So there was 'Lee Lives Within':QuentinGrindFilmFest

[Guest iron flag]

No, I didn't. Btw, in case anyones interested "Supermanchu" is aka "Stormy Sun".

[Guest quaco]

Hi there,

This is my first post here. I just got back from the New Beverly theater where I saw THE REAL BRUCE LEE and LEE LIVES WITHIN. I wanted to learn more about the films, so I started looking around on the Internet.

I found out some interesting things...

From the synopses I have found, the first film wasn't THE REAL BRUCE LEE at all. It didn't have any Bruce lee footage that I could see: none of the old Bruce Lee as a child stuff. It was just a simple, color, '70s HK kung fu movie. I don't know if Tarantino sent the New Beverly the wrong film, or if it was just the Dragon Lee part of THE REAL BRUCE LEE that we saw. Can any of you describe what this part of TRBL is like? I think the film had Bruce Li actually, not Dragon Lee (I am not an expert), and it involved him trying to protect a rich man and his daughter from various nefarious forces. He pretends to be an electronics expert at one point. At the end, we learn he's an INTERPOL agent! What film did I just see?

And then there was LEE LIVES WITHIN. I have read what you have posted about this, and would like to help you identify the film. Some have said it is actually THE WARRIOR WITHIN, but looking that up, isn't that a Chuck Norris documentary about Bruce Lee?? I'm sorry, I'm not an expert on the genre, I just want to help. The film I saw starred a kind of young normal (almost geeky-looking) kid (I'm sorry, I don't know his name) who is trying to help a restaurant owner and his daughter who are being roughed up by the local mobsters. This kid is an awesome fighter and soon the mobster tries to hire him to get him on his side. And he agrees ... for a price. But what the mobsters don't know is that he is actually an undercover cop. Then, there is a subplot about a different guy (also a kickass fighter) who is also an undercover cop. He is mainly concerned with bringing a little money home to his mother. Between the two of them, they bring down the mobsters.

Does this sound at all familiar to any of you? I'll watch this board for a while. I'd be happy to try to answer any questions about this film.

The double-feature plays for a couple more days. Maybe some of you guys should see it and report back.

[Guest quaco]

Hello,

OK, this is my second post. I found what the first movie shown today at the New Beverly was: FISTS OF BRUCE LEE aka INTERPOL.

www.geocities.com/many_br...stsbl2.htm

It was not THE REAL BRUCE LEE.

[Guest VonHumboldtFleischer]

At the end, we learn he's an INTERPOL agent! What film did I just see?

Erm... It couldn't be INTERPOL, by any chance?

EDIT: Ah, there you go then.

[Guest killer meteor]

Could the geeky kid in the second film be Fu Sheng?

[Guest quaco]

Is this the Fu Sheng you're talking about?

www.heroic-cinema.com/ima...usheng.jpg

That's not him.

Is there any sort of online kung fu star "mug book" I could look at to pick out the guys in the second film?

[Guest Chinatown Kid]

It might be Bruce Liang in Kidnap in Rome, was the film set in Rome or was it filmed in HK or some other Chinese locale with only Asian actors? If it's yes to the latter then I'm wrong it's not Kidnap in Rome.

[Guest quaco]

Definitely in HK or other Chinese locale.

I just went through all 4 "Familiar Faces" galleries hin Beijing Cinema (link below) and didn't find either of the main guys in this film. Now my interest is piqued!...

www.beijingvideo.com/map.html

[Guest VonHumboldtFleischer]

What title was on the print of the movie?

[Guest quaco]

I believe it was indeed LEE LIVES WITHIN. As I say, I am not well-versed in kung fu films, but I don't remember being confused when the titles came on. I'm pretty sure it said "Lee Lives Within", then gave one or two actors' names in both English and Chinese, then all the rest of the credits in Chinese only.

So, I don't doubt it was called LEE LIVES WITHIN, but it's just interesting that there seems to be no reference to a film of that name on the Internet -- except, of course, in terms of it playing at the New Beverly during this festival.

Did anyone see it this eve?

[Guest Squid Lips]

You know I was going to see them and got stuck in a meeting so missed them both. Obviously it was not THE REAL BRUCE LEE and the LEE LIVES WITHIN sounds even more enigmatic. Amazing that even this theater would run into the disease of AKAs these films suffer from.

Did you determine that THE REAL BRUCE LEE was actually a Bruce Li film?

