The Dragon Lives Again is not only the most entertaining Bruceploitation films, it’s also one of the most entertaining kung fu films I’ve ever seen. It’s friggin’ hilarious, and also completely bonkers. Highly recommended.
In addition to the characters you mention, it also has the One-Armed Swordsman (famous mostly in China, not so much in the west), Zatoichi (the blind swordsman of Japanese fame), Emmanuelle (from the soft core porn series), and Kane from Kung-Fu.
Might as well be called “Bruce Lee In: COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!!!”. It even steals a few bars from the Bond theme song.
Also, Bruce Leung, the Bruce clone in the film, would go on to appear as the villain much later on in Kung Fu Hustle. Oh yeah, and the film’s got a bunch of naked women in it too. Is there anything it DOESN’T have?
@Necramonium: He did, but I believe from the documentary about Bruce Lee he also had cannabis in his system at the time which counter re-acted with the Equigesic and caused his brain to swell and hemmorage. I think his problems were stemming from all the stress he was putting on himself because he was wanting to do more movies of his own liking and was not getting the backing he needed in the states from Hollywood to do his films. Golden Harvest helped him out, but by that time the stress he was under was just too much on his body. He just started having seizures and then fucked up and took the wrong meds to try and cure his migraines.
Concerning the yellow track suit, Bruce chose to wear it because it was associated with no established martial arts styles. The whole situation of ascending a pagoda was a way for Bruce to fight different fighters who ascribe to different martial arts styles. He wanted to illustrate how flexible his style of fighting is compared to the orthodox methods of his opponents, which he states during his fight against Dan Inosanto.
I can’t remember the name of it, but there is a very good documentary about Bruce Lee and it spends a lot of time on Game of Death and shows all the footage that he shot prior to his death, free from any of the editing used to make it fit in better with the current movie that exists. Everybody should look for it and check it out because watching the fight as Bruce intended is just awesome.
Haha. Thanks for reviewing this. As soon as I saw this I was like “Dude, he has to talk about the weird pasted on head part.” I almost shit my pants watching that. I couldn’t believe they actually did that. I probably watched that part over 10 times to make sure that it was really in the movie. Oh, BTW that Bruce impersonator has got some dead sexy shades.
One of the Bruce Lee imitators, Bruce Liang, is also known as Bruce Leong or Bruce Leung. If the name Bruce Leung looks familiar, it’s because he plays “the Beast” in Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle. The actor’s Cantonese stage name is also a Bruce Lee imitation. Bruce Lee’s Cantonese name is Lee Siu Long (literally Lee Little Dragon). Bruce Leung’s is Leung Siu Long (Leung Little Dragon).
A little interesting fact about Bruce Lee’s name. He was born as Lee Jun Fan. Jun Fan is a girl’s name in Cantonese. His parent’s chose that name out of superstition. When he started acted he needed a kick ass stage name so he used Siu Long (Little Dragon).
@3dBallz: Um, not that I am aware of. He was smoking marijuana to relieve his migraines. I guess it either stopped working or he didn’t have any at the time so he took a prescription pill from Betty Ting, his supposed misstress. Aparently he was alergic to the Equigesic and his brain swelled because of the allergy. There’s tons of rumors around that he was murdered or that his own personal demon him mother was trying to hide him from finally got to him. I think it’s all bull. He died because of the allergy to the painkiller. End of story.
you should totally do a review of his son’s (Brandon Lee) last movie ‘The Crow’ and many sequels and Tv show it spawned as well as the upcoming remake/reboot.
@dasfonzie: Hey! Don’t use my middle name. It’s already bad enough they disrespect Bruce Lee by impersonating him. Don’t give them the idea for Bruce Leroy, lol!
Hey JAM nice link …. ……that’s hilarious. Ya I can’t believe that that was a card board cut out :O. Although I still have the shame of saying that I have never seen a Bruce Lee film…….. …….mock me as you will but I plan on goning through them soon. I have seen plenty of Chan films. It’s amazing to see your level of dedication go into each review…….. ……..for example all of the research and history you talk about.(James).
