Search - Bruce Lee: The Man and the Myth on DVD

FUN BRUCEPLOITATION BIOPIC

fmwaalex | Austin, TX USA | 10/12/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"BRUCE LEE
THE MAN THE MYTH

I know what you are saying; this has to be a documentary right, wrong. This is an entertaining little Bruceploitation biopic, yes that is a real term and produced some very interesting films. now there were some very bad films in this style and there were also good ones, then of course there are the crazy ones ["Clones of Bruce Lee" and "vs Dracula" I am looking at you]. This craze started after Lee's sudden death and was a phenomenon in the 70's, I promise this is real I can already here some people laughing. Now even people who are not Asian or martial arts cinema fans know who Bruce Lee is, and I am sure even they have at least seen some of "Enter The Dragon".

Any way after his death a lot of Bruce Lee look a likes were cast in these films with a few being stand outs, this stars one of them. Staring Ho Chung Tao or as you may know him Bruce Li this film "Li Hsiao Lung chuan chi" or "Bruce Lee True Story" or "Bruce Lee The Man The Myth" is actually pretty. Now the real Bruce could never be replaced but Li is actually good at mimicking the man and making this biopic believable. Not to say this is a flawless film but it is a fun one that portrays a real legend.

The film starts with Lee's days at the University of Washington and basically covers all the major spots from there on, with of course all the street fights included. Now depending on whom you believe this film is either one of the more accurate telling of the man, or it is very fictional. Now of course we know all the major things are true so that is a plus in favor of the film. Now I do know for sure some things are untrue, any real fan will know this as well upon viewing. The thing that mostly raises debate about this film is the street fights and challenges from people Bruce got. Now I will say right now from what I believe all the street fights and challenges really did happen, most have actually been witnessed by many people on the film sets and such. The thing about this film is the fights may be exaggerated, of course every one knows [also from eye witnesses] Bruce crushed these guys but they are a bit longer and such for the film.

Now if that really is the big debate about this film I must say "at least it is entertaining", no matter I still like it. Li did a great job here and this may be his best film along side "Exit the Dragon Enter the Tiger", in that film he is chosen by the Bruce Lee to be is successor. It also helps that the director of this film started out at Shaw Brothers studios and was also a producer and co writer of films like Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master both staring Jackie Chan. This man of course is Ng See-Yuen; he has worked on a number of great films.

So the question is do I recommend this film, the answer simply is yes. This not going to be a ground breaking moment in your life when you see this. Still it is a cool flick to watch during you Bruce Lee marathon, and is one of the better ones in the Bruceploitation movement. So grab it go in with no expectations and basically enjoy, there are worse films in this Bruceploitation biopic style.
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