The order of Bruce Lee films you saw

[sym8]

I remember watching Enter the dragon on Warner home video back in the day uncut then the British censors got all touchy and recalled them and took the nunchucks out.It was then shown on tv uncut but still cut on video.What a shit time to watch any martial art movie with nunchucks in Britain.Even the turtles felt there sharp scissors 

[Omni Dragon]

I first saw them when I was 13, around March/April 2007 on Youtube. I assume they were copied from the HKL DVDs or at least Fortune Star or Media Asia versions with English dubs. Apart from Enter the Dragon. 

I watched them in this order:

Fist of Fury

The Big Boss

The Way of the Dragon

Game of Death

Enter The Dragon

I try to watch them in the order they were released but the reasons I didn't is because at the time I thought FOF came out before TBB, not sure why? I ended up watching ETD last as at that time I wasn't suppose to watch movies with an 18 certificate, I was trying to be discreet with ETD as it was the only one my mum knew the name of. I did actually get caught with ETD though. Despite minimizing Internet Explorer my mum figured it out from the taskbar, even though it probably only read something like 'Enter The...'. That was the worst thing my mum ever caught me doing online.

[sifu iron perm]

Enter the Dragon in 1983 on vhs with my father who passed away that very year..

 

then many years later.. chinese connection on vhs around 1987 ? Followed by way of the dragon & game of death in 1988 during a a vacation in hamburg,  germany. The german versions included the nunchaku scenes..i was a lucky boy then..lol

 

 

 

 

[andy338]

I'm pretty sure I saw Fist of Fury with nunchakus on vhs in the UK in the early 80s and Enter the Dragon too however when I started to rent these out regularly a little later they were cut. Way of the Dragon, Game of Death & even Big Boss I only watched cut versions of right up until HKL released them in the late 90s. Others have confirmed Enter was shown uncut before the censors jumped in so was that the same for FOF?

[andy338]

11 hours ago, sym8 said:

I remember watching Enter the dragon on Warner home video back in the day uncut then the British censors got all touchy and recalled them and took the nunchucks out.It was then shown on tv uncut but still cut on video.What a shit time to watch any martial art movie with nunchucks in Britain.Even the turtles felt there sharp scissors 

I do remember seeing this cover before it was replaced with Bruce holding a staff instead! Wow, brings back memories.  

[sym8]

1 hour ago, andy338 said:

Others have confirmed Enter was shown uncut before the censors jumped in so was that the same for FOF?

From what I remember Fist of Fury which was released on Rank video at the time never had the nunchucks cut,I Remember renting it from the same video store multiple times and that one was never cut.(maybe slipped through the net,but not 100%sure)

[shukocarl1441996347]

22 minutes ago, sym8 said:

From what I remember Fist of Fury which was released on Rank video at the time never had the nunchucks cut,I Remember renting it from the same video store multiple times and that one was never cut.(maybe slipped through the net,but not 100%sure)

You're right, Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon were released uncut before the "video nasties" panic led them to be re-released in the cut versions. Way of the Dragon suffered more cuts too from the 1st release (theatrical version). Nearly 20 years later we finally got the fullest versions on dvd,

 

[andy338]

2 hours ago, shukocarl1441996347 said:

You're right, Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon were released uncut before the "video nasties" panic led them to be re-released in the cut versions. Way of the Dragon suffered more cuts too from the 1st release (theatrical version). Nearly 20 years later we finally got the fullest versions on dvd,

 

Thanks, I was sure i'd seen it uncut as I recognised where the cuts were in later versions and as a kid in the 80s there's no other way i'd have known this if I hadn't seen it but I suppose it's easy to misremember after all this time.

[Tex Killer]

Uhm, 1st was "way of the dragon" then "game of death". Both of those had (cut) vhs releases over here. 3rd was "fist of fury" from awful quality maybe 4th generation vhs copy. Then "big boss"  and finally "enter the dragon".

Was actually easy to remember even after so long time as big boss was released lot later and ETD never here on vhs.

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by Tex Killer

[sifu iron perm]

21 hours ago, andy338 said:

I do remember seeing this cover before it was replaced with Bruce holding a staff instead! Wow, brings back memories.  

say that again..

