La vie fantastique de Bruce Lee

This is a biopic of the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee staring Bruce Li. It's actually quite an effective film about his rise to stardom. Li has one half the charisma of Bruce Lee but that's not unexpected. The plot follows his life especially in his epic fights. The action is solid with loads of hand to hand combat. Li is at least competently skilled in that arena. There are some missing story elements and some liberties are taken as always. His family life is mostly in the background. The production value may not be that high but in a way, it matches those Bruce Lee movies of that era. It's a functional biopic and that's more than expected.

I picked up this DVD version of "Bruce Lee: The Man The Myth" for a mere £4.99 thinking it was going to be some Bruce Lee wannabe rip off...I was wrong.

This movie is a great biography and in depth review of probably the best martial artist to date.

Great little buy, a must see for any Bruce Lee fan

8/10

Bruce Li turns in one of his best performances in this mostly fictional biography about the life of Bruce Lee. Li does a very good imitation of Bruce Lee but not surprisingly, falls slightly short of capturing the true essence of what made Bruce Lee such a special presence on film.

While this was supposed to a biography about the life of Bruce Lee, it is much more concerned with presenting Kung Fu street fights rumor and gossip, whether based on any true factual reality or not, might have at one time had it said Lee had a penchant for getting involved in. The fights themselves are not badly executed and again Li has most of Lee's mannerisms down pat. Still he always falls slightly short of the mark as you might well expect even from the best of imitators.

In the end, I have to admit to enjoying this film on a pure guilty pleasure level. It really is just using Bruce Lee's name as an excuse for yet another Kung Fu movie and cleverly ties itself to his legacy most likely hoping to cash in on his name. Still, Bruce Li isn't half bad at that and this movie moves at a nice, brisk exciting pace and is filled with decent Kung Fu fighting action. There's certainly worse efforts that this out there that also tried to cash in on the Lee name and legacy.

As a kid, Bruce Lee was (& still is) one of my biggest heroes.

I saw this movie on the big screen during a revival of it sometime in the early 80's and absolutely ate it up.

FF to this week I revisited this & watching it again through adult lenses gave me a very different perspective of it.

This often unintentionally funny movie is a wild hybrid- It's part documentary (complete with occasional narration), drama, low budget kung fu flick, & biopic.

Of all the Bruce Lee clones that came in his wake, Bruce Li was arguably the best of the bunch.

"The Man, The Myth" loosely (& I emphasize *loosely*) follows his life starting as a young man in Hong Kong before he was sent to the US. It takes enormous liberties with his real life story with several ridiculous embellishments & outright fabrications of altercations with rival martial arts schools. Also some greatly exaggerated depictions of his training regimen.

(The massive machine he threw punches in) The scene that stuck with me as a kid (that was likely yet another total embellishment) was when he was advised to go into hiding for 10 years & return in 1983. I recall hoping that was true.

What was funny to me about this film (& so many kung fu movies of that era) is the way they really drove the point of putting other martial arts down in favor of kung fu. Any long time fan knows this is something Bruce Lee would never do as he was always looking at other fighting styles to improve what he strove for. Taking what was useful & leaving behind the unnecessary.

I always wonder what Linda Lee went through during the 70s having to see all these sub-par movies being made with cheap imitations of her husband.

Still, nostalgia is a powerful thing & it was fun to revisit this movie again.

Do I recommend it? I'll say this is definitely Not a must-see. If you want a FAR more accurate retelling of Bruce's life watch "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" with Jason Lee.

After Bruce Lee's untimely death, a series of Martial Arts films followed to capitalize on his fame and the growing popularity of Martial Arts films. Bruce Li (AKA - HO-Chun-Tao) assumes the role of the great Bruce Lee and did a remarkably good job. He has the look and the overall presence to convince the audience he's the real deal. He may not have been as fast or as skilled as Lee himself, but then again, who was?

This fictionalized biography touches on the key points in Lee's life from his days at Washington University, his personal relationships, his competitions, his film career and his marriage. The marriage is briefly shown as we get merely two minutes of screen time with his wife and two children. We also see his struggles and eventual success with convincing the Production studios to make him an Action film star. Lee had the looks, the skill and charisma to carry Martial Arts cinema into a mainstream genre. But this film biography puts a huge emphasis on fight scenes. From how the screenplay is presented, it's as if Bruce Lee was a man who was constantly being provoked and tested by thugs who were unfortunate enough to test themselves against him. And Lee was not a guy who was known to back down or turn the other cheek. Street thugs harass him or an innocent bystander which is thus followed by a valiant display of heroism and fighting power. Along with the fight scenes is an ongoing battle of fighting disciples: Kung Fu VS. Any other discipline from Karate, Thai boxing, Judo, etc. While Lee represents the Kung Fu philosophy this theme runs concurrently with his overall methodology which was an amalgam of various disciplines as he subsequently developed his own brand known as Jeet Kwon Do.

The downside was that it's not well made. Poor dubbing and dialogue look laughable at times. The acting is fairly wooden. The story doesn't backdate itself. We start in late 1950's Hong Kong up to the present day and the fashion and styles all remain 1970's. The filmmaker didn't put an emphasis on authenticity. But what stuck out in my mind most was a workout session where Lee is measuring his punching speed through this sophisticated battery of equipment. He pokes his finger through this electronic device to have these mounted bulbs light up indicating his accuracy and impact. I've never heard of such a machine being used in the early 1970's and I am guessing this was pure fiction, but it does give the scene a futuristic and Avant Garde feel. 1970's Futurism. LOL.

If you are looking for a more accurate and deeply personal portrait of Bruce Lee, this may not be the best film for you. It does, however, carry some nostalgic and sentimental value for Bruce Lee fans.