Bruceploitation. What other celebrity has an entire genre of film dedicated to their imitators? There are more Bruce Lee derivative films then can be counted. Enter a new documentary - ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE – to address this massive and often disregarded subgenre.

For the Bruce Lee fandom, ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE is a clever title. It’s an obvious play on Lee’s global, yet posthumous blockbuster ENTER THE DRAGON (1973). But it’s also a reference to one of the more extraordinary Bruceploitation flicks, THE CLONES OF BRUCE LEE (1980). That film brought three of the leading Bruce Lee impersonators of the era together, Dragon Lee (Moon Kyoung-seok), Bruce Lai (Chang Yi-tao) and Bruce Le (Wong Kin-Lung) as literal clones of Bruce Lee. What’s more, it even stars two of Lee’s co-stars, Bolo Yeung, the villainous heavy Bolo from ENTER THE DRAGON and Jon T. Benn, the mob boss in THE WAY OF THE DRAGON (1972).

If the fact that Bruce Lee’s co-stars appear in a Bruceploitation film seems off, it was commonplace. One of the leading Bruce imitators, Bruce Le, accompanied the U.S. tour of ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE and appeared in person at the San Francisco premiere. Consider his first outing as a Bruce clone, BRUCE’S DEADLY FINGERS (1976). That film also stars Bolo Yeung, as well as Nora Miao (Chen Ching-hua from THE WAY OF THE DRAGON) and Ho Ali-Jen (the ‘old man’ from ENTER THE DRAGON). In fact, any actor who appeared in any of Lee’s real films got plenty of work in the wake of Lee’s passing within the Bruceploitation arena. It’s worthy of note that Bolo’s real name is Yeung Sze – he took on the name Bolo after the name of the character he played in ENTER THE DRAGON. Yeung has arguably been in more Bruceploitation films than anyone else.

ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE was shown theatrically in 21 markets in a cooperative effort by Severin films and Alamo Drafthouse. It is directed by David Gregory, one of the founders of Severin, a leading purveyor of provocative cinema. It joins a growing library of Gregory’s award-winning documentaries including LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY’S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU and BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON coming from Severin. As the leading provider of genres like Blaxploitation, Ozploitation and Nunsploitation, Bruceploitation is well represented in their offerings. Consequently, it is perfectly positioned to explore this grievously overlooked subgenre.

ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE being released on Blu-Ray disc with a street date June 25th, along with THE GAME OF CLONES: BRUCEPLOITATION VOLUME 1, a 7-disc collection presenting 12 of the very best – and frequently very bizarre – films starring Bruce Le, Dragon Lee, Bruce Li, Bruce Liang and more. Each of these 14 Bruceploitation classics – THE CLONES OF BRUCE LEE (1980), ENTER THREE DRAGONS (1978), ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH (1978), GOOD BYE, BRUCE LEE: HIS LAST GAME OF DEATH (1975), THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN (1977), BRUCE AND THE IRON FINGER (1977), CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER (1980), CAMEROON CONNECTION (1984), SUPER DRAGON: THE BRUCE LEE STORY (1974), THE DRAGON LIVES (1976), THE DRAGON, THE HERO (1980), RAGE OF THE DRAGON (1980), and the website exclusive bonus disc of THE BLACK DRAGON VS. THE YELLOW TIGER (1974), and the never-before available THE BIG BOSS PART II (1976) – also feature exclusive bonus programming that includes all-new interviews, audio commentaries and revealing featurettes, as well as a 100-page Bruceploitation book filled with essays, posters, rare photos and more.

San Francisco. Bruce was born there…

The San Francisco premiere of was held on April 16 at the Alamo Drafthouse, as part of their curated Fantastic Fest, and there’s no better house for this. Nestled in the heart of the Mission district, Alamo Drafthouse SF is a century-old theater, recently restored to its former majestic glory after a 4-year, $10 million renovation. Its lobby is adorned with giant vintage Mexican Kung Fu posters. When Le arrived, he was delighted to see huge posters of his classics proudly displayed throughout the building. As a special surprise, Le was reunited with one of his old cast mates, Chiu Chi Ling, who he had not seen in years. Grandmaster Chiu appeared alongside Le in BRUCE’S DEADLY FINGERS and now resides in the East Bay.

