GOLDEN SUN (UNICORN VIDEO - 1976)

The market for a Bruceploitation encyclopedia is probably the size of a pinhole, but the films which make up the subgenre are such a huge component of the real Bruce Lee’s legacy that it would be a terrible thing if it never happened. Most of the imitators that popped up in the wake of Bruce’s death were poor substitutes, sure, but the cascade of productions that were churned out to sate the leftover demand kept Bruce’s likeness in the public’s awareness for a generous period after his final film was released. After the real Bruce died in the Summer of 73, a slew of Asian studios spent the next decade churning out loving tributes and bio pics which used strained variations of his name and likeness. Most of these films were unwittingly in poor taste, though a small handful deliberately took a seedier rout by expanding on gossip. Some speculate the genre that came to be known as Bruceploitation may even predate Lee’s actual death, with several fake Bruce films said to have been produced in Taiwan in 71 or 72. Really, though, no matter what you think of the slew of Bruce imitators or their films, there is no denying that they have some historical value in the context of martial arts cinema and also with respect to embellishing Lee’s legacy. Despite all this, there really isn’t any one great source of information when it comes to these films. Instead, you’re lucky to find a vague thread or review here or there that is usually woefully inaccurate or may not even have anything to do with the film you’re researching in the first place. Such was the case when I sought out more information on the Unicorn Video title “Golden Sun.” I found a lot of disparaging reviews, but none of them really matched the description of the film I saw. IMDb even lists Bruce Le as the star of this particular film, and adding to the confusion connects Ho Chung-Tao to Le’s page. That’s gotta suck slightly since they are not the same actor, and Le was actually convicted of fraud in China at some point. What I can be certain of is this: “Golden Sun” is not an alternate title for this movie.

Nor is it a Bruce Lee biopic either. Instead, it’s in the same vein as another Li film, “Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger.”

In “Golden Sun,” Li plays a martial arts enthusiast who takes the news of Lee’s passing pretty hard and hits the bars to drink his sorrows away. During the ensuing blackout, a vision of Bruce Lee appears before him. Somehow this rings ominously, and Li decides he has to get to the bottom of his idol’s true cause of death. I don’t really know why or how he comes to the conclusion that something rogueish went down, because Bruce’s “ghost” doesn’t say a damn thing. So, Li makes way to a Buddhist temple, where he is put to the test by the monks to determine if he is ready to avenge Bruce’s death. He passes with flying colors, and has another vision of Bruce, and this time he sees his hero getting his ass whipped by some dude. Shortly after, Betty Ting is introduced as a character, and it’s not long before a shady bunch of hooligans start to get nervous about Li’s inquiries into his hero's death. The whole thing gets muddy from here on out, with a lot of running back and forth and a handful of ploddingly paced, lackluster fight scenes.

Eventually Li discovers that Bruce was bumped off by a bunch of East Asian gangsters who were trying to convince the film star to join their fight promotion. And of course, when Lee declined, they had their goons fatally kick his ass, which makes no fucking sense at all. If you have a guy on your pay roll that can kick the shit out of Bruce Lee, why don’t you just get THAT guy to fight for your promotion?

However, there is one scene that justifies the film’s abundance of mind numbing fight scenes and mangled logic, and that is the re-enactment of Bruce Lee’s actual death. One thing I liked about this is that they actually just let Ho play Bruce Lee instead of getting some other guy for the part. This makes sense mainly because virtually every character in the movie shouts, “Hey, you look just like the real Bruce” whenever they see Li. Even if they just did this to save a couple bucks, it’s ultimately rational from a creative point of view. Anyway, the death scene features Ho as Bruce retreating back to Betty Ting’s apartment after receiving a death blow from one of the heavies, where he proceeds to writhe around like Dick Van Dyke on poppers, doing back flops on the bed, jumping up and down on the mattress, and spitting up alcohol before eventually dying. It is hilarious in its white hot intensity.

Despite the gonzo nature of the film, it still manages to have some fairly dull stretches throughout. Still, it ought to be judged on its own merits instead of being confused for a number of other similar films. Hopefully, someday a tome dedicated to this wild subgenre breaks the surface and clears up a lot of misconceptions and offers a more objective appraisal of a lot of these films. Not to mention, there have got to be some really amazing stories regarding how these films got made. In the meantime, here’s an excerpt from an interview with Ho Chung-Tao, a.k.a. Bruce Li. There are three other parts available on YouTube, and I wholeheartedly recommend that everyone check them out.

STORY OF THE DRAGON (1977)

You know a company is bullshit when you have to bust the tab out of the front of the tape yourself. This World Video release arrived in shrink wrap, and it was still completely fucked during its virgin run. But then again, it was recorded in SLP mode. I’ve never understood why some of the budget companies didn’t just record on Standard Play, but I’m presuming this practice has an economic practicality to it. If you have the answer, drop me a comment.

