Legacy of Rage (1986)

The 1986 martial arts action flick "Legacy of Rage" has the benefit of being the first starring role of the late Brandon Lee (the ill-fated son of deceased martial arts legend Bruce Lee). It was also the only film that Brandon Lee made in Hong Kong, and likewise the film is spoken in Cantonese (though the voices are dubbed - as the practice at that time was to film movies without sound, and then dub in the actors' voices later).Brandon Lee is in fine form here (despite never hearing his natural speaking voice), though the film itself - written and directed by Hong Kong action veteran Ronny Yu (who would later gain fame in the West with the American horror films "Bride of Chucky" and "Freddy vs. Jason," and the martial arts epic "Fearless" with Jet Li) - is somewhat of a mixed bag; it's more or less a standard action film, with lots of stuff about gangsters, drugs, and John Woo-style gun-play. Also, disappointingly, there isn't much of Brandon Lee using his father's patented Jeet Kune Do skills against the bad guys being sent his way.Lee plays Brandon Ma, a hard-working average Joe with a beautiful girlfriend named May (Regina King, in her film debut) and dreams of buying a motorcycle. Brandon's best friend is Michael (Michael Wong), who is also the son of a local Hong Kong gangster and is looking to take over his father's business and thus make a name for himself. He also has unrequited feelings for May, and he soon cooks up a scheme to get rid of Brandon so that he can have her for himself. This scheme would involve the murder of the undercover narcotics detective that has been hassling his father's organization, and then setting up Brandon as the scapegoat. The plan goes off without a hitch, and Brandon is sent to prison for eight years for the crime. But when he learns the truth about what's happened to him and why, that's when he sets out to get revenge and save May.While we all know Brandon Lee's tragic story (he was killed while filming a scene of his last film, 1994's "The Crow"), "Legacy of Rage" definitely shows the talent the younger Lee inherited from his more-famous father. Brandon Lee may not have been as skilled a martial artist as his father (this is really debatable and a pointless argument, if you ask me), but he certainly may have been a stronger and more charismatic and charming actor. He certainly did not want to be remembered as a martial arts star like his father, but he did want to be remembered as an ACTOR. "Legacy of Rage" may not have much in the way of kung-fu action, but it does show that Lee was a strong and capable action hero, much like he would show in his later English-speaking features "Showdown in Little Tokyo" (1991), "Rapid Fire" (1992) and of course, "The Crow" - his last and most famous film.So "Legacy of Rage" is worth viewing maybe once or twice, as a worthy introduction to the skills of the extraordinarily talented Brandon Lee.6/10P.S.: Bolo Yeung (who appeared as a villain in Bruce Lee's last completed film "Enter the Dragon") also has a brief appearance here, as well.

"Legacy of Rage" is an entertaining and interesting hybrid action/drama/prison movie and a personal favorite genre, revenge movie.Brandon Lee plays Brandon Ma, a mild-mannered (that is, unless you push him too far) waiter with a loving and devoted girlfriend, May (Regina Kent). When Brandon's "friend" Michael, who is a gangster rising in the ranks, frames Brandon for manslaughter and sends him to jail for eight years, he thinks he can get in good with May (by attempting to rape her while she's pregnant, a great plan). In an intriguing plot development, while Brandon is in jail, May forges a relationship with an older gentleman who just wants "a companion" and offers to take her to Brazil.Meanwhile, Brandon is rotting away, seething, in prison. He develops a friendship with an arms dealer named Hoi (Hoi Mang), nicknamed "Four Eyes" in the joint because he wears glasses. Even after Brandon gets out of a hard stretch in prison, Michael still makes Brandon's life a living hell.Finally, enough is enough, and after a whole movie of a nice guy being stepped on over and over again, Brandon reconnects with Hoi and his huge stash of weaponry, and they go together on a violence-packed, kick-ass revenge mission against Michael's gang. Will Brandon get justice? Will he reunite with May? Will he be able to have a relationship with his estranged son? Interestingly, the movie, at least in the English-speaking world, is called LEGACY of rage, obviously trying to link Brandon with his legendary father Bruce, as if that was really needed. Maybe it was just a marketing thing. But there IS plenty of rage! "Legacy of Rage" definitely delivers the goods. It has a good story, is well-filmed, has great action, brutal violence, a satisfying ending, and is all handled well, with energy, style and flair by director Ronny Yu.According to author Thomas Weisser from his great book Asian Cult Cinema Boulevard, 1997)"This is the only made-in-Hong Kong movie with Brandon Lee. Reportedly,Brandon was reluctant to make HK movies because he was afraid of critical comparison between himself and his superhero father Bruce Lee" (pg.117). I would just add that I'm glad he did, especially in the great year for action movies, 1986. The timing couldn't have been better. I wish he did more Hong Kong action movies.I love movies where the good guy is really good (he even helps a little girl in need after her mommy gets on a bus without her!), the bad guys are really bad, and the good guy doesn't want to fight, but he has to because he's taken too much crap for too long. This D&B (not "Dave and Busters", Dickson Poon's --no smirking -- Hong Kong production company)falls into that esteemed category! Fan-favorite Bolo Yeung appears very briefly (one short scene)in the beginning of the film as a gangster looking for protection money from the restaurant where Brandon works.It was nice to see him, and if I have one complaint about the movie, it's that it could have used more Bolo.But on the whole, I would heartily recommend "Legacy of Rage".

Legacy of Rage is directed by Ronny Yu, the genius behind Bride With White Hair. Rage stars Brandon Lee is his only Hong Kong production and Michael Wong, the guy who played the sicko role in Fatal Love, starring beautiful Ellen Chan. Legacy of Rage is normal HK actioner and nothing special. The fight and action scenes are okay as always in these films(well, at least almost always), and at the end fight, they are occasionally brutal, too. But considered what kind of achievements we have seen coming out from Hong Kong, this is very mediocre but still watchable and recommended, of course, to the fans of Lee family. I don't think Michael Wong is so bad actor, as some have said. I think he's okay and has nice eyes. Lee junior is pretty normal here and is not as powerful as in his future roles, but we must remember that this is so early work for him, and he may have had some pressure thinking about his father and his reputation..After all a decent Oriental actioner with nothing particularly exciting or worth mentioning. Still, a must see for Hong Kong fanatics. 5/10

This was another interesting but not very exciting film. For me I was rather in-between about liking and disliking it.To begin with it was nice seeing this as one of the very few not to mention early Brandon Lee films. At first this struck me more as a US production, considering that it was officialy released in the UK around 1993 (the same year he tragically died on the set of "The Crow").I got my chance to watch this back in 2001. The thing that made me feel emotional after watching the film was wishing he'd still been alive to make other quality films. For me The Crow is still one film that stands out a brilliant achievement, it's not surprising to learn that there would've been so many promising role for him in the pipeline.My only disapointment with Legacy of Rage was the fact that not much martial arts was demonstrated despite the showdown with "Enter the Dragon" co-star and Bruce Lee student Bolo Yeung. You couldn't help but feel slightly put off considering the fight didn't seem to last that long since things were more geared towards gun battles. But to top it off the dubbing was real annoyance as it's becoming both lame and outdated with most of these actor's not being able to speak their native languages, what a crock of s**t.Overall not a bad film at all, but it's high time that voice dubbing becomes a thing of the past?