Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)

A fictionalized account of the life of the martial arts superstar.

Director:

Rob Cohen

Writers:

Robert Clouse (book), Linda Lee Cadwell (book)

Stars:

Jason Scott Lee, Lauren Holly, Robert Wagner

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Scott Lee	...	Bruce Lee
Lauren Holly	...	Linda Lee
Robert Wagner	...	Bill Krieger
Michael Learned	...	Vivian Emery
Nancy Kwan	...	Gussie Yang
Kay Tong Lim	...	Philip Tan
Ric Young	...	Bruce's Father
Luoyong Wang	...	Yip Man
Sterling Macer Jr.	...	Jerome Sprout (as Sterling Macer)
Sven-Ole Thorsen	...	The Demon
Ong Soo Han	...	Luke Sun
Eric Bruskotter	...	Joe Henderson
Aki Aleong	...	Principal Elder
Chao Li Chi	...	Elder (as Chao-Li Chi)
Iain M. Parker	...	Brandon Lee

Storyline

Based on the life and career of Martial Arts superstar, Bruce Lee. Haunted by demons. Bruce was taught Martial arts at childhood. Bruce then was told by his father to flee to the United States. There, he opened up a Martial Arts school, then was chosen to be the Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato. Then, his big movie career that included "The Big Boss" and "Enter the Dragon". Fighting many enemies along the way, including his childhood demon.

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Plot Keywords:

kung fu | kato | racism | martial arts | demon | 

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Taglines:

The Mystery. The Life. The Love. The Legend

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Genres:

Action | Biography | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for martial arts violence and sensuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

7 May 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

A sárkány - Bruce Lee élete

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,019,970, 9 May 1993

Gross USA:

$35,113,743

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$63,513,743

Company Credits

Production Co:

Raffaella De Laurentiis Productions, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 80 min (online release) (edited)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Bruce Lee defeats the martial artist who breaks his back at the karate show and is leaving the ring, there is an older man with gray hair visible. This is Jerry Poteet who alongside his wife Fran Poteet Joseph also trained Jason Scott Lee for the part. He was a former student of Bruce Lee.

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Goofs

Bruce Lee is seen watching Kung Fu (which was conceived by and for him but the main character given to David Carradine instead) sometime between 1967 when "The Green Hornet" goes off the air and 1970 when he makes his first movie in Hong Kong.

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Quotes

Principal Elder: [Bruce Lee drops the message the Elders sent him, interrupting their game] Bruce, I know that you like to be called Bruce. You have been charged with violating the martial arts code. We've had several complaints from Wu Zuolin and Wong Jack Man and many others. You've been teaching the gwai lo, this must stop.
Bruce Lee: I'll teach whoever wants to learn.
Principal Elder: Bruce, we do things differently here. One of the things we do not do is teach our secrets to white, blacks. They are the enemy.
Bruce Lee: [...]

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Alternate Versions

The theatrical release had a different camera angle in a few scenes that different in the video or DVD releases. One of these includes when Bruce Lee (Jason Scott Lee) says "This is the first Bruce Lee Kung Fu Institute.", and punches the air. In the theatrical version the shot of him is a closeup from the front and the punch looks fast and powerful. In the video and DVD release this shot is a distance shot that shows his back and the punch seems fast, but lacking in power.

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Connections

References Tammy Tell Me True (1961)

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Soundtracks

Tightrope
Written by Leon Russell
Performed by Leon Russell

User Reviews

An exceptional biopic - vivid but highly entertaining, amongst other things!

Once you became a Bruce Lee addict and begin seeing and reading the numerous different biographies and biopics, you're going to realise that DRAGON has quite a bit of fiction in it - and in the bits you don't really expect it to. For example, Lee approached Raymond Chow's Golden Harvest production company to make a marital arts movie, not the other way round and Chow isn't even the guy! Also, due to Lee's 'mysterious' death, the film also doesn't really an idea of how its going to wrap it all up. Therefore, the film is the perfect example of the word 'vivid'.

However, what makes Dragon the fine film that it is is that it decides to look at the two lesser-known aspects which dominated Lee's life - his long, ongoing 'battles' with an inner-demon and of course the racism of sixties America. These are managed and brought to the screen extremely well although to be fair they aren't particularly well developed.

The highlights would have to be the performances of Jason Scott Lee as Bruce and Lauren Holly as his devoted wife, Linda. They share a remarkable chemistry together and are certainly a credit to their subjects. This review probably hasn't made Dragon sound like a very good movie. Well if that's the case, then please think the opposite.