BRUCE LEE: THE LEGEND (1984) **

Bruce Lee:  The Legend was produced by Golden Harvest as a tribute to Bruce Lee.  Because they are a respectable company, this isn’t your typical Mondo movie/Bruceploitation/cash-in.  It’s much more of a straight documentary.  There’s nothing wrong with that at all, but I personally love the crazier, exploitation-style features in the Bruceploitation genre.

The film begins by documenting Lee’s early life in San Francisco before moving to China to become a child star.  The footage from these early movies are revealing and shows his natural talent at a young age.  I also liked seeing his Hollywood screen test as a young man, as his laid-back and effortless charisma is fully on display.  From there, we see his Jeet Kune Do fighting style gaining popularity, as he goes on to teach the likes of Steve McQueen and James Coburn.  Frustrated by the lack of roles in Hollywood, Bruce returns to Hong Kong to jump-start his career and winds up becomes a legend in the process.

Many of the historical clips have been used before in other Bruceploitation movies, but they are much more extensive here.  In addition, we are shown long clips from Fists of Fury, The Chinese Connection, Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon, and Game of Death too.  Footage from other non-Lee films are also used to depict the historic aspects of Kung Fu, although it feels more like padding than anything.  They were probably only used because they were taken from a Golden Harvest production.  Speaking of which, Golden Harvest’s owner, Raymond Chow is also interviewed, but these scenes often feel a bit too self-congratulatory.   

If you’re a fan of Lee or have seen a few Bruceploitation flicks, Bruce Lee:  The Legend will feel very familiar.  All of this has been done before, but in a much more entertaining fashion.  Is it informative?  Yes, but it’s also a bit too respectable and staid for my tastes.  Although well-meaning and thorough, it’s, to put it bluntly, a tad on the dull side.

The film only gets exploitative in the last twenty minutes during the segment that covers his death.  There is a lot of footage from Lee’s funeral and his open casket is shown a few times.  The coolest bit though is seeing Coburn and McQueen acting as his pallbearers.  Lee’s tabloid-fodder alleged relationship with Betty Ting Pei is also dredged up.  While this sequence touches on the glut of Bruce Lee imitators that arrived in the wake of his death, it’s not nearly as comprehensive as I’d hoped.  It’s sad to say, but I honestly wish the trashy final segment was longer, if only because that’s the only part that’s moderately entertaining.