Well, OK its time for another review and yes it is yet again another revisitation of a previous post I have done (sorry again for that!). However, as I have recently re-watched this film I will re-review, I figured it was worth updating my post on it. So, the film in question is Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, which is a biopic of the life of martial artist, Bruce Lee.
So 25 years on, how does Dragon hold up???? Well, let's take another look....
And yep, the usual warning is coming...
PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!
STORY
So the film begins in Hong Kong, where Bruce Lee's father, Lee Hoi-Chen (Ric Young) has a nightmare about his son being killed by a phantom in black samurai armour that haunts Bruce Lee as a child. The film in its opening sequence shows Bruce being taught martial arts as a child and follows his progression into being a teenager.
Years later as a young man, Bruce (played Jason Scott Lee) get's involved in a fight during a ballroom dance with some British sailors, and as he faces serious trouble with the police (as one of the sailors he attacked in the son of a police officer high up in the Kowloon police force) Bruce's father insists he leave Hong Kong. Bruce's father also tells him that he had a brother who died in childbirth, and he fears for his son's life that he is being persued by a demon, that preys on inner fear and if Bruce doesn't conquer those fears he may one day die. Bruce's father then decides that he should go to America as his son was born in San Francisco and as he has a US birth certificate he should be accepted as a citizen, and he asks that Bruce make name for himself over there.
As Bruce arrives in America, he get's a job as a dishwasher at a local Chinese restaurant where he get's involved in a fight with some of the staff (as he slept with one of waitresses who was one of the staff's girlfriends). As a result of the fight, the owner (Nancy Kwan) fires Bruce and gives him severance pay and some extra money as an all purpose loan, and she suggests that he invest in an education rather than throw it away.
At a university he encounters some racism from the students there and get's involved in a fight, but some of the onlooking students are impressed by Bruce's skill and ask if he will teach them, which he does. As Bruce starts giving classes on campus he meets Linda Emery (Lauren Holly) and they begin dating, and they soon marry, despite Linda's disapproving mother, Vivian (Michael Learned).
Bruce decides to open a kung fu school, open to everyone and not just Chinese students, which causes annoyance among the other Chinese martial art schools, who insist that Bruce stop teaching to non-Chinese students (or the "gwailo" as the Chinese call them) as they see it as forbidden. As Bruce refuses to do so they insist he must settle this dispute in combat, where Bruce has to fight Johnny Sun (John Cheung) who Bruce manages to defeat, but San attacks Bruce from behind by kicking him in the back, which leaves Bruce seriously injured and immobolised.
In hospital while Bruce is immobilised and placed in traction, he angrily tells Linda to go away and leave him alone, but she insists that he fight back with his mind and use his recovery time to think how to fix the weaknesses of his combat technique. During this time Linda takes notes from Bruce which is later compiled into his book, based on his philosophy called Jeet Kune Do. As Bruce recovers, Linda has their first baby, Brandon, and she soon reconciles her differences with her mother, Vivian when she meets them again and meets their baby.
Burce some time later after his recovery makes an impressive demonstration of his Jeet Kune Do at a martial arts tournament, as he defeats Johnny Sun once again. After the match Bruce meets American producer, Bill Krieger (Robert Vaughan) who hires him to appear in the American TV show, The Green Hornet. However the TV series is soon cancelled and while Bruce and Bill come up with the idea for a show named Kung Fu, Bruce is ultimately passed over in the role and David Carradine is cast instead.
After Bruce's father dies and he attends the funeral on his way home from Hong Kong he is approached by a film producer Philip Tan (Kay Tong Lim) who tells that The Green Hornet has a following in China and that it is known as the "Kato show". Tan then offers Bruce the lead part in a film, which soon turns out to be The Big Boss, although during filming, Bruce is confronted by the brother of Johnny Sun, Luke (Ong Soo Han) who wants revenge and the two engage in an intense with Bruce finally winning it.
On its permiere night, "The Big Boss" turns out to be a big success in China and Bruce soon makes more films where he works as an actor, director and writer. However this causes tensions between Bruce and Linda as she wants to return home to America, where Bruce feels angry at how he was treated in America and doesn't want to go back to that.
Soon after Bruce is approached by Bill Krieger again who tells him that he has another project for him called Enter the Dragon, which would be set to make him a big star, which Bruce agrees to do. However as filming progresses Bruce soon has to face his inner demons, which could cost him dearly in the future if he doesn't confront them.
