Korean version of Tower of Death... new findings?

[OldPangYau]

*Tower of Death spoilers ahead*

Hey, for a while I've seen and read things about the Korean cut of Tower of Death. For the longest time, I figured it just had the extended Hwang Jang Lee sword form plus the "nunchaku scene", and those were the only differences... at least, those were the two videos that FREQUENTLY appeared on YouTube. But, I found this little nugget on YouTube...

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This obviously COMPLETELY changes the overall plot of the film. The Tower of Death/Game of Death II that we all know and *smirk* love deals with the "Bruce Lee" character, Billy Lo/Lee Chen-chiang trying to find out why Chin Ku died, only for himself to end up killed by falling from the getaway helicopter. Then Bobby Lo/Lee Chen-kuo steps in to avenge his brother. Of course, Kim Tai Jong plays both parts. However, judging by this version, he only plays one role, as a completely different character dies from the helicopter incident. Obviously the whole brother plot seems absent in this version altogether, drastically altering the events of the film.

All this being said, has anyone else seen this version in full?

[The Dragon]

The director Ng See Yuen felt that the US relese couldn't stand more of the cut-a-ways, and the fact Lee wasn't in as much footage as originally stated, so, he changed the plot, for the US release. It was written as the "Bruce Lee" character's story, beginning to end. That's where all the ETD outtakes would be used. The story is actually better here, however, all the Bruce cuts in the Tong Long sequences give the film a rough broken rhythm. They should have made the film, "starring Tong Long, in the part written for Lee."

[David Rees]

No matter what version, its one of those films where you fast forward to the impressive fight scenes.....apparently Ng See Yuen was originally promised loads of unseen Lee footage to use but Raymond Chow changed his mind....

www.dvdasia.co.uk..Free UK delivery

[OldPangYau]

The director Ng See Yuen felt that the US relese couldn't stand more of the cut-a-ways, and the fact Lee wasn't in as much footage as originally stated, so, he changed the plot, for the US release. It was written as the "Bruce Lee" character's story, beginning to end. That's where all the ETD outtakes would be used. The story is actually better here, however, all the Bruce cuts in the Tong Long sequences give the film a rough broken rhythm. They should have made the film, "starring Tong Long, in the part written for Lee."

Yeah, I read that it was indeed supposed to originally be Game of Death II, as more GOD footage was promised that never showed up. All they had was extra ETD footage.

So, from what I can gather, this Korean cut is basically a glorified workprint without Bruce Lee footage. I'm guessing that the revenge plot in this version now deals with the "denim guy" who fell from the helicopter. This also makes more sense as he pretty much has no real point in the current cuts of the film. It'd be amazing if a film print of this cut still existed. Would Golden Harvest (through Fortune Star) have a print of this cut, or just the Korean distributor?

Either way, I'd at least be happy with a DVD-R of the Korean full screen VHS

[Guest Markgway]

Trashy, yet peculiarly interesting film. Not good, mind, just interesting.

I've always wondered who denim dude was? He must have more scenes in the Korean version (and the only reason he's visible at all in the HK and international prints is because they needed the shots of "Bruce" at the funeral).

Sounds like this might actually be a superior cut.

I don't think the changes were made exclusively for the Americans; the Cantonese print also has Kim Tae-Jong play two parts. How do they explain the differences in Kim's appearence and hair length in the Korean version, I wonder? Short hair, then long. Blue suit is worn in numerous scenes, then it's never seen again once Kim becomes Bruce's brother.

The film was released in Korea a year before it came out in HK so there was plenty of time for re-editing.

[OldPangYau]

The film was released in Korea a year before it came out in HK so there was plenty of time for re-editing.

Not to mention reshoots. After all, they needed to shoot footage of Kim Tai Jong running after the getaway helicopter taking the coffin to change the story (notice the majority of the outdoor funeral footage is shot on an overcast day, while the shots of Kim Tai Jong running after the coffin are on a sunny day).

Also, from what I've seen on YouTube, the opening credits, while different, are all in Chinese... no Korean text to be found. So I really do wonder if this was just a Korean dubbed workprint cut, and then Ng See Yuen and co went to work revamping it.

And yeah, a major cheese fest... but with damn good fight scenes. The only thing better than a cheesy martial arts film, is one that has great fight scenes on top of it. Praise Woo Ping!

[Guest Markgway]

Not to mention reshoots. After all, they needed to shoot footage of Kim Tai Jong running after the getaway helicopter taking the coffin to change the story (notice the majority of the outdoor funeral footage is shot on an overcast day, while the shots of Kim Tai Jong running after the coffin are on a sunny day).

The additional Chinese footage was probably shot in Hong Kong with little care taken to match it to the Korean footage.

Also, from what I've seen on YouTube, the opening credits, while different, are all in Chinese... no Korean text to be found. So I really do wonder if this was just a Korean dubbed workprint cut, and then Ng See Yuen and co went to work revamping it.

