The Game of Death (1978) Game of Death (original title)

Director:

Robert Clouse

Writer:

Robert Clouse (written by)

Release Date:

8 June 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Bruce Lee challenges the underworld to a Game of Death.

Plot:

A martial arts movie star must fake his death to find the people who are trying to kill him.

Plot Keywords:

Martial Arts | Revenge | Mafia Boss | Star Died Before Release | Faked Death

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Bruce Lee	...	Billy Lo (archive footage)
Colleen Camp	...	Ann Morris
Dean Jagger	...	Dr. Land
Gig Young	...	Jim Marshall
Tai Chung Kim	...	Billy Lo (as Kim Tai Jong)
Biao Yuen	...	Billy Lo (as Bill Yuen)
Robert Wall	...	Carl Miller
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	...	Hakim (archive footage)
Mel Novak	...	Stick
Hugh O'Brian	...	Steiner
James Tien	...	Charlie Wang (also archive footage)
Dan Inosanto	...	Pasqual (also archive footage) (as Danny Inosanto)
Chuck Norris	...	Fighter (archive footage)
Roy Chiao	...	Henry Lo
Russell Cawthorne	...	Surgeon

Also Known As:

"Game of Death" - Hong Kong (original title)

Runtime:

85 min | Germany:92 min | Hong Kong:103 min (original premiere) | Hong Kong:125 min | Hong Kong:54 min (current existing footage) | Japan:115 min | Japan:40 min (2000 incomplete version) | USA:100 min | USA:110 min (original premiere) | USA:35 min (2000 incomplete version)

Country:

Hong Kong | USA

Language:

English | Mandarin | Cantonese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:M | Iceland:16 | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A | France:U | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | UK:X (original rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (cut) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Concord Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Sammo Hung almost didn't appear in the movie; after being asked personally by Bruce Lee to be part of the film, Hung waited for eight months without follow-up and eventually went to film projects in Korea and Thailand, only flying back to the set in China when promised that it would only take a couple days to film his part.

Goofs:

Continuity: Size of footprint on Lee's chest.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Director:Cut! Okay, that's a print. That was great, Billy! Okay everybody...
[stage light collapses, crew gasps]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Game of Death II (1981)

Soundtrack:

Will This be the Song I'll be Singing Tomorrow???

Bruce Lee's Back (Courtesy of stock footage).

Game of Death (1978) was another film project that was a Warner Brothers and Golden Harvest joint production. Movie goers all around the world were still in shock from the sudden death of Bruce Lee. His last film Enter the Dragon was a worldwide success. After his death a plethora of knock-offs and wannabe Bruce Lees flooded the market place. Raymond Chow and company saw an untapped market for another film "starring" Bruce Lee. He heard of an unfinished film that Bruce was working on before he was dead. So he hired Robert Clouse to direct new footage so it could be worked into the existing one. Sammo Hung was hired to become the action director (he also appears as a prize fighter).

Robert Clouse used two doubles for Bruce Lee (one of them was Yuen Biao) and a lot of stock footage was used whenever it could. The use of the footage was a very, very bad idea. Many of the seems were obviously cut-and-paste and made the film look very cheap and exploitive fare. This was going to be another movie with Hong Kong actors and American ones thrown into the mix. Gig Young, Dean Jagger and Collen Camp (when she was extremely hot) co-star as well as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and several of Bruce Lee's friends. Instead of fleshing out the movie that Bruce was working on before he died, the film makers noticed that there were already several different films that were already made that bore a similarity to the original Game of Death. The new movie centered around a murder mystery and a lot of fighting peppered with a lot of action direction work from Sammo Hung.

The finished results were a mixed bag. The American cut of the film was not that great and is pretty mediocre. The Hong Kong version is a whole lot better with extra footage (It's also edited differently, has all the trademarks of a Sammo Hung film project instead of one by Robert Clouse). and more Hong Kong actors and plot. It must have been a success in Hong Kong because a sequel was made from even more unused footage and outtakes of Bruce Lee. This movie is actually better than this one because it doesn't take itself seriously, not as much recycled footage and the fight scenes are even better.

If I were to watch this movie I would recommend finding the Hong Kong version. It's a lot better than the boring American release.

Followed by the Tower of Death a.k.a. Game of Death 2.