7/10
surprisingly good
22 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of the "Bruceploitation" movies that Hong Kong produced in the 1970's and 80's. And "Bruce Li" (aka Ho Tsung Dao) was the premier actor in those days. Here he plays the legendary fighter from his teenage years up until his untimely death. This movie was actually better than most so called bios. It was more true to his life than most. Included was his relationship with his Wing Chun Kung Fu master Yip Man, friends in Seattle, Oakland, and Hong Kong. His wife Linda and 2 kids were also shown. Betty Ting Pei , who was there when he died, also is shown. This film was also chronologically correct, for the most part ( showing first Hong Kong, then Seattle, San Francisco/Oakland, Hollywood, and finally Hong Kong). Of course this film had it's exaggerated moments ( to put it mildly) such as Lee fighting mafioso in Rome ( while filming Way of the Dragon) or the fight to teach non-Chinese in San Francisco ( which in reality was in his Oakland school, not the street in San Francisco). They also at the end put out the various "theories" about his death , including the idea that he's still alive, hiding out in the New Territories ( maybe he's teaching Elvis how to fight and Elvis is teaching him how to sing and play guitar)! Still this film was actually more accurate than most films, including in many cases Dragon:The Bruce Lee Story ( maybe thanks to director Ng See Yuen who helped launch Jackie Chan's career). Overall, it's pretty good ( for the genre).
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