Could be... I haven't seen the Korean cut, only clips. Might be that the Korean version uses Chinese script though... sometimes you see that on their posters with the Korean script alongside or underneath.

And yeah, a major cheese fest... but with damn good fight scenes. The only thing better than a cheesy martial arts film, is one that has great fight scenes on top of it. Praise Woo Ping!

Yeah, fine action from The Yuen Clan.

[OldPangYau]

Could be... I haven't seen the Korean cut, only clips. Might be that the Korean version uses Chinese script though... sometimes you see that on their posters with the Korean script alongside or underneath.

True, I've noticed this as well... but I would've at least expected Chinese and Korean text together in the credits, similar to seeing Chinese and English credits together in Hong Kong prints of films.

I think Falkor's Rare Kung Fu Movies site has this print, but checking the site again, the Tower of Death page seems missing... at least checking from the Hwang Jang Lee page.

[sifu iron perm]

I need this Korean version in my life!!

[Killer Meteor]

That's really cool to see! Notice how Denim Dude lets go whilst "Bruce" has to be shot down with a poison dart!

Interesting to see the music is the same as the HK version - ie. swiped from Les Baxter's score to The Dunwich Horror.

Kim Tae Chong looks a lot more like Bruce here then he does as "Bobby Lo", who looked more like a pre-surgery Jackie Chan...maybe that was deliberate too?

[The Dragon]

...Kim Tae Chong looks a lot more like Bruce here then he does as "Bobby Lo", who looked more like a pre-surgery Jackie Chan...maybe that was deliberate too?

Just a guess here, however, I believe that's because of the passage of time over the production, and the editing team didn't keep continuity. They probably filmed the shots, then thought, "shit, his hair looks totally different, from when we began...!" That was the way, back then in HK films.

[OldPangYau]

New videos have been posted!:

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Even though this one says "Part 3", it's actually meant to fill in the gaps from the first two video clips that were posted, as they were both missing shots.

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This is where things get interesting... apparently this cut DOES still use Bruce Lee footage, but does its best to avoid blatantly showing Lee's face in full. The most is in the monk scene, in which we see Lee in profile.

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The music in city and the opening in the nightclub are different from the typical music heard in the mainstream cuts... and it STILL doesn't match the horrible lip syncing! Aside from that, notice in the two fights here that there are no stock Bruce Lee yells inserted like in the other cuts. Once again, trying to steer away from using anything Bruce Lee related.

Hopefully he'll be posting the rest of the clips soon!

[Guest Markgway]

I'm still inclined to think that Kim is playing two characters in 'Tower'. Early on "Bruce" (seen in above clips) and later "his brother"; they are very little alike in dress, appearence, attitude, and mannerism. I believe that the brother plot was always intended with Kim directed to give two quite different performances. The complications are in the editing. Those scenes above to look to have been assembled with the Bruce Lee footage - only for close-ups shots to have been removed at a later stage. Perhaps this Korean video is shorter than the Korean theatrical release with edits made for copyright reasons? Anything is possible when it comes to this film... lol

[OldPangYau]

I'm still inclined to think that Kim is playing two characters in 'Tower'. Early on "Bruce" (seen in above clips) and later "his brother"; they are very little alike in dress, appearence, attitude, and mannerism. I believe that the brother plot was always intended with Kim directed to give two quite different performances. The complications are in the editing. Those scenes above to look to have been assembled with the Bruce Lee footage - only for close-ups shots to have been removed at a later stage. Perhaps this Korean video is shorter than the Korean theatrical release with edits made for copyright reasons? Anything is possible when it comes to this film... lol

This is very true, anything is possible! After watching these clips, I went back to watch parts of the HK cut again... funny how you start to notice new things. For example, when KTJ's character (whoever it's supposed to be by now!) is picked up from the airport by "denim guy" in the HK cut, there is new footage of him being handed the film reel as well as "the dart that killed his brother". If you look closely at the interior of the car in this shot VS how it looks later... it's not the same car. The steering wheel went from black to red, the rear view mirror went from square edged to more circular... and it looks like they went from the countryside to the city So overall, I really am curious to see how the rest of this cut pans out.

[shapes]

this is what KMDB make of the story

Kim Tae-jung calls on Jin Kil-yong in Tokyo on his way to Taekwondo contest and finds him dead. At his funeral, the coffin is stolen by a helicopter and a friend Man-ho is killed. Tae-jung gets a roll of 16mm film shot in Sicily from Kil-yong's servant but is chased by two men. He meets Guie, lord of Sicily, for information but Guie gets killed by Mongro. He manages to escape and finds Kil-yong hiding in a temple in Korea with help of international police. Kil-yong disguised to be dead in Tokyo. Together they fight the evil.

