Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth (1977)

Memorable, crazy movie

Masterful Cinema

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Bruce Lee was certainly a fascinating and talented individual, but the makers of this movie were either ignorant of those facts or were just instead more interested in making a quick buck. We learn very little about Lee in this movie - there's never a scene where we get into his head and get an idea of what he's thinking or feeling. Also, a lot of his background is ignored or glossed over; for example, we suddenly see him with a wife and two children halfway through the movie with no previous footage showing how he got them. The movie is more interested in delivering fight sequences instead. Now, the fight sequences in this movie are a bit better than usual for a 1970s Hong Kong movie, but the contrived ways the movie gets Bruce into fight sequences are so laughable that a lot of potential excitement is lost. If you want to learn more about Bruce Lee, find a printed biography of the man instead.

For casual observers and aficionados alike, the Bruceploitation craze of the 1970s surely ranks as one of the most bizarre cultural phenomena ever recorded. Obviously the movies were popular, since dozens of them were made--but who was the target audience? Were these ludicrous films made for viewers who literally could not tell the difference between the genuine article and his imitators, for Bruce Lee devotees who had sat through their hero's four cinematic adventures a hundred times apiece and were jonesing for any kind of facsimile (no matter how clumsy), or just for indiscriminate fans of kung fu action? Even today, the answer is unclear. There were three distinct varieties of Bruceploitation: the biographical films, sequels and prequels to Lee's own movies, and standard martial arts melodramas with a central character named 'Bruce' who wielded a nunchaku and made high-pitched twittering noises when he fought, but otherwise bore no relation to Bruce Lee. "Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth" falls into the first category and stars Bruce Li (real name: Ho Tsung-tao), the best of the three major Lee impersonators. And yes, it's a pretty lousy film, but it tries. Firstly, and most conspicuously, it dodges Lee's affair with Betty Ting Pei altogether. A character representing Ting Pei does appear near the end of the film, but she is only Lee's 'friend' and mention is made of her husband and his impending arrival to assist Lee with a screenplay, so that the viewer hasn't the least intimation of hanky panky. Secondly, an effort is made to express some of Lee's philosophy of combat in at least one scene, when he is challenged by muay thai stylists and adopts a few of their own techniques to beat them. Finally, a number of the characters who dispute Lee's fighting mastery are played by prominent real-life martial artists, like judo and chin-na instructor David Chow and hung gar master Chiu Chi-ling. (Lee's best friend Unicorn Chan appears as himself.) In the final analysis, however, honorable intent cannot overcome a wretched lack of sophistication. The stunted, ridiculous dialogue makes the average episode of "What's Happening!!" sound like it was written by Shakespeare and, despite passable fight choreography, Ho Tsung-tao is neither fast nor accurate enough to affect a convincing portrayal of Lee. That "Bruce Lee: The Man, the Myth" is the cream of the Bruceploitation crop (and if you're at all skeptical, take a look at some of the other biographical films like "The Dragon Dies Hard" or "Bruce Lee: His Last Days, His Last Nights") demonstrates just how low the bar was set in this subgenre.

I think this is the filck I first saw during a stormy night in San Francisco's Chinatown - terribly dubbed, choppily edited and I have been looking for this movie ever since. It was more fun that I remember having had watching a fake Bruce Lee movie -- ever!There are several heavily symbolic montages with sappy lounge-style romantic musical themes, my personal favorite involved cross-cutting between the usual "romping at the beach" footage with what I think was a dachshund running down a hill ... an obvious tribute to "Battleship Potemkin" -- foreshadowing a life out of control.I was so certain that this grindhouse goodie would disappear forever that I saw it 5 times in the course of the week it played at that Chinatown Cinema(THIS IS NOT A SPOILER, BUT SCROLL DOWN ANYWAY> I NEED TO REMARK ON THE FINAL FOOTAGEThere is a wonderfully unintentionally hilarious tribute in song to Bruce Lee --- as Bruce Li, that is... which ends with the repeated cry of "Bruuuuuce! -- Bruuuuuce!", with mondo echo effects.It just doesn't get better.

I saw this film under the title "Bruce Lee:the Man and the Myth" If this is the true story, he certainly led a pretty hectic life. All he seems to do is get into fights. But they are well staged and make exciting viewing.Li is a good lookalike for Lee and does a good impression of him. But he has neither the charisima or style of the man who meant as much to his generation as Valentino and Dean did to theirs. What is all boils down to is just another cash in on Lee's death. The exercise sequences are the most interesting.