Bruce Lee filmography

[kungpowmaster]

Hi all,

I was wondering,

Just what are all the movies that are credited to Bruce Lee?

The other day I bought "Return of the Dragon", and I read that was his 3rd movie, after "Fist of Fury", and the "Chinese Connection". So I guess "Enter the Dragon" was his 4th, and "Game of Death" his 5th. But when did he die? I have "Game of Death" also, and I know a double and bad effects were used, since he was dead then. So how was there a "Tower of Death"? I guess his 6th film.

I know some, if not all these movies have different aka titles.

Is his "official" filmography 6 movies?

Replies welcome.

Chosen One

[jethro]

Big Boss was his first movie. Fist of Fury (aka Chinese Connection) was his second. return of the Dragon 3rd and Enter the Dragon 4th. Game of Death he started filming before he made Enter the Dragon, and only filmed a few scenes. It was not finished because he died in 1973, before Enter the dragon was even released. He was in a lot of movies as a child. Here is his complete filmography- http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=86

And he was not in Game of Death 2 (aka Tower of Death). They just used a minute or two of footage of him basically doing nothing.

[doug maverick]

Game of Death (1978) .... Billy Lo
... aka Bruce Lee's Game of Death
... aka Si wang you ju
Enter the Dragon (1973) .... Lee
... aka Long zheng hu dou (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
... aka Operation Dragon (Europe: English title)
Qi lin zhang (1973) (uncredited)
... aka Bruce Lee and I (USA)
... aka Bruce and I
... aka Fist of Unicorn
... aka Force of Bruce Lee's Fist
... aka Kei lun cheung (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
... aka The Unicorn Palm (Hong Kong: English title: video title)
Meng long guo jiang (1972) .... Tang Lung (a.k.a. Dragon)
... aka Fury of the Dragon (Europe: English title)
... aka Maang lung goh kong (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
... aka Return of the Dragon (USA)
... aka Revenge of the Dragon (USA: cable TV title)
... aka The Way of the Dragon (Hong Kong: English title)
Jing wu men (1972) .... Chen Zhen
... aka Fist of Fury (Hong Kong: English title) (UK)
... aka Jing mo mun (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
... aka Laugh Track: Chinese Connection (USA: video title (redubbed comic version))
... aka School for Chivalry (Hong Kong: Mandarin title: literal English title)
... aka The Chinese Connection (USA)
"Longstreet" .... Li Tsung (4 episodes, 1971)
- I See, Said the Blind Man (1971) TV episode .... Li Tsung
- Wednesday's Child (1971) TV episode .... Li Tsung
- Spell Legacy Like Death (1971) TV episode .... Li Tsung
- The Way of the Intercepting Fist (1971) TV episode .... Li Tsung
Tang shan da xiong (1971) .... Cheng Chao-an
... aka Big Brother of Tongshan (Hong Kong: English title: literal title)
... aka Fists of Fury (USA)
... aka Fists of Glory (Europe: English title)
... aka The Big Boss (Hong Kong: English title)
... aka Tong saan daai hing (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Longstreet (1971) (TV) .... Tsung, Li


Marlowe (1969) .... Winslow Wong
"Here Come the Brides" .... Lin (1 episode, 1969)
- Marriage, Chinese Style (1969) TV episode .... Lin
"Blondie" (1 episode, 1968)
- Pick on Someone Your Own Size (1968) TV episode
"Ironside" .... Leon Soo (1 episode, 1967)
... aka The Raymond Burr Show (USA: syndication title)
- Tagged for Murder (1967) TV episode .... Leon Soo
"The Green Hornet" .... Kato (26 episodes, 1966-1967)
... aka The Kato Show (Hong Kong: English title: informal title)
- The Hornet and the Firefly (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- Invasion from Outer Space: Part 2 (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- Invasion from Outer Space: Part 1 (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- Hornet, Save Thyself (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- Alias 'The Scarf' (1967) TV episode .... Kato
(21 more)
"Batman" .... Kato (3 episodes, 1966-1967)
- Batman's Satisfaction (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- A Piece of the Action (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- The Spell of Tut (1966) TV episode (uncredited) .... Kato
Ren hai gu hong (1960) .... Ah San
... aka The Orphan (Hong Kong: English title)