On their site they claim the film was relased in March 1980 it came out 1 year later in HK ,

I think this film was shot from 78-80, as Yuen Biao was in a fair bit of it and his hair changed too, also he plays one of the monks , this must be pe knockabout as GH were pushing him as a star from then on. alsosI think King of sticks did a lot of the action see this on set test footage

http://www.youtube.com/user/abottwhite#p/search/0/grBIj9zY_mg

I think this footage was shot in late 1979.

would love to know thew time line of this mad film. (I love it) I have the Korean Tape will take a look at it later on tonight.

see if I can make any sense out of it, I remeber there were some extra bits outside just before he desends the Tower of death.

[The Dragon]

Wong Cheng Li's movements are so natural, so precise, what control this master has!

[Guest Markgway]

Apart from "the brother" angle that synopsis pretty much matches the HK cut.

I'm starting to think that it was the Koreans who made changes to remove 'the brothers' idea. The more I look at it the more obvious it is that Kim is playing two different characters. The Koreans have evidently turned his performance(s) into one character - and snipped out as much of the real Bruce Lee close-ups as continuity would allow. Why? Who knows?

That doesn't mean that there weren't any re-shoots for the HK cut however. Something was going on during that 1-year release gap. I'm sure Roy Horan confirms that the film (at least his scenes) was shot in 1979 - after the release of Game of Death.

Could be that Kim #1's friend (denim dude; I've no idea of the actor's name) was intended to play a bigger part in Tower of Death, but that his role was pruned for the final Chinese cut. GH could've re-shot the 'death scene' with Kim as 'Bruce'. Or maybe two scenes were shot at (roughly) the same time purposely for two different versions on different days? The Korean producers might have said we don't want a Bruceploitation pic so we'll shoot additional footage exclusively with Denim Dude dying as a catalyst for Kim's revenge. Mind you, the Koreans were into Brucepolitation as much as anyone - so that idea is a bit iffy. Ah, fuck. I dunno.

[shapes]

Extra bits

Korean Video sleeve (could be theatrical poster )

Just finished watching it, enjoyed it, but the end fight is a tad long even for Hwang fans,

there is no brother angle in this version, it seems judging by the writing on the poster that they are selling this as "Tong Lung Worldwide superstar from Game of death "(They bill Roy Horan as Charlie Chan from Snake in eagles shadow). Hwang Jang Lee from Drunken Master.

I agree with Mark on that the Koreans loved a good cash in, so why would'nt they have? but could be Raymond said you want full on Bruce footage you pay big $ or he never told them his masterplan to begin with or maybe they just wanted to sell Tong Lung . or a funny scenario is the korean editor looked at the footage and told his boss "there was some old bruce footage in there, did not look right so I got rid of it"

[OldPangYau]

More new stuff I see from this cut, the more and more interested I am in seeing it overall. Meanwhile, I'll be lurking around YouTube to see what else may pop up!

[Guest Markgway]

I've seen those "extra bits" before. They're definately in the English dub. "Bruce" finds his book (an outake from ETD) and Kim puts his glasses on a beaten guard.

[OldPangYau]

I've seen those "extra bits" before. They're definately in the English dub. "Bruce" finds his book (an outake from ETD) and Kim puts his glasses on a beaten guard.

Well, the thing is, if the footage of "Bruce" in his room is shown right around the time Lewis fights the Yen/Woo brothers, thats obviously a big change. After all, this scene in the HK cut was meant to show "Lee's" character arriving at his "brother's" room to leave him a letter. Also, notice how super bushy Kim Tai Jong's hair is when he's doubling for Lee as he writes that note in the HK cut... obviously newly shot footage by that point.

Also, it looks like there's extra footage before and after KTJ attacks the "sunglasses guard" going by those photos.

[shapes]

The enter book bit is shown just after the scene where Tu Wai Wo talks to the Brothers, this footage is supposed to represent Tong Lung cheking in to Horan's guest room,(there was the standard day for night establishing shot of the castle just prior to it) bruce's face is not used,

The next day the challenge resumes.

The glasses bit is used differently here, the guy come out of the ground, as Tong

Lung is beating Tu Wai Wo, Tong Lung hears him (OS) turns then batters him, then enters the trap door.

[Guest Markgway]

I think one thing we can safely say is that 98% of Tower of Death was filmed in 1979 and THEN the editing began. The Koreans went one direction, the Chinese another. A DVD with both cuts would be very interesting indeed (and I'm not even a fan of the movie).

[OldPangYau]

I think one thing we can safely say is that 98% of Tower of Death was filmed in 1979 and THEN the editing began. The Koreans went one direction, the Chinese another. A DVD with both cuts would be very interesting indeed (and I'm not even a fan of the movie).

Very true. And I do agree that it had to have been shot around 1979, mainly due to the then "non star power" appearances of Yuen Biao, when he was just a stuntman and double. So probably shot in '79, released in Korea in '80, then released in HK in '81.

[sifu iron perm]

One of my fav scenes is when the cowardly lion from wizard of oz attacks Lee Chen-Kuo.