1036 Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits

[yoloswegmaster]

Blu-ray.com review for The Way of the Dragon

[Orlac]

Interesting that the reviewer says the Mandarin track for Way is better. It was very weak on the previous releases.

[dwk]

Beaver Lee (Unfortunately doesn't have caps of the Shout Select releases)

[swo17]

C'mon, "Tooze Lee" was sitting right there

[yoloswegmaster]

'The Big Boss' Blu-Ray.com Review

'Game of Death' Blu-Ray.com review

[yoloswegmaster]

Enter the Dragon: Theaterical Version Blu-ray.com Review

[domino harvey]

I’ve never seen a Bruce Lee movie (EDIT Actually, according to Letterboxd, I’ve seen one: Marlowe). Which one should I watch to see if I would enjoy this kind of thing?

[Orlac]

Probably Enter as it's a cool mixture of kung fu, spy movie, Fu Manchu and blaxploitation.

[tenia]

I've seen Way of the Dragon, The Big Boss, Fist of Fury and Game of Death, and I'd have a hard time recommanding any of them. I suppose Fist of Fury is a tad above and Game of Death quite below, but all 4 felt poorly paced and scripted, and Bruce Lee is overall a very limited actor. Which would be fine if the movies had more fights than they actually do.
I haven't seen Enter The Dragon so can't say for this one.

[knives]

I have seen Enter and agree with Tenia. These movies aren't particularly good although they are interesting historically.

[EddieLarkin]

Game of Death is in no normal sense a Bruce Lee film and most people tend to find it both terrible and offensive. So definitely don't start there.

Enter the Dragon is easily the most accessible, but is also perhaps the least representative of the rest, it being more of a western financed English language film. The others were Hong Kong films, and are all fairly well regarded, but personally I would not start with Fist of Fury. Either of the other two are fine, but I prefer The Big Boss over The Way of Dragon.

[swo17]

They should add a disc to this like the Busby Berkeley disc that's just a supercut of Bruce Lee doing karate kicks

[colinr0380]

I would say The Way of the Dragon is probably the best Bruce Lee film (directed and written by Lee himself, which is why it really shows itself as the 'purest' Bruce Lee film, showing his full potential and putting what he learned under his previous director Lo Wei into practice), then Fist of Fury, then The Big Boss. The first three films build up to Lee, after taking over the choreography of the fight scenes in the earlier films, successfully taking the reigns of an entire film himself so if you start from The Big Boss you get the best arc of growth, but if you are only going to watch one then The Way of the Dragon would be my suggestion. (Although I personally go back and forth and often feel as if I like Fist of Fury the best out of all these films, as it has a lot more interesting social commentary in its rival martial arts schools battling each other to survive)

Though my opinion should be balanced with my other, probably more controversial, opinion that Enter The Dragon is not a particularly good film - it is Bruce's big 'returning in triumph to conquer the US' film and in English, and a Warner Bros Production (and the way that most Western audiences of the time appeared to have been introduced to Bruce Lee), so I think a lot of its (in my opinion overly) elevated status comes about from that. But his best work is in the earlier Hong Kong films that came before, not in anything directed by Robert Clouse, aside from perhaps the homage to the Lady of Shanghai's hall of mirrors scene at the climax. The unfinished footage of Game of Death (also directed by Lee) also painfully suggests a great film in progress (one that would have moved beyond just overcoming opponents and more towards the philosophy behind fighting) that was first delayed by having to break off to go and film Enter The Dragon and then by Lee's untimely death before he could come back to it.

From Bey Logan's commentary on the old Hong Kong Legends discs the most interesting thing about The Big Boss and Fist of Fury is the whole supporting cast element. Lee's co-star in both films James Tien is apparently there as a kind of insurance policy so that if the 'imported from the US, untested in Hong Kong cinema' Lee proved not to be able to carry a film himself Tien's role could have been bumped up to the lead and Lee down to a supporting role. But of course that did not happen and James Tien remains a supporting figure in those two films (and ends up being unceremoniously killed off in the nastiest toned film of the set, The Big Boss). Plus the lead actresses of the films swap status and turn up in the other film in small roles, so Maria Yee is the love interest in The Big Boss and turns up in a small role in Fist of Fury; whilst Nora Miao turns up in a tiny role in The Big Boss as a drink stand seller who Lee saves from being menaced at the opening of the film, and then is the love interest in Fist of Fury! (And Nora Miao goes on to be the love interest in The Way of the Dragon)

[cdnchris]

I had a "friend" (in actuality, couldn't stand the guy) who was into Bruce Lee and because of him I saw the films. I actually like Enter the Dragon (only one I bought, though on HD DVD) but didn't care for the rest. They are poorly paced with weak stories. Action scenes can be good but spaced too far out.

