Birth of the Dragon (2016)

Set against the backdrop of 1960s San Francisco, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON is a modern take on the classic movies that Bruce Lee was known for. It takes its inspiration from the epic and still controversial showdown between an up-and-coming Bruce Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man - a battle that gave birth to a legend.

Director:

George Nolfi

Writers:

Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson

Stars:

Billy Magnussen, Yu Xia, Philip Ng

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yu Xia	...	Wong Jack Man (as Xia Yu)
Wang Xi'An	...	Tai Chi Grandmaster / Wang Lian
Hai Yu	...	Shaolin Abbot (as Yu Hai)
Yue Wu	...	Wang Biao (as Wu Yue)
Billy Magnussen	...	Steve McKee
Steven Roberts	...	Beat Poet (as Steven F. Roberts)
Riley Wood	...	Hippie Girl
Philip Ng	...	Bruce Lee (as Philip Wan-Lung Ng)
Simon Yin	...	Vinnie Wei
Terry Chen	...	Frankie Chen
Ron Yuan	...	Tony Yu
Lillian Lim	...	Janet Wei
Yee Jee Tso	...	Winston Peng
Jingjing Qu	...	Xiulan Quan (as Qu Jingjing)
Simon Chin	...	Wai Fu

Storyline

Set against the backdrop of 1960s San Francisco, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON is a modern take on the classic movies that Bruce Lee was known for. It takes its inspiration from the epic and still controversial showdown between an up-and-coming Bruce Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man - a battle that gave birth to a legend.

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Plot Keywords:

bruce lee character | 

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Taglines:

The Fight That Created The Legend

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Genres:

Action | Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for martial arts violence, language and thematic elements

Details

Country:

China Canada USA

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

25 August 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Origem do Dragão

Box Office

Gross USA:

$6,901,965, 28 September 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Groundswell Productions,Kylin Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Steve McKee was based on actor Steve McQueen who studied with Bruce Lee in the late 1960s.

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Goofs

The film's portrayal of Wong Jack Man contains numerous factual errors. The biggest being that he was not a Shaolin monk nor did he come to San Francisco as penance for nearly killing a man in a duel. Nor did he return to China afterwards since he continued to teach martial arts in the Fort Mason Center of San Francisco until he retired in 2005.

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Quotes

Bruce Lee: You're a great advertisement for our training.
[telling a former student he sees badly beaten in an alley way]
Steve McKee: I'm fine.
[he says weakly]

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Crazy Credits

A few of the job titles in the scrolling credits such as "stunt coordinator" and "set designer" change back and forth from English to Chinese.

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Connections

Referenced in Midnight Screenings: Good Time/Birth of the Dragon (2017)

User Reviews

A disrespectful appropriation of Bruce Lee

Hollywood is racist. This movie disrespects the legacy of Bruce Lee. I highly recommend everyone to boycott this movie. The movie serves to perpetuate negative stereotypes regarding Asian women, men, and the culture.

It's perspective forces the viewer to indulge in racism against people of color. The racism is very subversive and is spread by more than just one movie. Movies like these are bountiful in Hollywood(denigrating Asian culture).

I noticed a very disturbing pattern in Hollywood. They do not want Asian men in the lead role even in their own biopic.