Sunday, August 30, 2009
Bruce Lee:Interviews
Here is an extra:A Brandon Lee 1992 interview. (R.I.P 1965-1993)
Now here's a more earlier interview of Bruce Lee. This was a 1964 screen test of Bruce Lee for his American role as Kato in the "Green Hornet" and Bruce Lee's age just 24. You'll also get to know Bruce a little better in this interview about what he thinks about kung fu, etc. There are a bit of kung fu demonstrations as well.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Bruce Lee:Enter The Dragon (1973)
This was the movie you were waiting for and it's finally here...on the blog. It's "Enter The Dragon" or a.k.a "The Deadly Three" and originally titled "Blood And Steel". This was Bruce Lee's first Hollywood movie and and the first kung-fu film to to be made by a major Hollywood studio. This film was the last film Bruce Lee completed before his death and the entire film is also in english too. The voice you hear from Bruce is actually his voice and not like the dubbed like his previous movies. The movie was directed by Robert Clouse, starring 3 martial artists, Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly, and John Saxon hence the name "The Deadly Three". The music of the movie was performed by Lalo Schifrin, distributed by Warner Brothers throughout America, North America, Europe, Japan, and Golden Harvest distributed through asian countries except Japan. Total run time of the movie is 98 minutes and the release dates are July 26,1973 in Hong Kong and August 17,1973 in the States. The movie overall was success in the U.S than in Hong Kong. Notable stuntmen in the movie are Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung and soon after they would become large stars in their own right. Unfortunately, Bruce Lee pass away 6 days before the movie was released in theatres and didn't witness the great success the movie had after his passing. He did see the finished film though. I will post a blog about his death later on. Perhaps the greatest martial arts film in the 20th century, here it is lady and gents!
No special effects...This is Bruce Lee!!!
Story: (From Wikipedia)
Lee is a martial artist from Hong Kong who possesses great philosophical insight into martial arts as well as physical prowess. He earns himself an invitation to a martial arts competition on an island organised by the mysterious Han. Lee learns from his Sifu (master) that Han was also once a Shaolin student, but has abused their code of conduct by using his skills to gain wealth and power and was therefore expelled from the order.
At the same time, a man called Braithwaite from an international intelligence organisation approaches Lee and asks for his help. The organisation suspects that Han is involved in illegal drugs and prostitution dealings and has been investigating him secretly for some time. The island where Han's competition is held every three years was purchased by him after the Second World War when its nationality is still uncertain. Currently, part of the island is beyond international jurisdiction and it is where Han is suspected to carry out his illegal activities. He also runs a martial arts school on his island to recruit talents to serve him. Han rules over his island testing a secret drug formula on his servant girls.
Braithwaite's organisation needs someone to infiltrate the island and gather evidence of the illegal operations before they can send in law enforcement forces. They had initially stationed a female operative called Mei Ling on Han's island who doubles as a prostitute, but has never received any contact from her since. Since Han disallows firearms on his island, Lee's prowess in martial arts makes him an ideal candidate for the mission. Lee meets his father before his departure and learns that Han's henchman O'Hara was responsible for the death of his elder sister several years ago. O'Hara and his men attempted to rape her and she committed suicide after being cornered.
Lee boards Han's private junk ship as they set sail for the island. Aboard the ship are several other competitors. One of them, Roper, is a White American playboy-gambler on the run from the mob, to whom he is heavily in debt. Another, Williams, is a Black American activist on the run from the law after defending himself from two racist White policemen in Los Angeles. They meet with a warm reception upon arrival and are invited to a lavish banquet. That night, when Han offers prostitutes for company to the competitors, Lee seizes the opportunity to contact Mei Ling.
The next morning, Roper and Williams participate in the competition and defeat their respective opponents, earning some money from bets during the process. That night, Lee, with equipment supplied by Mei Ling, begins his search on the island for anything suspicious. He finds a secret entrance to an underground base but runs into Han's guards on the way. He takes them down before being identified and makes his way back to his room. He is seen by Williams, who is taking a stroll outside. Williams, in turn, is seen by a guard who reports him to Han.
