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)

Gross USA:

$35,112,679

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$63,512,679

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

Jason Scott Lee had no previous martial arts training or experience, but was an accomplished dancer. He was selected for the lead because it was thought a dancer would more accurately depict the way that Bruce Lee moved. He was trained especially for this role, and had numerous stunt doubles.

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Goofs

During the fight in the alley outside the restaurant, when Bruce and the two workers are fighting on the iron girders, the girders are suddenly much closer to the ground when the workers are kicked off by Bruce.

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Quotes

Luke Sun: [coming onto the film set of "The Big Boss"] You. You've beaten my brother, he ca'nt walk straight, he ca'nt talk right. You've dishonored my family.

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Alternate Versions

The climatic use of nunchaku in the dream sequence has been reduced to de-emphasize the display of weaponry in most UK versions; the initial lightning flash & zoom onto the highlighted weapon is gone, as are all shots of Lee twirling the weapon. This version was used as the basis for the European DVD release, since Universal did not want to create different DVD masters. Despite the BBFC's blanket ban on ninja weaponry being lifted in 1999 (and the cuts therefore being automatically waived), Universal still re-submitted the cut version to them in 1999 and 2000. The 2016 Blu-ray is uncut, despite the uncut version not having been submitted to the BBFC - however, the Irish classification board (IFCO) did see it in 2015 and lowered their original 18 certificate to a 15.

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Connections

Spin-off Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)

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Soundtracks

California Dreamin'
Written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips
Performed by Shannon Lee

User Reviews

good flick, but inaccurate

I really liked Jason Scott Lee's portrayal of Bruce Lee, but I noticed many inaccuracies in the story. If I had not seen the AMC special on Lee last year, I would not have a problem.

-according to Linda Lee, Bruce was not hurt when competing for the right to teach whoever he wanted to. He hurt himself when he didn't stretch properly for a workout in 1970. That was the big inaccuracy

-Bruce auditioned for another role in early 1965 before the role of Kato was offered to him.

• other roles he took in America were completely ignored: "Marlowe", his appearances on "Longstreet", etc...the movie went right from 1967 to 1972 within a minute

If you want to see a really good special on Lee, as well as see lost footage from a project that was butchered after he died, check out the AMC documentary.

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