Lei yu (1957)
... aka The Thunderstorm (Hong Kong: English title)
Zha dian na fu (1956) (as Lee Siu Lung) .... Yeung Siu-lung
... aka Sweet Time Together (Hong Kong: English title)
Zao zhi dang cu wo bu jia (1956)
Er nu zhai (1955)
... aka We Owe It to Our Children (Hong Kong: English title)
Ai xia ji (1955)
... aka Love Part 2 (Hong Kong: English title)
Gu er xing (1955)
Ai (1955)
... aka Love (Hong Kong: English title)
Gu xing xue lei (1955)
Wei lou chun xiao (1953)
... aka In the Face of Demolition (Hong Kong: English title)
Ci mu lei (1953)
... aka A Mother's Tears (Hong Kong: English title)
Ku hai ming deng (1953)
... aka The Guiding Light (Hong Kong: English title)
Qian wan ren jia (1953)
Fu zhi guo (1953)
... aka Blame it on Father (Hong Kong: English title)
... aka It's Father's Fault (USA)
Ren zhi cu (1951) .... Ngau
... aka Infancy (Hong Kong: English title)
... aka The Birth of Mankind (literal English title)
Xi lu xiang (1950) (as Lee Siu Lung) .... Cheung
... aka My Son, Ah Chung (USA)
... aka The Kid


Meng li xi shi (1949) (as Yam Lee)
... aka Sai See in the Dream (Hong Kong: English title)
Fu gui fu yun (1948)
... aka Wealth Is Like a Dream (Hong Kong: English title)
The Birth of Mankind (1946)
Golden Gate Girl (1941) .... Infant

[jethro]

You will never find an "official" filmography, but this is the closest you will find- http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=86

If you are looking for info on HK actors, IMDB is not the place to look for it.

[doug maverick]

actually this is not from imdb. but from a book on lee's life. sorry

[jethro]

actually this is not from imdb. but from a book on lee's life. sorry


Just by taking a glance at IMDB I can see you copied and pasted it. I doubt you typed in "..." before all of the aka's. I know your typing Doug, and you didn't type that. There would be tons of typos.

[doug maverick]

whatever you say jethro. whatever you say. but i know where i got it from and i don't need to lie. so go fu ck yourself.

[jethro]

so go fu ck yourself. that is real nice doug. You make up a lot of stuff so don't act surprised that I called you out on this. You could have said what book you got your info from, but you cant do that since you are lying. Simple as that. Next time you need to think before you lie. Or at least don't make it so obvious. Or maybe you could actually tell the truth, like normal people do.

[doug maverick]

that is real nice doug. You make up a lot of stuff so don't act surprised that I called you out on this. You could have said what book you got your info from, but you cant do that since you are lying. Simple as that. Next time you need to think before you lie. Or at least don't make it so obvious. Or maybe you could actually tell the truth, like normal people do.

actually i could tell you the book. your right, and i have never made up anything my friend if so prove it, you skimy fu ck i'm in no mood to deal with you or to be called a lier by you. where do you get off saying that about me you don't even know me i've backed up everthing i ever said on this board.

[jethro]

actually i could tell you the book. your right, and i have never made up anything my friend if so prove it, you skimy fu ck i'm in no mood to deal with you or to be called a lier by you. where do you get off saying that about me you don't even know me i've backed up everthing i ever said on this board.

Prove it? I already did. You copied and pasted that info from IMDB. Any idiot can see that, even you. At least find something more important to lie about next time.

[doug maverick]

whatever man you proved nothing. and again i've never lied about anything on this board. and there is nobody and that includes you fat fu ck can say that i have. look i'm really ****ed off right now, about something unlreated and i really don;t need someone to call me a lyer when i know the source material for what i posted. thats one two what the **** does it matter. it ****ing doesn't only in the ****ing small world inside your head does this matter. maybe you should stop watching martial arts films and start practicing some.