The next day, Han warns the competitors about wandering out of their rooms at night. He announces that his guards had failed in their duties last night and will be punished. The guards are forced to fight with his chief bodyguard, Bolo, and they meet their horrible ends at the hands of the sadistic Bolo. Moments later, Lee is called to his first match and his opponent turns out to be O'Hara. Lee defeats O'Hara with a few simple blows. O'Hara is angered and retaliates using a couple of broken glass bottles. Eventually, Lee is forced to kill O'Hara. Han is disgraced by O'Hara's dishonourable actions and ends the competition for the day. Before that, he calls Williams to meet him in his study. Han accuses Williams of attacking his guards the previous night but Williams denies it and insults Han. Han calls for his men to kill Williams. Williams manage to take down all of them but is eventually killed by Han.
Later, Han takes Roper on a tour of his underground base and invites him to be his representative for his operations in the United States. Roper is skeptical and asks Han why he reveals so much of his illegal activities to him without having any guarantee of his cooperation. Han then shows Roper the mutilated corpse of Williams, indicating clearly that Roper would face the same fate as Williams if he refuses to cooperate. Roper pretends that he will cooperate. That night, Lee successfully infiltrates the underground base and gathers sufficient evidence to warrant Han's arrest. He uses the radio transmitter to contact Braithwaite and call for backup, but unknowingly sets off the alarm. He fights with several of Han's guards during his escape but is eventually lured into a trap and captured.
The next morning, Han asks Roper to fight Lee on the competition grounds as a test of his loyalty. Roper refuses and tells Han that there are certain things he would not do. Han reassigns him to fight Bolo instead. Roper emerges victorious despite the odds. Han is infuriated by Roper's victory and he orders his men to kill both Lee and Roper. Despite being helplessly outnumbered, Lee and Roper manage to hold off the enemy for some time. Meanwhile, Mei Ling breaks into Han's underground prison and frees the captives. The captives swarm out of the prison and join in the battle on Lee and Roper's side, thus evening the odds.
During the chaos, Han attempts to sneak away but Lee spots him and follows him. Han arms himself with a claw-like implement and engages Lee in a spectacular fight. Lee proves to be superior to Han in terms of martial arts and Han flees into a hall of mirrors. Lee has difficulty locating Han due to all the confusing reflections. Recalling his Sifu's teachings, Lee smashes the mirrors to "destroy the enemy's illusions and draw out the enemy's real form". He eventually faces Han in combat and knocks Han right onto the sharp point of a spear, impaling Han and killing him. Lee returns outside and finds that Roper and the captives have managed to defeat and round up Han's surviving guards. Lee and Roper exchange thumbs-up just as military choppers arrive in response to Lee's radio distress call.
Enter The Dragon Trailer:
Cast:
Bruce Lee as Lee
John Saxon as Roper
Kien Shih as Han
Ahna Capri as Tania
Angela Mao as Su Lin
Jim Kelly as Williams
Robert Wall as O'Hara
Bolo Yeung as Bolo
Betty Chung as Mei Ling
Geoffrey Weeks as Braithwaite
Peter Archer as Parsons
Ho Lee Yan as The Old Man
Marlene Clark as Roper's Secretary
Allan Kent as Golfer
William Keller as Los Angeles Cop #1
Mickey Caruso as Los Angeles Cop #2
Pat E. Johnson as Hood #1
Darnell Garcia as Hood #2
Mike Bissell as Hood #3
Jackie Chan as Han's Henchman (stuntman, uncredited)
Roy Chiao as Shaolin Abbott (uncredited in U.S. version)
Paul M. Heller (uncredited)
Sammo Hung as Shaolin Fighter (martial artist, uncredited)
Lam Ching Ying (uncredited)
Tony Liu as Tournament Fighter (uncredited)
Keye Luke (voice, uncredited)
Hidy Ochiai (uncredited)
Steve Sanders as (uncredited)
Wei Tung as Lao (Lee's Student) (uncredited)
Donnie Williams as (uncredited)
Tadashi Yamashita as (uncredited)
Yuen Biao (uncredited)
Yuen Wah (uncredited)
Dylan Holmes (uncredited)
Enter The Dragon's theme song: (It's quite catchy)
Cavern Combat: (Can you spot when Jackie Chan appears?)