WOW -it all becomes clear now! I always wondered why the Bruce Lee Sinclair Spectrum game had you descending into a strange futuristic environment. It must be based on Game of Death II
Wow, to think they would go as far as to put a cardboard cutout of Bruce on the actor’s face. They’d might as well put the fake Bruce’s face on the real body of Bruce, from the original scenes from Game of Death. At least then it would look half-way decent.
The BRUCE DOC U are talking about is called A WARRIORS JOURNEY My uncle gave it to me on VHS prolyl only exist on vhs it covers game of death and all the deleted clips with him and his 2 chinese combat warrors he was with in the Pogoda i love GAME OF DEATH Not the reason Robert clouse did on it but THAT IT WAS BRUCES MOVIE And even though the story changed that last 11 mins with Bruce u sense his Orah on screen anyways this movie would have been his Best if he could have finished it RIP BRUCE AND BRANDON Nice review james but i thought there would be more of the deep inside details to the movie and story not just about all the cheezy stuff but good job anyways
Um, James? You forgot to mention this:
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100424004151/totaldramaisland/images/2/21/Killbillizzy.PNG
I would have liked to see your opinion of the movie based on his life that was released in 1993 ‘Dragon: the bruce lee story’
although some gave it average reviews.. i thought it was a pretty good movie, and very inspiring.
The Dragon Lives Again is not only the most entertaining Bruceploitation films, it’s also one of the most entertaining kung fu films I’ve ever seen. It’s friggin’ hilarious, and also completely bonkers. Highly recommended.
In addition to the characters you mention, it also has the One-Armed Swordsman (famous mostly in China, not so much in the west), Zatoichi (the blind swordsman of Japanese fame), Emmanuelle (from the soft core porn series), and Kane from Kung-Fu.
Might as well be called “Bruce Lee In: COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!!!”. It even steals a few bars from the Bond theme song.
Also, Bruce Leung, the Bruce clone in the film, would go on to appear as the villain much later on in Kung Fu Hustle. Oh yeah, and the film’s got a bunch of naked women in it too. Is there anything it DOESN’T have?
@Necramonium: He did, but I believe from the documentary about Bruce Lee he also had cannabis in his system at the time which counter re-acted with the Equigesic and caused his brain to swell and hemmorage. I think his problems were stemming from all the stress he was putting on himself because he was wanting to do more movies of his own liking and was not getting the backing he needed in the states from Hollywood to do his films. Golden Harvest helped him out, but by that time the stress he was under was just too much on his body. He just started having seizures and then fucked up and took the wrong meds to try and cure his migraines.
Concerning the yellow track suit, Bruce chose to wear it because it was associated with no established martial arts styles. The whole situation of ascending a pagoda was a way for Bruce to fight different fighters who ascribe to different martial arts styles. He wanted to illustrate how flexible his style of fighting is compared to the orthodox methods of his opponents, which he states during his fight against Dan Inosanto.
I can’t remember the name of it, but there is a very good documentary about Bruce Lee and it spends a lot of time on Game of Death and shows all the footage that he shot prior to his death, free from any of the editing used to make it fit in better with the current movie that exists. Everybody should look for it and check it out because watching the fight as Bruce intended is just awesome.
Haha. Thanks for reviewing this. As soon as I saw this I was like “Dude, he has to talk about the weird pasted on head part.” I almost shit my pants watching that. I couldn’t believe they actually did that. I probably watched that part over 10 times to make sure that it was really in the movie. Oh, BTW that Bruce impersonator has got some dead sexy shades.
Hail to the king, baby. Peace.
