Member DragonClaws Posted December 16, 2014 Member Share Posted December 16, 2014 Hey Mate Totally agree with you on both counts. I do think Bruce could have made Whang In Sik appear"slightly" more formidable but he was always guilty of focusing on himself. If I remember correctly, he doesn't get hit in WOTD until the Norris fight (not including the slaps from the boss). The only thing I would say about GOD2 is that it came along 6-7 years after ETD so choreography is much more advanced at that point. The cavern fight was a revelation in 1973 and still hasn't dated a jot. Hi sdog2006 Yes Whang In Sik had little screen time to show off his skills. He beats up Tony Liu & Unicorn Chan, & that appears to be the only showcase he gets. Chuck Norris even beats him up in the Mob boss's office. The film does not set him up to be much of a bad ass. I have heard WIS had a habit of hurting stuntmen and not by accident either. Lee heard about this and was not impressed. This may explain his treatment in WOTD?. Id like to think Bruce Lee would have given him a better role for showcasing his skills in G.O.D. The exterior clip of him fighting the guards on the Island shows his skills in a better light than any scene from WOTD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted December 16, 2014 Member Share Posted December 16, 2014 "Enter the Dragon" gets it for me. I like "Fist of Fury" but, for entertainment value alone, "Enter..." gets it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG Posted December 16, 2014 Member Share Posted December 16, 2014 Enter me in for Enter too. Now IF Bruce had moved on to Shaw Brothers OMG..... GD Y-Y Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted December 16, 2014 Member Share Posted December 16, 2014 Wasn't Rebellious Reign going to be a Bruce Lee project before he passed away?. What would have happened if he did make a Shaw Brothers film would have been interesting. I know he didn't speak too highly of the HK film industry as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted December 16, 2014 Member Share Posted December 16, 2014 Look at all of is EtD fans coming out of the shadows! Haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Phantom Dreamer Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 Well, it's still in last place, can it make a rally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 I may have commented on this thread before but I don't recall. It`s hard to decide. I would say that technically FOF is probably the best. But, I don't think that the fighting is anything to write home about. My favorite now, which I use to think was the weakest, is WOTD. However, I think that Bruce`s best fight scenes were the fights from WOTD (end fight and fight with Chuck) and the unfinished GOD footage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sdog2006 Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 Look at all of is EtD fans coming out of the shadows! Haha Don't get you mate?? Explain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sdog2006 Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 I may have commented on this thread before but I don't recall. It`s hard to decide. I would say that technically FOF is probably the best. But, I don't think that the fighting is anything to write home about. My favorite now, which I use to think was the weakest, is WOTD. However, I think that Bruce`s best fight scenes were the fights from WOTD (end fight and fight with Chuck) and the unfinished GOD footage. The Inosanto sequence is out of this world but Chi Hon Tse and Jabbar are clearly inexperienced screen fighters. You lose count of the amount of times that they hang around waiting for hits. STILL LOVED IT and seeing the complete works for the first time was a moment I'll never forget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 I meant *these*. I was just saying, Enter the Dragon is last in the poll, but quite a few people are calling it their favorite in the thread recently.. Myself included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 Personally, I'm shocked to see "The Big Boss" beating "Enter the Dragon." "The Big Boss" is a terrible film. But then I'm not exactly a huge fan of "Way of the Dragon" either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member KyFi Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 I'm probably a little odd in this regards, because when I was a kid in the early 80's I saw a bunch of Shaw Brothers movies before I ever saw any Bruce Lee movies. I was blown away by the Shaw movies, although I had read how great Bruce was in magazines like Black Belt. Then I got confused when I saw a couple of Bruceploitation movies on cable, because I didn't think that was really Bruce Lee---but I didn't understand the whole concept of the filmmakers trying to cash in on Bruce's image. When I finally got around to seeing Bruce (probably Enter the Dragon or Way of the Dragon), I wasn't that impressed. I didn't think the story, acting or fight choreography was anywhere near as interesting as the Shaw movies (and I was mostly comparing them to later Shaw movies like Avenging Eagle, 36th Chamber, Five Venoms). As I expanded my collection over the years with all the high-quality releases of older Shaw and Golden Harvest movies, I finally came around and got a better sense of why Bruce was considered