My Thoughts On The Movie:
Well I've watched this one many times and it really never gets old. It's amazing! I think the last scene where Lee fights Han was very creative because of the mirrors and how they reflect on different mirrors. It just sets the mood when Bruce Lee fights in that area. Seeing Jackie Chan getting beaten by Bruce twice was really interesting because you don't really see anthing like it. Anyone who knows the name Bruce Lee should get this movie. It was the movie to introduce martial arts the the Westerns and it was fantastic.
Overall rating:96/100
Lee VS. Ohara:
Lee VS. Han (Final Fight, a true Bruce Lee classic!)
Enter The Dragon first fight (Bruce Lee facing off against Sammo Hung) This was the first fight in the movie but was actually the last scene Bruce Lee filmed before his death.
Bruce Lee:Books
NOTE:All prices in Canadian and taxes not included
ORD:Original Release Date
NYR:Not Yet Released
Tao of Jeet Kune Do (Paperback):$14.56 (My Rating:4.9/5) ORD:October 1,1975
Bruce Lee's Fighting Method:The Complete Edition (Hardcover):$27.69 (My Rating:5/5) ORD:September 1,2008
Art Of Expressing The human Body (Paperback):$21.39 (My Rating:4.8/5) ORD:November 15,1998
Striking Thoughts (Paperback):$12.78 ORD:June 15,2002
Jeet Kune Do (Paperback):$21.38 ORD:November 15,1997
Bruce Lee-Wisdom For The Way (Hardcover):$13.10 ORD:October 1,2009 (NYR)
The Warrior Withinn:The Philosophies Of Bruce Lee (Paperback):$17.48 ORD:April 1,1996
Chinese Gung Fu:The Philosophical Art Of Self-Defense (Paperback):$12.56 ORD:February 1,1987
Bruce Lee Artist Of Life (Paperback):$16.35 ORD:April 1,2001
Bruce Lee:Way Of The Dragon (1972)
Tang Lung is sent from Hong Kong to Rome to help his friend's niece Chen Ching Hua and some family friends whose restaurant is being targeted by the local Mafia, which has been trying to force them to sign a contract handing over ownership of the restaurant to the Mafia boss. After their offers to purchase the restaurant are repeatedly turned down, the gangsters resort to intimidation. Tang fends off the local gangsters and wins Chen's admiration, who had initially looked down on him for his innocence. Tang had earlier been reluctant in putting all his savings into a bank and had even unknowingly went home with a prostitute while touring Rome with Chen.
The Mafia boss sends a gunman to kill Tang, but Tang defeats him by throwing wooden darts and fracturing his neck. The angry boss then takes a personal trip to the restaurant with his thugs to force Chen to sign the contract. Although they are armed with guns, Tang manages to defeat them after the boss forbids them to use the guns. Tang uses a Bo staff and a pair of Nunchakus during the fight. He warns the boss that he will take firm action against him if he continues to harass his friends. The boss then sends a sniper (the gunman earlier who now wears a neck brace) to kill Tang at Chen's apartment but he fails again. Chen is kidnapped by the boss and compelled to sign the contract at his headquarters, but Tang and his friends appear and rescue her once more.