[jethro]

whatever man you proved nothing. and again i've never lied about anything on this board. and there is nobody and that includes you fat fu ck can say that i have. look i'm really ****ed off right now, about something unlreated and i really don;t need someone to call me a lyer when i know the source material for what i posted. thats one two what the **** does it matter. it ****ing doesn't only in the ****ing small world inside your head does this matter. maybe you should stop watching martial arts films and start practicing some.

Hey, you lied, and it is so obvious that it is making you mad. Like I said, lie about something more important next time, not something stupid like this-
Game of Death (1978) .... Billy Lo
... aka Bruce Lee's Game of Death
... aka Si wang you ju
Enter the Dragon (1973) .... Lee
... aka Long zheng hu dou (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
... aka Operation Dragon (Europe: English title)
Qi lin zhang (1973) (uncredited)
... aka Bruce Lee and I (USA)
... aka Bruce and I
... aka Fist of Unicorn
... aka Force of Bruce Lee's Fist
... aka Kei lun cheung (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
... aka The Unicorn Palm (Hong Kong: English title: video title)
Meng long guo jiang (1972) .... Tang Lung (a.k.a. Dragon)
... aka Fury of the Dragon (Europe: English title)
... aka Maang lung goh kong (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
... aka Return of the Dragon (USA)
... aka Revenge of the Dragon (USA: cable TV title)
... aka The Way of the Dragon (Hong Kong: English title)
Jing wu men (1972) .... Chen Zhen
... aka Fist of Fury (Hong Kong: English title) (UK)
... aka Jing mo mun (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
... aka Laugh Track: Chinese Connection (USA: video title (redubbed comic version))
... aka School for Chivalry (Hong Kong: Mandarin title: literal English title)
... aka The Chinese Connection (USA)
"Longstreet" .... Li Tsung (4 episodes, 1971)
- I See, Said the Blind Man (1971) TV episode .... Li Tsung
- Wednesday's Child (1971) TV episode .... Li Tsung
- Spell Legacy Like Death (1971) TV episode .... Li Tsung
- The Way of the Intercepting Fist (1971) TV episode .... Li Tsung
Tang shan da xiong (1971) .... Cheng Chao-an
... aka Big Brother of Tongshan (Hong Kong: English title: literal title)
... aka Fists of Fury (USA)
... aka Fists of Glory (Europe: English title)
... aka The Big Boss (Hong Kong: English title)
... aka Tong saan daai hing (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Longstreet (1971) (TV) .... Tsung, Li


Marlowe (1969) .... Winslow Wong
"Here Come the Brides" .... Lin (1 episode, 1969)
- Marriage, Chinese Style (1969) TV episode .... Lin
"Blondie" (1 episode, 1968)
- Pick on Someone Your Own Size (1968) TV episode
"Ironside" .... Leon Soo (1 episode, 1967)
... aka The Raymond Burr Show (USA: syndication title)
- Tagged for Murder (1967) TV episode .... Leon Soo
"The Green Hornet" .... Kato (26 episodes, 1966-1967)
... aka The Kato Show (Hong Kong: English title: informal title)
- The Hornet and the Firefly (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- Invasion from Outer Space: Part 2 (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- Invasion from Outer Space: Part 1 (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- Hornet, Save Thyself (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- Alias 'The Scarf' (1967) TV episode .... Kato
(21 more)
"Batman" .... Kato (3 episodes, 1966-1967)
- Batman's Satisfaction (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- A Piece of the Action (1967) TV episode .... Kato
- The Spell of Tut (1966) TV episode (uncredited) .... Kato
Ren hai gu hong (1960) .... Ah San
... aka The Orphan (Hong Kong: English title)


