Bruce Lee: The Man & The Myth [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

BRUCE LEE
THE MAN THE MYTH

I know what you are saying; this has to be a documentary right, wrong. This is an entertaining little Bruceploitation biopic, yes that is a real term and produced some very interesting films. now there were some very bad films in this style and there were also good ones, then of course there are the crazy ones ["Clones of Bruce Lee" and "vs Dracula" I am looking at you]. This craze started after Lee's sudden death and was a phenomenon in the 70's, I promise this is real I can already here some people laughing. Now even people who are not Asian or martial arts cinema fans know who Bruce Lee is, and I am sure even they have at least seen some of "Enter The Dragon".

Any way after his death a lot of Bruce Lee look a likes were cast in these films with a few being stand outs, this stars one of them. Staring Ho Chung Tao or as you may know him Bruce Li this film "Li Hsiao Lung chuan chi" or "Bruce Lee True Story" or "Bruce Lee The Man The Myth" is actually pretty. Now the real Bruce could never be replaced but Li is actually good at mimicking the man and making this biopic believable. Not to say this is a flawless film but it is a fun one that portrays a real legend.

The film starts with Lee's days at the University of Washington and basically covers all the major spots from there on, with of course all the street fights included. Now depending on whom you believe this film is either one of the more accurate telling of the man, or it is very fictional. Now of course we know all the major things are true so that is a plus in favor of the film. Now I do know for sure some things are untrue, any real fan will know this as well upon viewing. The thing that mostly raises debate about this film is the street fights and challenges from people Bruce got. Now I will say right now from what I believe all the street fights and challenges really did happen, most have actually been witnessed by many people on the film sets and such. The thing about this film is the fights may be exaggerated, of course every one knows [also from eye witnesses] Bruce crushed these guys but they are a bit longer and such for the film.

Now if that really is the big debate about this film I must say "at least it is entertaining", no matter I still like it. Li did a great job here and this may be his best film along side "Exit the Dragon Enter the Tiger", in that film he is chosen by the Bruce Lee to be is successor. It also helps that the director of this film started out at Shaw Brothers studios and was also a producer and co writer of films like Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master both staring Jackie Chan. This man of course is Ng See-Yuen; he has worked on a number of great films.

So the question is do I recommend this film, the answer simply is yes. This not going to be a ground breaking moment in your life when you see this. Still it is a cool flick to watch during you Bruce Lee marathon, and is one of the better ones in the Bruceploitation movement. So grab it go in with no expectations and basically enjoy, there are worse films in this Bruceploitation biopic style.

Bruce Li stars as Bruce Lee in this classic example of Bruceploitation! While it fails to give ANY real insight into the life of the beloved star and legendary martial artist, it's fairly entertaining with tons of well-choreographed (for the late-70s) fights. While it's hardly the style of Wing Chun and Lee's own Jeet Kune Do being displayed, Li does move similar to the way Lee did in his films.

The film traces a brief moment of his youth before moving to the U.S. where he goes to college in Seattle and works his way south to California, beating up thugs and opponents from rival schools, before being discovered by film makers. It's funny how Bruce goes to Hong Kong to make movies with not so much as a mention of his marriage to Linda (Caldwell) when suddenly she's at his hotel with their two kids! Just about all the moments that defined Bruce Lee to the general public (and even his most devoted fans) are glazed over, or dismissed completely, in favor of him beating up more rivals (mostly on movie sets) and the occasional bully.

Ironically, the movie set challenges depicted in this film, that Bruce so often receives and engages in, was said to happen frequently in real life, as corroborated by the likes of Sammo Hung and Chuck Norris, among many others!

This DVD is distributed by Hollywood Entertainment's "Silver Series" with the unfortunate (but not bad) fullscreen presentation and no language selection; only an English dub. No subtitle options, either. This really is a lot of fun and I would award it 4-stars if not for the fact that it was marketed as a legitimate biography, which it most certainly is not. But if you're not looking for any historical background and enjoy 70s kung fu movies, this is recommended.

1976. aka: Bruce Lee-True Story; Behind Bruce Lee

I ended up with 2 of these,1 by name of Bruce Lee: The Man and the Myth and another by name of Bruce Lee: The True Story!

I enjoy the Actor very much,but dislike the way that the movies of the Actor are titled where you endup with 2 of the movie under 2 the name of different titles!

I now have 2 of the same movies,1 being a very bad VHS dupolicate,another that is very good to be copied from another movie source...Amazon needs to place some stricker provisions on titling the sale of movies,not the 1st time I have experienced this thru them and say it will not be the last!!

I dont think my last review was read by them or posted for that matter!!May be the same way for this review since I have mentioned the copying of VHS and under 2 titled names for the same movie!I really dont give a damn and as for duplicates under 2 different titles,if it happens again they will hear from me wanting both sellers removed for their sloppy misdirections to sell their products!!!!!!

Ahh the good ole days of kung fu cinema at theaters.Not an accurate account but a good movie and Bruce Li is a very good martial artist in his own right.Action is decent.You have to appreciate it for what it is and thats a kung fu flick.

No one can impersonate Bruce Lee like Sammo Hung(Enter Fat Dragon)(Fatty dragon skinny tiger). Bruce Li does a good job though. I really enjoy this film. It's a classic.