When Bruce Lee died in July 1973 the world was shocked, Hong Kong had lost its most famous son just as he was reaching stardom in the West.
But soon after the Hong Kong film industry started pumping out what was later to be called Brucesploitation movies, cheaply made and starring lookalikes with names such as Bruce Li, Bruce Le and Dragon Lee.
Now a new comprehensive documentary Enter the Clones of Bruce by David Gregory and Michael Worth explores this amazing phenomenon and the people behind it.
It is a lot of fun, interviewing the major players such as Bruce Li (real name Ho Chung Tao) and giving them a chance to explain why they made these films and what happened afterwards. Bruce Li especially comes across as a genuine guy who had decent martial arts skills but was mostly reduced to the exploitation genre of films as he looked a lot like Bruce Lee (although the actor himself does not agree).
He had tragedy in his personal life and now is happy working away from the film industry.
Foreign audiences although fed a slew of mostly cheap Kung Fu movies wanted more of Bruce Lee and that’s where the HK industry stepped in. Even actors who’d once appeared with Lee were now in high demand, including his screen combatants Bolo Yeung and Jim Kelly.
You had the Female Bruce Lee (Angela Mao), the Black Dragon (African-American Ron Van Clief), even the Fat Dragon (a young Sammo Hung), etc.
His close childhood friend Unicorn Chan also appeared in one of the better examples, Bruce Lee – The Man and Myth, which was directed by Ng See Yuen who later went on to find success with Jackie Chan.
I will admit I don’t like these films apart from maybe a couple of exceptions but this still makes for a fascinating watch and many actors are interviewed in depth, such as Bruce Liang and Sammo Hung.
It also mentions the company that Bruce Lee worked for Golden Harvest, doing a Brucesploitation pic which was Game of Death, released in 1978 and using mostly doubles and even resorted to using clips from Lee’s funeral. (no mention is made of Game of Death 2 – Tower of Death).
Overall and very entertaining documentary which covers all the good and bad about the films and is well worth a watch even if you don’t exactly enjoy these movies.
The extras especially are great and include –
- Audio Commentary With Co-Executive Producer/Director David Gregory, Co-Producers Frank Djeng, Vivian Wong And Michael Worth And Director Of Photography Jim Kunz
- Working At Shaw Brothers – Outtakes (longer interviews) With Godfrey Ho, David Chiang, Yasuaki Kurata, Lee Chiu, Lo Meng, Mars And Phillip Ko
- Bruce Lee And I – Outtakes With Sammo Hung, Phillip Ko, Yasuaki Kurata, Mars, Angela Mao, Andre Morgan, Lee Tso Nam And More
- The Lost World Of Kung Fu Film Negatives – Outtakes With Godfrey Ho, Joseph Lai, Angela Mao, Lee Tso Nam And FIlm Preservationists
- Bruce’s Hong Kong – Location Tour With Frank Djeng
- Severin’s Kung Fu Theater With Actor/Director/Bruceploitation Expert Michael Worth
- Trailers
DOCUMENTARY – 8 / PICTURE – 7 / -AUDIO – 7 / EXTRAS – 9
CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE DOCUMENTARY IN THE UK – OR HERE FOR THE USA