But yeah, I'd say Enter the Dragon is the better one to start with.

[domino harvey]

I find it amusing how no one who has responded even seems particularly passionate about their choice for the best of these! I think I’ll check out Enter and Way, but I guess I’m expecting even less than I was

[knives]

In all honesty you'd be better off watching the Jackie Chan movies, but these are historically important and we know how much you respect cinematic history.

[swo17]

I would also just like to step in to say that I've only seen Enter and didn't really like it, but will be buying this set nonetheless because Bruce Lee is famous

[colinr0380]

I would also just like to step in to say that I've only seen Enter and didn't really like it, but will be buying this set nonetheless because Bruce Lee is famous

You are going to get three much better films, and one much worse! Though all are fascinating and contain important elements to understanding the Bruce Lee mythos. One of the enduring aspects of Lee's legacy (as with James Dean in many ways) is the unfulfilled potential he showed that was on the verge of a breakthrough at the time of his passing (which is probably why Tarantino put his character into his Once Upon A Time.. In Hollywood film, as a male companion figure to Sharon Tate). That's what made him into a legend as much as his films, which is why it is great that this set appears to be trying to encompass every aspect, even going into the whole area of the 'Brucesploitation' films that followed his death.

[tenia]

In all honesty you'd be better off watching the Jackie Chan movies

I originally thought about this when typing my post and yeah, of all those Bruce Lee movies, you're better off watching the 3 Sammo Hungs released by Eureka instead.

[colinr0380]

Well you are going to be getting a bit of Jackie Chan here as well, as he was a stunt performer in a couple of the films.

[tenia]

And you get a bit of Sammo Hung too !

[Mr Sausage]

Both Chan and Hung have outright roles in Enter the Dragon, not just stunts.

Enter the Dragon is the best entry point. It lacks the pacing issues of the others, has more colour, and adds a lot of other personalities to help Lee carry things.

Of the HK films, Way is the standout, not least for having Lee’s best fight scene. Unlike basically every other fight scenes, his fight with Chuck Norris has both a dramatic arc and a pedagogical point. It’s brilliant to watch Lee fail, assess, and then adapt and create counter tactics, all of which becomes a demonstration of the philosophy of jeet kun do.

[Rayon Vert]

I've never seen a Bruce Lee movie either but I'm grateful for domino's question and the responses because I now know I have no interest in forking over $ to see any of them!

[Finch]

I guess I enjoyed the HK films more than most of the respondents so far though I wouldn't call any of them great either. For me, Way of The Dragon comes closest and I also like Fist of Fury though it's very racist towards the Japanese. I got a bit bored with The Big Boss, and I was underwhelmed by Enter The Dragon apart from the above mentioned mirror hall sequence. I'd start with The Way of The Dragon first. I've not seen Game of Death and have no desire to.

Agree with the sentiment that Jackie Chan is more likeable and charismatic and made better films overall.

[Mr Sausage]

I think Bruce Lee is a very charismatic and commanding screen presence. Not as likeable as Chan, but then he wasn't playing likeable. He was going more for intensity. And his fight choreography was revolutionary at the time, taking martial arts films out of the formal, dance-like peking opera style and into something more ferocious and grounded, structured around lighting-fast exchanges followed by resets.

I've always found Fist of Fury/The Chinese Connection a tough sit. It's a wooden and lumpy film, with Lee's performance pitched to a weird hysteria that makes his character seem less a devoted student than a cult member or obsessed fan or stalker or something. I've long been confused at how many people think it his best. The fight scenes are pretty good, when they come, but the rest is a chore. I much prefer the Jet Li remake, Fist of Legend.

Game of Death is a travesty, but as Colin said above, the full uncut footage Lee shot is incredible and points to something special we sadly never got. It would probably have been his best film had he finished it.