To be clear, Bruce Le is a martial artist, first and foremost. He was an avid practitioner of Karate and Boxing before ever stepping in front of a camera. To capture Bruce Lee’s spirit, he studied Wing Chun under Ip Man pupil Wong Shun-leung. He also pursued Lee’s own creation, Jeet Kune Do. And at 73, Le is still powerful and fast as lightning. During the Q&A session, he demonstrated his Kung Fu on Michael Worth. Worth is a co-producer of ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE, a Bruceploitation expert, as well as an actor and filmmaker and a very good sport to serve as recipient to Le’s brutal assaults. Le has a decent grasp of English but called upon Frank Djeng to help translate more complicated concepts. Djeng is also a co-producer of the documentary and a noted authority on the Kung Fu film genre.

With Djeng’s assistance, we had the opportunity to interview Bruce Le privately. This is combined with some of Le’s replies to audience questions during the Q&A session. These are edited and organized for clarity.

BL: In the beginning, I started doing action. I want to do myself. At first, I was discovered as an actor, I follow what the director, the choreographer told me to do. Then I saw THE WAY OF THE DRAGON and I realized by being a director or producer, I have more creative control. I’ll be able to just do what I want to do. You know, I'm just an actor. I got to listen to what the director tell me. I gotta do what he wanted me to do in terms of acting and stuff. So I realized that if I become the director position myself, I can have more creative control.

Because I'm a martial artist, I can create my own style, so I will first become an action choreographer, do my own action. And then after that I realize I can also, you know, tell my own story, have my own influence, give my own ideas as to what the film should be like. So that’s why I became a director, and a Buddhist, as well.

AUD: One of your early films was BRUCE’S DEADLY FINGERS. Tell us specifically why you wanted to make that movie.

BL: So my master is actually a disciple of Ip Man. He's the one who taught me Kung Fu. My master told me that actually Bruce practiced a secret style Kung Fu called ‘Fingers of Fury’. The finger style is derived from real Wing Chun, where this gesture, the hand stretching out there [Le demonstrates]. And Bruce was secretly developing a style way instead of using your hand like this [Le shows a flat hand], it’s like a claw style.

And because he didn't get to more movies that feature this style, so I decided to make BRUCE’S DEADLY FINGERS to complete it by showcasing this deadly fingers style Kung Fu. Do you want me to show you?

AUD: [applauds]

BL: [demonstrates the method on Michael Worth – it is the exact same eye gouge technique he uses to dispatch Lo Lieh at the end of BRUCE’S DEADLY FINGERS] You know, with that hand, his head could not move. Because by pressing his face he had no choice but to take on my force. And then I'll be able to press on this one thing.

So it's different now. [Le proceeds to slap Worth around with multiple fast hand strikes].

In other styles, there’s always a limit of what you can do. But there’s no limit when it comes to Kung Fu. I could easily kill somebody with that move.

AUD: Do you have a favorite of all the movies you’ve made?

BL: BRUCE STRIKES BACK (1982). I shoot this movie in Italian Colosseum because I want to do myself. You know, if you are actor, you must follow another director. Whatever he do, you must follow him and then you are the action director. Maybe he don't know about Kung Fu. So I do myself.

The same place Bruce made the first movie. THE BIG BOSS. The director is Lo Wei. Bruce Lee, he very angry. He want to do his self. So after he picked THE WAY OF THE DRAGON and THE GAME OF DEATH. His style. He’s my master.

AUD: Have you ever met Bruce Lai or are you friends with him?

BL: After Bruce Lai stopped making movies because the reason that you just saw in ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE, he actually sold the rights of most of his films to me or he gave me most of the negatives. I told Bruce Lai before ‘Maybe you win, but one day you fall down, nobody will know you.’ It’s like a boxer, you know. If you fight and you can keep falling down nobody will remember you. But if you’re like Muhammad Ali, he kept falling, but he kept on going. And then, of course, he became a champion and everybody remembers him.

So that is kind of like my philosophy on making films. If you stop making film, maybe no one will remember you. So Bruce Lai, Dragon Lee, stop making film. Why? When they stop making movies, their careers are essentially over. But if you fall down, you know you need to get up to keep going. Otherwise, people will not remember you. So that’s why I am still kind of in this business.

AUD: Is there a nostalgia and appreciation of your work in Hong Kong and China now, like with this movie play there?

FD: Let me answer the second question about the documentary. No.

BL: So yes, I mean they still remember me a little, but the movies are like stock market – it has ups and downs. And when you stop making movies or when you're in the downtrend like how the martial art genre is in Hong Kong right now, then no one will remember.

AUD: Have you ever been challenged on set?

BL: Of course, there are challenges.

