The martial arts style is surprisingly wealthy with sequels and remakes of films in Bruce Lee’s filmography. That is despite the truth that Bruce Lee only worked on five martial arts movies throughout his profession.
Though he was an actor for many of his life, Bruce Lee’s time as a martial arts film star solely lasted a brief time period. Between 1972 and 1973, Bruce Lee starred in 4 films: The Massive Boss, Fist of Fury, Method of the Dragon, and Enter the Dragon. He additionally headlined The Sport of Dying, however as a consequence of his demise in 1973, the movie was completed and launched with out him years later.
Due largely to the rise of Bruceploitation, his movies have been revisited on a number of events. One specifically (Fist of Fury), has been the topic of the overwhelming majority of these variations. High quality varies relating to Bruce Lee sequels, as some have been outright horrible, living proof is Sport of Dying II, a movie that went too far in recycling outdated Bruce Lee footage.
Nonetheless, there have been some entertaining variations of outdated Bruce Lee tales which can be price watching – and shockingly, one is even on par with the unique.
The Massive Boss Half II
A particularly hard-to-find and obscure old-school kung fu film from the Nineteen Seventies, The Massive Boss Half II is an unofficial sequel to Bruce Lee’s first martial arts film. Like the unique, it entails the principle hero working at an ice manufacturing unit. However not like most movies within the Bruceploitation style, its star is not a Bruce Lee clone, however Lo Lieh, an actor creditably known as “the greatest actor” in the martial arts genre by Quentin Tarantino.
Bruce Le has a small function within the film the place he performs Bruce Lee’s character. Lo Lieh, portraying his brother, will get the lion’s share of the screen-time, and in the end, his efficiency is the most effective a part of the film, which was sadly slowed down by poor enhancing and a weak story. It does, nonetheless, boast some well-choreographed struggle sequences.
New Fist Of Fury
Jackie Chan’s first starring function got here courtesy of New Fist of Fury, a 1976 martial arts film that reimagines the Bruce Lee basic. It connects to the unique by way of the return of its director, Lo Wei, a couple of members of its forged, together with the feminine lead, Nora Miao, and the theme of Chinese language combating towards Japanese oppression.
Made before Jackie Chan had found his identity as a martial arts star, New Fist of Fury is without doubt one of the actor’s most uninspired movies, with the movie sadly missing any of the appeal of the unique and suffers from making an attempt too replicate to copy a masterpiece. As a substitute, all it presents is high quality martial arts choreography.
Method Of The Dragon 2
Opposite to what the title suggests, Method of the Dragon 2 a.ka. Bruce Le’s Biggest Revenge is a predictable but enjoyable retelling of Fist of Fury. The low-budget 1979 Hong Kong movie stars Bruce Le – one of many greatest names related to the Bruceploitation subgenre – as a Chinese language kung fu pupil whose faculty will get embroiled in a violent battle with Japanese gangsters.
Method of the Dragon 2 simply avoids a gradual begin and rapidly jumps into the motion. The plot is skinny, however the storytelling is clearly not meant to be the enchantment of the Brueploitation flick; after all, it is true power is its struggle sequences, which do nicely to exhibit Bruce Li’s capabilities as a fighter. The huge brawl within the ultimate half-hour alone makes Method of the Dragon 2 an satisfying expertise.
Return Of The Fist: Legend Of Chen Zhen
Over time, a number of actors have performed Chen Zhen, the Bruce Lee character created for Fist of Fury. Donnie Yen joined the listing in 2008 when he starred in Return of the Fist: Legend of Chen Zhen, a sequel to Jet Li’s Fist of Fury remake, Fist of Legend. After faking his demise within the remake, Chen Zhen returns to China as a masked vigilante.
With so many superhero components, it is easy to overlook that Legend of Chen Zhen has something to do with a Bruce Lee film, and even Fist of Legend, for that matter. That mentioned, it does ship an intriguing vigilante interval piece, full with some spectacular struggle scenes for Donnie Yen.
Fist Of Fury Half II
Arguably among the best Bruceploitation films ever made, Fist of Fury Part II is a much more worthy successor to the unique than Jackie Chan or Bruce Le’s remakes. The Bruce Li-led martial arts gem benefited drastically from the involvement of Lee Tso-nam, whose directing skills yielded an thrilling martial arts journey, supported by an brisk efficiency from Bruce Li.
In the case of motion, Fist of Fury Half II packs the punch that one would count on from an old-school Nineteen Seventies kung fu film, however it goes a bit additional than that – it additionally contains some legitimately good character moments for its hero, plus a noteworthy villain function for Lo Lieh, who steals the present each time he is on the display screen.
Fist Of Legend
Moving into a job as soon as performed by Bruce Lee and never failing to fulfill expectations appears like an unattainable activity, however it was one which Jet Li pulled off efficiently – and extra – in Fist of Legend. By this time, the martial arts style had left Bruceploitation behind, and that was evident in Fist of Legend which retold Chen Zhen’s story in a approach that did not name for Jet Li to channel Bruce Lee.
As a substitute, Fist of Legend created its personal tackle Chen Zhen and his story, and justified this choice by infusing its characters and world with nice depth. A greater concentrate on storytelling made Chen Zhen straightforward to root for as he fought for his folks towards the Japanese. Understanding the tragic ending given to Bruce Lee’s Chen Zhen helped create a larger sense of suspense because the movie raced towards its exhillerating climax.
Making it even higher was the top-notch action choreography from Yuen Woo-ping and the superb martial expertise of Jet Li. All issues thought-about, the remake of Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury is without doubt one of the finest martial arts films of all time.