THOUGHTS
As a biopic film, Dragon is undoubtedly very entertaining and somewhat cheesy as well it has to be said, but overall it does a fine job in telling the life story of one of China's most iconic figures. And while the film is of course guilty of take cinematic licence with the real life facts of Lee's life, it balances out the events of his life pretty well and you get the gist of what he had to encounter in his time in the US, such as the racism and disapproval of his teaching methods to non-chinese students.
It also shows Bruce's determination in trying to make a name for himself in the US as well as gaining the respect of the Chinese back in his home soil and the struggles in his family life. And early on in production the star role was initially offered to Brandon Lee, who turned it down, and he himself sadly later was killed during the filming of The Crow, as he was fataly wounded in an accidental shooting, and the film was dedicated to his memory.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
Getting onto the performances, the cast are all excellent here.
Starting with Jason Scott Lee does an excellent job as Bruce Lee, and he plays the part with alot of warmth, charisma, compassion as well as some indignant anger at how he was treated in the US. Lee himself trained under the tuition of a former student of Bruce Lee's, Jerry Poteet, who studied Lee's Jeet Kune Do method and he does incredibly well in the physically demanding and impressively staged fight scenes. Admittedly there are moments in Lee's performance where he is a bit cheesy and he almost goes from being like an over enthusiastic puppy dog but by large Lee does a fine job with his character role.
Lee naturally of course has his share of good scenes in the film, such as his first one where Bruce back when he lived in Hong Kong walks into a ballroom dance where there are some unruly British sailors muscling in on the women. So, Bruce walks up to one of them, who is forcefully dancing with one of the Chinese girls and Bruce taps him on the shoulder and the sailor says "What do you want?!" and Bruce says "I want to dance with her". The sailor however, rudely says "This one's mine, get one of your own!" but the camera pulls back to reveal Bruce for the first time and says to the sailor "She IS one of my own!" and the two of them get into a fight.
Another good scene is where Bruce having moved to San Francisco and gone to university, he works out in the gym there but is then hassled by some of the football team, who want him off the weight machine.
So, one of the team, Joe Henderson says to Bruce as he works out "So, come on, man! Time up" and Bruce while he lifts the weights says "I'm not finished yet". However Joe insists "Yeah, you are. We work out at 3:00. See that clock? It's 3:00, come on" but Bruce says "Where does it say that in the rule book?" which prompts some reactions of surprise from the team. So, Joe says "See, you've been reading the wrong rule books. Read the ones in English". This prompts Bruce suddenly stop using the machine and ask Joe "What's that mean?" and Joe says "You see, that's what I mean. You're kind don't understand English!" and Bruce asks "MY kind?!". So, Joe responds "Yeah. Gooks, Chinks. You guys killed my dad in korea. you think I'm happy to see you in my gym?!". Bruce suddenly jumps and says "Don't touch me!" and Joe asks "Or what?" and Bruce smiles slyly and says "Or I'll touch you back!". So, Joe attempts to goad Bruce and angrily says "Come on, touch me, dink! Come on, touch me, Chink!" however Bruce just walks away from him. However a moment later, Bruce shouts "Are you coming?! I have to finish my workout. I might aswell finish on you!" and he beckons Joe to come over to him.
So, Bruce takes off his shoes and socks to prepare to fight Joe, who soon finds out he doesn't have the speed or prowess to take him on. So, Joe becomes angry and says "I'll you, you bastard!!" but Bruce says to him "I'm no bastard, I'm Bruce Lee!". So then Joe team mates join but Bruce outmanoeveres them all with a series of kicks and moves, leaving the team on the floor in pain and Bruce says to Joe "Sorry about your father. That was Koreans. I'm an American" and quickly walks out.
Another good scene from Lee is when Bruce takes on Johnny San in an effort to fight for his right to teach non-Chinese students on American soil. And in the scene, one of Bruce's closest students, an African American, Jerome warns Bruce that San is a killer and that two men once tried to jump him which ended with one in hospital and the other in a funeral home to which Bruce replies "You're a real confidence builder, Jerome!". And after Bruce defeats San and beats him into submission, he grabs San's head and shouts "Do you give up?! Do you give up?! DO YOU GIVE UP???!!" and San says "I give up!". So, Bruce stands up and says to the other teachers "I teach who I want. The decision is mine" which prompts an angry outburst from one of them and then San runs up behind Bruce and kicks him in the back, which immobolises him.
