A fictionalized account of the life of the martial arts superstar. Despite the great chemistry between Jason Scott Lee and Lauren Holly who are both terrific as Bruce Lee and his devoted wife Linda now as far as flaws go? the whole Demon thing and him spending a few years of his life in a wheelchair were historic stupidity and i couldn't take them serious. Great perfomances, great acting from the 2 leads and exceptional fight sequences but this biopic could have been a whole lot better in my book. (7/10)
... View MoreBorn in America, Bruce Lee (Jason Scott Lee) grew up in Hong Kong with his father. After a fight with western soldiers, his father sends him away to study in American. His father warns him of the demon that haunts the male children of the family. In 1962, he is washing dishes in San Francisco. After a fight with the kitchen staff, he's fired. After a fight with a bunch of jocks, he's asked to teach them how to fight. Linda (Lauren Holly) becomes one of his students. They start dating despite the discrimination and the disapproval. Opening his own school, he is challenged to a fight for teaching to non-Chinese. He is blindsided and severely injured. Later TV producer Bill Krieger (Robert Wagner) brings him in to play Green Hornet's sidekick Kato which leads to his eventual stardom.This is a fine biopic that is turned into a kung fu movie. Bruce Lee's story is quite effective. The rougher parts of his life is glossed over as his widowed wife Linda probably had a large say in the movie. I would like to have seen his life turn into more of a fantasy. The part of him fighting his demon could be used to much better effect. The demon is his greatest fight and provides a great opportunity. Nevertheless this is a very compelling biopic with a solid performance from Jason Scott Lee.
... View MoreThis is a interesting movie the details the life and death of martial arts star Bruce Lee. Dramatic and action-packed, it is good piece of action cinema that many action fans might find fun to watch.I thought Jason Scott Lee did a fine job portraying Bruce Lee, his moves and characteristics matching the late martial arts star's persona. Lauren Holly did an OK job portraying Linda Lee and I think she had good on-screen chemistry with Lee. Their relationship provided a strong subplot and kept the movie interesting.This movie really gives you the impression that Lee, in addition to his love for Kung-Fu and his hyperactive attitude, had a mysterious side to him, as depicted in the sequences where he is bothered by personal and inner demons. I thought this plot element was a little confusing in the movie in some parts, and one might have to watch certain segments over and over in order to understand it. However, I think it provides intrigue into the film overall.To cap it off, the cinematography was beautiful and the music score was uplifting. The pace of the plot is steady, and does drag in some parts. The story may not accurately detail Lee's life 100%, but it's still a pretty good action movie.Grade B-
... View MoreBruce Lee was an amazing athlete and martial artist, with a story to match. It's just too bad Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story decided that wasn't worth telling. Instead, there are lots of fight scenes in improbable places with trumped-up foes, not to mention some stupid "curse of the dragon" that the real Bruce would never have believed in. In spots, this movie is almost as campy as the old Batman series was.A few documentaries have taken honest looks at the Lee phenomenon and managed to remain interesting throughout by showing us a determined, disciplined man who made his own success. In this movie, they had the entirety of Lee's life to use and decided to make up whole sections out of thin air just to spice things up. It puts itself not much above the sensationalistic Hong Kong films that made Bruce look nearly superhuman and the victim of some vast Triad conspiracy when the real man was just as fascinating. What a waste. I know conflict is emphasized in most screen writing classes, but instead of fight after fight as shown in this movie, how about showing some of the famous friends and students Bruce taught? And avoid the idiotic scenes like Bruce supposedly shattering 300+ pound ice blocks into chips with a single punch. If I wanted to see impossible feats like that, I'd go watch a Superman movie.Bruce's fighting philosophy was to eschew flashy techniques in favor of effective ones. Fighting wasn't for show, but to win. Only on film would he do things like backflips, somersaults, superhigh jumping kicks and animalistic kiai. Show us the man who trained long and hard, and studied and thought about not just fighting, but philosophy and health. Bruce's success was as much a product of his mind as of his body.We're now nearing 20 years after this movie's release and the 40th anniversary of Lee's death, with his legend and popularity only slightly diminished. To this day, Bruce remains the paragon of martial arts in the eyes of many, the man to whom all others are compared. I have a dream that someone will do a true biopic. His true story deserves better than to be ignored and hidden. I'd like to see a real drama rather than melodrama, with characters that have depth rather than the cartoonish ones in this film. There have been too many lies and myths told about Bruce over the years and this movie shamefully introduced more. "All these years later, people still wonder about the way he died. I prefer to remember the way he lived." Too bad this movie didn't show that way.
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