Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth
Encyclopedia
Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth, originally released as Li Hsiao Lung chuan chi and also known as Bruce Lee - True Story, is a 1976
Bruceploitation
biopic that stars Bruce Li
(A/K/A Ho Chung Tao) as famed martial artist Bruce Lee
. The film chronicles his life beginning with Lee leaving China to go to University in Seattle. Most of the benchmarks of Lee's later life (cast in Green Hornet television series, marriage to Linda Lee
, stardom in Hong Kong, death) are covered, with a somewhat less tenuous relationship to the truth as in previous Lee biopics.
Interestingly, Linda Lee is played by Lynda Hirst, an English women who was an army wife stationed in Hong Kong at the time of the filming. The director, having searched, unsuccessfully, for some time for a suitable 'Linda Lee' among available actresses, came across Lynda Hirst whilst out shopping in a local market and remarked on her resemblance to the late star's wife. On learning she was a 'Westerner' he immediately cast her in the (small) role. Lynda's real life sons can also be seen, very briefly, in the movie as Lee's children.
movies almost universally consider this the best of the low-budget Bruce Lee
biopics that were released during the 1970s, and some call it Bruce Li
's best film as well.
In his three-part Bruceploitation
essay for Impact Magazine
, Dean Meadows writes:
Outside of fan circles, the film is predictably received with less enthusiasm. The Time Out Film Guide, for example:
biopics, in that it offers a reasonable facsimile of Lee's life without resorting to scandal or speculation (except in the final scene). That being said, it is still plagued by a number of inaccuracies.
Hong Kong films of 1976
A list of films produced in Hong Kong in 1976:.-A-B:-C-:-External links:* * Hong Kong films of 1976 at...
Bruceploitation
Bruceploitation
Bruceploitation is a cultural phenomenon mostly seen in the 1970s after the 1973 death of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. Movie makers in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan hired a great number of Bruce Lee look-alike actors to star in many cheap knock-off martial arts movies to cash in on...
biopic that stars Bruce Li
Bruce Li
Bruce Li is one of the stage names of Ho Chung Tao , a Taiwanese martial artist and Bruce Lee imitator who starred in martial arts movies from the Bruceploitation movement.-Early life:...
(A/K/A Ho Chung Tao) as famed martial artist Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
. The film chronicles his life beginning with Lee leaving China to go to University in Seattle. Most of the benchmarks of Lee's later life (cast in Green Hornet television series, marriage to Linda Lee
Linda Lee Cadwell
Linda Lee Cadwell is an American teacher and the widow of martial arts master and actor Bruce Lee.-Life and career:...
, stardom in Hong Kong, death) are covered, with a somewhat less tenuous relationship to the truth as in previous Lee biopics.
Interestingly, Linda Lee is played by Lynda Hirst, an English women who was an army wife stationed in Hong Kong at the time of the filming. The director, having searched, unsuccessfully, for some time for a suitable 'Linda Lee' among available actresses, came across Lynda Hirst whilst out shopping in a local market and remarked on her resemblance to the late star's wife. On learning she was a 'Westerner' he immediately cast her in the (small) role. Lynda's real life sons can also be seen, very briefly, in the movie as Lee's children.
Reaction
Fans of BruceploitationBruceploitation
Bruceploitation is a cultural phenomenon mostly seen in the 1970s after the 1973 death of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. Movie makers in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan hired a great number of Bruce Lee look-alike actors to star in many cheap knock-off martial arts movies to cash in on...
movies almost universally consider this the best of the low-budget Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
biopics that were released during the 1970s, and some call it Bruce Li
Bruce Li
Bruce Li is one of the stage names of Ho Chung Tao , a Taiwanese martial artist and Bruce Lee imitator who starred in martial arts movies from the Bruceploitation movement.-Early life:...
's best film as well.
In his three-part Bruceploitation
Bruceploitation
Bruceploitation is a cultural phenomenon mostly seen in the 1970s after the 1973 death of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. Movie makers in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan hired a great number of Bruce Lee look-alike actors to star in many cheap knock-off martial arts movies to cash in on...
essay for Impact Magazine
Impact (action entertainment magazine)
Impact is a monthly magazine published in the United Kingdom since 1992. It is likely modeled on its French "older brother" "Impact" started in 1986. It covers the field of action entertainment: including Hong Kong action cinema, worldwide martial arts films, Hollywood productions, anime, comics,...
, Dean Meadows writes:
"This was a bigger and better production, providing a larger budget, international locations and the name Ho Chung Tao on the opening credits. Upon its release, earlier, scandalous elements of the exploitational deluge had all but disappeared. Overlong scenes of the Little Dragon "in action" with Betty Ting Pei were absent from the production and the full contact fury that people had been waiting to see from a Bruce Lee bio-pic was finally realised. Every director can of course be afforded a little artistic license and whilst a number of fight scenes were completely fictionalised, Ng See Yuen had undoubtedly created a fitting tribute to the memory of the undisputed "King Of Kung Fu". With first class choreography, Ho Chung Tao mirrored the Little Dragon in a number of standout fights."
Outside of fan circles, the film is predictably received with less enthusiasm. The Time Out Film Guide, for example:
"Numbingly unimaginative and exploitative biography. Would you trust a film that opens on a '70s street scene and captions it 'Hong Kong 1958'?."
Inaccuracies
Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth is one of the more accurate Bruce LeeBruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
biopics, in that it offers a reasonable facsimile of Lee's life without resorting to scandal or speculation (except in the final scene). That being said, it is still plagued by a number of inaccuracies.
- Lee's mask for his The Green Hornet TV role of KatoKato (The Green Hornet)Kato is a fictional character from The Green Hornet series. This character has also appeared with the Green Hornet in film, television, book and comic book versions. Kato was the Hornet's assistant and has been played by a number of actors...
did not include a pigtail; it was the servitude of the character's civilian guise as a houseboy that Bruce found distasteful.
- Lee is seen being challenged by extras on movie sets. These incidents are technically true, although the film blows them out of proportion.
- The fight scene in Rome is pure fiction, as most of the other action sequences.
- Lee was not rejected for the lead role on the TV show Kung Fu until after he returned to Hong Kong in the early 1970s (most biographies and biopics fudge the facts as this film did to make the story more interesting).
- The film shows Bruce Lee being attacked and killed by triads which is a myth.
- The film shows Bruce Lee walking in a forest as a recluse.
- While filming The Big BossThe Big BossThe Big Boss, previously known by its U.S. title Fists Of Fury is a 1971 Hong Kong martial arts action crime thriller film. The Big Boss was Bruce Lee's first major film. It was written to star James Tien; however, Lee's strong performance relegated Tien, already a star in Hong Kong, to second...
, Lee is challenged by a local Thai boxer. This fight happened in reality and is a fight that Bruce won, but in the movie the fight is blown way out of proportion.