Lei yu (1957)
... aka The Thunderstorm (Hong Kong: English title)
Zha dian na fu (1956) (as Lee Siu Lung) .... Yeung Siu-lung
... aka Sweet Time Together (Hong Kong: English title)
Zao zhi dang cu wo bu jia (1956)
Er nu zhai (1955)
... aka We Owe It to Our Children (Hong Kong: English title)
Ai xia ji (1955)
... aka Love Part 2 (Hong Kong: English title)
Gu er xing (1955)
Ai (1955)
... aka Love (Hong Kong: English title)
Gu xing xue lei (1955)
Wei lou chun xiao (1953)
... aka In the Face of Demolition (Hong Kong: English title)
Ci mu lei (1953)
... aka A Mother's Tears (Hong Kong: English title)
Ku hai ming deng (1953)
... aka The Guiding Light (Hong Kong: English title)
Qian wan ren jia (1953)
Fu zhi guo (1953)
... aka Blame it on Father (Hong Kong: English title)
... aka It's Father's Fault (USA)
Ren zhi cu (1951) .... Ngau
... aka Infancy (Hong Kong: English title)
... aka The Birth of Mankind (literal English title)
Xi lu xiang (1950) (as Lee Siu Lung) .... Cheung
... aka My Son, Ah Chung (USA)
... aka The Kid


Meng li xi shi (1949) (as Yam Lee)
... aka Sai See in the Dream (Hong Kong: English title)
Fu gui fu yun (1948)
... aka Wealth Is Like a Dream (Hong Kong: English title)
The Birth of Mankind (1946)
Golden Gate Girl (1941) .... Infant


The dash marks, the spacing... eveything is the same as IMDB. So yes, I DID prove it. Try to quit lying some day and I won't have to call you out on it. And maybe you should stop watching MA films and go back to grade school, and actually read a book sometime instead of saying you read one.

[doug maverick]

actually i'm not mad at that at all. if you read my message it said i was mad about something non related to this topic. its just that i know where i got the info from and it wasn't from imdb. if it was i would have merely stated as i have in the past. that it was from imdb. and since i didn't state that it is because that is not where i got it from. doesn't matter what you say. i'm officially done with this matter believe what you want.

[jethro]

Well, it is obvious you are lying. You can say you didn't, but I already proved that you are (as you can see if you would have read my last post:rolleyes:). You can say you are mad about something else, that is fine, but at least quit lying about stupid crap like this. It is obvious you copied and pasted it from IMDB, otherwise you would have an explanation of why your Bruce Lee info looks EXACTLY like the info from IMDB.

[doug maverick]

you proved nothing. except that your a *****

[jethro]

you proved nothing. except that your a *****

Yes, actually I did prove it. Learn to read.


Well, it is obvious you are lying. You can say you didn't, but I already proved that you are (as you can see if you would have read my last post:rolleyes:). You can say you are mad about something else, that is fine, but at least quit lying about stupid crap like this. It is obvious you copied and pasted it from IMDB, otherwise you would have an explanation of why your Bruce Lee info looks EXACTLY like the info from IMDB.

[doug maverick]

didn;t prove anything to me. because i know where i got it from. what are you trying to do rewrite history and try and make me believe i didn't get it from there maybe you watch way to many kung fu films. but again i say it doesn't matter good night

[jethro]

didn;t prove anything to me. because i know where i got it from. what are you trying to do rewrite history and try and make me believe i didn't get it from there maybe you watch way to many kung fu films. but again i say it doesn't matter good night

Exactly. you do know where I got my info from, IMDB, the same place you copied and pasted your info from:rolleyes: And what does watchign kung fu movies have to do with me knowing that you are lying? All I needed to do was hit a couple of buttons on the keyboard and click the mouse and I could see that you got your info from IMDB. I am not trying to make you believe anything. You know that you got it from IMDB. I already proved that.

