Member DragonClaws Posted March 14, 2021 Member Share Posted March 14, 2021 20 hours ago, DrNgor said: But yeah, there's nothing to recommend this film on an action, exploitation or artistic level. Utter crap. I caught this one last summer, and I didnt rate it highly either. From what I recall, theres no Bruceploitation elements in this film?. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted March 14, 2021 Member Share Posted March 14, 2021 7 hours ago, DragonClaws said: From what I recall, theres no Bruceploitation elements in this film?. Nope. As Ho Tsung-Tao said it was his first leading role and thus predated Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story, I don't think there was any real Brucesploitation train to ride. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted March 14, 2021 Member Share Posted March 14, 2021 Chinese Chieh Chuan Kung Fu (Taiwan, 1976: Lin Bing) - aka Young Bruce Lee; Bruce Lee, Superstar; Superdragon; Legend of Bruce Lee; Tangshan Jeet Kune Do - As a biopic of the Little Dragon, this is probably one of the more worthless ones out there. It purports to be about his younger life, although the third act skims through his film career and death, albeit in such a way that we never really learn why Bruce Lee was such a treasure to the genre and Hong Kong cinema on the whole. This one doesn't even go through the motions of Bruce's life, save that he had a martial arts school in California's Bay Area and dated a white girl. Poor Linda, always getting the short end of the stick. Basically, Bruce Lee and his friend Xiao Hu (Ou-Yang Chan, of Militant Eagle and Dual Flying Kicks) learn kung fu from some old guy hiding out in a Buddhist statue park. Bruce Lee finds himself getting into all sorts of trouble, while Xiao Hu has a promising career as a Peking Opera actor. Bruce develops Jeet Kune Do after losing a fight to a thug in Hong Kong (Lin Chong, of New Game of Death and Adventure at Shaolin). He goes to the States, opens a school in San Francisco/Oakland, wins some tournaments, goes back to Hong Kong, helps his friend through an existential crisis and faces off with Lung Fei. There's a subplot about Bruce and his relationship with a childhood friend, Chow Ming (Tse Ling-Ling, of Little Flying Knight in Jin Bao), but that more or less resolves itself by the end of the first half. Beyond that, this is probably the least truthful of the 70s-era Brucesploitation biopics that I've seen, and I count Bruce Lee's Secret, in which he develops Jeet Kune Do to defeat Legendary Superkicker Hwang Jang Lee. Mind you, I haven't watched He's a Legend, He's a Hero (1976) yet, although scanning it on Youtube, Ho Tsung-Tao does get to bang another starlet pretending to be Betty Ting Pei, so it has that. The best thing I can say about this is that the fight choreography, courtesy of Lung Fei, has improved a lot compared to Bruce Li's films from 1974 and 1975. He does a lot of wing chun in this, which is generally crisp and well executed. His kicks are generally high and powerful as well. The choreography, especially against Lin Chong, borders on all-out shapes, which is fine. All of the fighters acquit themselves well, save perhaps Ou-Yang Chan, whose character is accustomed to Peking Opera performing and fights like it, too. The last fight against Lung Fei is pretty good, too, if a little short. But yeah, this is still another Brucesploitation film that I'd recommend only for completists. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted March 14, 2021 Member Share Posted March 14, 2021 Lung Fei made a lot of movies with Jimmy Wang Yu and Ho Chung Tao, i wonder how that came about? I really like him, a real badass but there must've been other actors they could've used for a change. Fang Yeh for example 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted March 14, 2021 Member Share Posted March 14, 2021 1 hour ago, saltysam said: Lung Fei made a lot of movies with Jimmy Wang Yu and Ho Chung Tao, i wonder how that came about? I really like him, a real badass but there must've been other actors they could've used for a change. Your staple of Taiwanese villains generally included Lung Fei, Tsai Hung, Shan Mao, Miao Tien, Yi Yuan, and of course, Chang Yi. I'm pretty sure that by the time the old school kung fu movie died, Lung Fei had traded blows with practically every actor who ever played a protagonist in a Taiwanese film. I bet one could write an interesting book about his career and get interesting insights into the talents of other actors. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted March 14, 2021 Member Share Posted March 14, 2021 Lung Fei and Shan Mao play gangsters of the same names in Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger. Maybe they had Triad connections? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Duel to the Death Posted April 30, 2021 Member Share Posted April 30, 2021 Challenge of the Tiger Oh boy, what a mess. I decided i wanted to watch some Brucesploitation movies i had never seen and this was the first one. The story and acting is down right ridiculous. But that is what i expected so i enjoyed it. The highlights are Bruce Le fighting a bull, any scene with Hwang Jang-Lee in it and the (cough cough) tennis scene. Anybody know who the tennis player is? I need it for (cough cough) historical research. Also the way Hwang Jang-Lee dies is funny. I bet that is the only time in any movie he has died that way. Spoiler Crashing and flipping his car and getting blown up I'll watch more of these Brucesploitation movies soon. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Duel to the Death Posted May 1, 2021 Member Share Posted May 1, 2021 The Clones of Bruce Lee I've seen clips of it before so i knew what i was getting into. It's so ridiculous but i love it. The second half is better than the first half. It doesn't really get interesting until the extremely silly and over the top Dr. Ngai enters the picture. The idea of bronzemen is good but executed poorly. Just like the last movie i watched, this one ends so abruptly. Next i need to see the one with Popeye. I'm unsure if i've seen it before. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted May 1, 2021 Member Share Posted May 1, 2021 (edited) On 5/1/2021 at 12:30 AM, Duel to the Death said: Next i need to see the one with Popeye. I'm unsure if i've seen it before. Ah, The Dragon Lives Again. That's a nutty one, to be sure. Edited February 11, 2022 by DrNgor 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted May 1, 2021 Member Share Posted May 1, 2021 8 hours ago, Duel to the Death said: The Clones of Bruce Lee I've seen clips of it before so i knew what i was getting into. It's so ridiculous but i love it. The second half is better than the first half. It doesn't really get interesting until the extremely silly and over the top Dr. Ngai enters the picture. The idea of bronzemen is good but executed poorly. Just like the last movie i watched, this one ends so abruptly. Next i need to see the one with Popeye. I'm unsure if i've seen it before. This should in the Criterion collection,along with Dragon Lives Again. 4 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Duel to the Death Posted May 3, 2021 Member Share Posted May 3, 2021 Oh so this is where my posts went. There are so many separate places for movies and i still get confused. Plus i disappeared for half a year and forgot. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Duel to the Death Posted May 3, 2021 Member Share Posted May 3, 2021 (edited) The Dragon Lives Again I thought I already typed something out for this one but I guess I didn't. I like the concept of the movie taking place in hell. But it was executed poorly. If done properly you could of had a decent movie. So are we to believe that James Bond, Clint Eastwood and Popeye have died and are in hell? I know I shouldn't try and rationalize it. It's a terrible movie. lol Is the blind man supposed to be Zatoichi? And the one armed man The One Armed Boxer? That's my guess. Edited May 3, 2021 by Duel to the Death 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 7, 2021 Member Share Posted May 7, 2021 On 3/14/2021 at 11:08 PM, Killer Meteor said: Lung Fei and Shan Mao play gangsters of the same names in Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger. Maybe they had Triad connections? It's certainly likely. On a few Chinese webpages, Shan Mao was referred to as having died in a "drunk fight" - make of that what you will. Both men were in their fair share of Bruce Li movies. They almost share the same Bruce Li credits except Lung was in two more titles. Lung's Bruce Li movies: http://hkmdb.com/db/search/results/+wzhjvG30H9vgsTRp0+Q-1.mhtml Shan's Bruce Li movies: http://hkmdb.com/db/search/results/AtFVNTbYznPZkwv9+nAfw-1.mhtml Speaking of credits, I'm surprised that Wong Wai wasn't credited on HKMDB as the undercover C.I.D. officer who was mistaken for an assassin in The Gold Connection. Wong was in Bruce Li's Storming Attacks, and Sammo's Enter the Fat Dragon. Back to The Gold Connection, Phillip Ko using the table cloth to deflect Bruce Li's sword reminds me of another Bruceploitation movie that was filmed in the same year - Tower of Death. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted May 7, 2021 Member Share Posted May 7, 2021 Lung Fei fascinates me, was in so many movies,nearly always as a badass heartless villain and yet i've never seen an interview or any updates on what he's up to these days (obviously long retired i know) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 7, 2021 Member Share Posted May 7, 2021 1 hour ago, saltysam said: Lung Fei fascinates me, was in so many movies, nearly always as a badass heartless villain and yet i've never seen an interview or any updates on what he's up to these days (obviously long retired i know) I tried to find out more via a Chinese Google search*, alas nothing came of it. It's too bad because I'm curious to know what the production of Born Invincible was like. * 龍飛 (Lung Fei) 功夫 (Kung Fu) 電影 (movie) 面試 (interview) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted May 7, 2021 Member Share Posted May 7, 2021 2 minutes ago, Cognoscente said: I tried to find out more via a Chinese Google search*, alas nothing came of it. It's too bad because I'm curious to know what the production of Born Invincible was like. * 龍飛 (Lung Fei) 功夫 (Kung Fu) 電影 (movie) 面試 (interview) It's strange how these supposedly still alive prolific performers just seem to disappear and info on them is so hard to find. Fang Yeh, Shan Kwai,Sun Lan are others i'm interested in. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 7, 2021 Member Share Posted May 7, 2021 Just the other day, I tried to find out more about Tino Wong...and all I could find was this career retrospective/review-type article. https://kknews.cc/entertainment/95le5p8.html 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jesse Smooth Posted May 29, 2021 Member Share Posted May 29, 2021 On 4/18/2020 at 4:24 AM, saltysam said: It's got Aaron Banks and Ron Van Clief lying through their teeth with a straight face about how well they knew Bruce .Adolf Caesar half cut throughout , Fred Willamson being mistaken for Harry Belafonte, , Fred The Flying Fatman, Louis Neglia who probably didn't know he was going to be in this . Then it gets footage in from Invincible Super Chan who it turns out is Bruce's samurai great grandfather. It's genius and tried to do something different with the bruceploitation genre. Is this the only legit USA made bruceploitation title ? Oddly enough, Ron Van Clief does say that he spent time with Bruce on numerous occasions. My favorite story is about how the two of them shared a doobie. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted May 29, 2021 Member Share Posted May 29, 2021 9 hours ago, Jesse Smooth said: Oddly enough, Ron Van Clief does say that he spent time with Bruce on numerous occasions. My favorite story is about how the two of them shared a doobie. Thats on one of the George Tan commentaries for Black Dragon or was it Black Dragons Revenge?. On the old R1 Double Bill DVD release?. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 29, 2021 Member Share Posted May 29, 2021 Black Dragon's Revenge. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member saltysam Posted May 29, 2021 Member Share Posted May 29, 2021 I like Ron but he's a bit of a bullshitter with his tales of BL (imo) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jesse Smooth Posted May 29, 2021 Member Share Posted May 29, 2021 3 minutes ago, saltysam said: I like Ron but he's a bit of a bullshitter with his tales of BL (imo) In regards to Ron, I think his Bruce stories are true...to a certain extent as those are stories that aren’t published in Black Belt magazine. We don’t even hear stories about Bruce and Louis Delgado as he was the other influence for his kicks. It’s a shame there aren’t any photos of Bruce with the NYC guys. I know we weren’t media savvy in those days. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted May 29, 2021 Member Share Posted May 29, 2021 Having said that, Bruce Lee was the most photographed star of the 20th century. Nearly every moment of his life was captured. As the years go by, new photos emerge. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member shukocarl1441996347 Posted July 1, 2021 Member Share Posted July 1, 2021 Just been having a Bruce Li double-bill night (no footy again). Bruce Lee - True Story (Man & Myth) still THE best 'bio' film. James Ho pulled out all the stops with this one in his 'Lee' portrayal. If only Raymond Chow had got him solely for Game of Death. The only time in that film that they captured the essence of Bruce Lee is the Bob Wall locker room fight. My co feature tonight was Exit the Dragon-Enter the Tiger, a much better title that the misleading Bruce Lee, Star of Stars. This is a ****ing cracking little crime thriller that would be just as good without the 'Bruce Lee' schtick. Once again James Ho is great in his part - going from heart broken fan-boy to vengeance seeking bad-ass over the course of the film. The streetfighting gung fu is both satisfying to an action addict and better than any pretty shapes shifting nonsense (my opinion only). It never fails to get me stirred up and the beach slug-fest with classy Chang Yi is just the icing on the cake. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted July 1, 2021 Member Share Posted July 1, 2021 52 minutes ago, shukocarl1441996347 said: Just been having a Bruce Li double-bill night (no footy again). Bruce Lee - True Story (Man & Myth) still THE best 'bio' film. James Ho pulled out all the stops with this one in his 'Lee' portrayal. If only Raymond Chow had got him solely for Game of Death. The only time in that film that they captured the essence of Bruce Lee is the Bob Wall locker room fight. My co feature tonight was Exit the Dragon-Enter the Tiger, a much better title that the misleading Bruce Lee, Star of Stars. This is a ****ing cracking little crime thriller that would be just as good without the 'Bruce Lee' schtick. Once again James Ho is great in his part - going from heart broken fan-boy to vengeance seeking bad-ass over the course of the film. The streetfighting gung fu is both satisfying to an action addict and better than any pretty shapes shifting nonsense (my opinion only). It never fails to get me stirred up and the beach slug-fest with classy Chang Yi is just the icing on the cake. Both are great faves of mine, with superb soundtracks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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