Movie Talk - Bruceploitation Part 6: Return to the Gauntlet of Imitation Movies!

This whole cover is a lie. There are no ninjas, no real Bruce Lee, and no AK-47's!

Well, it’s time for my favorite segment of this month: Bruceploitation! Heck, it was pretty much Bruceploitation week after work. I needed something to watch while exercising since these movies don’t require a lot of attention most of the times. For those who don’t know, Bruceploitation was a phenomenon that occurred after the death of martial arts star, Bruce Lee. Studios were trying to churn out kung-fu movies that had lookalikes in the place of Lee. You had stage names being thrown around like Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Leong, Dragon Lee, and others. Heck, even Jackie Chan was in one of these movies… and it actually wasn’t bad either.

While it is tacky and sometimes shameless, I kinda like this subgenre. You never know what you’ll find since these movies vary in terms of quality. You got some decent ones out there, and you have ones that make you wonder who got drunk that day. I found one last year (Bruce’s Fist of Vengeance) that took the cake in how laughably bad it was. This time, I got another variety of films. While I don’t have anything as weird as “Bruce Lee Fights Dracula and the Godfather along with Popeye,” I do have one with kung-fu little people, bronze Shaolin monks, and some crappy comedy…. I’m doing that one first, ain’t I?

Bruce and Shaolin Bronzemen/King Boxer Part 2

First up is Bruce and the Shaolin Brozemen or King Boxer Part 2. Man, these movies don’t stop it with the multiple titles. It was released in 1977 and stars Huang Jian Long, aka “Bruce Le.” In this movie, “Bruce” plays as Wang Liu. Wang is on the search for a treasure that's been hidden ever since the end of World War 2. Unfortunately, he has to contend with a gang led by one butt-kicking lady. The lady has a lot of henchmen at hand and that includes kung-fu little people (I hope they don’t call them “midgets” anymore), bronze Shaolin monks, a band of knife-wielding ladies, and some random dude. “Bruce” has to all these folk and protect what’s left of his family.

Well, we've officially gone to crazy town! It's like a nightmare version of the Munchkin Town from Wizard of Oz!

Well, I might as well get the worst of the bunch out of the way. If that synopsis gives you any hope, let me dash that out quickly! This is not a good film. There really isn’t much about it I can say that is good, but I’ll try to decipher something. Some of the fight scenes were okay at best. The one with the Bronze Shaolin Monks (who only show up for five minutes here, thanks movie title!) was fine. I was also enjoying Jerry Goldsmith’s Planet of the Apes score being played in the background. Also, the movie has little people doing kung-fu and shooting folk. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be funny or not, but it’s so weird you have no choice but to chuckle at all the weirdness.

As for the bad, well, where do I begin? The story is crap and pretty confusing. The idea is already cliché, but I didn’t even understand it all. I didn’t even get the full gist of what the story until I was almost half-way in. The dubbing also didn’t help with the confusion I already had. What’s worse is that most of the fight scenes were pretty subpar. Even the fights at the end were subpar and that was where I pretty much signed out. “Ah, a character I don’t care about is getting revenge for other characters I didn’t care about? Eh, I’m getting back to these weights!” Overall, it’s not a good film. It’s not even laughably bad like the other Bruce Le outing Bruce’s Fists of Vengeance.

Enter Three Dragons

Next up is Enter Three Dragons and it was released in 1978. It probably should have been called “Enter Two Dragons And a Cool Black Dude” since one dragon stays in the cave all day. Anyway, this one stars Moon Kyoung-seok, aka “Dragon Lee,” Chang Yi-Tao, aka “Bruce Lai,” and another Lee impersonator (Bruce Thai?) who I can’t find for some reason. Man, these things get confusing. It also stars Steve James who I know from I’m Gonna Get You, Sucka!, Lik Cheng (I’ve seen him in other movies), and my favorite henchman, Yang Sze, aka Bolo Yueng. In the movie, Sammy (James) gets into some trouble when diamonds he was smuggling get stolen. He ends up getting help from Min Young (Cheng) and Dragon Hong (Yi-Tao). Meanwhile, Bruce Hong (Dragon Lee) is looking for his brother, Dragon. As for the third Bruce Lee clone, well, he doesn’t do crap. Also, all the villains have sweet mustaches, so I will dub them “The Mustache Crowd.”

All right, Bolo-- wait! Don't even think about killing the black dude! Also, you'll get yor day later this month!

I wouldn’t call this movie good, but it is at least okay. The fight scenes here was nice for the most part. While they did run a little long (a common criticism I have with these movies), they were pretty fun. It was also cool to see Steve James (RIP) get a little butt-kicking in here. I was a little afraid when he ended up fighting Bolo. Also, the movie has Bolo in it, so you know that’ll keep my attention. While the story could get sometimes confusing, it had a couple of twists in it to keep it interesting.

As for the bad, the story could get a little confusing. It mostly had to do with the fact that the dubbing was once again not that great. The villains were unmemorable except for their facial hair style. The movie also had some weird slapstick moments in here. Some of them were okay while others were a little off-putting. I think I ended up seeing main comic relief guy here show up in a couple of other movies on this list. Also, I thought it was weird that they had another Lee impersonator in the film that they did nothing with. I guess they forgot about him like I did. Overall, this was okay in the end.

