Dragon - Die Bruce Lee Story

Once you became a Bruce Lee addict and begin seeing and reading the numerous different biographies and biopics, you're going to realise that DRAGON has quite a bit of fiction in it - and in the bits you don't really expect it to. For example, Lee approached Raymond Chow's Golden Harvest production company to make a marital arts movie, not the other way round and Chow isn't even the guy! Also, due to Lee's 'mysterious' death, the film also doesn't really an idea of how its going to wrap it all up. Therefore, the film is the perfect example of the word 'vivid'.

However, what makes Dragon the fine film that it is is that it decides to look at the two lesser-known aspects which dominated Lee's life - his long, ongoing 'battles' with an inner-demon and of course the racism of sixties America. These are managed and brought to the screen extremely well although to be fair they aren't particularly well developed.

The highlights would have to be the performances of Jason Scott Lee as Bruce and Lauren Holly as his devoted wife, Linda. They share a remarkable chemistry together and are certainly a credit to their subjects. This review probably hasn't made Dragon sound like a very good movie. Well if that's the case, then please think the opposite.

I really liked Jason Scott Lee's portrayal of Bruce Lee, but I noticed many inaccuracies in the story. If I had not seen the AMC special on Lee last year, I would not have a problem.

-according to Linda Lee, Bruce was not hurt when competing for the right to teach whoever he wanted to. He hurt himself when he didn't stretch properly for a workout in 1970. That was the big inaccuracy

-Bruce auditioned for another role in early 1965 before the role of Kato was offered to him.

• other roles he took in America were completely ignored: "Marlowe", his appearances on "Longstreet", etc...the movie went right from 1967 to 1972 within a minute

If you want to see a really good special on Lee, as well as see lost footage from a project that was butchered after he died, check out the AMC documentary.

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The story told in the movie is really excellent and entertaining. However it feels more like a story based on the life of Bruce Lee rather then an actual biopic of his life.

Jason Scott Lee perfectly plays Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee. Not only the way he plays Lee is impressive but also his fighting skills.

The music by Randy Edelman was also surprising good.

There are way too many fictitious and untrue things added in the movie to be considered a fair biography. But does it really matter for the movie? It's like "Ed Wood" that was also filled with altered things and false truths but still it was a movie that told us the story of an unique character and what drove him. "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" isn't much different in that way. OK it's not completely fair to compare this movie to "Ed Wood" since that was a far superior movie to "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" (what a horrible title by the way).

The fight sequence are probably the best thing about the movie and they were highly entertaining, although very hard to believe that they actually really happened that way.

It's a good entertaining movie but if you want to get to know more about Bruce Lee this isn't the best material for you to start with.

7/10

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RELEASED IN 1993 and directed by Rob Cohen, " Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" stars Jason Scott Lee as the martial arts superstar, tracing his early life in Hong Kong to his fresh start in the San Francisco area where he starts a martial arts school, meets his babe (Lauren Holly) and moves on to TV and Film. He must boldly face many enemies along the way, including his childhood demon.

This is basically a rags-to-riches flick and ranks with my favorite films due to its excellent meshing of dynamism, fun and potent drama. I haven't seen too many martial arts flicks, but "Dragon" is easily the all-around best of those I've seen. It mixes real-life with Hollywood mythmaking, which is what many cinematic biographies do, e.g. "Buffalo Bill" (1944) and "Braveheart" (1995). In these types of movies the gist of the story is true, but it's mixed with numerous fictional or even fantastical elements to make the protagonist a larger-than-life hero, but also to entertain the audience because real-life is always more mundane and therefore dull. And movies are made primarily to make money through entertaining, not to relay the truth in exact detail.

Right from the get-go the film telegraphs that it's a mythmaking account when Bruce takes on the arrogant British sailors at a dance. He throws one of them and the sailor topples 3-4 other men accompanied by the sound of a bowling ball striking pins (lol). While this particular episode never happened, occasions LIKE IT did, even if it was to someone other than Bruce. The same is true with other sequences, like the fight in the gym, which never happened. But, again, events LIKE IT have.

The movie is really meant as a celebration of Bruce Lee, his phenomenal expertise in martial arts and the genre he made popular. If you're looking for an actual biography of his life check out the two biographies listed below (under "WRITERS").

Speaking of which, "Dragon" was partially based on the autobiography of Linda Lee Cadwell (Bruce's wife). Someone offered that she couldn't possibly have been happy with the film since so much of it is fiction (for instance, Bruce didn't injure his back as depicted, but via lifting weights). Actually, she was happy with the final picture. But why did she allow so many things to be embellished? Simple: Because the embellishing fed into the Bruce Lee legend from which she benefits.

In any case, there are a lot of martial arts thrills mixed with the drama with an exciting action scene occurring roughly every ten minutes. The film gives the protagonist & a few others power over time and space. Of course, one cannot do in real life many of the things these characters perform due to the restrictions imposed by Newton's Laws but, hey, it's entertaining. This factor explains why "Dragon" has been criticized for springing from one thing to the next too quickly, never pausing long enough for any strong emotion to resonate or for us to feel we really know the man beyond his proverbs. I disagree; I sensed strong emotion on several occasions, like when Bruce exclaims to Linda: "You make be believe I can do anything" or when he wildly screams at her to leave his hospital room, not to mention his outstanding meltdown later in Hong Kong (I've had a few of those in my life, so I know).

Speaking of Linda, Lauren Holly is just mind-blowing in her physical prime.

THE MOVIE RUNS 2 hours and was shot in California (San Francisco, Los Angeles & Valencia), China (Macau) and Hong Kong. WRITERS: Three screenwriters wrote the script based on the biographies by Linda Lee Cadwell (Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew) and Robert Clouse (Bruce Lee: The Biography).

GRADE: A-

This film as a stand alone kung fu movie would be worthy of your attention, as it is very enjoyable and well made. The thing that makes it special is Jason Scott Lee's portrayal of the legend that is Bruce Lee.

He successfully captures his mannerisms, attitude and even his fighting style, extremely convincingly (a truly remarkable feat of acting ability.)

Although dramatised to heighten your viewing pleasure, the story actually follows the events in Bruce Lee's life and shows us the man behind the martial arts, covering his inner turmoils and personal struggles as well as his famous physical ability.

A great movie, befitting the legend that is Bruce Lee.

8/10