There were challenges like kind of a different challenge, not like Bruce Lee where people openly challenged him. For me the challenge came from actors who worked with me so that when I'm shooting films, like ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH (1978), the actor wanted to challenge me. Instead of doing the moves cinematic style where we just touch each other, he would actually hit me really hard. That’s his way of challenging me. It’s almost like I’m showing you that I may be better than you. He challenged me like that and I hit back with equal kind of force to let him know that I’m not easily defeated. I can kick your ass.

That was the thing about hiring martial artists to do movie. Most of the martial artists that became actors in these films, they don’t know how to hold back the force and you know that they’re so used to fighting for real. So when they’re doing the fight, they would actually often hit you for real, use real force. So the idea is that we kind of showed them, this is not the way to fight in movies. Hold back the force.

I make the movie ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH. You know Bolo? Bolo Yeung. Because I’m a martial director, I know this guy. So before we actually start shooting, we do maybe like ten takes to practice it. Bolo would use all his force, you know, natural punching. After ten takes, okay, now go. Really, really trying to make it right. By then he was kind of weakened. Sometimes the actor didn’t know that we have to rehearse if for ten takes. It’s kind of like a sprinter. When you’re running, you use up all your force. He thought that we were actually shooting for real for the first ten takes. By the time we said ‘Okay, this is actually for real,’ they’re already drained.  So making a movie, it's different.

GC: You still look great. You're moving so fast. So sharp. What's your secret?

BL: You better always, every day, you practice. You need it, you know. Kung Fu is like singing. You have to practice every day to keep yourself in top shape. Kung Fu is not just an external movement, external fighting. It is also an internal qi, so I have to keep practicing my internal qi because without the qi you won't be able to strike us with force.

It’s not a hammer where you where you rely on the hammer to get the force of the impact. Your hand is what gives the force, what gives the impact. It's your hand that gives the most harm to your opponent.

GC: You said earlier in ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE that you started in Karate and Boxing.

BL: Yeah.

GC: And you've done Wing Chun. What other Kung Fu styles have you done?

BL: Shaolin.

And I really wanted to learn, I practiced some Jeet Kune Do. Jeet Kune Do is ‘shape without shape,’ so unlike your regular style of Kung Fu where you use set moves, or a set style, Jeet Kune Do is that you don’t know how to fight back until your opponent has actually hit you or touched you. That’s the philosophy and that’s how I practice Jeet Kune Do.

Jeet Kune is like a circle. It kind of derives from without shape, you know? It like derives from a shapeless thing into a shape and vice versa. That’s why Jeet Kune Do to me is very important in terms of fighting and martial arts philosophy. You’re making something that’s shapeless into a shape.

GC: You started your acting career at a very unique time. Immediately after Bruce Lee’s death, audiences wanted more martial arts, so there was plenty of opportunity for martial actors. Do you have any advice for martial artists who want to break into acting now?

BL: Actors like me and Bruce Lai had a good chance. Even Jackie Chan also same. You know? Bruce Lee died. We had Jackie Chan. Bruce Li. Bruce Liang. Dragon Lee. We had a good chance.

And now, no more. You must prove yourself. So you better – first – know the real martial arts. And acting. Sometimes you will concentrate on the fighting and you lost focus on the acting, and then the vice versa. You focus on the acting. You forgot the fighting. So my advice would be to the newcomers who want to do what I did, is practice by using a candle. You need to look at the candle. You eyes have to look at the candle, make if flicker, whatever, so you concentrate.

GC: Jing qi shen.

BL: You see my eyes, yeah? You have to practice the eye moment.

It’s different from Shaolin Kung Fu. In Shaolin Kung Fu, all the moves are kind of fancy, whereas in real martial arts you have to really learn the basic. You have to keep doing the movement so you can perfect it. Because this is actual fighting. To me, Shaolin Kung Fu is more demonstration. Maybe you can see many movies. You know, they come from Shaolin. It’s not like a demonstration where a Wushu demonstration or a Shaolin demonstration goes for a very long time. But for us, no. Our action is quick and fast. And precise, to defeat the opponent. So you can see what really fighting is. That’s why we have to keep practicing, so that the audience can see that we are doing it with actual force, actual energy, not just fancy demonstration type gestures at all. Very simple.

GC: If you could say something to Bruce Lee, what would you say.

BL: Hmm. My master.

GC: What do you dream of for your future?

BL: I hope that one day I can actually come to Hollywood to like train a course for the academy, like how I train, like Asia, like China, Korea, Malaysia and stuff. Like there will be a course at the film academy on this – Kung Fu action filmmaking – so that people will learn and know about this form of art, this particular form of filmmaking.