Which brings me onto one of Lee's best scenes in the film where Bruce after San's treachery, lands him in hospital, immobolised and in traction, so Linda shows up to speak to him and Bruce is in a state of self-pity and anger.
So, Linda in the scene is angry that Bruce didn't tell her he was going to the fight and she says to him "You should have told me you were going" and Bruce asks "Why?" and Linda shouts back "Because I'm your wife! I have a right to know!". Bruce however says to her "You might wanna think about that. The wife part, I mean" and Linda asks "What are you saying?" and Bruce full of self pity tells her "Take a good look at me, Linda!". So, as Linda says that they have some trouble with the situation, Bruce shouts back "This is more than a little trouble!!" and she shouts that Americans love big trouble. So, Bruce yells at her "That's what you say now!!! But in six months, you'll be looking for the back door!!!".
And as Holly tries to convince Bruce that it will never be over between them, Bruce shouts at her "Go back to your mother, Linda! I'm finished! tell her I made a mistake. DO IT!! You hear me?!! Tell her you made a mistake!". And as Holly tries to comfort Bruce, he yells loudly at her "DON'T TOUCH ME!!! I don't want you here! I don't want you! GET OUT!!! GO!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" and Linda looks shocked at Bruce's behaviour, which angers him more and he yells "DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!!" prompting Linda to run out the room, nearly in tears.
Then there is the scene where Bruce having recovered from his injury and written his book on Jeet Kun Do, gives a demonstration of it at a convention where he meets alot of cynicism from the audience. Bruce however insists as he speaks to the audience "I'll beat any man in this room in 60 seconds!!" and then out of nowhere we hear a voice shout "I'll fight him!!" and we then see Johnny Sun appear and say "I beat him before! I beat him again!!". So, Bruce get's ready for the fight as he takes off his shirt but Linda pleads with Bruce not to go through with it as the doctors recommended he doesn't fight again. So, Linda says to Bruce "The doctors said no more fighting!" but Bruce tells her "They said I'd never walked again, too!" but Linda tells Bruce "If you get hurt again, you're on your own!". And as Linda walks off, as she can't watch, Bruce calls out to her "Don't go too far, hon! It'll be over in 60 seconds!".
Another good scene comes when Johnny Sun's brother, Luke, shows up on the set of Bruce's first film feature, "The Big Boss" where Luke wants revenge for his brother, who has been left badly injured after his fight with Bruce. So, Luke says to Bruce "My brother can't walk right, he can't talk right. You have dishonoured my family! I have sworn to kill you!" and Bruce says to him "Swearing is easy!". Luke then says to Bruce "I read your book. I know all your tricks!" so Bruce says to Luke "Let's see how well you've learned your lesson!" and they begin they're intense fight.
Then there is the scene where Bruce expresses his frustration and resentment of American people as he becomes more absorbed in making his films in China where he has become well respected but Linda wants to go back to the US. So, Bruce angrily tells Linda "Oh, man. they got such a good line of bullshit! "Come and get it!" "America, the mountain of gold!" "It's for everybody!!" Yeah, it's for everybody white! but they don't tell you that! You gotta read the small print! IF you can read". Then Bruce continues his rant "I'm somebody here! I'm special! Back there, I'm just another gook! Just another wetback, charlie chan, slopehead, coolie dishwasher...in a stinking chinkie restaurant!!!" and he furiously knocks some stuff off a dresser. Bruce then does an exaggerated Chinese accent "Wash your shirt, mister white man?! Please?! No tickee, no shirtee! - order one from column "a" and one from column "b!". Bruce then breaks a closet door in anger and he goes up to Linda and yells "IS THAT WHO I AM?! IS IT???!!! TELL ME THAT'S WHO I AM??!!" and Linda shouts back "I don't know who the hell you are anymore!!! Do you?!!!".
And last of all there is Lee's final scene where Bruce and Linda are on set of "Enter the dragon" where Bruce is about to film the last scene. So, Bruce says to Linda "Last shot" and Linda, full of pride says to him "Make it great" and they kiss and as he is about to go up the stairs he says to Linda "Linda, I forgot to tell you, I love you". Linda smiles and says "I don't think you've ever said that to me before" and Bruce tells her "Yeah, but I meant it, every day" before he goes up to do his final scene.