 

 

[Coliseum1972]

On 5/12/2020 at 12:07 PM, sifu iron perm said:

Enter the Dragon in 1983 on vhs with my father who passed away that very year..

 

then many years later.. chinese connection on vhs around 1987 ? Followed by way of the dragon & game of death in 1988 during a a vacation in hamburg,  germany. The german versions included the nunchaku scenes..i was a lucky boy then..lol

 

 

 

 

I did see WoD on german tv (late 90s , around that time anyway) , it was somewhat cut : he hits the back alley thug only once in the face with nunchucks , you didnt see him breaking Colts neck etc

I believe the films were at one time banned on vhs in Norway , for some bizarre reason i couldve sworn BB had missing scenes , the "peek thru key hole" scene gives me deja vu feeling (this was the first time i heard about BL , sure when youre a kid you hear famous names like Elvis , Lee , Monroe etc. But that was the first time so very special to me)

Its cool listening to the "rejected" WoD italian soundtrack - it does fea some HK music during Lee/Norris though (well , rejected on dvd/blu anyway.....)

Edited September 25, 2020 by Coliseum1972

[BillyLo]

On 5/11/2020 at 11:14 PM, Alan C said:

The thing about Barry's score is that it is such an integral piece of the Game of Death jigsaw. If you listen carefully, the compositions, sonically relay the Game of Death story. It's incredible.

Truly great composers have to be storytellers in their own right. They must possess the ability to tell the stories they see on screen through their actual musical compositions.  Barry, along with veterans like John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Brad Fiedel and Joseph Harnell were exceptional at this. This is pure conjecture on my part, but because Barry's score is so beautifully precise, I'm inclined to believe that he must have studied the full footage before it was chopped up. It coulda been serendipity, but I doubt it.

Thanks for your interest in Game of Death Redux. Hope you enjoy it. 

It's nice to know someone appreciates the soundtrack as much as I do. Even though Bruce Lee never heard or approved John Barry's composition, it is the music that I automatically associate with Bruce. I watched your presentation on YouTube and it made me extremely curious to see your edit. I was somewhat puzzled when watching the Japanese Art port versions since both contained renditions of the original soundtrack but they were heavily altered and more contemporary sounding. Game of Death is a 1970s film and a 90s/2000s soundtrack just doesn't fit. Not only that, but as you said, John Barry's original soundtrack complimented the footage so well. It's the only Bruce Lee soundtrack that I have in my record collection and probably my favourite. As for the film itself, I've always had an obsessive love for it, so I was able to understand your passion for it. The only difference in my case is that I saw A Warrior's Journey before I saw the 78 version. The documentary was extremely critical of Clouse's film, describing it as a "sick joke." I absolutely loved the footage I saw in the documentary and the fight with Kareem was exceptionally entertaining but I was left with a deep curiosity about the film that was released theatrically. I had already watched Enter the Dragon and Fist of Fury. I forget exactly how old I was but between the ages of 7-8. Every week, I would go to the shops and pick up a new Bruce Lee tape. I came home with two this time: The Big Boss and Game of Death. I opted to watch the latter first and watched The Big Boss in the same day. I had mixed feelings upon my first viewing of Clouse's version of Game of Death. To make matters worse, the UK VHS was missing the entire nunchaku sequence and since I had already seen that footage in A Warrior's Journey, I knew it was a big loss. Despite this, I kept watching this bizarre film and fell in love with it. John Barry's music was a big part of what I loved so much but I also enjoyed the build-up. As a kid, I always got excited during the motorcycle sequence because I knew, as soon as he puts the yellow jumpsuit on, it's getting closer to the showdown with Kareem. The film is of course much more enjoyable now that I have the uncut versions available with the nunchaku sequence intact. The love for Game of Death is still with me and I am always interested in new cuts. Yours seems like it will be the best of both worlds, combining the original footage with the original soundtrack, so I can't wait to let you know what I think!

