Legendary martial artist, actor and film director Bruce Lee only starred in five major motion pictures, had a small part in a 1969 James Garner movie (Marlowe) and co-starred as Kato in the American television series The Green Hornet. Despite a relatively small number of movies, Bruce Lee’s legend has only grown since his tragic premature death in 1973.
Similar to other Hollywood stars dying while still in youthful prime, Lee became an icon. Like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean or Elvis Presley, his death at 33, keeps him forever young and electrically gymnastic in his classic action films. An Asian superstar while alive, Lee morphed into a true global icon and he’s now synonymous with martial arts.
There are many films chronicling his life and incomparable fighting prowess. Sifting through them is time consuming. Following are the best on Lee’s life, his legend and most of all his eye popping fighting style.
Bruce Lee: The Legend (1977)
Produced by Raymond Chow, Lee’s producing partner on Lee’s Return of The Dragon and Fists Of Fury, this is a well produced documentary with plenty of footage of Bruce Lee’s films, along with his screen test, interviews with friends, co-stars and training partners. Generous clips of Bruce Lee as a boy acting in Chinese movies alongside his father actor Hoi-Chuen Lee is just one of the many highlights of the documentary.
Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth (1978)
This biography is light viewing at only 70 mins, but it hits most of the big points of Lee’s mythic rise to fame and fortune. Bruce Lee look-alike actor Bruce Li has the look and the moves and while the movie tends to sensationalize some aspect of Lee’s life, it more than delivers on well done fight scenes and overall fun factor.
Bruce Lee: The Curse Of The Dragon (1993)
Narrated by Japanese American actor George Takei (Sulu) of Star Trek fame, this is touted as “The True Story Behind The Man And The Legend.” Directed by Fred Weintraub who produced Lee’s kung-fu masterpiece Enter The Dragon, the film showcases generous behind the scenes clips of Lee’s movies, interviews with friends like James Coburn and Chuck Norris and great recollections by Brandon Lee, Bruce’s son who’s own Hollywood career was cut short, when he also died well before his time.
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)
This lavishly produced biography stars Jason Scott Lee – no relation to Bruce – and Lauren Holly as Lee’s wife Linda. Directed by Rob Cohen, with a beautiful sense of style as he merges Chinese myth with American history, the movie is as rousing as it is visually appealing. As Lee battles racial prejudice in Hollywood and his own personal life, we see how much the real kung-fu master had to overcome to transform himself into a global fighting movies superstar.
Bruce Lee: A Warrior’s Journey (2000)
John Little directed this documentary on Lee’s life and lifelong struggle with a true fighting style – what Lee called “honestly expressing oneself.” It boasts never before seen footage of his last incomplete film, Game Of Death. The chief joy here is seeing thrilling fight scenes originally shot by Lee in a more pure form as the cut and paste job done with the theatrical version released. It’s a bittersweet cinematic journey, since it truly underscores what a keen master Bruce Lee was as martial artist and also a vibrant film maker.
Bruce Lee: Path Of The Dragon (2001)
Narrated by Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, this is a loving tribute to Bruce fully approved by the Bruce Lee estate. Though running only 44 mins in length, the production is chock full of great clips of Lee sparring at home and interviews with friends and associates like Enter The Dragon co-star John Saxon.
Bruce Lee: Jeet Kune Do (2001)
Also approved by the Bruce Lee estate, this is clever instructional film composed of clips from Lee’s movies and narrated by Brandon Lee and Bruce Lee himself. By using interview audio clips or home movie snippets, director Walt Missingham has created an always entertaining look into the basic mechanics of the fighting style Lee created and dubbed Jeet Kune Do (Way Of The Intercepting Fist). Fans will thoroughly enjoy seeing classic Bruce Lee fight scenes and how they related to Lee’s own real life fighting style and combat philosophy.
