Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth (1977)

Early in the 1980s, there were four premium channels to choose from on a local cable system, and my family chose all four. HBO, Showtime, The Movie Channel, and a channel the presented low budget drive in stuff, called Bravo. Bravo then became, Rendezvous, and I was having a field day with all the low budget films I could handle. New World Roger Corman titles, Crown International (BORING),Film Ventures International, and a slew of other films from one shot companies or small distribution companies that would soon be forgottenOne evening, I was treated to this film, The Dragon Lives, and as bad and most likely, inaccurate account of Bruce Lee' life, this was a hoot! The problem is, I couldn't remember the name of the film. The channel only showed it once or twice. Scenes of Bruce being a homeless dweeb walking around San Francisco, walking off the set of a racist Asian film, getting involved in Mixed Martial arts tournaments, and doing battle with a behemoth African-American martial artist, and bumping into his soon to-be-wife, Linda by accidentally snatching her sandwich while doing hand exercises remained to me to this day. BUT WHAT WAS THE TITLE OF THIS FILM? For years I was looking for this film. On VHS, writing letters to TV hosts of Kung Fu theater programs thinking they would really know the answer, and talking to martial artists who had collections of Bruce Lee films to no avail. Hell, even Joe Bob Briggs didn't recall the filmWith the invention of the Internet, I was able to locate fans of bad martial arts film wanting to know if they ever heard of the film, and if so, what was the title? The closest I got via the Internet was a sole person who replied, the movie was Bruce Lee: the Man the Myth. Uh-no, I recalled the film was Dragon Something or other. I had a EP copy of BL:TMTM and there wasn't anything remotely resembling this film. Someone sent me a scan of the film on VHS with the title, Bruce Lee Man and the Myth, and it seemed that was the right title, but my Alpha video with the same title wasn't the film.Well, thanks to folks of VCI DVD, I finally found the title, The Dragon Lives. It didn't have the Film Ventures International Georgia Peaches logo at the beginning (which I remembered vividly), but upon scanning through the film, I found it. I found my holy grail of Bruce Lee rip-offs and said -to-be true stories of Lee and his life. Widescreen, too! No classic, but hey on a nice Summer eve, this would play great on my HD 52 inch TV placed outside in my backyard and pretending I'm at the drive in.

Bruce Li turns in one of his best performances in this mostly fictional biography about the life of Bruce Lee. Li does a very good imitation of Bruce Lee but not surprisingly, falls slightly short of capturing the true essence of what made Bruce Lee such a special presence on film.While this was supposed to a biography about the life of Bruce Lee, it is much more concerned with presenting Kung Fu street fights rumor and gossip, whether based on any true factual reality or not, might have at one time had it said Lee had a penchant for getting involved in. The fights themselves are not badly executed and again Li has most of Lee's mannerisms down pat. Still he always falls slightly short of the mark as you might well expect even from the best of imitators.In the end, I have to admit to enjoying this film on a pure guilty pleasure level. It really is just using Bruce Lee's name as an excuse for yet another Kung Fu movie and cleverly ties itself to his legacy most likely hoping to cash in on his name. Still, Bruce Li isn't half bad at that and this movie moves at a nice, brisk exciting pace and is filled with decent Kung Fu fighting action. There's certainly worse efforts that this out there that also tried to cash in on the Lee name and legacy.

I bought this movie in a Bruce Lee box set and damn....if I thought I had seen the last of the cinema garbages already, lord knows I was wrong. Damn this movie is bad. This is so bad that it's laughable, than so so bad than you get tired to laugh and you start to swear and pray for the movie to end. I watched it until the end just to say I did it but damn it was hard.Bruce Lee would surely make a 360 in his tomb to see that thing. Post synchrony problems(common to Kung Fu movies), Bruce doing weird weird stuff with machines in a secret laboratory(he even soaks his hands in what appears to me being Kool-aid) and most of all, no mention of what the true spirit of Jeet Kune Do is about. No mention of his historical meeting with Judo Gene Lebell. Just cheesy fighting...and this kind of cheesy sh*t isn't fun to watch. Avoid this Bruce Lee movie at all costs.

Bruce Lee: The Dragon Lives carries the legacy of classic Bruceploitation flicks and starring the forerunner of that movement Chung Tao Ho a.k.a. Bruce Li. This one strays far and away from Bruce's life, but that doesn't mean it's not funny!The film delves into the curse of Bruce Lee, symbolized by lightning, rain, and strong winds. Then, ZIP to the U.S. where Bruce is hassled by the man, does martial arts training at a conveniently found wooden pole park, and tries to hitch a ride. Unfortunately, motorists are very wary of giving Bruce Li a lift, so much so he is almost run off the road by a sadistic hippie. Bruce responds by yelling "BASTARDS, damn you!" I'm not so sure if Bruce Lee was quite so hostile. Then, at the tournament, he sees his cop friend. Gee, thanks Officer for offering me a lift! Maybe Bruce should've just asked him.The tournament: I swear the thai guy is based on the thai villain in Master of Flying Guillotine; a much MORE credible martial arts film. The battles include no hold barred, blood spilling action and even a Chinese Hitler joins in. Don't forget Sammuel Curtis who has the most 70s jive turkey voice EVER and taunts with remarks like "Look at this kid!" and "Go on home China boy and take your kung fu with you!" Remember, Bruce hates wearing ponytails and anyone putting down kung fu. Not only does he draw boos, laughs, and ridicule from the crowd, he also manages to get beat up during fights and almost knocked into unconsciousness. This is Bruce??They go through Bruce's rise to fame including shooting Fist of Fury with Bruce sporting a mustache! Eventually, Bruce's training goes extreme and his obsession with his idol from the depths-of-hell punching machine. Man, if he was so worried about being cursed, it'd be wiser not to keep an evil deity apparatus in your home. Oh, and Bruce cheated on his wife and laughed maniacally after doing the nasty.Watch this one and know this was not even a glimmer of the real Bruce Lee. Not as great as "Bruce Lee True Story", but way better than "Bruce Lee A Dragon's Story". How could I forget the awesome theme song? "He's a Legend, he's a hero" is still emblazed in my mind.