Which brings me onto Lauren Holly who delivers a fine performance as Linda, and Bruce's wife, as she plays the all American girl, who falls in love with Lee, and defies the racism around them as well as her mother's own disapproval to marry him and have a family.
And Holly has her own share of good scenes, such as the one where just after Bruce is injured by Johnny Sun kicking him in the back, he ends up in traction at the hospital. So, Linda goes too see him and is shocked to find Bruce in traction and she jokes nervously to him "You know, this thing's kinda sexy. maybe we can keep it after you're better...". Bruce however is not amused and Linda says "I'm sorry. It was a bad joke. I know you're mad. don't be mad. It'll only make things worse" and Bruce tells her "Worse?! It couldn't take a hell of alot to make things worse!".
So, Bruce tells Linda to think twice about their marriage now that he is essentially an invalid and she tells him "OK, so we've got a little trouble" but Bruce shouts at her "This is more than a little trouble!" and Linda shouts back "OK, so we've got big trouble!". Linda then angrily tells Bruce "You're always going on about the beauties of your Chinese culture! Let me tell you about the beauties of my culture! WE LOVE BIG TROUBLE!!". Bruce however shouts at her that she says that now but in six months she'll want to get out but Linda shouts back "Oh, no!! Its never going to be over between you and me, you get it?!". However Bruce continues to shout and rant at Linda to go and leave him alone, which upsets Linda, who runs out.
Then in the next scene, with Bruce still in traction, he hears a noise and he fearfully asks "Who's there?!" and then we see a notebook hit the ground and then Linda slides into view on the floor to look up at Bruce's traction machine faces down toward her. So, Linda teases him "Hi. I thought I'd improve the view. Oh, look at the big kung fu man. First sign of trouble and all he does is quit!" but Bruce annoyed shouts " Shut up! Shut up!". Linda then shows Bruce her notebook "See this notebook? Looks like the ones we had in school, right? Wrong. This is your future" but Bruce quietly says "I don't have any future" but Linda tells him "Sure you do".
Linda then continues and tells Bruce "You know, all I keep hearing is the fight took too long. too much tradition, too much classical mess...too many fixed positions in wing chun. you know everything that's wrong, so fix it! Stop whining and start fighting! Fight back with your mind". Bruce feeling defeated says "I can't write! I can't move!" but Linda says "You talk, quitter. I'll write" and she opens the notepad and takes her pen and she says "I'm waiting". Bruce takes a moment and says "It would take forever" and Linda says "You going anywhere? I'm not. Oh, yeah and just one more thing...I'm pregnant".
Another good scene for Lauren is when Bruce takes on Johnny Sun again in a re-match of their fight that hospitalised Bruce with his back injury, so Linda begs Bruce not to go through with it or he might risk being injured again. So, Linda says to Bruce angrily "What are you crazy?! The doctor said no more fighting!" but Bruce tells her "They said I'd never walk again, too!" and Linda asks him "When will you be happy?! When they are right?!". Linda then pleads with Bruce "Bruce, I'm begging you...if you love me..." and Bruce says "This isn't about you and me!" but Linda then warns him "Fine! but I'm not going through this again, do you understand me? You get hurt, you're on your own!".
And last of all is the scene where Linda and Bruce argue over his staying in Hong Kong to work on his movies, as she is anxious to get back to America. So, as Bruce expresses his contempt for America and its bigoted attitude towards Chinese people, Linda pleads with Bruce "I am not America. Your kids are not America. Don't push us away!" We're going. I want you to come with us. I want the kids to have a father again". However Bruce angrily tells Linda "Don't lay guilt trips on me!" but Linda tells him "This place is eating us up, can't you see that Bruce?!" but Bruce is not interested and rants on about how Hong Kong is special and that back in America he's a nobody. So, Bruce continues his rants and yells at Linda "Is that who I am?! TELL ME THAT'S WHO I AM?!!" and Linda shouts back "I don't know who the hell you are anymore!!! Do you?!" and she walks out.
Robert Wagner is also pretty good in his relatively brief role as Bill Krieger, who Bruce works with on The Green Hornet and later on with Enter the Dragon.
