Chuck Norris, as the American sent to kill Tang. Even action movie fans who have never seen this film have are probably aware of this memorable face-off between the two martial arts legends. But to focus on just that sequence gives short shrift to the other excellent action set pieces in this very entertaining movie. This is the only directorial effort Lee was able to complete before his death and it is a real shame, as he shows true skill in choreographing fight scenes.. I love his choice of locations in Rome and also enjoy the little touches placed around the film that add to the tone, such as the stray cat that scurries across the screen away from the combatants who are about to engage in battle. The image of Lee and Norris as gladiators is brilliant and the resulting match is a gimmick-free look at two masters at their peak. It would have been wonderful to if Lee had been given the opportunity to grow as a director. His handling of the non-fight scenes is solid but nothing special and his actor’s performances are varied in quality, to the least. Thus, while he made an impressive directorial debut, there was definitely room for improvement. In the aggregate, he was right to take the reins of his career and attempt to steer away from the standard Hong Kong approach.
The final film in this set is Game of Death (1978). When Lee passed away, he left behind a hundred minutes of his second directorial effort. Production on the film was halted when Lee was offered the opportunity to make Enter the Dragon with director Robert Clouse and he was never able to return to finish the movie. Five years afterwards, Clouse assembled a couple of stand-ins, a new script and concocted a new film that incorporated about twelve minutes of footage left over from the interrupted shoot. This revised film tells the story of Billy Lo, a martial arts movie star on the rise who is ordered assassinated after refusing to go along with vague mob demands. An attempt to kill Billy on the set of a film fails but he decides to use this attack to fake his own death, have plastic surgery to correct his injuries and exact vengeance on the bad guys. His plans hit a snag when the criminals kidnap Billy's singer girlfriend, forcing him to change his plans and speed up the takedown of the bosses.
Billy is played by the stand-ins Yuen Biao and Kim Tai-Jong for the majority of the movie with Lee's footage being mostly only the final fight scenes. Close ups of the dead star are cut into dialog scenes to try to convince gullible fans of Lee's involvement but you would have to be blind to accept the sequence imposing Lee's face in a mirror! This is one moment too stupid too ridiculous to believe and, along with the inclusion of actual footage of the star’s funeral, one must question the taste of the people who brought this film to reality. There are lines even an exploitation movie should not cross.. To call Game of Death disappointing is an understatement but the film still has its joys. True, most of the joys are in the few minutes wherein we have Lee demonstrating his amazing skills. The fight that is usually cited as the most memorable is the knockdown drag-out with basketball star and real-life Lee martial art student Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Certainly it is an incredibly visual battle with the giant athlete towering over the much shorter man, thus leading to some great moves as well as some good comedic moments as well. It is in this sequence it is possible to see what the original film might have been like if it had been finished properly. Lee's Game of Death has to be on that list of lost and incomplete movies that could have been classics but are forever lost to the winds. I get sad just thinking about it.
The best news is that this fine Shout! Factory set is a Bruce Lee fan's delight. Each movie is presented looking and sounding great (thank you, Blu-Ray) with the first three films given both the old English dubbing tracks as well as the original Mandarin language versions with optional subtitles. I recommend the original language with subtitles as the better viewing experience, as I find the voice acting less distracting and the occasional silly choice in translation less jarring when reading the dialog. I just prefer the native tongue whenever possible. Each film is given a number of extras including audio commentaries with Hong Kong film expert Mike Leeder, interviews with several Lee co-stars and co-creators, trailers, alternate opening credit sequences, still photo galleries as well as some interesting video featurettes. The most entertaining of these for me was seeing the locations for The Big Boss today through the eyes of a contemporary martial artist who travels to Thailand to visit where his idol made his first big film. But it is in the group of outtakes and extra footage on the Game of Death disc that I spent the most time. The chance to look at more rare, raw recordings of the great man was both fascinating and depressing. So much potential snuffed out so young is both the stuff of legends and regret. With these films and Enter The Dragon, Bruce Lee will live on forever but we fans will always feel a sad loss even as we marvel at what he accomplished in his short time onscreen.
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