Did Bruce Lee appear in any if Shaw movies?

[kwon35]

friend said he did but can't remember the movie. I can't find nothing to back his statement.

[bravearcher101]

The answer to your question, is no Bruce Lee never made a movie at Shaw Brothers. Bruce visit the studio set for pictures and that it, there're no Shaw Brother movie with him in it. Think about if he did don't you think they would have put that one out, because it would be a rare movie.

[niro]

The answer to your question, is no Bruce Lee never made a movie at Shaw Brothers. Bruce visit the studio set for pictures and that it, there're no Shaw Brother movie with him in it. Think about if he did don't you think they would have put that one out, because it would be a rare movie.

it would have definitely brought in big money

[Monk Sante]

I have seen pics of Bruce hanging out on the set of 'Blood Brothers'. There's also pictures of Bruce posing in front of a brick wall wearing the old period costumes........does anyone know if theses pics were shot at the Shaws studio?

[Endsang]

He should have worked with Shaw. Then his movies might just have been watchable.

Yeah, I said it.

[Mark Pollard]

It's true, Bruce Lee was first courted by Shaw Brothers and did some test shots in typical Chang Cheh-style period costuming of the era with arm bands and such. He never appeared in one of their movies though. Having already worked in Hollywood where the pay was better, he refused SB's meager offer and instead joined rival studio Golden Harvest and subsequently turned it into the international powerhouse that it became for roughly 20 years.

All of the martial arts movies Lee starred in were productions or co-productions of Golden Harvest.

Maybe someone could dig up one of those Bruce Lee test shots at SB. They're pretty interesting and very unlike the look Lee adopted in his actual films.

[teako170]

...props to Carol

[Mark Pollard]

Way to go teako. Love the expression on Lee's face in the photo top right.

[Monk Sante]

Thats Zatoichi! Bruce was a big fan of his films.

[David Rees]

Heres some more:

BRUCE LEE LEGENDS OF THE DRAGON BOOK..HERE!

[Guest Markgway]

Cool photos... some I've never seen before.

[gorhama]

Thanks for the photos. I have seen some of those before. It would be interesting to think what if Bruce Lee signed with Shaw Brothers. Oh the movies that could have been made considering how good his with Golden Harvest were.

[David Rees]

Whats interesting is that Bruce visited Shaws a few times, he visited the set of The Lizard, Intimate Confessions Of A Chinese Courtesan and Blood Brothers.

The traditional pics of Bruce with the wall in the background were actually shot at Golden Harvest i believe and not Shaws.

These pics below (shot in 1973) and lots of others are at Shaws, wouldnt it be great if they shot some test footage too....you never know.

[Winfred]

There's something about his eyes in these photos that spell STAR!

[SamuraiDana]

Bruce Lee and Lau Kar Leung - what a combo that would have made. They might have had serious disagreements over what styles to employ, but the result would have been compelling no matter what.

And I agree with Endsang. Sadly, Bruce died before he could make even one good movie.

[gorhama]

I'll be the first to say everyone has the right to their opinions. I must ask though...Endsang and SamuraiDana there isn't a single Bruce Lee movie you thought was good? Or was it the movie sucked but you enjoyed Bruce Lee's performance?

Again not trying to start anything just curious.

[Monk Sante]

A good 65% of the martial arts films around this era (1970-1973) really sucked. I could only imagen if Bruce was around for the late 70s, im sure his films would have been a lot better. His performances in his films are still second to none IMO.

[venoms5]

I'll be the first to say everyone has the right to their opinions. I must ask though...Endsang and SamuraiDana there isn't a single Bruce Lee movie you thought was good? Or was it the movie sucked but you enjoyed Bruce Lee's performance?

Again not trying to start anything just curious.

I think there was already a thread devoted to this topic so apologies for further derailing things but I don't like his movies either. Bruce brought an American sensibility to his HK films and had not GH given in to his demands, in all probability, GH would have been no more. The reason he is put on such a godly pedestal isn't so much his skill level, but because he is dead a la John Wayne, Elvis, James Dean, ad infinitum...not to mention dying at the top of his popularity.

Aside from the difference in choreo, ie numerous scenes of throwaway bad guys standing there while Bruce the Invincible kicks them into oblivion, it seems to be excusable for his movies to feature shoddy production values or mediocre filmmaking but yet the same thing is ridiculed in easily superior productions. The main difference being the main characters don't spend five minutes of screen time every fight threatening to burst veins in the sides of their head all the while making animal sounds with fists clenched tightly. Bruce, the man was great, his movies, IMO, were not.

Anyways, I have some other pics of Bruce wearing the familiar Shaw Brothers studded arm bracelets and hair piece in an old book on Lee and Jackie Chan from the time of the release of BATTLECREEK BRAWL if I can find it.

[Endsang]

Bruce, the man was great, his movies, IMO, were not.

That pretty much sums up my opinion as well. He was no doubt a magnificent martial artist, but there was nothing interesting about his movies, nor the action choreography.

To answer your question gorhama, I have all the essential Bruce Lee movies, where I have watched each of them only once, except Enter the Dragon, which I have seen twice because of the James Bond feel to it. I have also seen Tower of Death a couple of times for the final fight, but I don't really consider that a Bruce Lee movie. The rest I haven't, and won't, bother with again. The settings are just plain boring and predictable, and there's not a lot of excitement around watching Bruce Lee scowling angrily and throwing some cocky kicks and punches without taking any beating himself. So no, I don't really like any of his movies, I just rate them compared to eachother and find Enter the Dragon the most bearable.