[BillyLo]

On 5/11/2020 at 11:45 PM, sym8 said:

I remember watching Enter the dragon on Warner home video back in the day uncut then the British censors got all touchy and recalled them and took the nunchucks out.It was then shown on tv uncut but still cut on video.What a shit time to watch any martial art movie with nunchucks in Britain.Even the turtles felt there sharp scissors 

I have the same tape with the white label. A lot of video shop owners recorded over white label tapes with the cut blue label version, which made it even more difficult to find. Mine is intact thankfully, same with Fist of Fury. Here's my tapes:

[DragonClaws]

4 hours ago, BillyLo said:

It's nice to know someone appreciates the soundtrack as much as I do.

 

 

[Alan C]

On 5/23/2020 at 3:18 AM, BillyLo said:

It's nice to know someone appreciates the soundtrack as much as I do. Even though Bruce Lee never heard or approved John Barry's composition, it is the music that I automatically associate with Bruce. I watched your presentation on YouTube and it made me extremely curious to see your edit. I was somewhat puzzled when watching the Japanese Art port versions since both contained renditions of the original soundtrack but they were heavily altered and more contemporary sounding. Game of Death is a 1970s film and a 90s/2000s soundtrack just doesn't fit. Not only that, but as you said, John Barry's original soundtrack complimented the footage so well. It's the only Bruce Lee soundtrack that I have in my record collection and probably my favourite. As for the film itself, I've always had an obsessive love for it, so I was able to understand your passion for it. The only difference in my case is that I saw A Warrior's Journey before I saw the 78 version. The documentary was extremely critical of Clouse's film, describing it as a "sick joke." I absolutely loved the footage I saw in the documentary and the fight with Kareem was exceptionally entertaining but I was left with a deep curiosity about the film that was released theatrically. I had already watched Enter the Dragon and Fist of Fury. I forget exactly how old I was but between the ages of 7-8. Every week, I would go to the shops and pick up a new Bruce Lee tape. I came home with two this time: The Big Boss and Game of Death. I opted to watch the latter first and watched The Big Boss in the same day. I had mixed feelings upon my first viewing of Clouse's version of Game of Death. To make matters worse, the UK VHS was missing the entire nunchaku sequence and since I had already seen that footage in A Warrior's Journey, I knew it was a big loss. Despite this, I kept watching this bizarre film and fell in love with it. John Barry's music was a big part of what I loved so much but I also enjoyed the build-up. As a kid, I always got excited during the motorcycle sequence because I knew, as soon as he puts the yellow jumpsuit on, it's getting closer to the showdown with Kareem. The film is of course much more enjoyable now that I have the uncut versions available with the nunchaku sequence intact. The love for Game of Death is still with me and I am always interested in new cuts. Yours seems like it will be the best of both worlds, combining the original footage with the original soundtrack, so I can't wait to let you know what I think!

Thanks for sharing Billy.

The '78 film is indeed a strange beast, in that it's both awful and great for the exact same reason: Bruce Lee only appears for a total of about 15 minutes.

 As terrible as it is though, a few key artistic choices almost save it. Barry's score, obviously. Alan Pattillo's editing, which  is top notch. As you noted, it does have a good 'build up' , and, in my opinion, it contains Sammo Hung's best fight choreography ( he was able to nearly replicate some of Bruce's 'pop' in a few of the fight scenes). Additionally, the cast of American actors (like a "who's who" of 50's/60's cinema) gives it a slightly surreal edge that's fascinating. I'm also partial to the Guardian's names - Pasqual and Hakim. The beginning and end credits are damn near perfect.

On the flip side, the cut and paste job and inclusion of Bruce's funeral footage is both horrific and unforgiveable.

I watched this film ad infinitum as a child on VHS, so there's a fair bit of nostalgic bias on my end, but that still doesn't negate the fact that what works, works quite well. A guilty pleasure for sure though.

Edited May 25, 2020 by Alan C

[BillyLo]

1 hour ago, Alan C said:

Thanks for sharing Billy.

The '78 film is indeed a strange beast, in that it's both awful and great for the exact same reason: Bruce Lee only appears for a total of about 15 minutes.

