Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey [Paperback]

John R. Little (Author), John Little (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0809297221 | ISBN-13: 978-0809297221 | Edition: 1

Bruce Lee's last movie, Game of Death, was released shortly after the megastar's tragic death. From its first screening, controversy surrounded the film, with millions of fans worldwide believing it misrepresented Lee's vision and undermined his legitimacy as a martial artist and philosopher. Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey offers readers a unique insider's account of the remaking of this incomparable film--a film in which Lee intended to showcase not only his mastery as a martial artist and actor but also his personal philosophy.

After searching nearly thirty years, Bruce Lee expert and award-winning filmmaker John Little found Lee's original scripting notes, directorial instructions, and more than ninety-five minutes of unreleased footage from this film. In the late 1990s, working closely with Lee's widow and referring to Lee's own copious notes, Little painstakingly reconstructed the movie according to Lee's vision. Here, readers get the inside story, firsthand from the man who made the discovery, remade the movie, and, in doing so, honored the best-loved and most highly respected martial artist in living history.

The perfect complement to Warner Home Video's movie of the same name, Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey offers fans a rare behind-the-scenes account of remaking the film as well as the most comprehensive presentation of Lee's philosophy available to date.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Bruce Lee's last movie, Game of Death, was released shortly after the megastar's tragic death. From its first screening, controversy surrounded the film, with millions of fans worldwide believing it misrepresented Lee's vision and undermined his legitimacy as a martial artist and philosopher. Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey offers readers a unique insider's account of the remaking of this incomparable film--a film in which Lee intended to showcase not only his mastery as a martial artist and actor but also his personal philosophy.

After searching nearly thirty years, Bruce Lee expert and award-winning filmmaker John Little found Lee's original scripting notes, directorial instructions, and more than ninety-five minutes of unreleased footage from this film. In the late 1990s, working closely with Lee's widow and referring to Lee's own copious notes, Little painstakingly reconstructed the movie according to Lee's vision. Here, readers get the inside story, firsthand from the man who made the discovery, remade the movie, and, in doing so, honored the best-loved and most highly respected martial artist in living history.

The perfect complement to Warner Home Video's movie of the same name, Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey offers fans a rare behind-the-scenes account of remaking the film as well as the most comprehensive presentation of Lee's philosophy available to date.

About the Author

John Little is the world’s foremost authority on Bruce Lee’s life and philosophy. He is the only non-family member with unrestricted access to Bruce Lee’s personal library and archives. Little is also the author of Bruce Lee: The Warrior Within and Bruce Lee: Words from a Master.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (July 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809297221
• ISBN-13: 978-0809297221
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,625,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Little is uniquely suited to the task of relating the philosophy of Bruce Lee and his approach to life. Little has a degree in philosophy from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is the author of two books on health and fitness (having spent over fifteen years as a writer for several fitness magazines), and is himself a student of Lee's art of jeet kune do.

Selected by the Bruce Lee estate, Little is the only person who has ever been authorized to review the entirety of Lee's personal notes, sketches, and reading annotations and to edit books on the subject of Lee's martial art and its far-reaching philosophical underpinnings. Little's keen awareness of the subtleties of both Eastern and Western philosophy coupled with a respect for the preservation of the essence of Lee's words and meaning give this book an integrity that is all too rare.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but flawed, January 18, 2011

By 

JonW - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (Paperback)

Not a stand-alone book but a commentary on Little's documentary on Lee's unfinished movie "The Game of Death", Little fails to make the book say anything more substantive than the movie. While the movie is an excellent look into how Lee had hoped "Game" would be an allegory about martial arts, the constricting nature of "styles" and by default, philosophies, religions and ways of living that fail to allow people to adapt and grow in each new situation, the book at best repeats the same points as the movie and at worst gives Little the space to wade into JKD politics, over-stretch himself when delving into Lee's philosophy, and contradict himself repeatedly over the meaning behind Lee's unfinished work. When the author strays too far away from what Lee intended into what Little would like him to have meant, the book loses value, and he sometimes comes close to losing the point of the book itself by his insistence on sharing what Jon Little thinks, rather than what Bruce Lee thought.
Little has done the MA community a service with his documentary, while this book is a flawed addendum to that work.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Warrior's Journey, February 11, 2010

By 

Pankration - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (Paperback)

"Bruce Lee - A Warrior's Journey" is a great compliment book to the DVD presentaion by the same name by author John Little.

This is the final and sadly incomplete contributions and work on the film entitled: The Game of Death (1972-73) by the late Bruce Lee who died at the young age of 32 in July of 1973.

This is a book that tries to fill in the many gaps of what might have been the late Bruce Lee's greatest martial arts action film. Lee had intended the film to be an expression of his personal philosophy and principles of combat which he called Jeet Kune Do. He was planning to educate the public on his personal insights, principles and philosohy of martial arts while entertaining them at the same time.

This book presents Bruce Lee's long lost original script and director notes for his incomplete film entitled: The Game of Death (1972-73) combined with with long lost final film footage of the master in action (seen on DVD of same title) in the sequence and manner that the late Bruce Lee had intended for the film.

Although the film footage is sadly incomplete and lacks the quality that Bruce Lee's films had a reputation for it is our final look at a man that truly shook the world with his insight, philosopy and amazing on-screen presence.

I highly recommend this book as a compliment to the DVD by the same name.

Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey