Funky, funny, fight-filled fun!
I read a few reviews indicating that this film was not only bad but an utterly terrible mess; however even though this is a Bruceploitation movie and one that is quite flawed in some aspects, the film benefits strongly from American involvement (like James Ho's other film Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger).
This is probably one of the few Hong Kong films to be directed by a Westerner, though I can't think of any other Hong Kong movie where a Westerner was directing (besides Bey Logan's assistant directorial duties for Gen-Y Cops).
The production values are of a high quality (at least for a Hong Kong movie and considering the time it was made in) so it's not as cheap as other Bruceploitation movies (besides budgeting for things like props and set design).
The cinematography is sublime e.g. when we see interwoven shots of footsteps during a chase sequence.
The opening credit sequence is very classy (utilizing magazine covers, newspaper articles and poster images of Bruce Lee) even if it does not reach the same heights of the credit sequences seen in the 1978 version of Game of Death.
The dubbing isn't the usual pool of 'talent' that's usually found in this era of martial arts movies of which this film comes from and the soundtrack is of an immensely high quality. Of particular note is some nice raw '70s rock that helps to give the film a more meatier or edgier flavour as well as the main theme song which is easily on par with the one used for The Dragon Lives.
The story is quite original and interesting in that James Ho (credited here as Lee Roy Lung rather than his usual alias, Bruce Li) plays a gymnast who film producers want to replace Bruce Lee for his role in Game of Death after showing him a film-reel of what Bruce had completed (so it's a film within a film in a certain sense - the aspect of this film of what makes it unique or at least different from other Hong Kong movies at the time). ;D
Hence what we have here is akin to what went on in Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger (James Ho playing both Bruce Lee and a fictional character).
The action in this film is quite sub-par with a fair bit of the choreography looking a bit slapdash and Li's technique looking a bit rudimentary (despite an impressive kick he performs during a night-time encounter) though he's a good acrobatic and would slowly improve in future films such as The Chinese Stuntman.
His opponents are somewhat perfunctory and, with the exception of the end, we never get the sense that they pose that much of a threat.
George Lucas was right when he said a hero is only as good as the villain. The point is that the henchmen should appear to be potentially overwhelming with their antagonism.
Actually, most of the fights in the first 2/3 of the film are only enjoyable if you're a fan of martial arts or fighting or any kind of action. They're enjoyable for the whole camp factor of seeing Chinese people fight each other within a contemporary '70s setting complete with funky '70s beats. So, in other words, if you're a child of the '70s or lived through that decade then this film will provide a devilish '70s treat.
One fight scene in particular seems to have inspired the one in Police Story 2 where Jackie is armed with two sticks whilst taking on hooligans in a playground. James, himself, doesn't use two sticks but one of his adversaries do before Ho comes to dismantle him of his sticks. I particularly liked the part where Ho had fought using this large sphere-shaped playground object.
As we go towards the end of the film, the fights seem to get better and better culminating in an awesome spin-off of Bruce's original idea for Game of Death (a Chinese guy in a catsuit taking on a 7-floored pagoda filled to the brim with martial arts experts). ;D
However, even with the discrephancies that riddle this film (namely an absurd script and obvious outdoor creation in an indoor location {i.e. the pagoda} complete with corners in the ceiling where the "sky" is meant to be), the action scores high marks for its climatic pagoda battle sequence.
On the surface, it looks good enough with all the various combatants from around the world, but the execution is stellar. There are some nice pauses during the action (not as in the posturing of the characters but rather the editing) which are very reminiscent of what John Woo would later put into his action sequences. ;D
Thematically speaking, there were some nice touches besides stylistic ones in the way the finale was staged. For example, the idea of a combatant being driven crazy due to his opponent reappearing in front of his eyes from all directions added a nice bit of psychological depth. Also, I appreciated the realistic nature in regards to how a fighter chose to handle a situation in which his opponent was armed with a weapon.
Usually in martial arts movies there's this convention where if one person is armed with a person, the other person has to be armed with a weapon (if not the same type of weapon).
Now, of course, it makes sense to arm oneself well in a fight but in these kinds of movies how they manage to counteract a foe's piece of weaponry always seems contrived and even implausible.
Especially if you have a protagonist armed with a weapon and he or she was taking on a gang of thugs who are armed with no weapons which (for some strange reason or other) propels the protagonist to feel obliged to get rid of his or her weapon.
In this movie we see James take on an Indian martial arts expert armed with a nunchaku but rather than seeing James magically reveal a nunchaku, he instead chooses to find a way to dislocate the Indian of his weapon which then sees the Indian's attempts to fight Li with his nunchaku being used against him.
This is then taken to larger proportions when Ho finds himself forced to take on the main villain who's armed with a long whip. At first he attempts to use the nunchaku but then has to fight single-handed before using the nunchaku again. But even without this much-needed and much-welcome touch of realism, a nunchaku-vs-whip battle is ingenious.
It's certainly ingenious when you consider seeing as how whips aren't commonly used in martial arts/action movies besides for torturous reasons.
It presents a challenge that is actually challenging rather than a simple task disguised as an obstacle; we really get that sense that the foe will win.
Like with most Bruceploitation movies, there's a fair share of humour (most of it seemingly unintentional) that will have punters rolling in the aisles. ;D For instance, an encounter with a black henchman (of whom the UK DVD cover states is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar throwing in a cameo appearance) and another one which sees Ho take on a group of gangsters (including two laughably unconvincing Caucasian thugs, one of them who looks like a cross between Robin Williams {in his younger days} and Henry Enfield {British comic} - probably the latter more so).
Eerily enough, the actress who plays Bruce Lee's* girlfriend looks like a Chinese Barbra Streisand
; only thing missing from this is a few music numbers courtesy of this uncanny lookalike and a Kris Kristofferson, Ryan O'Neal or even Barry Gibb lookalike and this would be classifed as a Barbsploitation flick!
The DVD release for this film features the best presentation I've ever seen for a Bruceploitation flick - excellent visual and audio quality. Though unfortunately like other martial arts films that get released on DVD, the extras are exaggerated (there is no interview with the director
, which is a shame as I - like many other people - would like to know what goes on inside the head of someone who directs an entry in the Bruceploitation genre).
*Within the context of the storyline. Not Bruce Lee, of course, or my accidental way of referring to Ho Chung Tao as Bruce Lee (ala that scene from Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger).
7/10