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

[Guest Markgway]

The fake Lion is so bad that when I was a kid I thought it was supposed to be a man pretending to be a Lion as a disguise.

[shapes]

I think it suppposed to be a Lion pretending to be a man in a lion suit

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

I always thought that too, untill Roy Horan set it straight on the commentary. Horan also states that it was shot in '79!

[shukocarl]

If the Korean cut dispenses with the opening scenes including KTJ as Bruce...wouldn't that take about 20-30 mins out? Surely this vesrion is longer than 60 mins approx?

[shapes]

77 MINS . they also got rid of the fighting Lion and the Naked guest

[OldPangYau]

77 MINS . they also got rid of the fighting Lion and the Naked guest

Despite the unintentional comedy, I say good riddance... The scene didn't impact the story at all (what story there is, at least), the lion belonged on Sesame Street, and the "guest" looked like she applied her make-up with a trowel anyway

[Guest Markgway]

77 MINS . they also got rid of the fighting Lion and the Naked guest

The Korean version just keeps getting better.

[OldPangYau]

I'm starting to think a lot of scenes were added later just to pad the living hell out of this film. But it's funny, because with each newer release, it seemed to get longer:

Korean cut: 1980 = 77 minutes

HK cut: 1981 = 86 minutes

Export cut: 198? = 96 minutes

[The Dragon]

I'm starting to think a lot of scenes were added later just to pad the living hell out of this film. But it's funny, because with each newer release, it seemed to get longer:

Korean cut: 1980 = 77 minutes

HK cut: 1981 = 86 minutes

Export cut: 198? = 96 minutes

Minutes of Death?

[shukocarl]

I may be wrong here but I remember reading somewhere about ANOTHER version of GOD 2 that had all the 'Enter the Dragon' footage replaced by 'Way of the Dragon' footage. Has anyone seen it?

[OldPangYau]

I may be wrong here but I remember reading somewhere about ANOTHER version of GOD 2 that had all the 'Enter the Dragon' footage replaced by 'Way of the Dragon' footage. Has anyone seen it?

There's a version that was released on video in the US and UK in the late 80s that replaced the Enter shots with footage from The Big Boss. No rare footage, just facial reactions used to replace the ETD footage... probably due to issues with Warner Bros. I'll have to find it and post some clips.

[shukocarl]

Thank you OPY! I look forward to seeing the clips!

[Guest Markgway]

The version of TOD released by Rank (and later Polygram) had the ENTER footage.

One difference I do remember between the rental version and the retail version is with the end credits: Rental version had slow theme music and clips from the film; retail had disco version of the theme and used the opening credits from the Cantonese version of GOD (with corrected credits of course).

[OldPangYau]

The version of TOD released by Rank (and later Polygram) had the ENTER footage.

One difference I do remember between the rental version and the retail version is with the end credits: Rental version had slow theme music and clips from the film; retail had disco version of the theme and used the opening credits from the Cantonese version of GOD (with corrected credits of course).

The rental version is probably what was used for the US video release, as it had the slow theme you mentioned, alongside of clips from the film. The retail version that you mentioned sounds like the same cut Fortune Star used, as it also has the "disco version" of the theme, complete with the background animations from the HK cut of GOD.

Anyway, I'll try to get these clips up by tomorrow as I'm going to be out for the day. I'll probably just put all of the clips into one montage video.

[shukocarl]

still lookng foward to thhe clips mate....

[ben]

an article at CITYONFIRE.COM has some information about a few different versions of this film

http://www.cityonfire.com/hkfilms/st/towerofdeath.html

* Japanese version - A totally different movie. The beginning has Lee teaching a Jeet Kune Do class while he is challenged by Hwang Jang Lee from phone. After numerous attempts at Lee, he flies to Korea and enters the pagoda. Reportedly, this has numerous outdoor scenes - whether this is the missing footage of the 'real' Bruce Lee or the footage he shot of the others remains unclear.

* South Eastern Asian Version - This premiered in certain parts of the Philippines and Korea. It has the same description as the Japanese version, only there is claimed to be more fight scenes in, and actual Lee footage with the actors in the same frame.

* Korean version - This version of the movie removes the Bruceploitation factor (i.e. the clips of Bruce Lee) and just plays it as a straight-up independent Kung Fu flick. There is a much more longer demonstration of Hwang Jang Lee practising his martial arts skills in the beginning. There is a new scene involving Lee reading a newspaper concerning Hwang's death (this isn't meant to be the same scene which used Enter The Dragon in the regular version). In the finale, as Tang Lung is about to find the elevator, he steals and uses a pair of nunchaku against a guard.