The Mafia boss hires foreign martial artists who have trouble communicating with each other to challenge Tang Lung. Tang defeats them with help from his friends in the countryside near the Colosseum. Tang has an iconic final showdown inside the Colosseum with the Karate fighter Colt, the best of the hired fighters. Tang kills Colt, but he covers the body with Colt's white Gi to show his respect and admiration after the fight. The Mafia boss is finally arrested while the other villains are killed. Tang leaves Rome alone after bidding farewell to Chen
Cast:
Bruce Lee as Tang Lung (a.k.a. "China Dragon")
Nora Miao as Chen Ching Hua
Chuck Norris as Colt
Robert Wall as Fred (a.k.a. "Bob Fred")
Hwang In-Shik as Japanese martial artist
Paul Wei Ping-Ao as Ho
Wang Chung-Hsin as (Uncle) Wang
Tony Liu as Tony
Unicorn Chan as Jimmy
Tommy Chen as Tommy
Chin Ti as Ah Quen
Wu Ngan as Ah Chuan
Robert Chen as Robert
John Benn as Mafia boss
It just keeps getting better and better. I thought this movie was better than "Fist Of Fury" (1972). Rome was an excellent place to shot the movie and the fights seem more realistic and stunning as ever. One of Bruce Lee's best movies! This movie does has brief nudity but is nothing too graphic. The plot (above) is amazing and it shows that Bruce Lee is one tough guy even though he doesn't really talk a lot in the movie and it may make him seem timid, but once he gets serious, don't f**k with him!!!, cuz he's dangerous. What also makes this film amazingly stunning is that Bruce Lee actually brawls with none other than Chuck Norris, which is also one of my favorite scenes of the entire movie. The way all the fights are staged and the way Bruce Lee uses the nunchaku in combat will make you want to become a martial artist or at least study it. The differences from this movie and Bruce Lee's previous ones are that this one is an action-comedy and the other ones are action-dramas...That's why I love this movie. Like I said before, this is a must-get if you want the best martial arts movie, you're a Bruce Lee fan, or anybody else. If you've never seen it before, then I suggests picking it up from the electronic departments.
Bruce Lee showing off his nunchaku skills!
Bruce Lee:Fist Of Fury (1972)
After the success of Bruce Lee's movie, "The Big Boss", Bruce had already started working on his next major film, "Fist Of Fury", and not to be confused with "The Big Boss" which also had the alternate title "Fists Of Fury". The director of the movie was Lo Wei and was the second movie produced by the legendary Raymond Chow and distributed by Golden Harvest. The total run time of the film is 108 minutes/1 hour 48 minutes, and was followed by the movie "New Fist Of Fury" (1976) starring Jackie Chan. "Fist Of Fury" was also the first movie to have the nunchaku in it, as seen below with Bruce Lee holding a nunchaku in his hand. The U.S name of this movie is also "The Chinese Connection".
Story: (From Wikipedia)
The film is set in the early 20th century in Shanghai International Settlement. The martial arts student Chen Zhen returns to Jing Wu School to marry his fiancee Yuan Le-erh. However tragic news awaits him; his master Huo Yuanjia had died, apparently from illness. Chen is deeply saddened and traumatised by the sudden demise of his beloved master. During the funeral, some Japanese students from a Dojo in Hongkou show up. They present a sign to Jing Wu, bearing the words "sick men of the East" (東亞病夫), seemingly as to insult Huo Yuanjia. They taunt the Jing Wu students to fight them and promise that they will "eat their words" if the Jing Wu students dare to fight them and defeat them.
Shortly after, Chen Zhen goes to the Hongkou Dojo alone to return the "gift" (the sign). He meets with hostility from the Japanese students and they engage in a fight. Chen Zhen defeats all of them, including their Sensei, single-handedly. He uses his master's style of fighting Mizongyi and a Nunchaku as a weapon during the fight. He smashes the glass on the sign and makes the students who taunted him earlier chew up the paper bearing the derogatory words, so as to make them literally "eat their words".
Chen takes a stroll to a park after that. He is refused entry into the park by a Sikh guard who points towards a sign reading "No dogs and Chinese allowed" (狗與華人不得入內). After the guard allows a foreigner to bring his pet dog into the park, a Japanese man approaches Chen and tells him that if he behaves like a pet dog, he will be allowed to go in. Chen beats up the man in anger and proceeds to smash the sign with a flying kick.
