Le llamaban Bruce

Yes it's cheaply made, yes it's stupid, and yes it's cheesy, But, this is one of the funniest movies that I've ever seen. Johnny Yune is great in this one (I wish he would have made more movies). His one liners are so cheesy that you can't help but laugh, and his facial expressions when he is swinging those nunchucks makes me hit the rewind button every time...... Anyone who does not find this movie funny does not have a sense of humor!!!

I liked Johnny Yune, but it was the early 80s, and even though the likes of Bruce Lee had helped break some of the racial barriers, Yune and other Asian entertainers still wouldn't quite rocket to stardom, no matter how fun the film.

This is a pretty decent film, though there is some nudity and swearing, so it's not really a family film as such. And, as a 30 year vet of Tae Kwon Do I did borrow one or two of Yune's moves the first time I sparred. My instructor didn't think much of it (but I digress).

Drug running, mafiosos, an immigrant Asian on a quest to search for a special lady in New York. This film might have been his vehicle to stardom, but I only ever saw him in one other film after this, and that was the sequel to this very film. So, unlike the associate producer's comment in "The Canonball Run" DVD commentary track, Yune did NOT make it big, though I always appreciated his humor.

I'm not sure what else to add here. The film looks a bit old and has a slightly dated feel. And like Jackie Chan's film the martial art's sequences are typical Americanized slow and relatively un- dynamic compared to the their Asian counterparts.

The other thing is that it is a bit low budget. It doesn't have the gloss of Jackie Chan's film, largely because Yune is more of a standup comedian in spite of whatever martial arts' training he may have. Even so, for a martial arts' comedy film it's okay.

Maybe see it once and give it a shot.

Some of these people are being way too critical over the quality of the script and social stereotypes. People should take it for what it is...it's a spoof. It's not like they have money to recruit big-name stars. It's a movie that should be enjoyed by the public...it's not an oscar contender. Are the gags mundane? yes. Are there asian stereotypes? Yes. The movie plays on these stereotypes and they know that's how the general public viewed them at the time. Someone commented on how Johnny's acting was bad...but excuse me...there was no royal academy of acting in korea. Like Margaret Cho said, "There was war." And also...where do people get the idea that the character Bruce is Korean? Don't people see the Chinese motif in the story? Chinese flour, Chinese noodles, Chinese food? Marco Polo? The actor is Korean, yes, but they said nothing of Bruce being Korean.

To answer the implied question about Australians in an earlier comment, I saw the film for what it was: a spoof comedy. I thoroughly enjoyed it as such. I didn't look for errors of continuity or consistency; that seemed rather pointless; or for any hidden meanings. I simply took the gags at face value and enjoyed them.

I would not draw any conclusions about "real" Asians from this movie; any more than you would say draw conclusions about any other nationalities from comedy movies. I guess that Woody Allen comedies would be a perfect example of how that would not work.

As for the best line, in my opinion it is:

"...and then I got run over by a Toyota. Oh, what a feeling".

"Bruce" (Johnny Yune) is a hapless cook who just happens to work for the main mafia boss on the West Coast. But things aren't going well for the mob because of a series of drug busts by the feds. So, the boss of the West Coast named "Lil Pete" (Bill Capizzi) decides to use an unsuspecting Bruce to deliver his cocaine throughout the United States by fooling him into thinking that it is flour from China. Naturally, Bruce doesn't know any better. He also doesn't suspect that his new girlfriend, "Anita" (Pam Huntington), is a federal agent who has planted a bug on him to track his movements. Meanwhile, another mobster on the West Coast named "Big Al" (Martin Azarow) is seeking to discredit Lil Pete and has his girlfriend, "Karmen" (Margaux Hemingway) follow Bruce to inhibit his deliveries. Anyway, rather than detail the entire plot, I will just say that for a low-budget comedy, this wasn't too bad. Johnny Yune was absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately, the action scenes and everything not centered on him fell completely flat. In addition, the middle portion of the film really seemed to drag. All in all then I rate this film as about average.