Well, the Kato costume finally shows up on someone... I'm not counting that "documentary" either.
Well, it’s that time. Every January, I delve into the archives
of kung fu movies and look for ones that fit within the phenomenon known as
Bruceploitation. Now, I’ve explained what this is in previous posts, but if
this is your first one, here’s a quick description. When Bruce Lee died in
1973, studios were trying to cash in on the craze. They’d churn out movies
about his life, revamps of his previous movies, really weird movies, and movies
that centered on his death. You had guys with stage names like Bruce Li, Bruce
Le, Dragon Lee, and Bruce Lea kicking butt and taking names.
It’s a weird subgenre and I think I’m almost done. I’ve
found some really bad ones, but there have been some nice gems here. When I do
eventually end this segment, I’ll list the best ones off. I’m not there yet,
though. Today, I got six movies for this post. I was going to do seven, but I
think I had enough of these movies for now. I even got one that actually has no
Bruce impersonator, though I don’t know if it makes it good or not. I also have
one that has “Bruce Lee” fight “Superman.” Guess which one I’m going to talk about first.
Bruce Lee Against Superman
Bruce Lee Against Supermen or Superdragon vs. Superman was
released in 1975 and stars Ho Chung Tao, aka “Bruce Li.” In the movie, Tao
plays as Kato… sort of. It turns out that he and the Green Hornet (in matching costumes)
fight crime. Kato gets called into action when a scientist creates a secret
formula that should help with the world’s food crisis. Unfortunately, a
criminal organization is after the man and his daughter. While Kato is on the
case, the robbers turn to their another group of criminals led by the
mustache-laded Superman. Will Kato stop Superman and this other group of
robbers? Just guess.
Well, I think we've found the worst version of Superman. I wonder if someone will try to CG his mustache out as well.
While this one was pretty out there, I didn’t like it that
much. That’s actually a shock because Tao’s movies actually tend to be pretty
decent. It was cool to see him actually
wear the Kato costume from THe Green Hornet. Unfortunately, he only wears it
for one scene. Afterwards, he and his partner are seen wearing something
similar to the old school Green Lantern’s costume. It’s weird. The fight scenes are good for the most part.
We even get a pretty funny cat fight between the scientist’s daughter and Kato’s
girlfriend. Of course, Kato’s fight with “Superman” wasn’t half-bad.
As for the negatives, this movie is really slow. The first
half has two long chase scenes, one by foot and one car chase. I was like, “Get
on with it” after a while. Also, the story really doesn’t have much of anything
to it. I could probably call this “Bruce Lee V. Superman: Dawn of Snores.” Also,
while I did like most of the fight scenes, there were some that could drag on
for a bit. Other than these things, it was fine. I do have to say that’s
probably my least favorite “Bruce Li” movie, though.
Bruce’s Deadly Fingers
Next up, we’re heading to “Bruce Le” territory. Bruce’s Deadly
Fingers was released in 1976 and stars Kin Lung Huang, aka “Bruce Le.” It also
stars Michael Chan, Nora Miao, and has a small cameo by my favorite henchman, Yng
Sze (Bolo!). In the movie, Bruce Wong (yeah that’s his name) returns to Hong
Kong to reconnect with family. What he doesn’t know is that there’s a gangster
who is looking for Bruce Lee’s finger technique book. The gangster has his
sister and friend kidnapped, so Bruce has to go on the warpath and save them.
Also, two other fighters are looking for the book and help take down the
gangster.
Hmm... I don't see it.
When it comes to movies featuring “Bruce Le”, they’re not
always good. I think it’s the exception that one of his movies is good. Deadly
Fingers (hilarious title) isn’t one of the good ones, but it’s not the worst of
the bunch. The fight scenes are pretty nice for the most part. The story is
also not that bad. Yeah, I didn’t like “Bruce”, but I did like the other two
dudes chasing down the book. We also get probably one of the funniest endings
for these movies. Let’s just say that Bruce gets to use all of the finger
techniques… maybe I should reword that.
Hmm... I think I've found two cooler characters than our main one.
Of course, I still got problems with it. The movie gets a little
exploitative at points with the women. I’m just letting you know now if you do
check this out. As I said before, I didn’t like “Bruce” here. He was kinda an
ass, ya know? Anyway, it also could get slow at times. Also, not all the fight
scenes were that good. You had some that overstayed their welcome. Overall, it’s
not the worst of Bruce Le’s movies, but it’s not the best either. It’s also not
the only one that talks about Bruce Lee’s finger book… where did that even come
from?
Kung Fu Fever
Since most of these BP movies were all about Bruce Lee’s legendary
finger book, I might as well get the other one out of the way. Kung Fu Fever was
released in 1979 and stars Mun Kyong-Suk,
aka “Dragon Lee.” It also stars another actor I’ll get to in a few minutes: Ron
Van Clief. In the movie, Dragon is one of Bruce Lee’s students that is on the search
for his deceased master’s hidden book. He’s not the only one since quite a few
characters are after it. A few mob bosses are after the book and one of them
hires an assassin (Clief) to find the book. Also, a female biker is on the search
for the book.
Like the last “Let’s Find Bruce’s Finger Book” movie, this
one was also a bit of a chore to watch. At least this one was trying to be more
of a comedy in places. It knew it wasn’t taking itself too seriously at points.