Meanwhile, the Japanese students retaliate by attacking Jing Wu School on the orders of their master Hiroshi Suzuki. The Jing Wu students are caught by surprise and are totally unprepared for the onslaught. After causing severe damage, the Japanese students leave. They warn Jing Wu School to hand over Chen Zhen or else Jing Wu will be closed and all the students put under arrest. Chen returns and realises that he has caused big trouble. His fellow students are reluctant to hand him over to the Japanese so they make plans to help him escape from Shanghai.
That night, Chen secretly overhears a conversation between the cook and the caretaker and discovers that his master was killed after consuming biscuits laced with poison. He bursts in and confronts them. Chen kills them in blind rage after they claimed responsibility for Huo Yuanjia's death. Chen hangs their bodies from a lamp post after that. The next day, the Jing Wu students discover the bodies and suspect that Chen is responsible. However, Chen is nowhere to be found. Eventually, Chen's fiancee finds him hiding near Huo Yuanjia's grave. They share a passionate moment together briefly. At the same time, Suzuki forces the local police inspector to arrest Chen Zhen and bring Chen back to him. The beleaguered inspector has no choice but to repeat the Japanese's earlier warnings to Jing Wu School. That night, Chen confronts Suzuki's translator and forces a confession out of him, learning the entire truth behind his master's death. He kills the translator after the latter attempted to sneak up on him and he hangs the body from the lamp post.
The angry Suzuki decides to take matters into his own hands. He sends his men to attack Jing Wu School and kill everyone inside. On the same night, Chen barges into the Dojo to take his revenge. He takes down every single Japanese combatant he meets. Afterwards Chen battles Petrov (Robert Baker), a Russian gang boss in league with Suzuki and his plans, who was visiting the Dojo at the time of Chen's attack. The two fighters at first starts out evenly matched, but when Petrov is eventually unable to keep up with the speed of Chen's attacks he too goes down in defeat. Finally, Chen corners Suzuki inside his office. Suzuki uses a Katana to fight back but he is no match for Chen, who is armed with a Nunchaku. In the dramatic ending of the fight scene, Chen sends Suzuki flying out of the room and kills him, thus avenging his master's death. Chen returns to Jing Wu School and finds that many of his fellow students have been killed during the Japanese's raid, although all of the raiders have been killed in the fight as well. Shortly after, the police arrive and place him under arrest for murder. Chen speaks to the inspector in private and is assured that Jing Wu School will stay on after he leaves. In the final scene, Chen charges and makes a flying kick at a line of armed soldiers just before they open fire at him.
My Thoughts On The Movie:
I gotta say I loved this moive. There was a lot of action and I liked this one better than "The Big Boss". My favorite scene must be when Bruce Lee fights a hord of Japanese fighters at once and then uses his nunchaku's. I own this movie as well and I think I watched it about 3 or 4 times and the fights never get boring. They seem so realistic and have all been staged extremely well, especially in the early 1970's. Most chinese martial arts films back then were so terrible because there were always some sort of wire work,the whole thing looked so terrible, and it really seemed unrealistic. This movie is fantastic because there's a lot of emotion in this film because Bruce's character in the movie loses his master but try's to find out who the killer is, so he goes hunting down the Japanese men one by one. Robert Baker, the second last enemy in the movie was also one of Bruce Lee's pupil. The legendary Jackie Chan also makes a brief cameo in the movie as a student and a stuntmen of the film in the final scenes. This movie is a must get for anybody because it's a true Bruce Lee classic!
Overall Rating:93/100
Cast:
Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen - the protagonist of the film
Nora Miao as Yuan Le-erh - the love interest and fiancee of Chen Zhen
Riki Hashimoto as Hiroshi Suzuki - the master of Hongkou Dojo. He is the primary villain in the film.
Robert Baker as Petrov - a Russian gang boss who joins Suzuki
Tien Feng as Fan Chia-Chi - the eldest student of Huo Yuanjia
Paul Wei as Hu En - Suzuki's translator.
Feng Yi as Yoshida - the Hongkou Dojo's Sensei (head instructor)
Lo Wei as Fatty - the police inspector
Hwong Chung Hsin as Tien - the cook from Jing Wu School. He is actually a spy and Yoshida's younger brother.
