Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad, but this film is not about Bruce Lee at all, October 2, 2003
It must be stated at the outset that this film has nothing whatsoever to do with Bruce Lee. The star of the movie is actually Bruce Le, one of several Bruce Lee wannabe martial arts actors who followed in the wake of the true legend's shocking death. Furthermore, this is by no means a biographical account of any part of Bruce Lee's life, despite the title and the blurb on the box cover which says "Bruce Le portrays his tragic namesake." The only tie of any kind with the real Bruce Lee comes in the opening scene, wherein an astrologer sees a meteor and makes a prediction concerning the young baby of the couple sitting beside him, after which a shot of the real Bruce Lee appears. The fact that the film is not in truth about Bruce Lee at all comes very soon after the opening credits, though. In and of itself, putting aside its misleading title and description, The Legend of Bruce Lee does have legs to stand on, albeit sometimes rather shaky ones. Bruce comes across as something of a juvenile delinquent who is constantly getting into fights (not always with good results). In an effort to improve his skills, he begins taking instruction in the art of Wing Chun kung fu, which includes some training in the art of blindfolded boxing (this comes after Bruce gets kicked around pretty convincingly by a blind man on the streets). After a time, he sort of abandons this type of fighting and begins training in the snake fist style. All of this training comes in handy because he can't walk a block without being attacked by a gang of kung fu thuds. The plot, what there is of it, is actually rather annoying, not to mention loosely tied together. The only real plot point comes when one of Bruce's friends is murdered and Bruce decides to avenge his friend's death. There are some comical elements to this film, most of which revolve around a young man whom I would characterize as the Curly Howard of the Far East; he is little more than a buffoon whose antics become less funny as the movie progresses. The remainder of the storyline needs no description because it is only a means to an end. This film is really all about the fight scenes, and there are plenty of them. While these fights can be rather fun to watch, they definitely look choreographed (whereas the fights of the real Bruce Lee were quite realistic). One nice surprise comes in the form of Kien Shih's role in the film; Bruce Lee fans will recognize him instantly as the man who played the evil Han (the villain with the claw) in Enter the Dragon. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of this film, though, is the big snake scene. After his snake fist kung fu master tells Bruce to study the actual movements of a snake, he wastes no time assembling a trio of impressively dangerous-looking serpents upon which to practice his moves in concert with their reactions to his extremely annoying feints and pseudo-attacks against them. Fans of the legendary Bruce Lee really have no reason to watch The Legend of Bruce Lee. Martial arts fans, though, may well get some enjoyment out of watching it for the simple reason that it features a very significant amount of fighting.
|
|
|
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Legend Is In FORCE!!!, May 30, 2001
Kung fu movies don't get better than this shining star of an example!!! A fictionalized account of the Little Dragon's life probably doesn't do anything to enhance historical facts, but it's sure a lot of fun to see the young Bruce get into one fight after another. Hell, the copyright info hasn't cleared the screen and we already have Bruce getting into a fight with a bunch of thugs. Of course, the real beauty of this film comes from the over the top cheesy dialogue, awful music, cameos by famous martial arts cinema figures (Bolo Yueng, Dr. Claw from Enter the Dragon, etc.), excellent fights in a mutltitude of styles and Bruce's dad constantly telling him: "You've been fighting again!!! But you're kung fu's not good enough!!!" Noteworthy fights include a fight with the master of Blindfold Style king fu, a fight in a seedy motel, fights at various martial arts schools and good old street fights with whips and chains. Really good stuff. This movies availability on DVD should be viewed as the Godsend it is!!! I ought to put together a list of the unbelievable dialogue in this film. Some of the quotes are too good to be left in the film when you can be using them on your unsuspecting friends!
|
|
|
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not Bruce's Life...BUT..., January 30, 2005
This is yet another Bruceploitation flick that I choose not to give a whole paragraph to, HOWEVER, while the film has little or nothing to do with Bruce's SHORT but TRAGIC life as suggested by the cover, Bruce Le does prove himself to be quite a martial arts entertainer...and I'm convinced that between him and Bruce Li, he bares the strongest resemblance to Bruce Lee in appearance, physical conditioning, and speed. However, while the movie is fast-paced and features everyone from Bolo to Hahn from Enter the Dragon...there's a little too much fiction and THIS AINT NO BRUCE LEE STORY...it pretty much attempts to dramatize his urban youth in Hong Kong. But again, it's a keeper for the action alone.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
DVD ~ Bruce Lee
DVD ~ Bruce Lee
DVD ~ Bruce Lee
DVD ~ Bruce Lee
DVD ~ Bruce Lee