Wagner has some good scenes also but I will for time only mention the one where he walks in on Bruce, while is in Honh Kong, who is doing some weird training with a typewriter with electrodes attached to his chest. And Bruce says to Bill "Its like doing 200 push ups. Do you wan't to try?" and Bill says "Nah you would just turn it up and try to electrocute me!" and Bruce says "The thought had crossed my mind" and Bill says to him "Justifiable homicide, some might say". Bruce then says to Bill "What you want, Bill? You didn't come here to discuss old times" and Bill says "No, I came here to discuss new times. Bill then says "There's somebody I want you to meet. His name is Freddie Weintraub. We've got a project for you. Fred's got a script. It's called Enter the Dragon. We're gonna shoot it here, but it's your ticket back to America". So, this get's Bruce's attention as Bill tantalises him some more "It's a feature. A Hollywood feature. With all the trimmings".
Nancy Kwan also does really well with her role as the restaurant owner, Gussie Yang, who temporarily hires Bruce as a dishwasher. And she shares a good scene with Lee when she pays off Bruce and gives him money for a loan and offers him two options.
First off, Gussie says Bruce could blow the money on April "Tell you what to do. Take April on the town, buy her nice clothes, check into big hotel, have lots of sex! Have food brought up to you in bed. Drink champagne and whiskey. Now money all gone, April be gone, too, like money. You come back to me. I put you in kitchen, wash dishes to pay back loan by that time you're no longer young,
you're no longer handsome, you're nothing but a... dishwasher! That one choice. There are others". And Bruce asks "Like what?" and Gussie says "They say education is good. hmm. I've heard that. me, personally... I hope you go with April. I can always use a good...dishwasher!".
Michael Learned is also pretty good as Linda's disapproving mother, Vivian, who does not care for Linda's relationship with Bruce.
And Michael (a weird name for a woman!) has some good moments too such as the scene where Vivian pays Linda a visit not long after Bruce and Linda have had their first baby, Brandon. So, as Linda answers the door she sees Vivian and there is an awkward silence and Vivian says "Hi, may I come in?" and Linda defensively asks "Why?" and Vivian tries to change the subject as she notices Linda's shorter hairdo and she says "I like your hair". However, Linda is not interested and says "I don't wanna chit-chat with you. What are you doing here?" and Vivian awkwardly says "I came to see you..." and Linda angrily asks her "Did you come to see me, or did you come to see the yellow baby?!". Vivian then says "I think I made a mistake..." and she is about to leave but then we hear Bruce loudly says "Brandon, its grandma!! Grandma's come to see you!" and he wheels up to her and smiles warmly and says "Come on". So, Vivian goes in and sees the young baby Brandon and she is suddenly touched and overwhelmed and she says "He looks like...both of you" and Bruce and Linda allow Vivian to pick him up and she smiles and says "He gorgeous" and tearfully says to Linda "You did good, sweetheart. You did good". And at long last, Linda and Vivian put aside their differences and Bruce looks on happily and says to himself "Brandon, you're a strong one. Only you could do this".
Sterling Macer is also very good as Jerome Sprout, Bruce's first student at his Kung-Fu institute, an African American, who was turned down by other Chinese schools but Bruce accepts him straight away.
So, I will quickly mention two of Sterling's scenes, the first being where Jerome first meets Bruce at the institute. So, Jerome says to Bruce "Caught the flyer. Thought I'd check it out. See? Seen some of them chop-socky flicks, man. Some cool shit. Name's jerome. Jerome Sprout". So, as Bruce introduces himself and Linda, Jerome says "I'd like to take some lessons" and Bruce smiles and says "I like to give them". Jerome then tells Bruce "I've noticed that. Some of them other Chinese teachers, man, they turn me down flat. Some of 'em wouldn't even let me in the door!" but Bruce warmly tells him "You got yourself a teacher" and Jerome grins and says "I can dig it, man. You got yourself a student!".
And lastly there is the scene where Jerome and Bruce go to the temple where Bruce will take on Johnny Sun. So, Bruce asks Jerome what he found out about his opponent and Jerome tells him "The bookies are laying 20 to 1 against you" and Bruce asks "Who is this guy?" and Jerome says "Johnny Sun. He's got a school on Thompson, he's a killer man!". Bruce asks "Are you his press agent?" but Jerome, seriously tells Bruce "He's a real killer! A couple of brothers tried to rob him last year. One went to a hospital and one with a gun, went to a funeral home!".