Back to the thread: A lot of cool pictures, and I think he definately could have fit in an early Shaw basher. Would have been more interesting to see him deal with some more complicated shapes choreo if he had lived throughout the 70s.

[David Rees]

Everyone is entitled to there opinion of course, but comparing Bruce's films to those that were released around the same time they were miles ahead in choreography and most of all his on screen charisma. Im sure both those aspects would have developed had he lived.

[SamuraiDana]

I'll be the first to say everyone has the right to their opinions. I must ask though...Endsang and SamuraiDana there isn't a single Bruce Lee movie you thought was good? Or was it the movie sucked but you enjoyed Bruce Lee's performance?

Again not trying to start anything just curious.

Of his four movies (I won't count GAME OF DEATH because I don't consider it a "true" Bruce Lee movie), I like THE CHINESE CONNECTION (aka FISTS OF FURY) the best. At least it has an interesting plot worthy of Bruce's talents. The others are simply not well-written or well-directed movies. Bruce is great in them, but he deserved much better and he would have gotten much better had he lived. The scenes with Bruce in ENTER THE DRAGON are quite compelling, but the scenes without him are just deadly. The plotting is really stupid and the whole idea of Bruce being an agent for the British colonial government rubs a lot of us kung fu fans the wrong way. But at least we got to hear Bruce's real voice in it.

As for CHINESE CONNECTION, even it pales, as a kung fu film, to many other films of the era. I'm thinking of stuff being done at Shaw Bros. at the time, such as DUEL OF THE IRON FIST and BOXER FROM SHANTUNG, both of which have similar historical settings to the Lee film. Their stars may not have been as intense, as skilled, or as charismatic as Bruce, but the films were better written, designed, and staged. Lo Wei was a competent director, but not a particularly visionary one. In contrast, Lau Kar Leung, first an action director at Shaw and then a director, was a truly innovative filmmaker as well as fight choreographer.

And I've seen Bruce's films multiple times, beginning with big-screen viewings when they were first released (I saw THE CHINESE CONNECTION before Bruce died), and I plan to revisit them again. Despite their flaws, they're still important kung fu films and deserve to be studied.

[gorhama]

Excellent reponse SamuariDana.....very cool that you were able to see Fists of Fury before Bruce Lee died. I was not so lucky being as when I was born and all. Bruce Lee movies were the first introduction I had to Hong Kong cinema growing up. I do agree with your statements and Fists of Fury is without a doubt my favorite as well.

Now that I'm older and have more appreication for martial arts movies and have been collecting them, I will agree that the overall production and quality of Shaws were much greater than what Bruce had at Golden Harvest.

It's fun and sad at the same time to think about what Bruce could have gone on to do had he not died so suddenly (I think the same thing about his son who IMO was a great actor and screen fighter as well). Still with what he had Bruce Lee shown through better than any other would have.

Again thanks for the excellent conversations on this board.

Also if this has been brought up in another topic I do apologize.

[SamuraiDana]

I should add that I made return trips that summer (1973) to see both THE CHINESE CONNECTION and ENTER THE DRAGON. Bruce was a cultural hero in my inner city neighborhood (as he was in similar neighborhoods around the country) and his image was everywhere long after he died. These films had a powerful impact. Seven years later, when a friend of mine came back home from a stint in the Air Force, we celebrated by going downtown to Manhattan's notorious 42nd Street to see--what else?--ENTER THE DRAGON. (It was on a double bill with THE FISTS OF BRUCE LEE.)

It wasn't until years later when I had the chance to catch up on dozens of kung fu films I'd missed (and I thank the 43rd Chamber for that) that I was able to compare the Lee films to all the other stuff that had been produced at the time, and appreciate a host of kung fu directors whom I hadn't really been exposed to before, and develop a more critical attitude.

[gorhama]

I would have loved to see any Bruce Lee movie in the theaters with a crowd of fans. Actually I would have loved to catch any kung fu movies in a crowded theater full of fans. Alas I came into the world too late for that. Thankfully I can get them on DVD and enjoy them over and over again.

I will say that while I enjoy Bruce's movies mainly for Bruce....once I got fully emersed in Hong Kong cinema...I find my self watching Lau's film's along with, Jackie, Sammo and Yuen Biao more than his because the level of fight choreography was so much better and advanced by that time.

[Kwok Choi]

Rumours rumours rumours - some say Bruce was gonna sign up at Shaws and do some movies with Chu Yuan and other directors at SB that he admired - rumours - we shall never know.

Rumours rumours rumours - how many millions could Raymond Chow have paid more than the almighty Shaws or was it simply a future potential clash of egos that lured him to Golden Harvest (on Bruce's terms)? Who knows what exactly transpired?

Fact - regardless of what anyone thinks of Bruce's films, opponents or choreography Bruce doesn't play-fight, he whips ass and the ass stays whipped.Afterwards the ass marvels at how seriously it was whipped.

Like it or not,when Bruce arrived on the scene,there was absolutely nothing remotely seen in movies anywhere on planet earth like his fighting techniques.

Bruce's contribution , the amount of famous stars and people he inspired today in the transformation of the worldwide kung fu / martial arts industry should never be taken for granted.