Amazon.co.uk: Bruce Lee - A Warrior's Journey [2001]: Bruce Lee: DVD

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Amazon.co.uk Review
Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey is an engrossing, in-depth 100-minute documentary on the martial artist and film star. It features material from Lee's personal archives and interviews with his wife, Linda Lee Cadwell and students and costars including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Taky Kimura, Bob Wall and Dan Inosanto. The undoubted highlight is the inclusion, for the first time ever, of the complete 34-minute finale to what would have been Lee's final film, Game of Death. Written, directed, produced, choreographed, photographed and designed by Lee, this was intended to be his most personal work and bears little relation to the shoddily assembled film released in cinemas in 1978 under the Game of Death title. Completed by a fitting new score from Wayne Hawkins, the dialogue may be corny but the well-shot action reveals Lee as a master of his art. Also featured are clips from The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury (1972), Way of the Dragon (1972) and Enter the Dragon (1973), as well as historic interview footage and excerpts from Lee's appearances in Marlow (1969) and Longstreet (1971). The only drawback is that almost all the movie clips apart from the Game of Death sequences have been panned and scanned, making it sometimes impossible to see the rapid action. Examining Lee's philosophy and motivation as well as his career, this serious, well crafted documentary presents a rounded portrait of a greatly loved star.

On the DVD: the picture is presented in conventional television 4:3, with the footage from Game of Death letterboxed at its original 2.35:1 ratio within the 4:3 frame, though it would have been better presented separately in anamorphically enhanced form. TheGame of Death footage is in very good condition, though a handful of shots are either slightly out of focus or have not been colour corrected. The sound is essentially mono except for the new score for Game of Death in Dolby Digital 5.1. Extras are a new 18-minute dramatisation of sections of Lee's outline for the never shot parts of Game of Death, though this material does not include any fight sequences and the modern-day settings and 4:3 TV movie style fail to match the original. More interesting is the commentary by director John Little who adds a lot of background, particularly on Lee's relationship with various people seen in the film. The package is completed by a music video set to footage of Lee, a trailer and optional English subtitles and hearing impaired subtitles. --Gary S Dalkin

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

"The Story" Documentary (18 mins)
"Ode To An Artist" Music Video
Feature-Length Audio Commentary by Writer/Producer/Director John Little
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Trailer
Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, English for the hearing impaired
Regular 1.33:1

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