Hypothetical Remake of Game of Death

[DarthKato]

Been thinking about if whether or not a remake of "Game of Death" could work. One that goes by the original vision of what it was suppose to be. Maybe have someone like Jet Li play in it. He has played in remakes of Bruce Lee films before, like Fist of Legend(1994), to great effect. So, do you think it could work? Who would you get to star in it? 

[laagi]

@DarthKato I was playing with the exact same thought a couple of weeks ago. I do believe there is a huge potential for doing the original idea justice, without spoiling the legacy of Bruce Lee.

While I think highly of Jet Li, I don't think he would be the right person for the job. It's about 20 years too late for that. I would opt for some up and coming young talent. I mean this could be a huge opportunity to push somebody in the spotlight. Or who even says it has to be an asian actor?

My only gripe is that probably Bruce Lee enterprise holds the righs to GOD. So with their involvment I'm not sure how good or bad it would turn out. Or maybe leave the whole Bruce Lee thing out completely and just utilise the concept and idea of GOD? Again lot of potential in the right (competent) hands. Which is with every idea...

[SamSeed]

I felt the finale of John Wick 3 was basically the finale of Game of Death, the different levels of boss, getting harder as he goes up (in fact with the mirrors it was more a mesh of Game of Death and Enter the Dragon)

[laagi]

1 hour ago, SamSeed said:

I felt the finale of John Wick 3 was basically the finale of Game of Death, the different levels of boss, getting harder as he goes up (in fact with the mirrors it was more a mesh of Game of Death and Enter the Dragon)

That's exactly what I told my friends after we've watched the movie. Of course they didn't know what the hell I was talking about

[sym8]

This would be a great idea,maybe get an unknown to play the lead with some of the old guard like Jackie or Jet playing guardians of some of the levels.I don’t think The Bruce Lee estate would allow it without there involvement though,Shannon Lee has already complained that Quentin Tarantino didn’t ask for there involvement or advice in the Bruce Lee part from his new movie Once upon a time in Hollywood.Would be good if they could try to stick to what we know of Bruce’s original ideas,yellow tracksuit and all.👍👍

[SamSeed]

10 hours ago, sym8 said:

This would be a great idea,maybe get an unknown to play the lead with some of the old guard like Jackie or Jet playing guardians of some of the levels.I don’t think The Bruce Lee estate would allow it without there involvement though,Shannon Lee has already complained that Quentin Tarantino didn’t ask for there involvement or advice in the Bruce Lee part from his new movie Once upon a time in Hollywood.Would be good if they could try to stick to what we know of Bruce’s original ideas,yellow tracksuit and all.👍👍

As proven by John Wick 3 though, the concept of fighting progressivelly tougher opponents on higher levels isn't exactly copyright-able. I suppose the issue is what exactly are the elements that would make something a remake of Game of Death? Because as far as I can recall the plot wasn't much to write home about, all an excuse to get to the finale. So is it the yellow tracksuit? Casting a basketball player as one of the bosses?

[DarthKato]

On 6/8/2019 at 1:22 AM, laagi said:

@DarthKato I was playing with the exact same thought a couple of weeks ago. I do believe there is a huge potential for doing the original idea justice, without spoiling the legacy of Bruce Lee.

While I think highly of Jet Li, I don't think he would be the right person for the job. It's about 20 years too late for that. I would opt for some up and coming young talent. I mean this could be a huge opportunity to push somebody in the spotlight. Or who even says it has to be an asian actor?

My only gripe is that probably Bruce Lee enterprise holds the righs to GOD. So with their involvment I'm not sure how good or bad it would turn out. Or maybe leave the whole Bruce Lee thing out completely and just utilise the concept and idea of GOD? Again lot of potential in the right (competent) hands. Which is with every idea...

Well, I was going for someone that looked similar to Bruce Lee, so that we could get the closest feel of what was suppose to be. But I guess it wouldn't really matter, it this case, who played the lead. I do like the idea of a unknown doing the role. 