* Hong Kong version - This might not apply to all Hong Kong prints. This version, which may be relegated to a few prints, is almost the same as the UK VHS release except the night club scene where Lee talks to Hwang's illegitimate daughter is extended, using outtakes (possibly more) from Enter The Dragon of Lee talking to the dart lady in Han's guestroom. The flashbacks at the end of Lee practising his Jeet Kune Do are longer and so is the Tang Lung vs. Hwang Jang Lee brawl, with more acrobatics from Yuen Biao and, even, Yuen Wah. The theme music plays throughout the entire final fight. Halfway through the film, there are alternate versions of the fights. Plus, there's more footage of Lee looking in different rooms and his garden, more abbot footage as well as more scenes featuring Hwang Jang Lee's daughter (i.e. the actual woman who played her rather than just the ETD footage).

* US Game Of Death 2 version - The disclaimer is the same as the above (i.e. it might not apply to the DVD prints e.g. the 20th Century Fox release). Instead of the above, Lee's face from Way Of The Dragon is shown instead of the ETD scenes in the beginning. The abbot scene is condensed to only the stationary Roy Chiao scenes, with WOTD outtakes (only the ones that specifically reveal Bruce Lee's face) and a redubbed version of a black & white movie featuring a young Bruce. The scenes featuring Lee searching his brother's apartment and crying are deleted in turn of the greenhouse scuffle from the Hong Kong print of Game Of Death. The meeting with Hwang's daughter is condensed to the WOTD indoor facial shots of Lee and one scene not shown in the HK print of Tower Of Death that has Lee sitting down on a couch. The drawback here is that Lee's actual yells are not dubbed in, but the soundtrack is edited in the correct scenes, a problem the HK version has.

* Spanish version "Towel Del Muerte" - This version is much different than the previous two, since all the Lee dialogue scenes are censored, with the footage of the abbot, apartment search, crying scene and Casanova fight removed. Instead, the outdoor fight scenes from WOTD are edited in and the unreleased mirror scenes from ETD are used as flashbacks.

[OldPangYau]

still lookng foward to thhe clips mate....

Sorry for the hold up, but things have been more of a pain in the ass lately than expected. Long story short, work has been taking up time in the office AND at home, and my Roxio "easy" VHS-to-DVD usb cable capture thing isn't working right... it's causing audio pitches to speed up and slow down. I think I might have to take the tape, record it directly to DVD with my DVD recorder, then rip the clips I need. Sorry it's getting so complicated

But they WILL be up! I promise!

[OldPangYau]

Well, I'm finally making the DVD-R now, and from there I'll be able to rip the clips I need to finally post the video! Hopefully I'll have it online tonight... fingers crossed!

[OldPangYau]

THEY'RE FINALLY UP! YAY!

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[sifu iron perm]

You are a Star, OldPangYau!

lol, wow @ the Big Boss inserts, kinda reminded me of the face cut out bit in game of death.

[OldPangYau]

Yay, thank you Yeah, for years this was the only version I ever saw until around '99/2000 when I saw the HK cut via the Universe Laser DVD... but it wasn't until a few years after that in which I discovered that the Universe Laser DVD used the wrong music (the English dub music) to create the 5.1 track, as the HK cut's original music was NOT the same as the English dub track... confusing stuff!

[Guest Markgway]

They missed a bit.

At 22 secs on clip #2 that's a shot from ENTER.

Sue the bastards!!! lol

[OldPangYau]

They missed a bit.

At 22 secs on clip #2 that's a shot from ENTER.

Sue the bastards!!! lol

I actually did notice that years ago and it threw me WAY off. I guess they desperately needed a shot of him sitting down, and since it was outtake footage, they just kept their fingers crossed that no one would notice!

Funny thing is the dubbing is different. In this version he says "When did you see him last?" while in the uncut dub he says "Forget the past." As a matter of fact, I think the dubbing was changed around to suit the alternate footage, like the Boss shot where he says "It sure does... can I see it?"

[shukocarl]

Thanks a lot OPY! Very Intresting!

[Guest Markgway]

That long credits sequence was on the UK rental tape but with the Enter footage intact (that's the first time I've seen those alternate Boss inserts). The retail edition (from the same dist) used the GOD credits instead but still had the Enter footage (which has evidently never been a problem in the UK).