Li Xiao Long zhuan qi (1976) Reviews

• surprisingly good

  lguard2007-12-22

  This is one of the "Bruceploitation" movies that Hong Kong produced in the 1970's and 80's. And "Bruce Li" (aka Ho Tsung Dao) was the premier actor in those days. Here he plays the legendary fighter from his teenage years up until his untimely death. This movie was actually better than most so called bios. It was more true to his life than most. Included was his relationship with his Wing Chun Kung Fu master Yip Man, friends in Seattle, Oakland, and Hong Kong. His wife Linda and 2 kids were also shown. Betty Ting Pei , who was there when he died, also is shown. This film was also chronologically correct, for the most part ( showing first Hong Kong, then Seattle, San Francisco/Oakland, Hollywood, and finally Hong Kong). Of course this film had it's exaggerated moments ( to put it mildly) such as Lee fighting mafioso in Rome ( while filming Way of the Dragon) or the fight to teach non-Chinese in San Francisco ( which in reality was in his Oakland school, not the street in San Francisco). They also at the end put out the various "theories" about his death , including the idea that he's still alive, hiding out in the New Territories ( maybe he's teaching Elvis how to fight and Elvis is teaching him how to sing and play guitar)! Still this film was actually more accurate than most films, including in many cases Dragon:The Bruce Lee Story ( maybe thanks to director Ng See Yuen who helped launch Jackie Chan's career). Overall, it's pretty good ( for the genre).

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• Bad Brucesploitation flick that's in a world of it's own.

  Captain_Couth2004-06-17

  Bruce Lee, the Man, the Myth and the Legend (1976) was one of the many and I do mean many Bruce Lee rip-offs, knock-offs and wannabe Bruce Lee films that were being cranked out of Asia and parts unknown after the "Master" died in 1973. One of them is this one. It details certain points in the young Dragon's life. Reportedly based upon his life but it's a cheesy, clichéd filled and heavy fictionalized account of his life. But it's perversely entertaining. A companion film to this would be The Game of Death II. which also stars several of the participates and is directed by the same man who directed this schlock. Watch out for brief cameos from Mars, Yuen Biao, Lee Hoi Sang and Hark Fung-On. The woman co-starring as Bruce's wife looks just like her! Bruce's former buddy Unicorn Chan makes a guest star appearance. Karma would later claim his life a few years later. I would recommend this one for it's sheer lunacy. Check out his "electromagnetic" therapy and Futuristic computerized training! I would give this film a B+

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• Truly hilarious!!

  InzyWimzy2004-01-13

  I first had the pleasure of seeing this through a 2 volume tape set which included The Chinese Connection and oddly named documentary Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth. Upon first seeing it, I said, "What a bunch of crap! That's not Bruce." However, after watching it again, I really wished they offered this on DVD. Fast forward to now and this epic (HAH!) tale is available on DVD as Bruce Lee: True Story. Bruce Li tries to play Bruce. To be fair, this is probably his best (not that that's saying much) work in tribute to the late great Lee. It kind of closely follows Bruce's rise to fame, except I don't know if Bruce lost his cool and was always so rash to street fight to prove himself. My favorite scenes include Bruce earning some cash in college (who are you anyway old man??) and Bruce learning to exercise more caution (OUCH!) when jogging. Bruce Li tends to brag a lot putting down any other fighting form other than kung fu. Surprisingly, there are some actual cameos here including Bruce's friend Unicorn Chan and even the guy who takes more than enough nunchuk hits to the head in the Way of the Dragon. Bruce Li does manage to portray Bruce as a likable good-natured guy but really runs on empty in terms of capturing his fighting style. Then again, who can, right? Now on to the oddities. According to this, Bruce had a really goofy training machine which measured his hits on impact. The finger poking apparatus is just really funny and that beeping sound with the green light. Also, the movie mainly focuses on Bruce and Linda and the kids are shown...barely. Add the crappy dub and lame-o lines like: "So next time you listen to me, cause I'm not doing the talking here...kung fu is!!" But the price of admission has to be the rumors of Bruce's demise. Personally, I think he's in seclusion at some remote village in New Guinea. Regardless, go into this one knowing it's NOT Bruce Lee, but a fun filled homage made during the peak of Bruceploitation films and I can guarantee you'll come to like it too. Still, WAY better than Robert Clouse's botched Game of Death.

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• A very good Bio-film of the legendary Bruce Lee!

  Movie Nuttball2002-11-27

  I saw this film a long time ago and bought it at the video many,many years ago! I loved it that much. The star maybe not Bruce Lee but is very exciting when it comes to the Martial Arts action. If you ever come across this film either rent or if it were possible to buy it then do so because this film is a treasure to have just not for Bruce Lee fans but Martial Arts fans as well! Its a great movie!

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• Pretty good biopic of Bruce Lee

  ebiros22011-12-04

  I've watched this movie long time ago, and more recently after watching Young Bruce Lee (2011). It was curious to find that this movie picks up right where Young Bruce Lee ends. Put both of them back to back, and you get a complete story of Bruce's rise to stardom. While Young Bruce Lee was a recent production and style was of modern people and props made to look like '50s Hong Kong, this movie was made in the '70s, and all the fashion, and hairstyle are authentic '70s style. It was such a different world back then. Bruce's greatness was he believed in himself when no one else believed that he could be a star. He had to battle his way up both as martial artist and a movie star. Without his pioneering effort, likes of Jackie Chan wouldn't have had the market to thrive in. All the kung fu movie stars of the world owes a lot to Bruce in this sense. It's amazing that after almost 40 years since his death, his presence has not diminished.I guess that's the true quality of a star. In this sense, he's maybe topped the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Joan Crawford etc. in that they remain as old actors, but Bruce Lee continues to find new audiences. It would be interesting to see how this segment of Bruce Lee's life would be remade into a movie using modern production.

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