Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Game of Death

  • 19781978
  • RR
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
21K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
8,565
1,486
Bruce Lee in Game of Death (1978)
Watch Trailer
Play trailer1:20
2 Videos
61 Photos
ActionCrimeDrama
A martial arts movie star must fake his death to find the people who are trying to kill him.A martial arts movie star must fake his death to find the people who are trying to kill him.A martial arts movie star must fake his death to find the people who are trying to kill him.
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
21K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
8,565
1,486
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Directors
      • Robert Clouse
      • Bruce Lee(uncredited)
    • Writers
      • Robert Clouse
      • Bruce Lee(uncredited)
    • Stars
      • Bruce Lee(archive footage)
      • Gig Young
      • Dean Jagger
    Top credits
    • Directors
      • Robert Clouse
      • Bruce Lee(uncredited)
    • Writers
      • Robert Clouse
      • Bruce Lee(uncredited)
    • Stars
      • Bruce Lee(archive footage)
      • Gig Young
      • Dean Jagger
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 143User reviews
    • 55Critic reviews
    • 36Metascore

    Videos2

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:20
    Trailer
    Game of Death
    Clip 2:22
    Game of Death

    Photos61

    Bruce Lee in Game of Death (1978)
    Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Game of Death (1978)
    Bruce Lee in Game of Death (1978)
    Bruce Lee in Game of Death (1978)
    Bruce Lee in Game of Death (1978)
    A1
    Due
    Bruce Lee in Game of Death (1978)
    Bruce Lee in Game of Death (1978)
    Bruce Lee in Game of Death (1978)
    Bruce Lee in Game of Death (1978)
    Game of Death (1978)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Bruce Lee
    Bruce Lee
    • Billy Lo
    • (archive footage)
    • …
    Gig Young
    Gig Young
    • Jim Marshall
    Dean Jagger
    Dean Jagger
    • Dr. Land
    Hugh O'Brian
    Hugh O'Brian
    • Steiner
    Colleen Camp
    Colleen Camp
    • Ann Morris
    Robert Wall
    Robert Wall
    • Carl Miller
    Mel Novak
    Mel Novak
    • Stick
    Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
    Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
    • Hakim
    • (archive footage)
    • …
    Chuck Norris
    Chuck Norris
    • Fighter
    • (archive footage)
    Dan Inosanto
    Dan Inosanto
    • Pasqual
    • (as Danny Inosanto)
    • …
    Billy McGill
    • John
    Sammo Kam-Bo Hung
    Sammo Kam-Bo Hung
    • Lo Chen
    • (as Hung Kim Po)
    Roy Chiao
    Roy Chiao
    • Henry Lo
    Tony Chiu-Wai Leung
    Tony Chiu-Wai Leung
    • David
    • (as Tony Leung)
    Jim James
    • Surgeon
    Russell Cawthorne
    • Doctor
    David Hu
    • Businessman 1
    Peter Gee
    • Businessman 2
    • Directors
      • Robert Clouse
      • Bruce Lee(uncredited)
    • Writers
      • Robert Clouse
      • Bruce Lee(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    The Way of the Dragon
    7.2
    The Way of the Dragon
    The Big Boss
    6.9
    The Big Boss
    Fist of Fury
    7.2
    Fist of Fury
    Enter the Dragon
    7.6
    Enter the Dragon
    Game of Death II
    5.0
    Game of Death II
    Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey
    8.0
    Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey
    Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
    7.0
    Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
    The Game of Death
    6.2
    The Game of Death
    Drunken Master
    7.4
    Drunken Master
    The Green Hornet
    7.4
    The Green Hornet
    Bruce Lee, the Legend
    7.1
    Bruce Lee, the Legend
    The Legend of Drunken Master
    7.5
    The Legend of Drunken Master

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Steve McQueen, James Coburn, and Muhammad Ali refused roles in the film because they felt it exploited Bruce Lee's death, and because of the low pay Golden Harvest was offering.
    • Goofs
      In the beginning of the movie, a scene where you can see Lee's face in the mirror of his trailer. It's obviously a cardboard cutout, as the neck below it moves freely about unconnected to the head.
    • Quotes

      Dr Land: So much for the weather report. I'm not the only one who just arrived. How about your trip to Berlin Stick?

