Das Geheimnis der Todeskralle

NOTE: This review is for BRUCE'S DEADLY KUNG FU aka BRUCE LEE'S SECRET. The previous one I wrote below was for BRUCE LEE: A DRAGON STORY. Apparently, lots of Bruce Li's films have several names for some reason....

Hmm, this movie's is in middle of the road. Sure it's nothing as sloppy as FISTS OF BRUCE LEE, but not up there with CHINESE STUNTMAN or BRUCE LEE: TRUE STORY. Poor jobless Bruce is down on his luck looking for work. The restaurant scene has Bruce utilizing the Deadly Pepper attack. Very odd. Bruce kills time working out at home much to the dismay of his friend. The biggest laugh in the film comes when the two try to avoid their neighbor referred to endearingly as the `Dragon Lady'. Bruce becomes Bruce the Box Mover and is berated by a toddler. You've got lots of scenes of thugs pulling the "run away!" technique and scenes of dojos, storage docks, and lots of low budget locations. Carter Wong shows up and actually plays a decent role.

Overall, BRUCE LEE'S DEADLY KUNG FU is not bad, but not Bruce Li's best. Will Bruce sell out to Mr. Grace? Who is the guy wearing that FABULOUS cape? See it yourself to find out.

The above-mentioned line is in the italian version of this involuntarily funny movie, I don't know the english or original version, but it's a no-nonsense question one of the badguys ask for. Tons of outdate fistfights between Bruce Li/Ho Tsung Tao, his companion Carter Wong (Big trouble in Little China) and tehe usual mobsters. Korean Hwang Jiang Li pops-up with a ridicolous cloak for a fight against the fake Lee.

Aw man. I kept waiting...and waiting...and waiting... ...and I yelled, "That's it??"

Man, this one hurt. Like walking in the dark and ripping a fresh wound on your shin off the corner of the living room coffee table. I kept anticipating final fight or climactic scene...or someone bumping into Bruce Li and sending him into a rage by yelling, "You look nothing like Bruce Lee!!" Instead, it's like a really bad soap opera and seeing Bruce negotiate movie contracts. Will Bruce mingle well with others at the gala party? Plus, it really makes Bruce Lee seem like a two timing sleaze because he revels in his affair and has no remorse whatsoever. Besides the fun seeing Bruce do his paper route or his phony TV kung fu demonstrations, Bruce Li; you have done better.

As with a lot of the Chinese fung fu movies from this era, this film goes under many different names. To add to the confusion, there were two different movies, from the same year, both starring Bruce Li, and both focusing on an autobiographical story of Bruce Lee. Because of this confusion, about half the reviews for this title are reviews of one movie, while the other half are reviews for an entirely different film. In fact, it's so confusing that even imdb has melded the two films together, so that a separate page for the OTHER movie doesn't even exist. I am not making this up. It's difficult to explain this but, here it is; if you saw a movie where Bruce is a waiter who serves a dish loaded with pepper, to a group of abusive morons in a restaurant, and there is a screaming, whining little kid who wants to be a Kung Fu fighter, than you have seen "A Dragon Story." If you saw a more straight forward biography of Bruce Lee, that documents his life by showing him going from a waiter to an actor to an action star, than you were one of the lucky ones to have seen "Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story." Lucky because that one is the superior film. The former movie is just sub-standard, generic fare that doesn't attempt to tell anything about Bruce Lee. Rather it just presents a character who happens to live in San Francisco and just happens to be a waiter, who after a power struggle with a rival gang, opens his own school. Basically little more than a showcase of some (admittedly spectacular) fight sequences. Of course this is important, but for viewers who want a decent story to accompany the action, this one is strictly generic and forgettable stuff. And that screaming little kid has way too much screen time, and is very irritating and corny. Like a lot of other people here, I was searching for the other movie, the one that features Latin martial artist Charles "La Pantera" Bonet, from "Black Dragon's Revenge" and "Death Promise." When I see this movie I will return and create a separate review for it. As a fan of Bronx native, and first Latino Kung fu star, Charles Bonet, I am looking to see all of his films. He's in the OTHER "Story of the Dragon." I hope this clears up some confusion.

This movie contains some of the best fight scenes I have ever seen. The plot is typical, but it contains twists that differ from many of the Kung Fu movies from the era. This movie is packed with fighting, and has a great range of martial arts techniques. The soundtrack is unbelievable, although impossible to find nowadays. The English translation is way above par for the era.

The DVD I purchased contained no credits, or any sort of menu at all. The editing is very shaky at times, but I'm sure the equipment in those days was very difficult to use. It appears that this movie could have been filmed anywhere, as there are only a select few scenes that actually show famous places in San Fransisco.

This movie is a must see for any martial arts fan.