 As terrible as it is though, a few key artistic choices almost save it. Barry's score, obviously. Alan Pattillo's editing, which  is top notch. As you noted, it does have a good 'build up' , and, in my opinion, it contains Sammo Hung's best fight choreography ( he was able to nearly replicate some of Bruce's 'pop' in a few of the fight scenes). Additionally, the cast of American actors (like a "who's who" of 50's/60's cinema) gives it a slightly surreal edge that's fascinating. I'm also partial to the Guardian's names - Pasqual and Hakim. The beginning and end credits are damn near perfect.

On the flip side, the cut and paste job and inclusion of Bruce's funeral footage is both horrific and unforgiveable.

I watched this film ad infinitum as a child on VHS, so there's a fair bit of nostalgic bias on my end, but that still doesn't negate the fact that what works, works quite well. A guilty pleasure for sure though.

Not sure what they were thinking about when using footage of Bruce's funeral. Whenever I see his actual corpse on screen, it always baffles me and leaves me with a feeling of unease. Without it, fans might have been less divided and considered the fact that the film was intended to be a tribute to Bruce. It appears that Chow and Clouse wanted to play into the hands of the people who believed that Bruce's death was faked in order to avoid the Triads but as friends and former colleagues, they should have known better. When it comes to the more controversial decisions made, such as altering the story, I am more forgiving than some because I understand that the film had a very troubled production and very few people were interested in assisting Chow in his efforts to release a "complete" Game of Death. Many people forget or perhaps didn't realise that Bruce's co-star, Chieh Yuan had also passed away in 1977. James Tien refused to reprise his role and even if he had, it would have been even more difficult since they would need not only a double for Bruce but also Chieh Yuan, which would have made the film even more confusing. I have thought and considered the possibilities of how it might have worked. One thought I had would be for the three men to wear masks of some sort (I am sure they could have thought of a reason) and only have them remove them when inside the pagoda. The story would still have been altered and the purpose of the film the same: to showcase Bruce's last fight scenes for cinema-going audiences.

I think that there's a few decisions they should have made when making the 78 version that might have helped the film look a little less cut-and-paste. Clouse seemed to forget about the fact that he had deleted footage from Enter the Dragon. I am not sure how much exactly but the use made of some of this footage in the following film, Tower of Death, shows that it could have been useful. They did a great job integrating new footage with these scenes (not so much the monk scene). The deleted conversation footage with Betty Chung in Enter the Dragon could have been used to make it appear Bruce was sitting somewhere with the other characters in a similar way they did in Tower of Death. The deleted arrival footage in the bedroom worked well as a "flat scene" in Tower of Death and could have been used in the 78 version to give Bruce more screen time. Rather than remove his disguise immediately, the locker room scene could have had Billy Lo fight in an old man's disguise throughout. One of the things that confuses me is that they kept changing their minds about whether we should be made to believe Bruce is actually present or whether we should see the doubles very clearly. If it was the former, keeping the character in disguise more would have helped. Finally, and I think this is the one I feel most strongly about, I think that the motorcycle sequence should have been re-written. After Billy kills Stick, I think that Steiner (Hugh O'Brian) should have showed up only to be killed by Jim (Gig Young). If Lazenby was supposed to assist Bruce in the original and "save" him (his own words), why not give Gig Young a chance to put the bullet in Steiner and save "Bruce's" life? What this would have allowed is for the final fight in the film to be between Bruce and Kareem. Since that was the final pagoda fight and the last he shot before postponing the production, it should have been the last in the film rather than the cut-and-paste mess that follows between Billy Lo and Steiner. This scene cheapens the sequence a bit whereas I don't mind the chase scene at the very end with Billy and Dr. Land because, even though it is obvious, the reaction shots from Bruce seem to work well. Unfortunately Kareem didn't want to reprise his role. While I understand his decision, I do think this was a mistake on his part. He knew they were still going ahead with the project, so rather than make things even more difficult for Chow, his presence might have helped to create more Hakim scenes and make the end seem less tacky. Finally, the last thing that might have helped would be to use the footage of Bruce coming down the stairs and then freeze-frame on Bruce's face and allow the tribute credits to roll. Of course, it's easy to look back with hindsight, so we just have to accept the reality that the 78 version is what it is. Love it or hate it, I recognise its flaws but also its strengths and it's still my second favourite Bruce Lee film. With the amount of times I've watched it, I have asked myself whether it's actually my favourite and I just don't want to admit it but another viewing of Enter the Dragon normally clears it up for me even if Game of Death is usually my go-to film.

