Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (2000) (V)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Directors:

John Little
Bruce Lee

Writers:

Bruce Lee (material)
John Little (writer)

Release Date:

8 October 2001 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Legendary martial artist Bruce Lee is the subject of this thoughtful documentary by Lee aficionado John Little...

Plot Keywords:

Bruce Lee | Martial Arts | Jeet Kune Do | Character Name In Title

Cast

Bruce Lee	...	Himself (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	...	Himself
Peter Archer	...	(archive footage)
Sun-Man Bae
Robert Baker	...	(archive footage) (as Bob Baker)
Pierre Berton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Linda Lee Cadwell	...	Herself
Jackie Chan	...	(archive footage)
Yuan Chieh	...	Himself (archive footage)
James Coburn	...	(archive footage)
James Franciscus	...	Mike Longstreet (archive footage)
James Garner	...	Philip Marlowe (archive footage)
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo	...	(archive footage)
Hee-Soo Hwang
Dan Inosanto	...	Himself
Han Jae Ji	...	Himself
Bill Katz
Byung-Joo Kim
Hak-Kyu Kim
Taky Kimura	...	Himself
George Lazenby	...	Fighter (archive footage)
Kang-Kook Lee
Joe Lewis	...	(archive footage)
John Little	...	Himself
Bey Logan	...	(archive footage)
Mako	...	(archive footage)
Angela Mao
Nora Miao	...	(archive footage)
Andre Morgan	...	(archive footage)
Chuck Norris	...	(archive footage)
Carroll O'Connor	...	(archive footage)
Se-kyn Oh
Sung-Woo Park
Tong-Il Park
Peter Mark Richman	...	Duke Paige (archive footage)
John Saxon	...	(archive footage)
Mike Stone	...	(archive footage)
James Tien	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Wall	...	(archive footage) (as Bob Wall)
Ing-Sik Whang	...	(archive footage)
Van Williams	...	(archive footage)
Biao Yuen	...	(archive footage)
Ho-You Yun

Also Known As:

A Warrior's Journey (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

100 min | USA:110 min (original premiere)

Country:

USA | UK | Hong Kong

Language:

English | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | UK:15

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: You can see a shadow of Yuan Chieh getting ready to fall.

Movie Connections:

Features "The Pierre Berton Show: (1971-12-09)" (????)

Remarkable Insight

Arguably the best Bruce Lee documentary available at the moment, and I've pretty much seen every one that is available. Having grown up idolising the great man and having seen all his movies countless times, when I first saw the "Curse of the Dragon" documentary I was most intrigued by an interview which was conducted with Bruce's long time friend, colleague and training partner Dan Inosanto where Bruce's original concept for "Game of Death" was brought to light. Inosanto made mention of the 5-floor pagoda idea and immediately I made it my mission to somehow find this lost footage.

Some years later I have finally been privileged as well as honoured to see the long lost footage from the final battle scenes in "Game of Death" and to see the master in action for one final time. All I can say is that the "Game of Death" footage alone is worth the price of admission and any true Bruce Lee fan will be left salivating after seeing the incredible fight scenes coupled with the philosophical undertones that Lee so wanted to convey to his students, fans and audiences alike.

The lost footage aside, the documentary is also quite solid with excellent insight into Bruce's philosophy and his incredible determination and integrity which truly made him a master in his respective trade. While other documentaries often focused on his meteoric rise to stardom and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his untimely death, this documentary chooses rather to focus on his life, his teachings, his way of thought and his remarkable achievements - all of which made him a legend.

10/10