to be so great. I still don't think his MOVIES were anything exceptional, but HE certainly was--incredible screen presence and power. Anyways, I now find Way of the Dragon to be my favorite. It just feels like it's got more of the "real" Bruce in there, and he's able to make fun of himself a bit being the fish-out-of water in a different culture. I LOVE that collection of goons he fights in the restaurant, and of course the final fight with Chuck is completely iconic and classic. Fist of Fury is great, but it's pretty similar to King Boxer and Chinese Boxer and a number of others. Way of the Dragon feels pretty unique to me, and I think that's because Bruce had more creative control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sdog2006 Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 I meant *these*. I was just saying, Enter the Dragon is last in the poll, but quite a few people are calling it their favorite in the thread recently.. Myself included. Gotcha, sorry bro. Mine too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sdog2006 Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 Personally, I'm shocked to see "The Big Boss" beating "Enter the Dragon." "The Big Boss" is a terrible film. But then I'm not exactly a huge fan of "Way of the Dragon" either. Yep, Bruce Lee would be spinning in his grave if he knew a $10 Lo Wei effort was beating out what ultimately became his crowning achievement. That may be uncomfortable for some in retrospect, but it's demonstrable. I love The Big Boss, but it's slow moving for an hour and the choreography is nowhere near ETD standard. Also, in WOTD, when Lee rescues Nora Miao from the bosses office, a large amount of that fight scene is amateur night. Strikes missing by miles, poor camera angles, shoddy editing. Admittedly that movie recovers and then some and the Norris fight is Lee's finest one on one encounter. I couldn't blame anyone for selecting Fist of Fury as their favorite Lee movie but I do feel that there is an innate desire, for some, to pour scorn on ETD because it was Hollywood. I personally couldn't care less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member bigrogie Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 1. Fist of Fury 2. The Big Boss 3. Enter the Dragon 4. Way of the Dragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 Yep, Bruce Lee would be spinning in his grave if he knew a $10 Lo Wei effort was beating out what ultimately became his crowning achievement. That may be uncomfortable for some in retrospect, but it's demonstrable. I love The Big Boss, but it's slow moving for an hour and the choreography is nowhere near ETD standard. Also, in WOTD, when Lee rescues Nora Miao from the bosses office, a large amount of that fight scene is amateur night. Strikes missing by miles, poor camera angles, shoddy editing. Admittedly that movie recovers and then some and the Norris fight is Lee's finest one on one encounter. I couldn't blame anyone for selecting Fist of Fury as their favorite Lee movie but I do feel that there is an innate desire, for some, to pour scorn on ETD because it was Hollywood. I personally couldn't care less. A lot of the action looked poorly executed in Way Of The Dragon. Lee did a great job when you consider most of the people he was using were not stunt men or real life Martial Artists. He did the best with what he had. Just think how good the double nunchaku scene would have been if he had a serious stunt team behind him. The same can be said for the Big Boss, many of the extra's did have Martial Arts backgrounds in Thai Boxing, but they were not trained screen fighters like Yuen Wah or Peter Chan. I know a few HK stuntmen appear in the film including PC, but a lot were just Pak Chong locals drafted in. All his films had positives and negatives but I think ETD was the most polished despite its flaws. John Saxon was mis-cast and he openly admits he wasn't a good enough Martial Artist for the role. Not many Hollywood stars would admit this either. The original choice for the role was former bodybuilder/teacher turned actor William Smith. Smith appeared in a few films some members here might know him as Clint Eastwood's rival in Any Which Way You Can. He was a 2 time world champion arm wrestler (200lb class) studied Martial Arts for 8 years under Ed Parker and Johnny Woo. He also did well at boxing whilst serving in the armed forces. In an earlier post I mentioned Rebellious Reign might have been an a possible future BL project. I mixed it up with the movie Dragon Of Jade. Just thought Id clear that up just in case people were left scratching their heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted December 17, 2014 Member Share Posted December 17, 2014 Gotcha, sorry bro. Mine too. I'm similar to KyFi in tht I got started on the genre with mostly Shaw films, and was (and still am mostly) unimpressed with Bruce. I like some of his movies, particularly Enter, but none of them are favorites of mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted December 21, 2014 Member Share Posted December 21, 2014 I'm probably a little odd in this regards, because when I was a kid in the early 80's I saw a bunch of Shaw Brothers movies before I ever saw any Bruce Lee movies. I was blown away by the Shaw movies, although I had read how great Bruce was in magazines like Black Belt. Then I got