 

[Alan C]

The main factor in GH not using Bruce's original plot was really the result of the Bruceploitation films that were churned out in the wake of Bruce's passing. Nearly every one of those involving a tracksuit and ascending tower used the basic setup of Lee's story line (kidnapped relative/ girlfriend by the mob, mission for the protagonist etc). It literally had been done to death ( pun intended ).

 

Chow needed something new, and the angle he and Clouse came up with was essentially a thinly veiled and loosely based biopic of Lee's superstardom years in HK, but with a twist: they related the title to rumors of Bruce being involved with Triads and his death being directly related to foul play. In their estimation, this was a much "fresher" take on the material and  served to fuel the fans curiosity regarding speculation that Lee might still be alive, culminating with an 11 minute finale showing Bruce "alive" in full splendor. 

 

To sum up, the story and its execution was purely driven by marketing -- and from a monetary standpoint it succeeded.

 

With respect to how they chose to edit the 1972 footage, the consensus seemed to be: who cares about James Tien and Chieh Yuan, people wanna see Bruce. So they cut 'em out, plain and simple-- even at the expense of losing some great Bruce Lee moments from the footage (of little importance to the filmmakers at that point  because fans, at the time, didn't known any better). I do find it ironic that the '78 film has Billy's Uncle offer to put him in touch with "some men who can help you". That may have been Clouse's nod to Tien and Yuan, but I digress.

 

The most perplexing aspect of GOD'78 though, is its inconsistency with Billy's facial surgery. The dialogue suggests Billy needs time to 'get used to himself' due to the supposed facial scars resulting from the surgery. Suspiciously, the scars are gone by the time we get to the 1972 footage in the finale?!? Logically, it would have made more sense if they just let Billy have his own look for the first half of the film and then pass off the face change to resemble Bruce, post the operation. But then again, that may have added even more confusion to the proceedings, and we would have missed out on the brilliant opening that uses the Way of the Dragon sequence.

Edited May 26, 2020 by Alan C

[sym8]

16 hours ago, BillyLo said:

Not sure what they were thinking about when using footage of Bruce's funeral. Whenever I see his actual corpse on screen, it always baffles me and leaves me with a feeling of unease. Without it, fans might have been less divided and considered the fact that the film was intended to be a tribute to Bruce. It appears that Chow and Clouse wanted to play into the hands of the people who believed that Bruce's death was faked in order to avoid the Triads but as friends and former colleagues, they should have known better. When it comes to the more controversial decisions made, such as altering the story, I am more forgiving than some because I understand that the film had a very troubled production and very few people were interested in assisting Chow in his efforts to release a "complete" Game of Death. Many people forget or perhaps didn't realise that Bruce's co-star, Chieh Yuan had also passed away in 1977. James Tien refused to reprise his role and even if he had, it would have been even more difficult since they would need not only a double for Bruce but also Chieh Yuan, which would have made the film even more confusing. I have thought and considered the possibilities of how it might have worked. One thought I had would be for the three men to wear masks of some sort (I am sure they could have thought of a reason) and only have them remove them when inside the pagoda. The story would still have been altered and the purpose of the film the same: to showcase Bruce's last fight scenes for cinema-going audiences.

