Game of Death (1978)

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

Directors:

Robert Clouse, Bruce Lee (uncredited)

Writer:

Robert Clouse (as Jan Spears)

Stars:

Bruce Lee, Gig Young, Dean Jagger

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Lee	...	Billy Lo / Hai Tien (original 1972 footage) (archive footage)
Gig Young	...	Jim Marshall
Dean Jagger	...	Dr. Land
Hugh O'Brian	...	Steiner
Colleen Camp	...	Ann Morris
Robert Wall	...	Carl Miller
Mel Novak	...	Stick
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	...	Hakim / Mantis (original 1972 footage) (archive footage)
Chuck Norris	...	Fighter (archive footage)
Dan Inosanto	...	Pasqual / Third Floor Guardian (original 1972 footage) (as Danny Inosanto)
Billy McGill	...	John
Sammo Kam-Bo Hung	...	Lo Chen (as Hung Kim Po)
Roy Chiao	...	Henry Lo
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung	...	David (as Tony Leung)
Jim James	...	Surgeon

Storyline

In this movie, Bruce Lee is a very famous martial-arts master who stars in many films. After an unsuccessful murder attempt against him, everyone thinks his is dead, but he's just hiding, preparing his revenge...

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Plot Keywords:

bare midriff | chinaman | chinawoman | actress | c cup | 

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Taglines:

Bruce Lee challenges the underworld to a Game of Death.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Hong Kong USA

Language:

English Mandarin Cantonese

Release Date:

8 June 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Game of Death

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

$850,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Concord Productions, Columbia Pictures, Golden Harvest Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 103 min (original premiere) 54 min (current existing footage) 40 min (2000 incomplete) 35 min (2000 incomplete) 62 min (original cut) (1972)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was the final role for actor Gig Young.

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Goofs

When Billy goes to the weapons-level, he has a blue bako stick but when the camera goes close up to when billy throws down his nunchakus, the bako becomes green

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Quotes

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

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Alternate Versions

The 4K restorations by L'Immagine RItrovata (as seen on the 2017 Shout Factory blu-ray) cut a half-second freeze frame shot of Billy Lo towards the end of the film when he thinks he has found Dr. Land's corpse.

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Connections

Referenced in Sports Jeopardy!: Episode #1.48 (2015)

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Soundtracks

Game of Death
(Hong Kong version only)
Music by Joseph Koo
Lyrics by James Wong
Sung By Roman Tam

User Reviews

The last 15 minutes of the film is worth watching

I wish I could say the same thing for the first 60 minutes of the film..

Before watching this film,I knew that Bruce Lee died before finishing it,so my expectations where that Bruce would come out in some parts of the films and other parts would be doubled.

That is the frame of my mind you have to have with this film. However you will probably have to fast forward to the only fluid moments with the Master Bruce Lee. The 60 minutes use pictures of Bruce Lee in the fights but it's a bad idea. The movie could have been cut considerably into maybe a 30 min to 45 min ,but instead we are forced to stomach, a Bruce Lee wannabee who cant compare an eye to the Master, and who gets his butt kicked throught the movie.

The footage with Bruce Lee, is incredible. The fight scenes last up to 10-15 minutes total, but they are so physical, they probably took up several rehearsals to shoot.

Bruce was filming "Enter The Dragon" while filming this film. He and the Directors did the right thing by filming the end first because of Bruce's busy schedule.

You cant call this film an overall great action movie like one reviewer said because it has many faults. It's too too long (90 minutes) and the Bruce Look alike gets beat for half the film until the Real Bruce Lee shows up at the end.

Also the Bruce Lee double in this film is just plain puny looking. He looks as if he has never lifted weights.

What I would have done to make the film more enjoyable is shorten the film, immensely, then put a biograpy about Bruce , so as not to leave the viewer unsatisfied with the film.

No one today can do what Bruce Lee did in his prime (ask Chuck Norris who has failed miserably copying his moves and is now doing a laughable show called Walker).