[Guest quaco]

Yes, apparently, it is FISTS OF BRUCE LEE aka INTERPOL. I'm wondering if, rather than, as you say, suffering from "the disease of AKAs", maybe the theater was just given the wrong film! I'm sure Tarantino would know the difference. Maybe whoever in his camp sent the pictures over took the wrong one.

(Who knows? Just to be safe, I notified the theater via their MySpace page.)

[Guest iron flag]

Just got back from the theater. The first movie was "Fists of Bruce Lee" with Bruce Li. The second movie was indeed titled "Lee Lives Within" and was not "Interpol" but "Showdown at the Equator" actually. It starred 2 guys (that I dont think I've ever seen before) as undercover police officers. One works at an auto repair shop and the other at a restaurant. The one from the Restaurant infiltrates Lo Lieh's gang and eventually gets shot by Lo. The other chases Lo down and in a rather anticlimactic end fight kicks him off a small cliff.

[Guest quaco]

The second movie was indeed titled "Lee Lives Within" and was not "Interpol" but "Showdown at the Equator" actually.

Good detective work! Did you enjoy the films?

Just to clarify, INTERPOL is apparently another name for FISTS OF BRUCE LEE. I didn't say it had anything to do with LEE LIVES WITHIN.

I quite liked both films actually. I'm still thinking about them.

[Guest VonHumboldtFleischer]

2 guys (that I dont think I've ever seen before)

Bruce Liang and Larry Lee?

Wow.

Still, at least it actually had someone called "Lee" in it.

[Guest iron flag]

I take it back. I have seen Larry Lee before, 10 Tigers of Shaolin right?

quaco, I thought they were ok. I'm assuming you're not a big Kung Fu movie fan. Please, you owe it to yourself, check out the post "greatest old school KF movies of all time",and watch some of those. If you enjoyed the movies from the grindhouse festival you'll LOVE those!!

[Guest quaco]

Please, you owe it to yourself, check out the post "greatest old school KF movies of all time",and watch some of those. If you enjoyed the movies from the grindhouse festival you'll LOVE those!!

Thanks for the recommendation. I will definitely do that! The big screen is the best, but I'll start renting some of these.

I'll also poke around on the site here. Looks kind of interesting.

Cheers,

quaco

[Guest the dirty tiger]

So do we have an answer yet as to the true identity of Lee Lives Within ?

[Guest quaco]

Apparently, it's the same as SHOWDOWN AT THE EQUATOR...

www.hkmdb.com/db/movies/v...ay_set=eng

Here's the cast: www.angelfire.com/az3/kit...t5/seq.htm

[Guest the dirty tiger]

Ooooooh, ok dodgy dodgy film. I have the Video Gems version, want to get a better version, anybody got one ?

[Guest W Hong]

I ended up not being able to see LLW or TRBL. I feel so bad about not actually seeing LLW. I couldn't go see it because I caught a cold at the last minute. Do any of you know if Quentin said that LLW will be shown again in an L.A. area movie theatre? Did QT appear in person for this particular double feature?

So do we have an answer yet as to the true identity of Lee Lives Within ?

If, as Quaco said, it is "Showdown at the Equator"(1978) (Lo Lieh, Nora Miao), then there would be the different comparisons, of course. For example:

("SatE"), (LLW)

(1978) , (1981[?])

(Hong Kong release), (Downtown LA,Hollywood, NYC(?))

(Chinese language), ( English dubbed?)

i also noticed that both Lieh and Miao appear in "SatE" and also "Bruce's Finger". I guess that I was also lucky to have seen "BF" on the old World Video(?) VHS video. I also remember hearing that Bruce Lee's Wing Chun teacher appeared in "BF".

[Guest killer meteor]

There is a widescreen DVD of Bruce's Deadly Fingers but the ending is cut on it. And I do belive Bruce Lee's wing chun teacher is in it because I saw him on one of the documentaries

[Guest greenbamboo]

Yes that is Wong Shun Leung aka Crazy Leung who was Bruce's Wing Chun teacher after he left GM Yip Man's school. Wong was a famous fighter in Hong Kong who took on all challengers and reportedly never lost. You can see him doing a screentest with Bruce on the set of Enter the Dragon (Han's trophy room) in the doc BL The Man, The Legend. Bruce wanted him to play a guard on one of the floors of the pagoda.

[Guest iron flag]

I went every week (except the first). Neither Quentin,nor anyone else slightly resembling a celebrity showed up. As I mentioned, LEE LIVES WITHIN IS SHOWDOWN AT THE EQUATOR!!! You guys need to smoke better $#it!! :lol