[doug maverick]

What ever my happy pill just kicked in so lets say just to end the stupid little aregument you were right. even thou you weren 't. or unless the plsce i got it from imdb, well hot **** we could've been basmboozled. bruce lee is still alive i saw him selling racj on chnshaw,

[jethro]

What ever my happy pill just kicked in so lets say just to end the stupid little aregument you were right. even thou you weren 't. or unless the plsce i got it from imdb, well hot **** we could've been basmboozled. bruce lee is still alive i saw him selling racj on chnshaw,

You still haven't named what "book" you got the info from, because that would prove that you are lying. why you would lie about something stupid as this I have no idea. You copied and pasted it from somewhere, that is a fact. MAybe it wasn't IMDB, but we will never know because you cant provide that information. It is obvious that you are lying. You can prove me wrong anytime.

[kungpowmaster]

What happened to this thread? Stop this stupidity.

Let's change the subject to the Brucesploitation movies.

I have seen a few. One I thought was decent, that watched the other night is:

Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger.

I got this for a buck at Walmart, and it was really enjoyable.

On the other hand, another buck movie I got at Walmart is:

Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave.

This was totally crap.

I did enjoy Fist of Fear, Touch of Death, for what it is.

What's a list of Brucesploitation movies? I'm sure I have some more. I know I have some other psuedo-documentary things in some movie packs I have.

Chosen One

[Jimbo]

Too many Bruceploitation movies; after so many years, their titles tend to run together and mix up in my mind. Here are a few I can remember:

Enter Three Dragons (good cheesey, fun/funny movie).
Bruce Lee: His Last Days, His Last Nights (BAD).
Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth (fairly well-made and entertaining).
Bruce and the Iron Finger (Good; has Bruce Li AND Bruce Liang).
Fist of Fury II (Blehh...).
Fist of Fury III (see above).
The Real Bruce Lee (clips of Lee as a kid, plus a Korean Dragon Lee movie).
Enter the Game of Death (cheesey, cheap but entertaining; Bruce Le).
Game of Death (the ultimate Bruceploitation piece).
Tower of Death (cheesey but quite good).
New Fist of Fury (bad early Jackie Chan film).
Bruce Li in New Guinea (really has little/nothing to do with Bruce Lee).
Bruce Lee the Invincible (again, a Bruce Li movie w/nothing to do with Lee; still, it's a good one).
They Call Me Bruce (BAD film with Korean comedian Johnny Yune).
They Still Call Me Bruce (see above).

[jethro]

I actually liked Fist of Fury 2 a lot, but FOF 3 was godawful. Some of the fights were good, but the movie is very bad overall. Bruce Li's mom went blind because she cried too much? Huh?:confused:

[kungpowmaster]

Hi,

I'm trying to collect all the Bruce Lee movies, so far I have the US versions of Fist of Fury, The Chinese Connection, Return of the Dragon, and Game of Death.

Add one more. Today I went out looking for Enter the Dragon. Circuit City always had this, but I never got it, but today, they were out. Anyway, I went to Best Buy, and right in front of the door, a DVD sale shelf with Enter the Dragon, 25th Anniversary Special Edition(single disc) for $4.99. So I got it.

I also looked long and hard at this new Videoasia release, Grindhouse Experience, Ultimate Dragon Collection. It was $14.99, and had 10 movies,

Disc 1: Kung Fu Superman (ws)& Muscle of the Dragon.
Disc 2/Side A: Dragon Lives Again & Bruce Lee: Star of Stars (ws)
Disc 2/Side B: Enter the Game Of Death (ws) & Mission of the Dragon
Disc 3/Side A: Ching Wu and Shaolin Kung Fu parts 1 & 2
Disc 3/Side B: Fist of Fury 3 & Return of Fist of Fury

Would this be worthy? Knowing the lack of picture quality and even the low quality mechanics of Videoasia, I'm afraid it'd just be a bunch of crap.

Chosen One

[jethro]

Bruce lee Star of Stars is an AKA for Exit the Dragon Enter the Tiger, and only 2 of the other movies are worth watching. Kung Fu Superman is AWESOME and Dragon Lives Again is so bad it is good. Here's the story- Bruce Lee goes to Hell and teams up with the One Armed Swordsman and Popeye the Sailor to fight Clint Eastwood, James Bond, Emmanuelle, Dracula, Zatoichi, and others. Enter the Game of Death may be a decent movie, but the picture shakes like crazy and is 100% unwatchable. Typical Videoasia. All in all, buy it for Kung Fu Superman. It is worth $14.99.

