Member Josh Baker Posted June 1, 2021 Member Share Posted June 1, 2021 19 hours ago, Cognoscente said: Clouse's version of GOD was just an excuse to drop hints about Bruce's final months. Even Van Williams confirmed that Bruce was having problems with the Chinese mafia. I never understood why they thought the general public would be interested in having Lee's final film be converted into a partially stealth-biopic. Audiences wanted to see another Bruce Lee film rather than break the fourth wall and have autobiographical elements. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted June 1, 2021 Member Share Posted June 1, 2021 It grabs headlines, and it confirms what a lot of people had suspected. It makes it become a film that people can substantially talk about versus a martial arts movie where most of the discussion would have been about the merit of fighting techniques. Also, it's important for people to know that the film world has criminal involvement. Prior to Clouse's version, most people associated gangsters with things like drug dealing, arms smuggling and heists. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Josh Baker Posted June 1, 2021 Member Share Posted June 1, 2021 23 minutes ago, Cognoscente said: It grabs headlines, and it confirms what a lot of people had suspected. It makes it become a film that people can substantially talk about versus a martial arts movie where most of the discussion would have been about the merit of fighting techniques. Also, it's important for people to know that the film world has criminal involvement. Prior to Clouse's version, most people associated gangsters with things like drug dealing, arms smuggling and heists. It's not just any old martial arts film though, its Bruce Lee's last film. Shouldn't the main concern have been completing it respectfully? Plus in the long term it wouldve had more of a legacy rather than a film shunned by a lot of Lee fans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted June 1, 2021 Member Share Posted June 1, 2021 I guess their logic was something on the lines of: "Bruce wasn't always a respectful person, so to Hell with him!" What really hurt the film was the insulting use of shots from his other movies, especially since the backgrounds didn't always match. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Josh Baker Posted June 1, 2021 Member Share Posted June 1, 2021 9 minutes ago, Cognoscente said: I guess their logic was something on the lines of: "Bruce wasn't always a respectful person, so to Hell with him!" What really hurt the film was the insulting use of shots from his other movies, especially since the backgrounds didn't always match. God you can say that again! I think it actually wouldve been more convincing, or I wouldve been able to suspend my disbelief more, if they just shot the doubles from behind or side in shadow or silhouette through the entirety of the movie and not just for select sequences/shots, at least then it gives the Bruce character a mysterious presence, playing into the legendary figure that he is perceived to be by the public. The use of footage from other movies is just jarring and takes me out of the movie, and makes the film feel bargain basement levels of cheap. It's also weird how in the locker room fight they made efforts to make Yuen Biao look like how Bruce did in Way of the Dragon, and the back shots of Biao in that sequence (taking the disguise off in front of Carl Miller) are very effective and give the impression it's the real Lee, but Kim Tai Chung's hair doesnt match at all and is way too long and shaggy, as well as not really looking like Bruce from behind, which is a bit of a problem, so the footage from WOTD doesnt match when it is intercut with WOTD. I guess they knew they were going to incorporate close ups of Lee from WOTD during filming of the sequence, so why not have one of the make up people give Kim a quick hair cut before the cameras started rolling? Another thing I dont quite understand is presumably GH had access to the deleted scenes/outtakes from FoF and WOTD, so why not use footage from that rather than directly from the movie which is a lot more noticeable; in a lot of instances you can even see the splice frame where the editor has directly cut the shots into the new footage from a print of WOTD or FoF. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted June 1, 2021 Member Share Posted June 1, 2021 The final version of GOD feels like Godfrey Ho making it his director's workshop. I often wonder if Clouse knew from the very beginning that they were going to be inserting shots from Bruce's other movies. It's sad because it ruined Clouse's career. Without those shots, it could have been a decent movie that would have allowed Hollywood to perceive him as their go-to man for salvage jobs. The problem is that Chow fell into that trap which a lot of HK producers fall into: "Why put all of our eggs into one basket when we can spread ourselves thin in a way which results in twice as much money?" It's a shame because Chow had the potential to make the ultimate outtakes movie, and he blew it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Josh Baker Posted June 1, 2021 Member Share Posted June 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Cognoscente said: The final version of GOD feels like Godfrey Ho making it his director's workshop. I often wonder if Clouse knew from the very beginning that they were going to be inserting shots from Bruce's other movies. It's sad because it ruined Clouse's career. Without those shots, it could have been a decent movie that would have allowed Hollywood to perceive him as their go-to man for salvage jobs. The problem is that Chow fell into that trap which a lot of HK producers fall into: "Why put all of our eggs into one basket when we can spread ourselves thin in a way which results in twice as much money?" It's a shame because Chow had the potential to make the ultimate outtakes movie, and he blew it. I completely agree. It makes far more sense to have five complete Bruce Lee movies than four complete ones and two bastard stepchildren😂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Josh Baker Posted June 1, 2021 Member Share Posted June 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Cognoscente said: I often wonder if Clouse knew from the very beginning that they were going to be inserting shots from Bruce's other movies. It's a good point because this insert shot gimmick was only used for four sequences- dressing room sequence, locker room fight, beginning of motorcycle fight, and the Steiner fight, so there could be a chance that this decision to insert shots of Bruce from his earlier movies was one taken during the post-production process. It theoretically could've been spear-headed by Sammo Hung when he re-shot some of the fight sequences after filming had wrapped (I.e the locker room fight) but I dont know about that, it's probably a decision made by part of the editing team or Raymond Chow. However thinking about it now they did that stupid thing where they incorporated scenes from Bruce's earlier movies under the guise they were scenes Billy was shooting for his new "movie" which maybe an even more egregious choice than the insert shots; it is the cinematic equivalent of recycling water, it's awful, and Clouse must've agreed to it to THIS extent as the sets were made to look like the Colesium/Jing Wu School. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member makone Posted June 2, 2021 Member Share Posted June 2, 2021 On 5/31/2021 at 6:20 PM, DragonClaws said: There are very few pictures available to the public, from this time period. I've seen images of Bruce Lee with longer hair, and he looks really down in weight in these shots. These turn up in the old 1970's Hong Kong magazines, and some of them have been shared online over the years. Here's one of the pictures Im talking about, appearing on the cover of Martial Magazine. Anyone have any ideas as to when this image was taken?. Is it a promotional poster for one of his movies in the background?. This looks photo shopped, the jaw line gives it away. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Josh Baker Posted June 2, 2021 Member Share Posted June 2, 2021 2 hours ago, makone said: This looks photo shopped, the jaw line gives it away. What the magazine cover is photo shopped? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted June 2, 2021 Author Member Share Posted June 2, 2021 (edited) On 6/1/2021 at 9:55 AM, Cognoscente said: Also, it's important for people to know that the film world has criminal involvement. Prior to Clouse's version, most people associated gangsters with things like drug dealing, arms smuggling and heists. The Godfather(1971) was the big movie that also exposed this side, there are earlier examples I just cant think of right now. 11 hours ago, makone said: This looks photo shopped, the jaw line gives it away. 9 hours ago, Josh Baker said: What the magazine cover is photo shopped? I know they have photoshopped pictures in magazines for years. But as far as Im aware that is the original Hong Kong cover picture from the early 70's?. Its been available online for years, never seen anyone claim its been photoshopped?. Edited June 2, 2021 by DragonClaws 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member makone Posted June 3, 2021 Member Share Posted June 3, 2021 By Photoshopped I mean the face is superimposed over Danny Lees from Bruce Lee and I. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted June 3, 2021 Author Member Share Posted June 3, 2021 8 hours ago, makone said: By Photoshopped I mean the face is superimposed over Danny Lees from Bruce Lee and I. Someone shared other photos from the same day, but I never got the impression they had photoshopped his head onto Danny Lee?. These images used to circulate on the older BL Forums, in the early noughties. Bruce Lee & I is the one major Bruceploitation feaure, Ive never viewed in its entirety. Just thought they were pictures, that caught Bruce Lee with a slightly different look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted June 5, 2021 Author Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 (edited) What delayed the 1978 screen version of Game of Death from being released around Christmas 1977?. Edited June 5, 2021 by DragonClaws 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 Lol what an awful poster. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 12 minutes ago, DragonClaws said: What delayed the 1978 screen version of Game of Death from being released around Christmas 1977? I have two theories. Either... A ) Golden Harvest found out that Star Wars was going to be released in January '78. ...or... B ) Distributors complained that there wasn't enough footage of Bruce for the movie to be classified as a Bruce Lee movie, so GH had to insert shots of Bruce from his other movies. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 I saw it at the Scala Cinema in Liverpool, in summer 1978. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member shukocarl1441996347 Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 37 minutes ago, Cognoscente said: I have two theories. Either... A ) Golden Harvest found out that Star Wars was going to be released in January '78. ...or... B ) Distributors complained that there wasn't enough footage of Bruce for the movie to be classified as a Bruce Lee movie, so GH had to insert shots of Bruce from his other movies. I don't know what held the film up for Christmas 1977 but it sat on the shelf in the U.S. for a year before Columbia released it in 1979. The rest of the World saw it in 1978. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 (edited) And for some reason, though i saw the movie at the Scala in Liverpool, i bought the movie poster from the ABC in Birkenhead. I'm sure i still have it somewhere, it was this one Edited June 5, 2021 by saltysam 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member shukocarl1441996347 Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 10 minutes ago, saltysam said: And for some reason, though i saw the movie at the Scala in Liverpool, i bought the movie poster from the ABC in Birkenhead. I'm sure i still have it somewhere, it was this one Yeah I remember I bought mine for 50p at the ABC Capital in St. Helens! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Josh Baker Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 This is the most interesting thing I've seen regarding Game of Death '78, that it was supposed to be released in 1977, and it is a further incitement on Raymond Chows decision to go in this direction, as a more faithful completion to Lee's original vision probably wouldve resulted in a release in 1977, shortening the gap between that and the last Bruce Lee movie in 1978. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 They would have reached their deadline a lot sooner had they constructed a narrative that would allow for the Bruce Lee footage to be spread across the film instead of just the final half an hour. They could have employed a structure where, throughout the film, a dimly lit Bruce Lee clone is being interviewed for one of those news shows where a person doesn't want their face to be revealed. It could have been like a martial arts version of My Dinner with Andre, as in the journalist not only asks Hai Tien what happened next but she asks him about why certain things happened. To make the movie less stifling in its chosen environments, they could have filmed flashback scenes showing Chieh Yuan's personal reason in being involved in the mission. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Josh Baker Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 28 minutes ago, Cognoscente said: They would have reached their deadline a lot sooner had they constructed a narrative that would allow for the Bruce Lee footage to be spread across the film instead of just the final half an hour. They could have employed a structure where, throughout the film, a dimly lit Bruce Lee clone is being interviewed for one of those news shows where a person doesn't want their face to be revealed. It could have been like a martial arts version of My Dinner with Andre, as in the journalist not only asks Hai Tien what happened next but she asks him about why certain things happened. To make the movie less stifling in its chosen environments, they could have filmed flashback scenes showing Chieh Yuan's personal reason in being involved in the mission. That...is an EXCELLENT idea. Im actually very impressed with your concept, although I doubt anyone wouldve come up with it in 1977. It's about as good/probably better than my concept for the completion of Game of Death, and I'm sure it wouldve been a successful concept. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 Wasn't there a version of GOD that had the Ji-Han-Jae fight in the middle of the film? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 Yeah, in Taiwan. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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