Han Yin-chieh as Feng Kwai-Sher - the caretaker from Jing Wu School.
James Tien Chun as Fan Chun-hsia - a student from Jing Wu School
Maria Yi as Yen - a student from Jing Wu School
Lee Kwan as Hsu - a student from Jing Wu School
Tony Liu as Chin - a student from Jing Wu School
Chin San as Tung - a student from Jing Wu School
One of my favorite scenes in the movie:
The theme song for the movie:
Final scenes in the movie:
Friday, August 28, 2009
Bruce Lee:The Big Boss (1971)
Story:(from Wikipedia)
Cheng is a Chinese man from Guangdong who has moved to Thailand, with the help of his uncle, to find a job working with his cousins in an ice factory. When a block of ice is accidentally broken, something that looks like a block of white powder comes out. Later that night, the two cousins who discovered the heroin were asked to stay to see the manager. They were told that there are better jobs for them. Apparently, the factory is a front for a drug smuggling ring led by the Big Boss, Hsiao Mi. The cousins were offered good positions. When they declined, they were murdered.
Hsiao Mi attempts to cover up the murders, but Cheng and his surviving cousins became suspicious. Two more of his cousins, Hsu Chien and Ah Pei, go to Mi's house to ask if he knows what happened to them. When they realize he is acting suspicious and start toward the police station, Mi also has them killed (but not before Hsu takes several of Mi's men down with him). Hsiao Mi then distracts Cheng by promoting him to foreman and providing him with alcohol and prostitutes (turning some of his cousins against him). However, out of affection, one of the prostitutes revealed the truth to Cheng. He broke into the factory one night and discovered, to his horror, his cousins' corpses. Cheng's snooping around was immediately discovered by a gang led by Hsiao Mi's son, Hsiao Chiun.
Cheng defeated the gang and killed many, including Hsiao Chiun. Unfortunately he returned home only to find that his entire family has been murdered. Cheng exacted revenge by killing Hsiao Mi in the final fight, by stabbing him with his own fingers. He then surrendered to the police.
My Thoughts On The Movie:
I also own this movie and i also watched it a few times. It is rated R for restricted. Prabobly because of brief nudity, sexual themes, and violence such as gore. Although in this movie, Lee seems quite quiet throughout the movie for the first half of the movie you don't really see much action. Overall, the movie was superb! There were different language selections such as Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. The action scenes were done extremely well and the plot was alright. In the movie there's also suppose to be an infamous scene where Lee cuts a person's head with a saw but that's not included in the DVD. Bruce Lee was fast, stunning, and this is a true Bruce Lee classic. If you are a fan of Bruce Lee or even martial arts, i would strongly suggest picking this one up for your collection.
Yin-Chieh Han as Hsiao Mi ("The Big Boss")
Lee Kwan as Cousin "Ah Kun"
Tony Liu as "Hsiao Chiun" (Hsiao Mi's son)
Chao Chen as "Foreman of the Ice factory"
Chia Ching Tu as "Uncle"
Gam Saan as Cousin "Ah Shan"
Billy Chan Wui-Ngai as Cousin "Ah Pei"
Lam Ching-Ying as Cousin "Ah Yen" (also Assistant Action Director of the film)
Nora Miao as the drinkstand owner
Ma La Lene as "Miss Wuman"
Unknown as Cousin "Ah Chen"
Unknown as Cousin "Ah Wong"
Bruce Lee:Acting Career
Bruce Lee playing his role as Kato, 1964-1966:
Here below is a video of Bruce Lee on the show "Marlowe" in 1969.
Here below is Bruce Lee on the show "Longstreet",1969-1970.
Part 1:
And Part 2:
Bruce Lee also made an appearance on "Here Comes The Brides", 1968.
And last is Bruce Lee as a guest in the show "Ironside", 1967.
Bruce Lee:His Family
(left:A picture of Bruce Lee when he was an infant with his 2 parents)