So, then we see Johnny Sun enter with his brother, both men are big in build and look very intimidating. Jerome, suddenly fearful says to Bruce "Man, they eat their wheaties in that family. Tiny there's his younger brother Luke. Bruce, forget about this stuff! Forget about all us gwailo and let's get the hell outta here right now!". Bruce however refuses to listen and instead he shakes hands with Jerome as he starts to warm up for his fight.
Ric Young also does very well in his brief role as Bruce's father (who's name is not given in the film) and he warns Bruce of the "demon" that has troubled his family over the years and that Bruce must leave Hong Kong and travel to America.
So, as Ric only really has one main scene in the film I will try and cut it down a little in terms of the dialogue mentioned and its where he tells Bruce he must leave America and that is in serious trouble after his fight with the sailors at the ballroom dance.
So, Bruce's father hits Bruce angrily and says to him "The police were here looking for you! The sailor's in hospital with a punctured lung. He might die!" but Bruce says "He started it. He was looking for trouble". Bruce's father however warns Bruce "He's the nephew of the assistant police inspector in Kowloon!" but Bruce says "I can hide out with my friends" but his father says "You don't have any friends NOW!" and he pulls him out of the room by his ear.
Then after the two men sit down and have tea and his father gravely tells Bruce "You'll have to leave Hong Kong" and Bruce asks "For how long?" and his father says "Forever". Bruce laughs and says "This is a joke! You're joking!" but his father tells him "Listen to me, Sai-Fong, you'll die in Hong Kong. I've seen it!". So, Bruce's father tells him the truth about his deceased brother "You have a right to know everything. You had an older brother. he died in childbirth. the demon took him away from us. The firstborn man-child is very valuable. So when you were born, I name you Sai-Fong, a girl's name. We dress you in dresses so the demon wouldn't know I had another son. I made you speak english, all so we could fool him! But now he knows, and he's coming for you".
Bruce then asks "Where can I go?" and his father tells him "Well you like American movies, you like American cars. You can go to America" and he produces Bruce's birth certificate showing that he was born in America. Bruce says "You need money to go to America" and then his father rips open a container holding a large wad of American dollars and his father tells him "I saved it for you. For a day like today!". Bruce, totally surprised by all this, says "I don't know what to say" and his father tells him "Say you'll do better! Tell me you'll make a big noise in America, so I can hear over here!".
Next up is John Cheung as Johnny Sun, Bruce's arch-nemesis in the film, who takes him on twice and Cheung actually doesn't really have that much dialogue in the film due to his limited English but he certainly makes a strong impression in the role. Cheung was also the fight co-ordinator on the film, so he took on a double role for the film's production.
And naturally Cheung's fight scenes as Sun as two of the film's highlights although he barely has any dialogue in the film he still does get a memorable line, when Sun takes on Bruce during his presentation of Jeet Kune Do at a convention. So, when Bruce challenges someone to fight him to prove that his fighting style works so well, Sun calls out "I'll fight him! I beat him before! I beat him again!!".
And last of all is Ong Soo Han as Luke Sun, Johnny's younger brother, who is a big muscly fella, who later on takes on Bruce in a fight after Johnny ended up badly injured as a result of their second fight.
So, in the scene Luke arrives on the set of "The Big Boss" while Bruce is filming and tells Bruce his intent to get revenge over him, however the production crew look on as if this is some sort of pre-rehearsed fight scene between Bruce and Luke that they didn't know about! So, in the scene, Luke comes out of a van and he says to Bruce "My brother can't talk right. He can't walk right. You have dishonored my family. I have sworn to kill you!". Bruce with disdain says to Luke "Swearing is esy" and Luke then says "I read your book. I know all your tricks!" and Bruce then says "Let's see how well you've learned your lesson!" and they begin their big fight together.
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As for the director, Rob Cohen (who directed the first Fast and Furious film) does a fine job here and he directs and stages the film's fight sequences really well and he also manages to keep the story and the relationship of Bruce and Linda believable and charming for an audience. Cohen also makes a brief cameo appearance in the film as the director of "Enter the Dragon" who was in reality Robert Clouse. This for me is Cohen's best film and despite one or two other credible films, such as Daylight and The Fast and the Furious, his career as a director took a downturn ever since, which is a pity since a film like Dragon showed his talent.