I think that there's a few decisions they should have made when making the 78 version that might have helped the film look a little less cut-and-paste. Clouse seemed to forget about the fact that he had deleted footage from Enter the Dragon. I am not sure how much exactly but the use made of some of this footage in the following film, Tower of Death, shows that it could have been useful. They did a great job integrating new footage with these scenes (not so much the monk scene). The deleted conversation footage with Betty Chung in Enter the Dragon could have been used to make it appear Bruce was sitting somewhere with the other characters in a similar way they did in Tower of Death. The deleted arrival footage in the bedroom worked well as a "flat scene" in Tower of Death and could have been used in the 78 version to give Bruce more screen time. Rather than remove his disguise immediately, the locker room scene could have had Billy Lo fight in an old man's disguise throughout. One of the things that confuses me is that they kept changing their minds about whether we should be made to believe Bruce is actually present or whether we should see the doubles very clearly. If it was the former, keeping the character in disguise more would have helped. Finally, and I think this is the one I feel most strongly about, I think that the motorcycle sequence should have been re-written. After Billy kills Stick, I think that Steiner (Hugh O'Brian) should have showed up only to be killed by Jim (Gig Young). If Lazenby was supposed to assist Bruce in the original and "save" him (his own words), why not give Gig Young a chance to put the bullet in Steiner and save "Bruce's" life? What this would have allowed is for the final fight in the film to be between Bruce and Kareem. Since that was the final pagoda fight and the last he shot before postponing the production, it should have been the last in the film rather than the cut-and-paste mess that follows between Billy Lo and Steiner. This scene cheapens the sequence a bit whereas I don't mind the chase scene at the very end with Billy and Dr. Land because, even though it is obvious, the reaction shots from Bruce seem to work well. Unfortunately Kareem didn't want to reprise his role. While I understand his decision, I do think this was a mistake on his part. He knew they were still going ahead with the project, so rather than make things even more difficult for Chow, his presence might have helped to create more Hakim scenes and make the end seem less tacky. Finally, the last thing that might have helped would be to use the footage of Bruce coming down the stairs and then freeze-frame on Bruce's face and allow the tribute credits to roll. Of course, it's easy to look back with hindsight, so we just have to accept the reality that the 78 version is what it is. Love it or hate it, I recognise its flaws but also its strengths and it's still my second favourite Bruce Lee film. With the amount of times I've watched it, I have asked myself whether it's actually my favourite and I just don't want to admit it but another viewing of Enter the Dragon normally clears it up for me even if Game of Death is usually my go-to film.

 

If they ever do a remake you get my vote as director.👍👍😀😀🎥🎥

[Josh Baker]

On 5/25/2020 at 8:15 PM, Alan C said:

The main factor in GH not using Bruce's original plot was really the result of the Bruceploitation films that were churned out in the wake of Bruce's passing. Nearly every one of those involving a tracksuit and ascending tower used the basic setup of Lee's story line (kidnapped relative/ girlfriend by the mob, mission for the protagonist etc). It literally had been done to death ( pun intended ).

 

Chow needed something new, and the angle he and Clouse came up with was essentially a thinly veiled and loosely based biopic of Lee's superstardom years in HK, but with a twist: they related the title to rumors of Bruce being involved with Triads and his death being directly related to foul play. In their estimation, this was a much "fresher" take on the material and  served to fuel the fans curiosity regarding speculation that Lee might still be alive, culminating with an 11 minute finale showing Bruce "alive" in full splendor. 

 

To sum up, the story and its execution was purely driven by marketing -- and from a monetary standpoint it succeeded.

 

With respect to how they chose to edit the 1972 footage, the consensus seemed to be: who cares about James Tien and Chieh Yuan, people wanna see Bruce. So they cut 'em out, plain and simple-- even at the expense of losing some great Bruce Lee moments from the footage (of little importance to the filmmakers at that point  because fans, at the time, didn't known any better). I do find it ironic that the '78 film has Billy's Uncle offer to put him in touch with "some men who can help you". That may have been Clouse's nod to Tien and Yuan, but I digress.

 

The most perplexing aspect of GOD'78 though, is its inconsistency with Billy's facial surgery. The dialogue suggests Billy needs time to 'get used to himself' due to the supposed facial scars resulting from the surgery. Suspiciously, the scars are gone by the time we get to the 1972 footage in the finale?!? Logically, it would have made more sense if they just let Billy have his own look for the first half of the film and then pass off the face change to resemble Bruce, post the operation. But then again, that may have added even more confusion to the proceedings, and we would have missed out on the brilliant opening that uses the Way of the Dragon sequence.

I dont understand why just completing Lee's original vision wasn't enough and they had invent a new 'marketing gimmick' to sell it to the public- all the public wanted to see was more Bruce Lee- I doubt they cared about the context in which that was delivered to them.

