Bruce Lee Movies, We all know Bruce Lee from certain fight scenes from his films. There’s a classic scene of Bruce versus Chuck Norris at the Coliseum in Rome in Enter the Dragon. There is a fight scene with Bruce 5.7 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as tall as 7.2 in “Death Scene”. Who can forget Bruce’s classic ending of running and jumping at his assailant in the final scene of “CHINESE RELATIONSHIP”? With many classic movie scenes framed in memories, let’s explore Bruce Lee’s films.
The first film, “GOLDEN GATE GIRL”, takes us back to 1941. Bruce was only a few months old when this film was filmed in San Francisco, where Bruce was born. There is no karate in this film. Entering this film’s early days into show business gives us an idea that filmmaking was introduced to Bruce at an early age.
Bruce’s first film starring in:
The first Bruce Lee movies “THE KID”, was filmed in Hong Kong in 1950, when Bruce was only 10 years old. In this film you start to see a very friendly and involved child, who plays very well for the camera. Bruce Lee’s father is a famous Chinese actor, who also starred in this film. Bruce Lee also worked with his father on the previous film, “THE BIRTH OF MANKIND”, in 1946.
Bruce moved to San Francisco, California in 1959, then moved to Seattle, Washington to complete his high school education. He then attended the University of Washington, where he enrolled in drama, and also studied philosophy. During this time Bruce practiced Wing Chun Kung Fu which he learned in Hong Kong from Yip Man. Through Bruce’s innovations, he blended traditional kung fu, boxing, wrestling and other forms of fighting, to create his mixed martial arts style, which he called, Jeet Kune Do.
While expanding his practice and teaching of martial arts in the 1960s, Bruce never forgot his background in cinema. This led to several TV roles including,
– “THE GREEN HORNET” and “BATMAN”, in 1966-1977.
– “Bruce was also in “IRONSIDE” in 1967,
– “BLONDIE” in 1969, and
– “HERE COME THE BRIDES” in 1969.
In 1971 Bruce also starred in several episodes of “LONGSTREET”. What’s unique about his LONGSTREET role is that he plays himself, and teaches martial arts forms and martial arts philosophy. In 1971 Lee gave a modern western kung fu show to Warner Brothers, which he of course starred in. Unfortunately, Warner Brothers used the concept of a Shaolin priest wandering the cowboy west and gave the role to David Carradine. At that time, David Carradine had never had any martial arts training. This let Lee know he was limited in what types of films or roles he could play in the US TV and film market. To be honest for Warner Brothers, Lee’s English may be difficult for some in the US market to understand.
Bruce’s first film in the US after 1941’s “GOLDEN GATE GIRL” was “MARLOWE”, starring James Garner,
As a rather brusque private detective. The film is fairly mediocre, with Bruce playing a member of a Chinese gang who uses karate and runs into James Garner’s office. In one scene James Garner fought Bruce Lee and somehow defeated him. This is not a very famous Bruce Lee movie. With Bruce Lee’s film acting career in the US, Bruce travels to Hong Kong and discovers that he is famous from the TV series “GREEN HORNET”. In Hong Kong the TV series is known as “KATO SHOW”. With his popularity in Hong Kong and Asia, Bruce decided to try his hand at the Asian film industry.
In 1971 Bruce Lee starred in “THE BIG BOSS”, which was his first Asian Kung Fu/Martial Arts film. The film was filmed in Thailand, and became popular in Asia. Frankly, I don’t think this is a very good film. The battle wasn’t that good. The only unique part of the film that I remember is the bad guy throwing a knife at Bruce, which Bruce intercepts with a kick, which strikes the opponent with a deadly blow to his body. The plot of the film is based on workers in an ice factory who are conquered by a boss, who also sells drugs. If I hadn’t seen this film, I wouldn’t have missed anything that Bruce Lee represented. I will give one star for historical purposes. Note: in the US market this film is also known as “FISTS OF FURY”
The real turning point in Bruce Lee’s film was “FIST OF FURY” in 1972.
Note: in the US this film is known as “THE CHINESE CONNECTION”. This film is truly a classic. In this film we see more hand-to-hand combat and less sword and knife that we saw in “THE BIG BOSS”. This film is the definitive of a new class and genre of martial arts films. The film’s storyline features Bruce Lee as a student of a kung fu school in the early 1900s. This is the period of time in which Shanghai, in China, has been conquered by European powers, and more recently by Japan. The Japanese held sway over the local police and treated the Chinese like second-class citizens. One day two Japanese came to Bruce Lee’s school and left an insulting sign, mocking the Chinese. Bruce Lee, furious at the insult, takes the sign back to Japanese karate school beating everyone up. Things then escalated between China and Japan with Bruce Lee basically beating up all the Japanese. The final scene makes Japan and the police come to close the Kung Fu school and arrest Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee resisted until the end with a flying kick straight into the weapon facing him. There are several important points here. You have a country or part of a country that has been conquered by a foreign power. The locals resisted. It pitted a good commoner against a boss. My school is better than your karate school. The real storyline here is that Bruce Lee stands up for something, and fights off bullies. This message resonated with many people in third world countries at the time. This is a struggle against oppression. The martial arts in this film are good. The storyline makes it great. If you are a Bruce Lee fan, this is the film you must watch.
With two martial arts films recently completed, and an overwhelming response at the box office, Bruce Lee is now a certified Hong Kong and Asia film star. With the success of this Asian film, Bruce Lee is increasingly recognized as a Hollywood movie star.
Bruce’s next film is “THE WAY OF THE DRAGON” or “RETURN OF THE DRAGON”.
This is a film shot in Rome with an epic scene between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. It is the first film to be written, directed, produced, and starring Bruce Lee. This film is considered a martial arts comedy film. The film was pretty mediocre. The fight scenes in the back of the restaurant show Bruce’s talent with barehand karate, as well as using the bo staff, and nunchucks. Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris were friends and used to work out together. Bruce asks Chuck if he wants to be in the film. Chuck asks who will win the fight between them. Bruce
This fight is classic as it is between two marital artists who respect each other, and vow to fight to the death. This fight scene really speaks more about the essence of what it is and represents a martial artist. It was this film that truly made Chuck Norris’ film career. Good stuff!! I would give this film one star for the storyline and three stars for the epic battle of Bruce and Chuck.
Bruce’s next film was “ENTER THE DRAGON” in 1973.
This film was significant with a production co-produced by the Hollywood film company, Warner Brothers, together with the Hong Kong company, Golden Harvest. Bruce Lee is a writer, editor, and star of this film. “ENTER THE DRAGON” also features John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Robert Wall, Bolo Yueng, and newcomer Jackie Chan. Quality and story-wise, this is a well-produced film, with good video, action, storyline and characters. According to one source, Bruce Lee wanted to show some good parts of Chinese martial arts and culture. The film cost about $850,000, and earned about $25 million in the US and $200 million worldwide. This is a well-crafted film that I give five stars. Due to Bruce Lee’s death in 1973, this was the last film Bruce Lee made before he died.
To recap, Bruce Lee’s film role was when he was early/a few months. He acted in a number of US TV shows and movies, which showed his talent, but could not achieve fame and was a Chinese man. He skyrocketed to stardom in Hong Kong martial arts films, and finally received the Hollywood recognition he deserved. More than an actor Bruce Lee reshaped martial arts, karate films, and became a cultural icon. His popularity today, shows the importance of who he was, and what he gave us. He really was a man before his time. Me and all of us are lucky to see Bruce Lee from his films.