Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave (aka The Stranger aka Visitor of America) (1976)

[Killer Meteor]

Ooh, the KOFA had a 35mm print!

[One Armed Boxer]

*Spoiler?* Korean actor Bae Su Choen (villain in the Bruce Le movies shot in Korea) plays a good guy.

 

Hey Jesse, just curious, can you provide a list of the movies Bruce Le made in Korea?  I'd be interested to check them out, as I think I've only seen his Filipino cheapies in terms of his Asian movies shot outside of HK. 

 

Ooh, the KOFA had a 35mm print!

 

Yeah, and best of all is that it would be a 35mm print in its original Korean language, original opening credit sequence, and no Bruce Lee jumping out of a grave rubbish!

[Killer Meteor]

 

 

 

Yeah, and best of all is that it would be a 35mm print in its original Korean language, original opening credit sequence, and no Bruce Lee jumping out of a grave rubbish!

Hey, that's the only reason I watched the damn thing in the first place!

 

Assuming the 1976 release date is accurate, the Korean version won't have the atmospheric music cue that I love, as that was taken from a 1977 film, Rollercoaster. 

[ThunderScore]

[DragonClaws]

 

It looks like Dragon Lee on the Bat Out Of Hell inspired poster artwork. The bat like creature with one of the actors faces pasted on is priceless.

 

This is the cover art they used for the VHS release I had as a teenager.

Edited November 13, 2015 by DragonClaws

[ThunderScore]

 

Hey, that's the only reason I watched the damn thing in the first place!

 

Assuming the 1976 release date is accurate, the Korean version won't have the atmospheric music cue that I love, as that was taken from a 1977 film, Rollercoaster. 

I have that Lalo Schifirin soundtrack!

[Killer Meteor]

 

It looks like Dragon Lee on the Bat Out Of Hell inspired poster artwork. The bat like creature with one of the actors faces pasted on is priceless.

 

This is the cover art they used for the VHS release I had as a teenager.

That UK double bill tape is funny. On the back, the stills for Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth are from Tower of Death, and the plot synopsis for Bruce Lee Fights Back From The Grave (starring Dan Inosanto according to the box!) is for Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger!

 

Still have the tape, actually!

[Jesse Smooth]

 

Hey Jesse, just curious, can you provide a list of the movies Bruce Le made in Korea?  I'd be interested to check them out, as I think I've only seen his Filipino cheapies in terms of his Asian movies shot outside of HK. 

 

 

Yeah, and best of all is that it would be a 35mm print in its original Korean language, original opening credit sequence, and no Bruce Lee jumping out of a grave rubbish!

Bruce Le's Korean-made Movies

Enter the Game of Death

Bruce and Shaolin Kung Fu

Bruce and Shaolin Kung Fu II

Return of Red Tiger

My Name Called Bruce

Bruce and Dragon Fist

[DragonClaws]

 

That UK double bill tape is funny. On the back, the stills for Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth are from Tower of Death, and the plot synopsis for Bruce Lee Fights Back From The Grave (starring Dan Inosanto according to the box!) is for Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger!

 

Still have the tape, actually!

 

They also used the G.O.D 2 pictures for the stand alone release of Bruce Lee The Man The Myth too. They even censored the cover changing Bruce Lees nunchaku into a single Kali stick. You are right Dan Inosanto's name being listed on the cover, I was talking about that recently on chat.

Edited November 16, 2015 by DragonClaws

[AlbertV]

Gotta love the music in the trailer and that look on the cab driver's face!

 

 

 

[Secret Executioner]

LOVE that music in the trailer. So epic.   

[ThunderScore]

IIRC, that's Sho Kosugi fighting Jun Chong in that trailer.

[DragonClaws]

IIRC, that's Sho Kosugi fighting Jun Chong in that trailer.

You might be onto something there ThunderScore. He may have been working under a different name?.

[One Armed Boxer]

On 11/17/2015 at 6:24 AM, ThunderScore said:

IIRC, that's Sho Kosugi fighting Jun Chong in that trailer.

 

On 11/17/2015 at 7:24 AM, DragonClaws said:

You might be onto something there ThunderScore. He may have been working under a different name?.

 

Yeah, it's Sho Kosugi that's fighting Jun Chong....here's another rare pic - 

[DragonClaws]

13 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

 

 

Yeah, it's Sho Kosugi that's fighting Jun Chong....here's another rare pic - 

 

Thanks for posting this, and well spotted ThunderScore.

[lungfei]

man i love this movie damn shame bruce k.l lea wasnt used in more movies, guy was funny as hell.

also a french wide copy of this out there minus the opening intro added by the u.s distributors would be great to get a custom with english dub.

Edited January 12, 2016 by lungfei

[AlbertV]

On 1/11/2016 at 7:43 PM, lungfei said:

man i love this movie damn shame bruce k.l lea wasnt used in more movies, guy was funny as hell.

Bruce KL Lea was in more movies, under his real name of Jun Chong. His last appearance was as himself in Phillip Rhee's comeback film Underdog Kids in 2015.

[mpm74]

In the new documentary That's Bruceploitation (included in the 40th Anniversary of Fist of Fear, Touch of Death), director Jim Markovic (the filmmaker behind The Real Bruce Lee) takes credit for "directing" (his own words) Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave. I'm going to assume that it was only the Trailer he directed. Unless "directing" was the credit given to someone responsible who played a part in "re-packaging" the film for a more marketable product. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by mpm74

[Killer Meteor]

The intro of "Bruce" jumping out of the grave was likely directed by him.

[Killer Meteor]

On 6/19/2010 at 10:46 AM, Killer Meteor said:

Now, here's a mystery.

 

The Korean version, Vistor To America, was released in 1976, likely too early for the Rollercoaster and Rocky cues to have been avaliable. The English version was dubbed in Hong Kong and, despite the visual evidence, refers to its Korean characters as Chinese.

 

So...was there Hong Kong or Taiwanese backing in the film - hence the music cues being later, and the possibilty that the dubbers were working off a Chinese version of the film?

 

God...I love this movie, its so atmospheric and eerie (most likely unintentionally so!)

 

OK, something else makes the film's dating confusing. At one point, a cinema is shown playing DRIVE-IN MASSACRE, which according to IMDB opened in LA December 1976, far too late for the April 1976 opening claimed on the KOFA for Visitor to America.

[One Armed Boxer]

16 hours ago, Killer Meteor said:

At one point, a cinema is shown playing DRIVE-IN MASSACRE, which according to IMDB opened in LA December 1976, far too late for the April 1976 opening claimed on the KOFA for Visitor to America.

The flipside of that coin is - a cinema is shown in 'Visitor to America' showing 'Drive-In Massacre', meaning the IMDB date of a December 1976 release in LA can't be right.