Deadly Strike/Wanted! Bruce Li: Dead or Alive

Next up is Deadly Strike which was released in 1978. It stars Ho Chung Tao, aka “Bruce Li” and a few other actors who I’ve seen pop up in kung fu movies. The movie is basically a kung-fu version of A Dirty Dozen. In the movie, Tao plays a police captain who’s in charge of bringing bandits to justice. Since the current police in the town aren’t too tough, he enlists the help of some prisoners and promises them pardons for their service. Unfortunately, the bandits put up a major fight. Throughout the movie, their team is cut down one by one until only three are left to face the leader of the gang.

This is probably the best film of this bunch here. While it is no masterpiece, it at least feels sort of competent. Most moves that star Ho Chung Tao tend to be at least decent. The inmates (a widower/killer, a pervert, a knife-wielding killer, and a thief) added some variety to the movie.  There were also some pretty funny moments here. While some of the fight scenes weren’t great, there were some that were pretty nice. I liked Li’s fights against this tag team duo and some evil Shaolin monks. The final fight was also pretty cool.

Okay, this fight really cracked me up. I hope I see these guys at the next MTSU Homecoming! Those were some nice steps!

As for the negatives, there were some “funny” moments that weren’t that good. Some of the slapstick didn’t land for me. Also, a couple of fight scenes didn’t really work like they were supposed to work for me.  It also tries to hit some drama beats but it kinda fails at them. It is an action movie, after all. Overall, there really isn’t anything outrageously bad about this one. It does what it is supposed to do and then some.

Fist of Fury Part 3

Next up is yet another sequel to the original Fist of Fury.  It was released in 1979 and stars Ho Chung Tao in the role of Chen Shen, Chen Zhen’s (Bruce Lee) brother. We also see the interpreter from Fist of Fury in another role. Here, Shen returns home to find that his idiot brother is causing trouble and that his mother has gone blind from grief. He decides to give up fighting for his family, but the local Japanese crime syndicate wants revenge. They get another Chinese student to help frame Chen for crimes in the town. Luckily, he gets some help from a couple of relatives. When Chen finds out that his family was ultimately murdered by the Japanese thugs, he goes on revenge.

I thought this one was fine for the most part. It’s pretty much on par with the previous Fist of Fury movie that also starred Tao. While it’s a sequel, it also feels like a rehash of Fist of Fury and The Big Boss, so it gets a point for some originality. The story is actually kind of heartbreaking when it revolves around Chen’s family and some of Chen’s friends. When Chen finds out what happens to his family, the fight is on since the last 20 minutes of the movie is him taking out the baddies. There’s actually not a lot of constant fighting here and that is a good thing since the story is fine here. What fighting we do get is good for the most part.

There were things I didn’t like about it, though. I thought Chen’s younger brother was a little annoying. He kinda brought the movie down a bit and kinda reminded me of Screech from Saved by the Bell.  As I said above, there isn’t a lot of constant fighting. While I liked that, I do wish we did get a couple more good fights. I also wish we saw Chen fight the jealous student who joined the Japanese in framing him. I wanted that sucka to get his ass (I gotta say it for this dude) whipped! At least the final boss, who doesn’t show up until the end, guts him. It also ends weird which is sometimes a staple for these movies. Overall, this a fine movie, but I think New Fist of Fury (starring Jackie Chan) is probably the best of these sequels.

Ninja Vs. Bruce Lee/Concord of Bruce

My final movie for the day (and one I just finished watching) is Ninja vs Bruce Lee or Concord of Bruce. Neither of these titles make any sense. There is no Bruce Lee, no Ninjas (a guy brandishes a katana but no mask), and I don’t even know what a concord is, but I don’t see that either. This is also another “Bruce Le” movie, so you probably know how this is going to go! In the movie, “Bruce” plays as Bruce Hong, a Hong Kong detective. He’s searching for an antique flask that’s being shipped to different places in Asia. That doesn’t matter, though, since the second half of the movie is non-stop kung-fu action since some of Hong's friends also get killed. Oh yeah, the police are also on the case and kicking all sorts of butt too! It’s a butt-kicking time!

Either these are wanna-be ninjas or the Asian district of the KKK. I don't see torches, so it must be the former!

So, I thought this movie was bad but fun. While the story is pretty poor and confusing, the fight scenes are entertaining. The female cop got kick some major butt here. We got “Bruce” kicking a lot of butt here and you get what’s expected with him. There’s also just a lot of weirdness and it all comes off as unintentionally funny. While we have no ninjas, we got men in suits with white hoods… interesting choice! Also, the movie, is pretty short (76 minutes), so at least it was a short stint! Also, the music was nice for the most part.

As for the bad, well, it’s a “Bruce Le” movie. When it comes to movies starring Huang Jian Long in the main role, they tend to suck. The story is sometimes poor and confusing. While there are a couple of his movies that are decent, most of them tend to bad, and this is no exception. The story’s boring, the dubbing is horrible, and it’s just lousy. While the fighting is good in spots, that’s all it’s got going for it. Overall, while the fighting and weirdness make it a watch, it’s not a good film.

……………………………………..

Well, I gotta end it there. There are only so many BP movies that one man can watch. I was going to another movie (Bruce Lee and I), but that copy was entirely in Cantonese. Also, from what I saw, I can see why this one has been forgotten. Anyway, I’m going to finally go see a certain Spider-movie in the theatres. Next time, I need to see something that is more than decent. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and beware the Shaolin Bronzemen! They might show up for five minutes and do weird stuff, but beware them anyway!