I know everyone is pissed at BP over this whole oil spill thing, but I'm way more concerned about the horde of UFC-obsessed gym rats in their butt-fuckingly awful Affliction gear that are currently polluting most city streets like human cholestrol. Fuck sea food, man. I'll pay the few extra bucks for New England shrimp. Let's put some of that Kevin Costner money into digging a mass grave for all these TapOut-loving goofballs. I'm so tired of them making the bar scene tense with their mad dogging wannabe tough guy bullshit.

See, I don't have a problem with the science of fighting. What I do have a problem with is how avid viewership seems to delude a lot of MMA fans into thinking they are total badasses. Mixed Martial Arts fans have become the meathead equivalent of the Trekkie. What's worse is that a lot of these snobby cakeboys think that what they’re watching is somehow more sophisticated than something like Pro-Wrestling because these guys are really injuring each other. News flash, UFC-loving assholes: two goons with daddy issues kicking the piss out of each other is not some urbane spectacle. If it were an illusion and they were only making it look like they were bashing the shit out of each other, then I'd call it art.

As I was reading reviews for “Story of the Dragon,” I was reminded of the so-called tough guy expertise of your average MMA fan. This film has been unfairly crushed in effigy of Bruce by his rabid followers. They guard the Lee name like a Cerberus. To them, Bruce is the end-all be-all of martial arts cinema, and any remote imitation of their hero is a cardinal sin. Sadly, their base of knowledge is limited to available writings and films on and about Bruce. It only takes a little information and the courage of ignorance to make an expert.

I admit that Bruce was a great fighter over-brimming with charisma, and he was a good filmmaker within his respective genre. But considering that most martial arts movies are pretty crappy, that’s not saying much. Even if you get rid of the awful dubbing - which these films are second-best known for - they’re still incredibly campy. Rare is the sacred Shaw or Golden Harvest calf that epitomizes competent film making. This isn’t Bunuel we’re talking about. These movies live or die by the action. The worst writing and acting can all be absolved by the film's featured violence. The drama might be superb, but if the movie drops the ball when it comes to the fight choreography, the audience will shit all over it. If a Bruceploitation film managed to somehow qualify as fine cinema, it would be a miracle not just for its respective sub genre, but for the ENTIRE genre from which it is derived. That said, most of the action in these films is far from "sub-par."

Die hard Bruce fans usually call a movie like "Story of the Dragon" ghoulish and exploitive. Exploitive? I'll give them that. But there's generally nothing morbid about these movies. In fact, they are more frequently loving tributes to Lee. A lot of people won't want to hear this, but they've helped fortified his legacy. There are well over a decade's worth of films that kept a facsimile of his name and image alive after his death. "Story of the Dragon" is a great example of what I think is intended to be a creative commemoration of Lee’s life. The motivations are pretty harmless, and they flatter Bruce. It’s ironic that any super fan would piss on an obvious shrine to their hero.

This one is actually better produced than most, and contains some surprisingly solid humor, which showcases Ho Chung-Tao’s comedic ability. In fact, half way through the movie I found myself wishing they’d taken the comedy rout. There’s a genuinely funny scene where Ho, as Bruce, is exercising in his apartment very loudly, much to the dismay of his roommate. The potential of this scenario could have been stretched into a feature. Sadly, one cannot help but feel that any natural talent that Ho had as a performer was probably subverted by his own willingness to continually capitalize off the Bruce Li persona.

This movie could have easily been absorbed into "Bruce Lee - the Man, The Myth" to create a mega bio-pic. Both movies have a common tone and atmosphere. This one is more of an origin story though, occurring in San Francisco with a struggling Bruce coming into his own following an unemployment streak. For some reason, the Bruce character is referred to as Bob in this dub despite the fact that he is very obviously playing Bruce.

The story opens with Bruce being fired from a his job as a waiter at a Chinese restaurant when he refuses to lay down like a dog for a pack of abusive hooligans. Bruce and his ne’er-do-well roommate are forced to look for more work, but their efforts are continually thwarted by the gangly martial arts gang he humiliated earlier. Bruce kicks the shit out of them again, and they go running back to their Monchichi-looking sensei who consults his big book of martial arts clichés and decides that they need to avenge their reputation. After all, this could end up costing them a lot of potential tuition fees.

Bruce and friend find jobs down at a dock, but once again they’re dogged by the gang. Bruce thwarts the attack and is celebrated by his coworkers, who all decide to blow off legitimate employment and open up a martial arts school. Unfortunately, all of his students are fucking terrible, so this turns out to be a complete waste of time anyway.