Also your point about them cutting out James Tien and Chieh Yuan makes sense from your perspective- but from the filmmakers perspective it seems like a self-defeating prophecy as by cutting out the two actors, they are also cutting out a significant chunk of footage featuring Bruce Lee and him interacting with the two actors, actors which could've served as important connective tissue between the '72 footage and the '77 footage..

Also- as far as I know Game of Death '78 started shooting around August/September 1977- a teaser poster intended for international distributors boasted the film was going to enter production in July 1977- but these things are always exaggerated by the studio so I figure they started a couple of months later- Chieh Yuan died on the 16th November 1977, so he would've been alive for at least some of the time Clouse's version was being shot- so the idea that all of Lee's footage couldn't be used because of Chieh Yuan's death is a fallacy, considering when Chow and Clouse were making these decisions before hand, Yuan was very much still alive.

A lot of the decisions made during the production of the 1978 Game of Death baffle me, and these are just some of them...

Sorry for the long post, I just felt I had to get this one off my chest haha 😂

[ShawAngela]

On 5/25/2020 at 4:36 AM, BillyLo said:

If Lazenby was supposed to assist Bruce in the original and "save" him (his own words), why not give Gig Young a chance to put the bullet in Steiner and save "Bruce's" life?

Do I have to understand that Georges Lazenby was supposed to play in Game of death ?!

[BillyLo]

On 5/25/2020 at 8:23 PM, sym8 said:

If they ever do a remake you get my vote as director.👍👍😀😀🎥🎥

That's flattering but I don't think it would work now unless you had a good cinematographer who was able to re-create a 1970s film stock look with old 35mm cameras. There were many rumours that Clouse wanted to re-release another version called Bruce Lee's Deadly Game but it turned out to be a fallacy unfortunately. Would have been nice to see a few alternative cuts by different filmmakers seeing what they could do with the existing footage. 

[BillyLo]

11 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

Do I have to understand that Georges Lazenby was supposed to play in Game of death ?!

Yeah, he was planning to meet with Bruce and Raymond Chow the day Bruce passed away as far as I remember. Bruce also showed Lazenby a rough cut of the footage and they were still in the process of deciding how Lazenby would fit into the story. Apparently he would be a street fighter and according to Lazenby, he would help to save Bruce's character towards the end. Whether it was true or not, it should have been used as an excuse for Gig Young to kill Steiner with a gun in the 78 version to ensure the fight with Kareem was the last. Imagine how much better that would have worked for the film!

[Killer Meteor]

The order I saw them in

 

August 2000 - Fist of Fury (4 Front Video UK VHS)

January 2001 - Game of Death (Singapore Cantonese edit, with additional BBFC cults, screened on UK's Channel 4)

September 2001 - Enter the Dragon (uncut 25th anniversay edition, screened as part of BBC2's Kung Fu Night)

January 2002 - Way of the Dragon (uncut Cantonese version, screened on UK's Channel 4)

July 2002 - Marlowe (screened on TCM UK)

October 2002 - The Big Boss (Cantonese version, screened on UK's Channel 4)

July 2003 - Tower of Death (HKL DVD under the title Game of Death 2)

[Josh Baker]

45 minutes ago, Killer Meteor said:

The order I saw them in

 

August 2000 - Fist of Fury (4 Front Video UK VHS)

January 2001 - Game of Death (Singapore Cantonese edit, with additional BBFC cults, screened on UK's Channel 4)

September 2001 - Enter the Dragon (uncut 25th anniversay edition, screened as part of BBC2's Kung Fu Night)

January 2002 - Way of the Dragon (uncut Cantonese version, screened on UK's Channel 4)

July 2002 - Marlowe (screened on TCM UK)

October 2002 - The Big Boss (Cantonese version, screened on UK's Channel 4)

July 2003 - Tower of Death (HKL DVD under the title Game of Death 2)

I'm really surprised a mainstream UK channel showed the Cantonese versions of these films! I wonder what the special occasion was?

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Way of the Dragon and Fist of Fury video rental in the mid 80's.

Enter the Dragon video rental in the late 80's.

Big Boss retail video purchase and Game of Death on TV both in the early 90's.

Edited January 15, 2021 by TibetanWhiteCrane