BTW- I hope you have at least a few DVD players because those discs don't play on a lot of players. It played on 2 of my 5 DVD players.

[doug maverick]

i never was a fan of any of the brucploitation films. except for sammo's enter the fat dragon.

[Jimbo]

Oops, forgot to mention Enter the Fat Dragon! That may be the best of the Bruceploitation movies...that and Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon, where Sammo reprises his Bruce Lee imitator role. Both are great...actually Skinny Tiger is an even better film.

[doug maverick]

leave it to the man who was bruces rival and later friend to be able to imitate him the best.

[GeneChing]

From Matt Polly's facebook:

Matthew Polly (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156044484907869&set=a.10150393432852869&type=3&theater)
1 hr ·

BOOK TOUR UPDATE:
Thanks to my good friend Alan Canvan, I will be in Irvington, New York on Saturday, September 29 and Seattle, Washington on Friday, October 12 for a book signing, panel discussion, and special screening of Bruce Lee's 'The Orphan' (1960). It is the last movie Bruce ever made as a child actor in Hong Kong and represents one of his most intriguing performances.

The film, unavailable in America, has been loaned to us by the Hong Kong Film Archives. So this is a unique opportunity. If you are nearby, I hope you will come. The event is free.

https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/42694084_10156044484917869_2624292358648233984_n.j pg?_nc_cat=108&oh=7e2ecf541785c1d2f4a50ca6c4b00b6a&oe=5C2AA882


I'm hoping this comes through the SF Bay Area. I've never seen The Orphan. I have seen The Kid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49216-Bruce-Lee-quot-The-Kid-quot).

THREADS:
Bruce Lee filmography (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49504-Bruce-Lee-filmography)
Bruce Lee: A Life by Matt Polly (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?65795-Bruce-Lee-A-Life-by-Matt-Polly)

[GeneChing]

Lifestyle / Entertainment
Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits – Criterion Collection producer on preserving the martial arts icon’s legacy with new box set (https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3092599/bruce-lee-his-greatest-hits-criterion-collection-producer)
Box set collects together all of Bruce Lee’s films, along with commentaries and special features, and producer Curtis Tsui says Lee still has cultural relevance
‘He left a small body of work, but behind it was a way of addressing life … that we could implement,’ Tsui says of the actor, who died in Hong Kong in 1973
Richard James Havis
Published: 5:00am, 12 Jul, 2020

https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/d8/images/methode/2020/07/10/b46f0a1a-c1c3-11ea-8c85-9f30eae6654e_image_hires_173558.jpg?itok=xX1S_GO-&v=1594373768
Bruce Lee in a still from Fist of Fury (1972), one of the films featured in a Criterion Collection box set being released this week with introductions that put the martial arts icon’s films in context, and mini-documentaries. Photo: Criterion Collection

Fans of Bruce Lee are in for a bonanza this week when esteemed home-video distribution company Criterion Collection release a seven-disc Blu-ray box set called Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits.
For release on July 14, the box set, put together by New York-based producer Curtis Tsui for Criterion, collects together all of Lee’s martial arts films, along with a plethora of special features and commentaries, to provide a comprehensive overview of the actor’s life and career.
Lee is still popular enough in the United States to warrant such an extensive release, says Tsui, noting that the martial artist’s philosophy of life fits the mood of the times.
“People are still hungry for Bruce Lee, and he has a cultural relevance,” he says. “Symbolically speaking, Lee has always spoken for a kind of oneness in humanity, about looking beyond our differences and finding what is similar in all of us and finding solidarity there.
“You can look at that in relation to the way he lived his own life as a teacher who went against the strict doctrine of traditional martial arts instructors by opening his school up to everyone. He showed us that everyone could use martial arts to better ourselves and to strengthen ourselves. That has a lot of meaning for people here, and it’s a key element of his continued popularity,” Tsui tells the Post.
“There was an entire philosophy behind Lee’s on-screen presence. He left a small body of work, but behind it was a way of addressing life, of addressing ourselves, that we could implement. That’s why people are still interested in him today,” Tsui says.