On 6/8/2019 at 1:38 AM, SamSeed said:

I felt the finale of John Wick 3 was basically the finale of Game of Death, the different levels of boss, getting harder as he goes up (in fact with the mirrors it was more a mesh of Game of Death and Enter the Dragon)

Damn, sounds like the third movie is awesome! Sadly, I haven't got to watch it yet though. 

On 6/8/2019 at 4:50 AM, sym8 said:

This would be a great idea,maybe get an unknown to play the lead with some of the old guard like Jackie or Jet playing guardians of some of the levels.I don’t think The Bruce Lee estate would allow it without there involvement though,Shannon Lee has already complained that Quentin Tarantino didn’t ask for there involvement or advice in the Bruce Lee part from his new movie Once upon a time in Hollywood.Would be good if they could try to stick to what we know of Bruce’s original ideas,yellow tracksuit and all.👍👍

As I mentioned to Iaagi, I like the idea of an unknown starring. And having a legend playing the Guardians( Like Jet Li, Jackie Chan,  Sammo Hung) would be the greatest thing in Marital Arts Movie history! But who should they get to play the lead? Any new guys that you know of? I'm sort of liking Wu Jing, from what I've seen of him. He seems cool, but I haven't heard much about him. 

[sym8]

9 hours ago, DarthKato said:

Any new guys that you know of? I'm sort of liking Wu Jing, from what I've seen of him. He seems cool, but I haven't heard much about him. 

Wu jing would be a good shout,but I would still opt for some new blood,someone we haven’t seen before,and somebody who wouldn’t have the Bruce Lee mannerisms.i wouldn’t want the screams or the same fighting style,similar story pagoda etc but no Bruce Lee clones.

[DarthKato]

On 6/9/2019 at 2:54 AM, sym8 said:

Wu jing would be a good shout,but I would still opt for some new blood,someone we haven’t seen before,and somebody who wouldn’t have the Bruce Lee mannerisms.i wouldn’t want the screams or the same fighting style,similar story pagoda etc but no Bruce Lee clones.

Yeah, making it a Bruceplotation film would probably just tick people off. 

[laagi]

19 hours ago, DarthKato said:

Yeah, making it a Bruceplotation film would probably just tick people off. 

Anything but Bruceplotation please! I know there's a huge cult following for these movies but I always thought they're awful. Just a personal taste

[DarthKato]

22 hours ago, laagi said:

Anything but Bruceplotation please! I know there's a huge cult following for these movies but I always thought they're awful. Just a personal taste

Yeah, I don't personally like them all that much either. 

[DragonClaws]

 

I'd love to see Iko Uwais and Yahan Ruhian have a go at making their own interpretation of G.O.D. The Raid(2011) movie worked on the idea of fighting through a tower. With each encounter/fight sequence becoming more and more intense.

 

 

[DT-Nice1988]

Every Bruce Lee Fan would love to see how "The Game of Death" would look like. But I think that would be a hard challenge for every director. No Metter how hard they would try to get close to the original concept, it would never be, like the way Bruce had it done, if he had the chance. 

I read an article about all the ideas Bruce had for "The Game of Death". And some are really crazy. Like the Key-Guy gets drunk, in the time Lee fights the guards. And Hai Tien can't open the final Door to the treasure, so Hai Tien manages someway to bring the Key-Guy to that door and take his hand, to open the door. 

When this idea is true, Bruce had some Funny fantasy

Here the article 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/lairofthelostfilmsblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/07/the-game-of-death-1972-partially-complete/amp/

[Drunken Monk]

I think part of Game of Death's appeal comes from the era it was made. It has this interesting 70's "sheen" to it and, in places, is very kitsch. Don't get me wrong, I think that's a good thing. I'm just not sure anyone would be able to capture that. Not unless it was done in a Black Dynamite spoof way. And nobody wants that.

Executing the concept and action is simple to an extent. I just think the film benefits from its era. Much like a number of Bruce's movies.

