BRUCE LEE'S KUNG-FU FILMOGRAPHY

THE BIG BOSS (1971): After Bruce's efforts in America to make a Chinese action star failed, he returned home to Hong-Kong to seek fame. Originally Bruce was just another actor in the film, but his talent was brought to the director's attention and Bruce was made the star character. The story line common to alot of Kung-Fu movies, but it is Bruce that adds the fire to the film. Bruce's character travels overseas to help his cousins and work in an ice factory. The film drags for a bit because Bruce has made a promise to his uncle not to fight. During the film characters start mysteriously dissapearing and two happen to be Bruce's cousins. The dissapearances are due to the individuals finding out about the heroin being smuggled in the ice. Bruce is volunteered to ask about the missing men and is promoted in order to avoid the question. Everyone gets mad at him and won't listen to his supervisions. Bruce eventually sneaks into the factory one night and finds his cousins chopped up and frozen in ice, then kills a bunch of people kung-fu style including the Big Boss's son. He then goes after the boss himself. In the end Bruce is arrested and the film closes. I enjoy the film everytime I watch it because Bruce is the man!
FISTS OF FURY (1972): The film begins with Bruce returning to his master's dojo after hearing about his master's death. He freaks out and a couple of the grave diggers have to knock him out with a shovel. Everyone mourns the master's death until a Japanese dojo comes into the mourning hall and taunts them. The Japanese give the Chinese dojo a sign that reads "sick men of China." They don't fight yet though. Later Bruce goes to the Japanese dojo with the sign, states the famous line "I'll take on any Japanese in here!" So there's the huge 30 to 1 battle and Bruce wins making them eat the sign (litteraly). The Japanese retaliate by returning to the Chinese dojo and beating everyone up (Bruce obviously wasn't home: Due to him now being a wanted man). Bruce goes undercover and finds out that his master was poisoned and kills the Japanese that did it. He then decides to go higher up the food chain after the owner of the Japanese dojo, but the Japanese leave at the same time to kill everyone over at the Chinese dojo. Bruce takes on some students, a fat Aikido master, he fights a big Russian guy, and fights the head honcho Japanese killing them all. He returns home to find almost everyone dead.. the police tell him to come out, and he jumps to attack them--the frame freezes you hear multiple gunshots and the film is over.
WAY OF THE DRAGON (1973): Way of the Dragon is one of Bruce's better films.. but of course.. he directed it! This is the first film in which Bruce breaks out the power of the nunchaku. The film begins as Bruce traveling to Rome to help his cousins keep away the local gang at a restaurant. He shows his cousins the power of Chinese Gung-Fu, beats up the gangs a couple of times, and throws these wooden darts in people's hands and one guys butt. The film has the action and the comic relief.. kind of like a Jackie Chan film. Well, later Bruce confronts the gang's contractor, a business man with a gay companion that wants the restaurant's space. Bruce beats up all the guys in the office and goes back to the restaurant. The businessman hires a couple of heavies, Bob Whall and a young and very hair Chuck Norris. At the end of the film you find out that Bruce's uncle was in on the deal somehow, and Bruce fights Bob before chasing off into a Roman collosium to fight Chuck. Chuck doesn't give up and Bruce finall has to kill him. The final scene is quite a famous one and is even used in Street Fighter Alpha.. notice the cat and the Roman collosium.
ENTER THE DRAGON (1973): This is Bruce Lee's finest film to date. This is the film that took America by storm and made everyone Bruce Lee nuts! The sad part is Bruce died 3 weeks before the release of the film.. he never got to see his greatest masterpiece. The film begins with Bruce' s sister being killed by Bob Whall and some other thugs.. rather than be raped she kills herself. The CIA find Bruce in a shoalin temple (kicking a guys butt in some black sparring gloves and black bikini briefs)and ask him for help in infiltrating Han's island for the annual fighters' competition. He accepts once his master informs him that Han and his hitmen were the ones who killed his sister. He travels to Han's island showing others his fighting philosophies including Jim Kelly(otherwise known as BLACK BELT JONES) and John Saxon (who thought he was the main character). So Bruce needs to talk to one of the girls that has been kidnapped there in order to find out about Han's drug refinery. He ends up having to infiltrate the facilities himself kicking the crap out of gaurds. Jim Kelly's character is blamed for it (him being the only one seen out that night), and Han kills him. Han pairs up Bruce and Bob Whall (his sister's killer) for a fight. Bruce kills him of course after some really good choreography. Later, Han offers to bring John Saxon's character in on the drug business and he refuses. That night Bruce beats up a bunch of the gaurds, contacts the CIA, and gets trapped in a stone room. That morning Bruce and John must fight Bolo Yueng (mister big) and all hell breaks loose. The kidnapped villiagers are released and EVERYONE IS KUNG-FU FIGHTING. This sets up the match for Bruce and Han fighting around in the mirrored maze and Bruce getting cut up. After all the s**t has gone down, the Coast Gaurd comes in and saves the day (yeah right ).
GAME OF DEATH (1973/1978): i was really dissapointed with this film, however the last twenty minutes of it make up for the mess they completed in 1978. The film was finished with a Bruce look alike, some old stock footage, and at one point a cardboard cutout. The film's story line is basically some type of mirror to Bruce's life. It is Bruce's character finishing parts to movies, and a gang puts a hit on him during the final scene of Fist of Fury where he's supposed to be shot..however the character is shot for real and assumed to be dead. He goes through plastic surgery.. the reason he looks different.. and goes after the gang. Other than those points the movie's only worth of remembering is Bruce Lee's final footage in the yellow and black striped jump suit. He fights his way up several levels through various martial arts masters finding his way to the top to meet a blind bohemoth kung-fu master Kareem Abdoul Jabbar. He kills them all and the movie's over.

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