I don’t have a gif of it, but Clief pulls this one move on this guy that cracked
me up. Dragon (I never caught his name) was pretty cool here. His fight scenes
and Clief’s fight scenes were pretty good. There was also this female biker (Amy
Chum) who was also pretty adept at fighting.
Of course, it has it’s problems. It did get pretty confusing
with all these different groups running around. Also, at the beginning we get
some archive Bruce Lee footage and some footage of the funeral. The way it was
handled here was one-part offensive and one-part funny. I actually found a copy
on YouTube that cut that footage out, so good for that person. Also, this was
another one that could drag a bit. In the end, I had a fine time with it, but
it’s not Dragon’s best.
Challenge of the Tiger
Next up is another “Bruce Le” feature. This American/Hong
Kong/Italian movie was released in 1980 and stars Kin Lung Huang. It also stars Richard Harrison and had Bolo in
another small role. In it, Huang Lung (Bruce Le) and Richard Cannon(Harrison)
are two CIA agents. They’re tasked in trying to keep a sperm-killing formula
from getting in the hands of some terrorists. While Lung is kicking butt and
Cannon is… using his “cannon”, a group of Vietnamese criminals want the formula
for themselves. They try to get both groups to take each other out. All of this
results in a lot of fights, some naked women, and a whole lotta death.
Our star... and producer... and writer.
I think I found another Bruce Le movie that’s just fine. I
originally saw this as a review under Brandon’s Cult Movie reviews. This was
trying so hard to be a James Bond ripoff. Heck, Richard Harrison, or “Dick
Cannon” was trying his best to out do Roger Moore. While the story was… what it
was, I can say that it was at least entertaining. The fight scenes were fine.
Even Richard Harrison gets to kick some butt, but he literally disappears at
the end of this to let “Bruce” do his thing. The dude gets to fight a bull and
wins! You at least got to see that part!
Okay, this was pretty hilarious.
As for the dislikes, I didn’t know that a sperm-killing
formula would be such a great evil. This story literally moves from place to
place with no breathing room. If fights and women are all you want, you might
like it. As for me, “eh.” Also, Bolo gets taken out in the lamest way possible.
Boo, I say! Also, there are naked women here, so be warned. That’s not a
dislike, but it’s gotta be said. The first few minutes of the movie might excite
some dudes out there. I saw that one of the writers for this is literally named
“Poon Fan”, so I should’ve expected this. Overall, I was entertained by it. It’s
not the best of the bunch, but at least it has something to look at. If you are
curious, check out Brandon’s review for more.
Champ Vs. Champ
Next up is this 1980 feature, and it stars Dragon Lee in the
lead role. It’s less Bruceplotation and more a straight-up kung fu feature. In
the movie, Dragon is Lee Wong, a skilled fighter who’s the son of a rebel. His
father and his fiancee’s father run afoul of the villain, Master Kai. Lee’s
father is killed and his fiancee’s father is captured. As for Lee, his leg gets
poisoned, so a doctor has to amputate it up to the knee. While Lee is
depressed, his fiancée is able to get him out of his funk by helping him build a
metal leg. When he heals up, Lee goes on a path of revenge.
The Black Dragon’s Revenge
Finally, we got The Black Dragon’s Revenge, and it stars Ron
Van Clief in the lead role. Even though it doesn’t involve a Bruce Lee clone, I
think it still counts in the subgenre since it does involve our main character
investigating Bruce Lee’s death. In the movie, Clief is the Black Dragon, a
skilled martial artist. He’s sent to Hong Kong to investigate the death of
Bruce Lee. While he and his sidekick, Charles Bonet, on the case, another group
of fighters investigate his death as well. Meanwhile, a group of criminals try
to kill both groups.
This weird mixture of Bruceploitation and Blaxploitation wasn’t
half bad. Ron Van Clief was actually pretty cool in the lead role. It was also
nice to see that Jim Kelly wasn’t the only black dude kicking butt and taking
names in these movies. He and his sidekick, played by Charles Bonet, worked well
together. The fight scenes were pretty good. It was also interesting seeing the
criminals whittle down both groups of investigators down to just a handful.
Oh yeah, there's some blackface here... it had to show up eventually... meh.
As for the negatives, this movie can get a little convoluted
with these different groups. There are times where it does get a little slow and
the dubbing isn’t that great. They also don’t come out and say what killed
Bruce Lee. His death was a bit of a mystery at the time, and a lot of what possibilities
were thrown at the screen. Also, this one kinda felt a little too weird since
this was released a couple of years after Lee’s death. Apparently, this movie
did tick someone off because the copy I have has the mention of Bruce Lee’s
name muted out. We only get to hear “Bruce” at points, but you know who they’re
talking about. Overall, I did like this one even.
……………………………………………………………………..
In the end, these were a bunch of mixed movies. The whole subgenre
is like that, but these definitely had moments of good and bad in them. I think
I’ve already the best and worse the subgenre has to offer, so it looks like I’m
just getting the mediocre ones now. I know I’m nearing the end of this venture,
but I don’t know where it’ll end just yet. For now, I’m off to bed. I need to
finish that last Rush Hour movie and I’ll be done. For now, Peace, God Bless, and
be careful out there.
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