@TwistedSpeech
Didn’t he eat the weed and not smoke it?
esta muy bueno tu review de game of death ya espero que sea mayo quiero ver el regreso triunfal de el AVGN
One of the Bruce Lee imitators, Bruce Liang, is also known as Bruce Leong or Bruce Leung. If the name Bruce Leung looks familiar, it’s because he plays “the Beast” in Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle. The actor’s Cantonese stage name is also a Bruce Lee imitation. Bruce Lee’s Cantonese name is Lee Siu Long (literally Lee Little Dragon). Bruce Leung’s is Leung Siu Long (Leung Little Dragon).
A little interesting fact about Bruce Lee’s name. He was born as Lee Jun Fan. Jun Fan is a girl’s name in Cantonese. His parent’s chose that name out of superstition. When he started acted he needed a kick ass stage name so he used Siu Long (Little Dragon).
The whole overuse of stock footage thing kinnda reminds me of power rangers.
@3dBallz: Um, not that I am aware of. He was smoking marijuana to relieve his migraines. I guess it either stopped working or he didn’t have any at the time so he took a prescription pill from Betty Ting, his supposed misstress. Aparently he was alergic to the Equigesic and his brain swelled because of the allergy. There’s tons of rumors around that he was murdered or that his own personal demon him mother was trying to hide him from finally got to him. I think it’s all bull. He died because of the allergy to the painkiller. End of story.
no Bruce Leroy? I’m disappointed
awesome review!
you should totally do a review of his son’s (Brandon Lee) last movie ‘The Crow’ and many sequels and Tv show it spawned as well as the upcoming remake/reboot.
What can I say I really enjoy the more idiosyncratic take you guys have been doing with your cinema reviews.
Between this and the Dracula commentary what can I say but… More Please?
For the record I’d love to see you guys do a TCM commentary.
@dasfonzie: Hey! Don’t use my middle name. It’s already bad enough they disrespect Bruce Lee by impersonating him. Don’t give them the idea for Bruce Leroy, lol!
Hey JAM nice link …. ……that’s hilarious. Ya I can’t believe that that was a card board cut out :O. Although I still have the shame of saying that I have never seen a Bruce Lee film…….. …….mock me as you will but I plan on goning through them soon. I have seen plenty of Chan films. It’s amazing to see your level of dedication go into each review…….. ……..for example all of the research and history you talk about.(James).
I refuse to watch this movie because it taints the legacy of Bruce Lee.
Man, I wish I could get my hands on a Cantonese version of “Enter the Dragon.” It isn’t a HK film without one.
oh god that cardboard cutout face was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen!! Even Ed Wood wouldn’t have attempted a stunt like that!!
The bit with Bruce in his coffin was a bit unnerving tho!!!
Its not letting me load the video! it takes me to the shining video right as it loads wtf man!
WOW -it all becomes clear now! I always wondered why the Bruce Lee Sinclair Spectrum game had you descending into a strange futuristic environment. It must be based on Game of Death II
Wow, to think they would go as far as to put a cardboard cutout of Bruce on the actor’s face. They’d might as well put the fake Bruce’s face on the real body of Bruce, from the original scenes from Game of Death. At least then it would look half-way decent.
The BRUCE DOC U are talking about is called A WARRIORS JOURNEY My uncle gave it to me on VHS prolyl only exist on vhs it covers game of death and all the deleted clips with him and his 2 chinese combat warrors he was with in the Pogoda i love GAME OF DEATH Not the reason Robert clouse did on it but THAT IT WAS BRUCES MOVIE And even though the story changed that last 11 mins with Bruce u sense his Orah on screen anyways this movie would have been his Best if he could have finished it RIP BRUCE AND BRANDON Nice review james but i thought there would be more of the deep inside details to the movie and story not just about all the cheezy stuff but good job anyways
GREAT REVIEW!!! Bruce Lee was the John Lennon for Asian people, except he wasn’t a peace activist:-D
He also forget to mention Jompa Tormann from Kill Buljo The Move
http://www.filmweb.no/multimedia/archive/00103/Jompa_Tormann__Stig_103807b.jpg