      Stick: It went pretty much as you figured. Now that he's the big star, I couldn't reason with him. He said he was pulling out and he threatened me.

      Dr Land: Oh my my my my. The rest of it was in the papers. That's when he committed suicide huh? Haha!

      Stick: He just got up and jumped out of the window...

    • Alternate versions
      New Zealand theatrical and videotape versions were originally cut to remove the entire nunchaku battle between Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto, although the censors later allowed this sequence to appear intact in the documentaries The Curse of the Dragon (1993) and Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (2000). In 2005 the cut was also waived for the Region 4 DVD release of "Game of Death".
    • Connections
      Edited from The Big Boss (1971)
    • Soundtracks
      Game of Death
      (Hong Kong version only)

      Music by Joseph Koo

      Lyrics by James Wong

      Sung By Roman Tam

    User reviews143

    Review
    Top review
    Embarrassing At Times But The Ending is a Must See
    Game of Death (1978)

    ** (out of 4)

    Billy Lo (Bruce Lee) is a popular action star who is being forced by a mob ruler to sign with them. He refuses and has several attempts on his life so he stages his on-set murder so that he can find out who is behind all of it and seek revenge.

    GAME OF DEATH is perhaps the most controversial kung fu movie ever released. In case you don't know, Lee started filming this movie in 1972 but put it on the back burner to go film ENTER THE DRAGON. Before he could finish GAME OF DEATH he died and the footage pretty much remained unreleased until the producer decided to try and build a movie around it. What you have is GAME OF DEATH being released in 1978 with the footage of Lee surrounded by actors filling in for him.

    I can certainly understand the hatred that some people have for this movie and I can understand why some don't consider it a real Bruce Lee movie. At the same time, there is actual footage of him used here and it's quite excellent so it's somewhat hard not to recommend the movie even if the producers were obviously trying to make a cash grab with what they did. There's no question that there are some embarrassing moments here that put this closer in the category of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE rather than THE CROW.

    The biggest problem with this film is that they simply don't have too much of a movie. There's maybe twenty-five or so minutes of Lee footage here and the rest is done by an actor who doesn't look anything like him and more times than not he's wearing glasses or even a beard. Trying to cover up the fact that this isn't Lee just makes the film look really cheap and it's so poorly done that you can't help but laugh at it. I'd also argue that all of the new footage just doesn't contain anything interesting in it. Heck, Chuck Norris gets a credit and appears less than a minute worth of running time.

    As far as what makes the film worth watching, it's certainly the footage of Lee, which takes up the ending here. This includes some terrific fight sequences and it's hard not to recommend the movie based on these scenes alone. Lee, decked out in that now legendary yellow outfit, does a great job during the fighting sequences and especially his big battle against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. This entire sequence is wonderful to watch as are the other fights. How can a Lee fan not be thrilled by these scenes?

    GAME OF DEATH is exploitation at its highest power but the ending is just so great and so thrilling that the film is still worth watching.
    helpful•4
    1
    • Michael_Elliott
    • Jan 28, 2018

    FAQ2

    • If Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Was Only In The Archive Footage, Why Is He In Some Scenes That Were Never Filmed On The Archive Footage?
    • What are the differences between the old British VHS and the Uncensored Version?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 8, 1979 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Hong Kong
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Mandarin
      • Cantonese
    • Also known as
      • Exit the Dragon
    • Filming locations
      • Hong Kong, China
    • Production companies
      • Concord Productions
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Golden Harvest Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $850,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 40 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Bruce Lee in Game of Death (1978)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Game of Death (1978) officially released in Canada in French?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The Best Movies and Shows to Watch in August
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    Fall TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    Double Take: Celebrity Twins
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Back to top
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more access
    Sign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.