As for the film's score it was composed by Randy Edelman and it features some pleasant and dramatic tracks, although it does sound a bit dated to its period of the early 90s. However its love theme for Bruce and Linda is regularly used in film trailers to this day so in that regard it is very memorable and its a nice theme. Overall this is certainly a very solid score from Randy Edelman.
FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
So, flaws...does Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story have any??? Yeah it does, its not quite perfect.
And for start off, I would have to say that the film is undeniably quite corny in places, and while it is very entertaining, some scenes do make you cringe a bit. An example is where Bruce fights the sailors and he does an amazing somersault and lands on a table full of food, and he picks up a bit of cheese cake and nibbles on it! Also during the fight scenes there is heavy use of ridiculously exaggerated sound effects, such as when Bruce prepares for his fight with Johnny Sun, he cracks his knuckles and cricks his neck!
The film also takes a fair bit of cinematic licence with the facts of Lee's life of which there are quite a few examples throughout the film. For starters, while Lee did fight for his right to teach kung fu to non-Chinese students in reality, the character of Johnny Sun was fictional and Lee actually fought Wong Jack Man, another teacher. And while it was true that Bruce won the fight, Wong Jack Man, did not injure Bruce after the fight and Bruce's real back injury came from him lifting weights incorrectly. So, this also of course means that the whole fight with Johnny Sun at the convention was also fabricated as was the fight with Sun's younger brother on the set of the "Big Boss" although quite a few film extras did try and take on Bruce in a fight during the production, that much is true.
Another big inaccuracy was that Bruce Lee's book "Tao of Jeet Kune Do" was not published until after his death, but it is depicted in the film as being published shortly after Bruce has been released from hospital. And in reality Bruce took his first American student in 1959 (named Jesse Glover) before he had even met Linda, as depicted in the film he meets Jerome Sprout (played in the film by Sterling Macer Jr, and a fictional composite character) after he and Linda have become a couple and opened their first school together.
The whole concept of Bruce's inner demons is also a bit melodramatic in the film and it seems pretty daft that Bruce's death was the result of his failure to conquer his own spiritual demons. The film at the end with Linda's narration says that "Bruce fell into a mysterious coma and died" suggesting the cause of his death was unknown. However it was well documentated that Bruce was diagnosed with cerebral edema (which is the excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain) two months before his death, which later occurred on the day of his death.
So again the film strays from the facts of Bruce's death just for the sake of the whole inner demon concept, which obviously the writers went with for dramatic effect. And in reality Bruce never took up kung fu to ward off inner demons, he took up kung fu for self defence after losing a fight to bullies. Although in the film's commentary by Rob Cohen, Cohen stated that Linda Caldwell Lee told him that after Lee survived his first coma, Lee later told Linda that it felt like he was fighting a demon in the dark.
And lastly in the film's final scene, Linda narrates that Bruce died three weeks before the film "Enter the Dragon" was released but in actual fact he died only six days before the film's release, which remains one of the film's most glaring errors! And I find it somewhat surprising that Cohen didn't do his homework better to actually fix that error as its a pretty rudimentary one to make! Although Cohen may have been taking that figure from the time of the film's release in the United States on 19 August 1973 because the film was released first in China on 26 July 1973. But having said that, Bruce Lee died on 20 July 1973 and the film was relesed in the United States on 19 August 1973, which was nearly a month later, so Cohen is still a week out on this one!
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So, to sum up, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, is a very engaging and enjoyable biopic film, which features two strong performances by its lead actors in Jason Scott-Lee and Lauren Holly, as they are both great together as Bruce and Linda Lee. And even though Jason Scott-Lee doesn't really physically resemble, Bruce Lee that much, once he steps on camera, he really does capture Lee's charisma and presence and despite having never trained in martial arts prior to the film, Scott-Lee does a great job with the film's fight scenes. The film also features plenty of great fight scenes, a charming score by Randy Edelman aswell as solid direction by Rob Cohen.
And yes OK it does have its problems and takes quite a few liberties with the facts of Bruce Lee's life but you always have to expect some sort of dramatic licence in a Hollywood film. But if you can overlook all this, then there is still much to enjoy and admire in the film and 25 years on, its still well worth taking a look at and it remains one of the most enjoyable biopic films out there.
Right, so that's it for now and I will be back once again soon with another post of some sort.
So, till then its bye fer now!
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