A Look at BRUCE'S FIST OF VENGEANCE & THEY CALL HIM BRUCE LEE

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BRUCE'S FIST OF VENGEANCE Directed by Bill James                                                                              THEY CALL HIM BRUCE LEE Directed by Jun Posadas

Watched both of these Kinavesa productions, which may have been shot back to back and discovered that they both shared footage as well as plot elements. Both films start out with a phone call announcing Jack Lee, Bruce Lee's Best Student and/or Trustee of His Estate (depending on which film) is arriving from Hong Kong with a book by Bruce Lee of either his Secret Jeet Kune Do or Ninjitsu Fighting Techniques (again, depending on the film):

Jack Lee studying Bruce Lee's Secret Jeet Kune Do/Ninjitsu Techniques Book and trading kicks with Don Gordon Bell

According to IMDb, footage from BRUCE’S FIST OF VENGEANCE also turns up in THEY CALL HIM BRUCE LEE, namely a rather vigorous hotel room fight room showcasing Jack Lee kicking the crap out of Don Gordon Bell and several Bad Guys. After watching both films, it looks more like the other way around. In THEY CALL HIM BRUCE LEE, after losing the afore mentioned hotel room scuffle, Don Gordon Bell and his cohorts get reamed out and smacked around by Main Bad Guy Richard Olney. Meanwhile, after the same fight in BRUCE'S FIST OF VENGEANCE, Main Bad Guy Romano Kristoff vents his spleen solely on Don Gordon Bell in a darkly printed scene with very little discernible detail:

Richard Olney in THEY CALL HIM BRUCE LEE and Romano Kristoff in BRUCE'S FIST OF VENGEANCE

Both films pair Jack Lee with their main protagonist, tho in BRUCE'S FIST OF VENGEANCE Jack Lee (an impressive fighter, to me at least) drives a good portion of the film, until nominal star Bruce Le takes more of an active role in the proceedings leading up to a climactic GAME OF DEATH (kinda sorta) Big Fight. In THEY CALL HIM BRUCE LEE, Jack's only in the first half of the film to meet, train and share one fight alongside star Rey Malonzo:

Bruce Le, Jack Lee and Rey Malonzo

Prominently featured in the cast of BRUCE'S FIST OF VENGEANCE is Ken Watanabe as one of Romano Kristoff's henchmen who also happens to be a ninja - not to be confused with the more well known actor who recently encountered Godzilla:

Ken Watanabe

Once Jack Lee is out of the picture, Rey Malonzo dons the familiar Yellow Jumpsuit and it becomes clear why THEY CALL HIM BRUCE LEE:

Rey Malonzo

There's probably more to say about these films, but the goal of this thread (at least to start) was to point out certain similarities and maybe clarify some misinformation. IMO, BRUCE'S FIST OF VENGEANCE was the more ambitious of the two. THEY CALL HIM BRUCE LEE seems like more of a domestic release, with less action and more emphasis on comedic elements. Both films have l-o-o-o-ng final battle sequences. It's only speculation, but BRUCE'S FIST OF VENGEANCE has English dubbing rife with Pinoy accents while THEY CALL HIM BRUCE LEE's English version leads me to believe it may have originated from Hong Kong - Rey Malonzo sounds like he was dubbed by Stuart Smith, whom IIRC dubbed him in one or more IFD Ninja Cut and Paste titles.

BRUCE’S FIST OF VENGEANCE has been a home video staple for decades. Video Gems released it on VHS and there have been several DVD releases. THEY CALL HIM BRUCE LEE was released on VHS in Canada by CIC (with Bruce Le overshadowing his namesake on the cover), and later on DVD in the U.S. as part of VideoAsia’s DRAGON IMMORTAL collection.

[mpm74]

Hmmmm are you sure it's not the Godzilla actor?

According to Hong Kong Cinemagic, it is!

http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=14410

[ThunderScore]

Hmmmm are you sure it's not the Godzilla actor?

This Ken Watanabe has appeared in other Filipino shot films and can be seen in Silver Star/Kinavesa's NINJA WARRIORS (1985), which tries really hard to mimic the opening to NINJA IN THE DRAGON'S DEN. It's on YouTube.

[mpm74]

Well, that sucks. I'm disappointed.

All this time I was talking about Bruce Le being a "star maker" who appeared alongside many future Hollywood names (Robert Patrick, etc.)

Is there a photo of this Ken Watanabe guy?

And here I thought HK cinematic was perfect.

[Secret Executioner]

Talk about some kind of headache...

[The Dragon]

Talk about some kind of headache...

I've been trying to convince the innocent for years; leave them Clones alone...

Nobody listens.

The Real Bruce Lee:

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