The films in the box set include The Big Boss, Fist of Fury , The Way of the Dragon, the shorter US theatrical version and the special edition of Enter the Dragon , and Game of Death. The movies are introduced by Lee biographer Matthew Polly, author of Bruce Lee: A Life, and feature commentaries by Enter the Dragon producer Paul Heller and Bruce Lee expert Mike Leeder.
The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, and Way of the Dragon feature Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, and English dialogue tracks.
The special features are a combination of already existing licensed content, and new mini-documentaries and introductions produced by Tsui. These include an enthralling examination of the “Bruceploitation” genre – exploitation movies that were made after Lee’s death which feature lookalikes and old footage of the star – and an enlightening documentary about the English-language voice artists who dubbed Lee’s films in Hong Kong for their international release in the 1970s.
Tsui licensed Lee’s first three martial arts films, which had already been restored in 4K, and Game of Death, from Hong Kong company Fortune Star. Acquiring rights can be tricky, and Tsui was thrilled to obtain permission from Warner Brothers to include Enter the Dragon, so that North American fans could have the films together in one collection.
“Enter the Dragon really makes this box set special,” says Tsui. “We are including the shorter 99-minute original US theatrical version of the film, as well as the longer ‘special edition’ release. The theatrical cut has not been available since the days of the laser disc in the 1990s, and fans have been clamouring to see it for some time.” Both versions are presented in new 2K restorations.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckk7f8x4xR8&feature=emb_logo

The films feature lengthy introductions by Polly, which set the films in context and provide some film history and biographical notes. His introduction to Fist of Fury, for instance, features an opinion about how Lee’s style of acting was influenced by watching Japanese samurai films, and he also talks about Huo Yuanjia, the real-life martial arts master whose death provides the premise for the story.

https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/methode/2020/07/10/25d15ef2-c1c3-11ea-8c85-9f30eae6654e_972x_173558.jpg
Bruce Lee in a still from The Way of the Dragon (1972). Photo: Criterion Collection

“I wanted to have someone reflect on the films in relation to Lee’s life, rather than vice versa,” says Tsui. “There’s usually a big focus on his life, and the people that he knew and met. I wanted someone who could succinctly focus on the movies and talk about them as films, and what they mean to the genre,” Tsui says. “That’s what Matthew brings to the discs.”
Tsui also made a short film about the dubbing artists who dubbed Lee’s films into English in the 1970s, Michael Kaye and Vaughan Savidge. This provides some fascinating insights. Although the dubbing in martial arts films is usually disparaged, both voice artists say they were committed to the work, and enjoyed it.
Most dubbing in Hong Kong in the early 1970s was done by expatriate radio and television announcers who wanted to earn some extra money. Films were dubbed into English primarily for a release in the Philippines, they say, and the voice artists had to fit a translation of the script to a voice soundtrack in Mandarin and the lip movements of the actors – so a lot of improvisation was necessary. The voice artists even supplied Lee’s trademark whoops and screeches in the dubbed versions, they say.

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Bruce Lee in a still from The Big Boss (1971). Photo: Criterion Collection

“The experience of watching the films with the dubbed soundtracks can’t be buried, and it’s something that we have to talk about,” says Tsui, who notes that one of Lee’s voice artists now works for Criterion. “They might even have added to our enjoyment of the movies. When you see the way they had to work, you see how impossible a task it was. They were not being slipshod, they were trying hard to make it work.”
Another short film Tsui produced features author and film historian Grady Hendrix, who scripted Netflix’s recent Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks documentary, talking about the Bruceploitation genre. Those films were an attempt to fill the gap left by Lee when he died in 1973.
“I don’t think there has been anything like it in the history of cinema,” says Tsui of the genre. “It’s both amazing and horrifying at the same time.”

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Bruce Lee in a still from Enter the Dragon (1973). Photo: Criterion Collection

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