confused when I saw a couple of Bruceploitation movies on cable, because I didn't think that was really Bruce Lee---but I didn't understand the whole concept of the filmmakers trying to cash in on Bruce's image. When I finally got around to seeing Bruce (probably Enter the Dragon or Way of the Dragon), I wasn't that impressed. I didn't think the story, acting or fight choreography was anywhere near as interesting as the Shaw movies (and I was mostly comparing them to later Shaw movies like Avenging Eagle, 36th Chamber, Five Venoms). As I expanded my collection over the years with all the high-quality releases of older Shaw and Golden Harvest movies, I finally came around and got a better sense of why Bruce was considered to be so great. I still don't think his MOVIES were anything exceptional, but HE certainly was--incredible screen presence and power. Anyways, I now find Way of the Dragon to be my favorite. It just feels like it's got more of the "real" Bruce in there, and he's able to make fun of himself a bit being the fish-out-of water in a different culture. I LOVE that collection of goons he fights in the restaurant, and of course the final fight with Chuck is completely iconic and classic. Fist of Fury is great, but it's pretty similar to King Boxer and Chinese Boxer and a number of others. Way of the Dragon feels pretty unique to me, and I think that's because Bruce had more creative control. I think that the only Bruce fight scenes that predicted the future were the fight scenes that he filmed for GOD. I`m not talking about the Game of Death footage that was edited into a shitty movie, but what came out later; his unedited footage. Had Bruce Lee`s GOD been released after ETD, I think it would have been way ahead of its time. Those kind of extended fights that were a part of the plot were executed so well by Chang Cheh/LKL/Shaw Brothers and later, Jackie Chan and Sammo, etc...to the modern day films like Raid 1 & 2. If you think about it, had Bruce lived, I would bet that there would have been at least a solid hour of kung fu fighting action in GOD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member sdog2006 Posted December 21, 2014 Member Share Posted December 21, 2014 If you think about it, had Bruce lived, I would bet that there would have been at least a solid hour of kung fu fighting action in GOD. "A motion picture is motion. You gotta keep the dialogue down.... to the minimum." You're right mate. That was Game of Death all over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member shukocarl Posted December 21, 2014 Member Share Posted December 21, 2014 1.Way of the Dragon 2.The Big Boss 3.Fist of Fury 4.Enter the Dragon 5.game of Death (78) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted December 21, 2014 Member Share Posted December 21, 2014 The G.O.D footage is very good and just how it would have looked in the finished film who knows. One of the reasons why the film continues to intrigue people to this day. Id like to know how Bruce Lee free's himself from Kareem when he's head is being pushed towards the broken piece of vase. Lee is thrown into the giant vases by Kareem during the fight. You see Lee starting to lift his legs off the floor as Kareem is pushing his face down. Then it cuts to another angle/shot of Lee kicking Kareem from a standing position. How did he go from being on the floor to standing up?. Bey Logan said that he most likely would have filmed an acrobatic sequence involving Yuen Wah, so the sequence ran smoothly. Sadly Lee never got to film the bridging scene and the fight remains partially in-complete. Logan points out the missing sequence in the HKL audio commentary for the (1978) version of Game Of Death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cloud Hands Posted December 21, 2014 Member Share Posted December 21, 2014 For me it's a toss up between Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon. I have just voted ETD to bump it up a bit in the ratings. I owned them all on VHS as a kid, and it was these two that I would repeatedly watch the most. I went through a phase where I would come home from school and watch FOF every single day! Way of the Dragon has some great action, but at times suffers from some weaker moments and stilted acting. A magnificent finale though. Big Boss to me is clearly the weakest film, if we aren't counting GoD. I can't even remember the last time I watched GoD all the way through - instead I like to watch the mini-film of all Bruce footage on the HKL release extras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Phantom Dreamer Posted December 21, 2014 Member Share Posted December 21, 2014 I wonder if the completed Game of Death would have included any female nudity of some sort, all of the others did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cloud Hands Posted December 21, 2014 Member Share Posted December 21, 2014 I wonder if the completed Game of Death would have included any female nudity of some sort, all of the others did. Non stop Bruce fighting for 90 minutes interspersed with the odd bit of female nudity sounds like a decent film to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Lui Kang Posted December 22, 2014 Member Share Posted December 22, 2014 The Big Boss IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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