[DarthKato]

On 6/12/2019 at 11:34 AM, DragonClaws said:

 

I'd love to see Iko Uwais and Yahan Ruhian have a go at making their own interpretation of G.O.D. The Raid(2011) movie worked on the idea of fighting through a tower. With each encounter/fight sequence becoming more and more intense.

 

 

I've Never seen "The Raid". I will have to remedy that. 

On 6/12/2019 at 1:31 PM, DT-Nice1988 said:

Every Bruce Lee Fan would love to see how "The Game of Death" would look like. But I think that would be a hard challenge for every director. No Metter how hard they would try to get close to the original concept, it would never be, like the way Bruce had it done, if he had the chance. 

I read an article about all the ideas Bruce had for "The Game of Death". And some are really crazy. Like the Key-Guy gets drunk, in the time Lee fights the guards. And Hai Tien can't open the final Door to the treasure, so Hai Tien manages someway to bring the Key-Guy to that door and take his hand, to open the door. 

When this idea is true, Bruce had some Funny fantasy

Here the article 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/lairofthelostfilmsblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/07/the-game-of-death-1972-partially-complete/amp/

Sounds really cool! I'll have to read that article when I get time. 

On 6/12/2019 at 1:43 PM, Drunken Monk said:

I think part of Game of Death's appeal comes from the era it was made. It has this interesting 70's "sheen" to it and, in places, is very kitsch. Don't get me wrong, I think that's a good thing. I'm just not sure anyone would be able to capture that. Not unless it was done in a Black Dynamite spoof way. And nobody wants that.

Executing the concept and action is simple to an extent. I just think the film benefits from its era. Much like a number of Bruce's movies.

I have another idea: How about a comic book or novel adaption of the story? They did something very similar to that with the original idea for Star Wars(Here it is: The Star Wars). It might not be as great as getting a movie version, but at least fans will be able to see what exactly the story was going to be. 

[DT-Nice1988]

The Problem is even Bruce Lee himself, not knew how the story would be at the End. Even at the time, he was filming the fight scenes, he told different people, different ideas. Some remember, that the Pagoda schould have 7 stages... If Lee would have finished the film with all his ideas included, the finished film would have a runtime over 2 hours. 

And I think for that time, that was too long (I think even James Bond films from the 70's runs max. 100 Minutes) 

Bruce had to throw away some ideas. So we newer will know, how "The Game of Death" had turn out. 

 

[DarthKato]

On 6/13/2019 at 12:18 AM, DT-Nice1988 said:

The Problem is even Bruce Lee himself, not knew how the story would be at the End. Even at the time, he was filming the fight scenes, he told different people, different ideas. Some remember, that the Pagoda schould have 7 stages... If Lee would have finished the film with all his ideas included, the finished film would have a runtime over 2 hours. 

And I think for that time, that was too long (I think even James Bond films from the 70's runs max. 100 Minutes) 

Bruce had to throw away some ideas. So we newer will know, how "The Game of Death" had turn out. 

 

Ah, I see. Then a full script was never produced? 

[DT-Nice1988]

No, there was only this handwritten rough storyline. 

[DarthKato]

On 6/14/2019 at 12:39 AM, DT-Nice1988 said:

No, there was only this handwritten rough storyline. 

Damn, I guess the movie sadly died with with him. 

[DragonClaws]

On 6/8/2019 at 2:51 AM, DarthKato said:

Been thinking about if whether or not a remake of "Game of Death" could work. One that goes by the original vision of what it was suppose to be. Maybe have someone like Jet Li play in it. He has played in remakes of Bruce Lee films before, like Fist of Legend(1994), to great effect. So, do you think it could work? Who would you get to star in it? 

 

How about a re-make of the 1978 version, only they use Speial FX to re-create Bruce Lee's image. Rather than just using three different stand-in's. Maybe add two more levels to the pogoda/red pepper restuarant fight scene?.