Birth of the Dragon

I was at first put off by the trailers of the film because the street alley scene and certain dialogue lines seemed cheesy without context, however in the progression of the full film they play their part just fine.

In the idea that the "birth of the dragon" was the transition from Bruce Lee's generic focus of Kung Fu and other martial arts into the consolidated uniform art of Jeet Kune Do, this movie highlighted the event that sparked that transition in an entertaining way. Combining some historical information with an enticing cinematic focus, intertwined with some fictional inclusions of characters and story for the sake of making it an entertainment film rather than direct informational documentary, I was satisfied overall with the viewing and find that it paid decent homage to the memory of Bruce Lee by showing a human element of imperfection during the beginning of his career.

Allowing us to see into the information of his time before becoming a cultural icon was refreshing, and influenced me to read into Lee's history during those years and before. Again, the film does include uses of fictional elements in order to help propel the story in a standard acceptable for entertaining viewership, and as such does not convey an entirely truthful set of events, only a summary with cinematic filler.

I recommend seeing this film to see what you think of it, and afterwards reading about the events around the conflict between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man yourself, as there are some interesting details to be found.

This movie is a disgrace to the memory of Bruce Lee. Making him a secondary character in a movie supposedly about him. I think its an utter disgrace of a modern day legend. I can't wait for the new movie coming out about Bruce produced by Shannon Lee and some Asian media companies "Little Dragon" I believe its called. It's about the early years of Bruce's life in Hong Kong. I'M a true follower of Bruce's work and can't wait for Shannon to get this film under way. I'll be in the front row with a tub of popcorn and dressed in the yellow and black jump suit with my nun-chucks tucked in my belt. Shannon you're the princess of Jeet Kune Do. It's up to you where to go with "Little Dragon" but wherever it is i'll follow... by the way I saw some of the reviews and I got to say its not about whether the main focus is on a white guy or a black guy or Asian guy or even a Latino. its the fact that the focus isn't where it should be. Remember Bruce didn't care about ethnicity he taught everyone equally. his wife Linda is white his kids are part white. the way some of you criticize this movie sounds kind of like you're discriminating against the fact the Steve McKee character is white. When the its not about color it's about the fact this is a crap movie. It's not accurate and its a just a sh*t movie, that's it!

That this movie is being released now just proves that people are still completely ignorant and easily fooled. And will buy anything with the name Bruce Lee attached.

"Based on a true story" except all the "facts" are completely made up. Let's make Wong a Shaolin monk. The fact he had nothing to do with the Shaolin temple and wasn't a monk doesn't really matter. Let's put him in some monk robes because, you know, that's cool....

Let's completely avoid the real reasons why the fight happened. Let's avoid what really happened in the fight.

Let's go back to the story about "teaching whites" that Linda Lee made up and has been debunked for YEARS. The already established teachers in California were already teaching non-Chinese. Wong himself taught non-Chinese.

Let's pretend a demonstration that wasn't well received was a real fight that impressed everyone immediately.

Honestly, not sure who should be more ashamed, the people who buy this schlock or the people who had the nerve to make it

I it nice to watch a movie that you are curious about, without any expectations, and then be very pleasantly surprised. I have to thank all the haters out there for making this experience even better than it would have been. Without elaborating to much, this is a really nice, fun movie with a good solid cast and some great moments on the screen. By writing this review I wanted to restore a little balance into the mix, considering the bad reviews this movie has been getting. By just looking at this low rating I can tell a lot of people have missed the point of this movie, at least what I think the point was. By elaborating a little bit more, what happened here was a case of taking a past unrecorded event and making a movie around it by making assumptions and filling in the blanks and thus creating something new. All I can say is that the crew make this process work pretty good. This movie doesn't give you a very accurate history lesson but it has a purpose non the less. A part of that purpose was to give us a little bit of a different version of Bruce Lee and his story. This movie didn't idealize him which in my opinion was a great move because it made Bruce Lee seem like a more relatable person, flawed and a little immature at the time. This movies statement was that he was a genius, talented, charismatic, but also probably a little cocky, arrogant and immature in his beginnings as a teacher. I'm not making assumptions on the authenticity of his character but I like that this wasn't a typical hero that wins the day story. Just at the very end it turns it around to give us the moral of the story which is in my opinion the best part of the movie. When you think you know everything, life tells you otherwise. In summation I would definitely recommend this movie because it has a lot going for it. If nothing else, there is some nice philosophy, plus some good martial art fights. Most importantly, Bruce Lee remains a very cool guy thanks to a great cast. A nice surprise.

I wanted to throw my popcorn at the screen!! This is cash grab garbage, crock of s***. The director has turned Bruce Lee into a caricature. This is spitting on the memory of Bruce Lee. As a loyal fan of Bruce Lee and as an Asian, this film seriously offends me. ENOUGH! We in the Asian communities will make sure this film earns ZERO dollars. The script is shockingly dull and absurd, the fight scenes aren't exceptional, the stunt guy who plays Bruce Lee captures zero essence of Bruce Lee, his acting pure ham. The director should go back to writing to spare us further torture. ******** BIRTH OF A DRAGON is NOT sanctioned by the Lee family ******** http://www.yomyomf.com/your-1st-look-at-birth-of-a-dragon/