By this point, upper management at the rival school is getting fed up, so they call in Hwang Jang-Lee to kick the shit out of Bruce. Hwang is quite possibly the best part of this movie. The dude wears the worst fake mustache ever, along with a long black rocker wig, a cape, and BMX gloves. He looks like a Chinese Ritchie Blackmore.

In what I consider to be one of the film’s major flaws, Bruce gets knocked the fuck out by Hwang. Hilariously, Bruce mopes around about his defeat, and while staring at a waterfall has some epiphany about how he needs to be like water. After a cheap ass training montage, Bruce finds Hwang and debuts what is supposed to ressemble Bruce’s classic Jeet Kun Do style, replete with high-pitched Kai and dance moves.

The finale is a hilarious Best-of-Bruce compilation, with a "Game of Death" style gauntlet. He even breaks out the nunchuks for this one as he takes on the entire fucking school. I typically despise scenes where one guy takes on thirty dudes, and this one is no different. One by one, the heavies wind toward Bruce with some weird gravitational order instead of just doing the most obvious thing, which is dog piling the motherfucker. There are thirty of you assholes. Why the fuck are you taking a number? You're not buying lunch meat, retard! Rush him!

Bruce’s awful students show up, allowing him to move on to the final circle, which is basically a polo match. Here, he squares off with the bull whip wielding main heavy who’s more of an entrepreneurial type than a badass, so it’s not a very interesting fight.

Overall, if you have a sense of humor and you love Bruce Lee, you should be able to at least have fun with this movie. The fight sequences aren’t bad, and Carter Wong even shows up to box some ears. The only truly grating thing about this movie is that there's this little annoying piece of shit kid that's always screaming and mugging for the camera. This little troll totally had the vivacious Susan Smith Anthony’s name written all over his whiny fucking face. Fuck that kid.

There are no available trailers online, but you can view the film in its entirety on YouTube. Even if you don’t want to sit through the entire thing, the opening scene, where Bruce encounters Cobra Kai, is absolutely worth your watching.

P.S. - If you refer to "Return of the Dragon" as "Way of the Dragon" you are a pretentious asshole.

BRUCE LEE - THE MAN, THE MYTH (1976)

Heading out to the flea market on 290 has been a long-time favorite weekend activity of mine. The atmosphere is infectious... literally. You've got the cool breeze carrying the stench of landfill; roasted corn and religious statues; the mariachi band tearing it up center stage; Mexican nationals eye-fucking the woman I’m with and waiting for me to say something about it so they can kick me with their super pointy boots. And then of course there's the bootlegging. Now, where the hell else am I going to find an erroneous Shawn Michaels back-pack that reads “Tombstone Pile Driver?” And who doesn’t want a last supper painting featuring Tony Montana surrounded by Al Capone and Vito Corleone? This cowboy, that's who! One thing that's been pissing me off about the flea market is the lack of Bruce Lee bootlegging going on lately. Do you know how many people would buy a huge faux fur blanket of The Dragon? Fuck man, I'd buy SIX! One for each room! When I recently inquired into the lack of Bruce Lee imagery during one of my visits I was told that his daughter has really clamped down on merchandising. Yeah, right. I call bullshit. Like that giant SELENA RUG in the corner of your booth is official licensed. Stop being pussies and start cranking out a respectable level of bootlegged Bruce Lee stuff! Honestly, while Scarface is cool, he’s not really a suitable idol for your culture. You’re sending the wrong message to your youth. Mexicans, get your shit together!

Twelve years after his death, I was just becoming aware of who Bruce Lee was thanks largely to KCOP channel 13 in Los Angeles. Channel 13 was notorious for sandwiching Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest films in between weird horror and sci-fi. If there was a singular force responsible for shaping my taste in film, it was KCOP. This was the station that would air Billy Jack, Zardoz, and everything in between during prime time hours. They exposed midnight movies to weekend daylight. And even stranger, their movie matinee bumpers featured the song “Oscillate Wildly” by The Smiths. Those must have been some bad ass dudes in that control booth.

Bruce Lee was probably at the height of his popularity at the time of his death. With the public still clamoring for more Bruce, producers weren't about to let the collapse of their gold mine get in the way of capitalizing. Soon, studios were in a mad scramble to fill the gap with a proper successor. Numerous Chinese actors were pressured into Bruce's shoes, and while none of the imitators lived up to his charisma, the reality was that these pictures were still selling. And so, companies continued to churn out Bruce-related films for almost a decade. Some of these productions even made use of stock footage from films Bruce never completed, feeding into the speculation that maybe Bruce had not in fact died. In a way, Bruce was kind of like the Tupac of Kung Fu cinema.

