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 solely labored on 5 martial arts films 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, Means of the Dragon, and Enter the Dragon. He additionally headlined The Sport of Loss of life, however because 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 particularly (Fist of Fury), has been the topic of the overwhelming majority of these diversifications. High quality varies with regards to Bruce Lee sequels, as some have been outright horrible, working example is Sport of Loss of life II, a movie that went too far in recycling previous Bruce Lee footage.
Nonetheless, there have been some entertaining variations of previous Bruce Lee tales which can be value 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 movie. Like the unique, it entails the primary hero working at an ice manufacturing unit. However in contrast to most movies within the Bruceploitation style, its star is not a Bruce Lee clone, however Lo Lieh, an actor creditably known as “the best actor” within the martial arts style 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 one of the best a part of the film, which was sadly slowed down by poor enhancing and a weak story. It does, nevertheless, boast some well-choreographed battle 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 traditional. It connects to the unique by way of the return of its director, Lo Wei, just a few members of its forged, together with the feminine lead, Nora Miao, and the theme of Chinese language combating towards Japanese oppression.
Made earlier than Jackie Chan had discovered his id 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 duplicate a masterpiece. As a substitute, all it affords is high quality martial arts choreography.
Means Of The Dragon 2
Opposite to what the title suggests, Means of the Dragon 2 a.ka. Bruce Le’s Best 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 scholar whose faculty will get embroiled in a violent battle with Japanese gangsters.
Means of the Dragon 2 simply avoids a sluggish begin and rapidly jumps into the motion. The plot is skinny, however the storytelling is clearly not meant to be the attraction of the Brueploitation flick; in fact, it is true energy is its battle sequences, which do effectively to display Bruce Li’s capabilities as a fighter. The large brawl within the last half-hour alone makes Means of the Dragon 2 an gratifying expertise.
Return Of The Fist: Legend Of Chen Zhen
Through the years, a number of actors have performed Chen Zhen, the Bruce Lee character created for Fist of Fury. Donnie Yen joined the checklist 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 neglect that Legend of Chen Zhen has something to do with a Bruce Lee film, and even Fist of Legend, for that matter. That stated, it does ship an intriguing vigilante interval piece, full with some spectacular battle scenes for Donnie Yen.
Fist Of Fury Half II
Arguably among the best Bruceploitation films ever made, Fist of Fury Half II is a way more worthy successor to the unique than Jackie Chan or Bruce Le’s remakes. The Bruce Li-led martial arts gem benefited vastly from the involvement of Lee Tso-nam, whose directing abilities yielded an thrilling martial arts journey, supported by an lively efficiency from Bruce Li.
In terms of motion, Fist of Fury Half II packs the punch that one would count on from an old-school Nineteen Seventies kung fu film, nevertheless 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.
Fist Of Legend
Moving into a task as soon as performed by Bruce Lee and never failing to fulfill expectations looks like an inconceivable activity, nevertheless 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 manner 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 determination by infusing its characters and world with nice depth. A greater give attention to storytelling made Chen Zhen straightforward to root for as he fought for his individuals towards the Japanese. Figuring out the tragic ending given to Bruce Lee’s Chen Zhen helped create a better sense of suspense because the movie raced towards its exhillerating climax.
Making it even higher was the top-notch motion choreography from Yuen Woo-ping and the wonderful martial abilities of Jet Li. All issues thought of, the remake of Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury is without doubt one of the finest martial arts films of all time.