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Posted : 7 years, 10 months ago on 21 June 2016 08:03
I actually saw this movie when it was released, I was just about 13-14 years old, and I think the fact that I was younger made me able to enjoy more this movie. Indeed, when I was even younger, I used to watch all the old movies starring Bruce Lee with my father, I thought they were just awesome and it was just really neat to see a biopic about this legendary actor. On top of that, back then, even though I greatly admired the guy, I actually knew little about his life so the movie was already really informative, even if they probably made up a lot of stuff (like all the mystical elements) which is rather inherent to the genre. Furthermore, Jason Scott Lee was a great choice to play the main character and I thought he delivered a decent and convincing performance. Eventually, after all these years, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be so generous if I would re-watch it nowadays but this movie would always remain a guilty pleasure of mine. To conclude, even though it was probably not a masterpiece, I thought it was a decent watch and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Bruce Lee’s life and work.
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Posted : 12 years, 4 months ago on 19 December 2011 04:03
The film begins with a nightmare of Bruce Lee's father (Ric Young), who sees a demon (Sven-Ole Thorsen) in medieval armor that hunts the young Bruce Lee (Duncan Chow). Bruce is shown as a child receiving instruction in traditional Chinese martial arts in a montage that passes quickly through his teenage years in Hong Kong. As a young adult, Bruce (Jason Scott Lee) becomes involved in a fight with British sailors (who are harassing a young Chinese woman) and this results in him having to leave Hong Kong because of the incident. His father suggests that Bruce go to the US, since he was actually born in San Francisco when his father was on a tour there and has a US birth certificate. His father asks Bruce to become a success, so big a success that his name will be famous even back in Hong Kong.
In the US, Bruce starts off working as a dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant, where he becomes involved in a fight with some of the staff, and he fends them off until the restaurant owner (Nancy Kwan) arrives and fires Bruce. As well as severance she gives him an all-purpose loan and convinces him to use the money to invest in a future with education. At a university, he begins to teach martial arts classes, and during these classes he meets Linda Emery (Lauren Holly), and the two begin dating. They eventually marry in defiance of Linda's racist mother. Linda suggests that Bruce open up a martial arts training school, which he does, but some other Chinese martial arts schools feel that he should not train non-Chinese, and they challenge him to fight Johnny Sun (John Cheung) to resolve the issue. Bruce wins the fight but Sun attacks Bruce from behind after the fight is over, resulting in a serious back injury.
While immobilized and recovering Bruce and Linda quarrel of why he did not tell her about this duel, but she furiously rejects his despairing assumption that she will abandon him because of this injury. To give his recovery time purpose, Linda coaxes him to examine the weaknesses of his combat technique, which leads to him developing the fight philosophy of Jeet Kune Do while she helps him write "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do." During this period Linda gives birth to their first child, Brandon, and he is the key for the couple to reconcile with Linda's mother (Michael Learned). Later at Ed Parker's martial arts tournament, Bruce has a new face-off with Johnny Sun, this time in a 60-second demonstration of his new fighting style. Johnny Sun appears to have the upper hand in the first half of the match but then Bruce recovers and ends up kicking Sun over the top rope.
After the match, Bruce meets Bill Krieger (Robert Wagner) and is hired for The Green Hornet TV show. Bruce and Bill work together and create the idea for Kung Fu. At a cast party, Linda says she is now pregnant with their second child, Shannon. Shortly afterwards, there is an announcement for the cancellation of The Green Hornet. The show Kung Fu makes it onto television, but starring David Carradine and not Bruce.
Bruce travels back home for his father's funeral and whilst in the country is soon approached by Philip Tan (Kay Tong Lim), a Hong Kong film producer. He says that Bruce is well-known in Hong Kong and that The Green Hornet show is called The Kato Show there. Bruce begins work on The Big Boss. In the filming of the final scene, set in an ice factory, the brother of Johnny Sun attacks Bruce, wanting revenge. Bruce successfully defends himself against the attack. The Big Boss is a success and Bruce makes several more films – working as actor, director and editor. This causes a rift between Bruce and Linda, as the latter wishes to return to the States. Bill Krieger shows up, and although he knows that Bruce is still angry with him, he offers him a chance to work on a big-budget Hollywood movie, which Bruce decides to do, particularly as Linda feels she must return. On the 32nd day of shooting Enter the Dragon, Bruce is embroiled in a final battle with his childhood demon. At the end, he decides to walk off of the set and go home to see his family. The film ends during a shot of the final scene of Enter the Dragon, with a voice-over by Linda informing the audience of his death before the movie's release, and her preferred choice to discuss his life, not his death.
In the US, Bruce starts off working as a dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant, where he becomes involved in a fight with some of the staff, and he fends them off until the restaurant owner (Nancy Kwan) arrives and fires Bruce. As well as severance she gives him an all-purpose loan and convinces him to use the money to invest in a future with education. At a university, he begins to teach martial arts classes, and during these classes he meets Linda Emery (Lauren Holly), and the two begin dating. They eventually marry in defiance of Linda's racist mother. Linda suggests that Bruce open up a martial arts training school, which he does, but some other Chinese martial arts schools feel that he should not train non-Chinese, and they challenge him to fight Johnny Sun (John Cheung) to resolve the issue. Bruce wins the fight but Sun attacks Bruce from behind after the fight is over, resulting in a serious back injury.
While immobilized and recovering Bruce and Linda quarrel of why he did not tell her about this duel, but she furiously rejects his despairing assumption that she will abandon him because of this injury. To give his recovery time purpose, Linda coaxes him to examine the weaknesses of his combat technique, which leads to him developing the fight philosophy of Jeet Kune Do while she helps him write "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do." During this period Linda gives birth to their first child, Brandon, and he is the key for the couple to reconcile with Linda's mother (Michael Learned). Later at Ed Parker's martial arts tournament, Bruce has a new face-off with Johnny Sun, this time in a 60-second demonstration of his new fighting style. Johnny Sun appears to have the upper hand in the first half of the match but then Bruce recovers and ends up kicking Sun over the top rope.
After the match, Bruce meets Bill Krieger (Robert Wagner) and is hired for The Green Hornet TV show. Bruce and Bill work together and create the idea for Kung Fu. At a cast party, Linda says she is now pregnant with their second child, Shannon. Shortly afterwards, there is an announcement for the cancellation of The Green Hornet. The show Kung Fu makes it onto television, but starring David Carradine and not Bruce.
Bruce travels back home for his father's funeral and whilst in the country is soon approached by Philip Tan (Kay Tong Lim), a Hong Kong film producer. He says that Bruce is well-known in Hong Kong and that The Green Hornet show is called The Kato Show there. Bruce begins work on The Big Boss. In the filming of the final scene, set in an ice factory, the brother of Johnny Sun attacks Bruce, wanting revenge. Bruce successfully defends himself against the attack. The Big Boss is a success and Bruce makes several more films – working as actor, director and editor. This causes a rift between Bruce and Linda, as the latter wishes to return to the States. Bill Krieger shows up, and although he knows that Bruce is still angry with him, he offers him a chance to work on a big-budget Hollywood movie, which Bruce decides to do, particularly as Linda feels she must return. On the 32nd day of shooting Enter the Dragon, Bruce is embroiled in a final battle with his childhood demon. At the end, he decides to walk off of the set and go home to see his family. The film ends during a shot of the final scene of Enter the Dragon, with a voice-over by Linda informing the audience of his death before the movie's release, and her preferred choice to discuss his life, not his death.
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