As a kid I would devour ANYTHING Bruce Lee-related, no matter how poor the featured imitator was. Over time, I began to recognize the impersonators and even rank them from best to worst, with Bruce Li being the best in my opinion, and Dragon Le being the worst. Today, I’m probably just as big a fan of Bruce Li as I am of the original Bruce.

My first major exposure to Bruce Li was “Bruce Lee – The Man, The Myth,” a biopic with Li in the title role. While they weren't really fooling anyone, Bruce Li was perhaps the closest thing anyone was going to get to the real deal, and he wasn't all that bad in the part. If you've ever dated a girl just because she kind of resembles another girl you are still in love with, then you understand my pain here. The real Bruce was gone. I missed him. But then I saw Bruce Li, and it made things slightly easier to deal with.

While there are many Bruce biopics floating around, this is perhaps the best of the lot, and it certainly beats the shit out of that Lifetime movie caliber bullshit “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” where Linda Lee essentially invents Jeet Kun Do.

While “Bruce Lee – The Man, The Myth” is by no means a soaring cinematic gem, it manages to win points with reverence. Whereas previous Bruce biopics took a sleazier route by doing stuff like delving into Bruce’s affair with actress Betty Ting Pei, this particular film is produced as a loving tribute to a man whom many consider to be the greatest martial artist who ever lived.

By the way, whenever you see this logo on a VHS tape, buy it, because it means that awesome shit is guaranteed to go down:

You’ve just been blessed by “Lightning Video International," or as I like to call them, “Ultimate Heterosexual Entertainment.” Almost everything this company has put out has kicked multitudes of ass, so it’s no wonder that they decided to release “Bruce Lee – The Man, The Myth.”

The movie opens with Bruce’s hectic death scene at Betty Ting Pei's apartment, as doctors dial feverishly to find a colleague that owns a stethoscope. From there, a narrator grieves over the passing of the legend and takes us into the story of Bruce’s life and career, which picks up just before he departs for America.

The plot itself provides a bare bones overview of Bruce’s career and personal life leading up to his super stardom, and he gets in a shit load of fights along the way. Some are contrived for the purposes of dramatic ass-kicking, while others actually transpired, but even the somewhat truthful stuff is wildly embellished. Bruce, who is kind of a smug asshole in the movie, pretty much kicks the shit out of everyone. He beats up the Japs. He beats up Thai boxers. He beats up the Mafia. He beats up the British Sillynannies. He even kicks the crap out of some Chinese dude just for sounding like Paul Lynde.

But like I said, this is by no means a technical masterpiece. This thing is bogged down with tons of shitty stock footage and swank jazz music, some of which is provided by the likes of Bob James. And I use the term “provided” very loosely, as I somehow doubt they got permission to use any of the featured music. During one particular scene where Bruce is fighting an electroshock machine (yes!), they totally nick the James Bond theme from the “Live and Let Die” soundtrack.

The dialog is probably the most inadvertently entertaining aspect of the movie. Bruce’s responses to questions usually make NO FUCKING SENSE. Here's a great Bruce quote from the movie:

"Next time, you listen to me! Because I’m not doing the talking! Kung fu is!"

Again, this is not what I consider fine film, but it manages charm by virtue of its sheer enthusiasm for the subject. It is redeemed by its passion. And of course, all the unintentionally hilarious parts also add up to an ultimately entertaining experience.

The film comes full circle, concluding with Bruce’s death at Betty’s apartment once again. The movie then launches into a bizarre epilogue, exploring some of the popular false rumors surrounding Bruce’s death. One particular story was that Bruce’s death was a Triad conspiracy, and his body was dumped at Betty’s place for the cover-up. The final and most outlandish of the scenarios features Bruce speaking to a spiritual advisor who tells him that his death is imminent, and in order to avoid his fate, he must renounce his family and fame, and live as a recluse for ten years. The narrator comments that his followers are currently waiting Bruce’s return in 1983. Someone should have made a movie about a Bruce cult. Get on it Golden Harvest! I know you still have money!

Of course, Ho Chung Tao, better known as Bruce Li, is the main reason why this film is so watchable. While his career definitely benefited from his term as a Bruce Lee impersonator, interviews suggested that he was rather shy about the comparisons. Serving as one of Bruce’s stunt men and also studying Jeet Kun Do under the late actor gave him slight credibility as a successor. While his resemblance to Bruce is strained but better than average, Ho Chung Tao’s skill as a mimic is what made him the best clone there was. Beyond the dead-on mannerisms, his choreography really stands out. In spite of all the film’s obvious flaws, the fight scenes are undeniably well done and feature a handful of Shaw and Golden Harvest notables. In the end, the action is what count.