Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth (Movie Review)

With the recent release of a semi-controversial Bruce Lee bio-pic called Birth Of The Dragon and the fact that it is generally getting bad reviews too, I thought it might be the right time for me to review my favorite cinematic biography of the late-great Mr. Lee. And no, it's not Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, but this movie is probably less fictionalized than that one, even if this film is far from a legitimate biography of the martial arts superstar.

Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth is a 1976 movie written and directed by accomplished Kung Fu filmmaker Ng See Yuen. The film stars Ho Chung-tao in the role of Bruce and if this actor's name is not familiar to you, it's probably due to the fact that for most of his fans he is better known by the alias of Bruce Li. In the long list Bruce Lee impersonators and clones he is probably the best and he does actually slightly resemble the real man, or at least more so than most of the other better known Bruce impersonators. 

The movie generally follows the actual major moments in Lee's adult life, from his leaving Hong Kong to come to the United States, his American television career to his return to Hong Kong cinema, and his untimely death. But, most of the drama, and most of the important facts of Lee's life are left on the back burner in favor of fights, lots and lots of fights.

As Bruce Lee related exploitation films go this is certainly one of the better ones. The overall simplicity and straightforward presentation all work to better deliver the goods. What are the goods? Well, Kung Fu fighting obviously, and in that sense the movie gives the audience exactly what it wants. And, I must say, I really do love this picture. It's not an award caliber film by any stretch of the imagination, but it's fun, and for me, that's really all that matters.

The story is practically non-existent. It just shows Mr. Lee traveling from one location to another and everywhere the man goes, there is someone there waiting to challenge his skills as a fighter. So, basically it's just a series of set-ups for fight scenes.

Worthy of mention is the inclusion of Unicorn Chan in the cast, he was in reality a lifelong friend of the real Bruce Lee, and he plays himself in the movie. Also notable is Ip Chun who plays Lee's Wing Chun teacher Ip Man, this is worth noting because Ip Chun was Ip Man's actual son.

All in all, Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth may not be the most accurate biographical depiction of the martial arts superstar on film. But, in my humble opinion, it is probably the most enjoyable. I dare not refer to it as a masterpiece, or a brilliant work of art, but I'm quite comfortable to call this an incredibly fun movie. Sure, it's exploitative, it's fairly inaccurate, but I'm relatively certain that the same can be said about both Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, and Birth Of The Dragon  as well. Just because those filmmakers attempted to apply a level of polish on their products does not necessarily mean that they actually rose above the honest exploitative entertainment of Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth, and that's the important part.

-Jay