Game of Death (1978)
5/10
Definately falls between two stools - non-fans of the genre will hate it whilst true fans of Bruce Lee will loathe it.
6 February 2001
A film that can only disappoint, in that it was cobbled together some years after Lee's death and the joins are all too obvious. For Bruce Lee fans this must deal the film numerous death blows - the knowledge that for most of the film a stand-in is used and the storyline is contrived around old footage.

The film is still reasonable entertainment for Kung-Fu fans, and non-purists won't find the stitched on elements that distracting. Story has Lee playing an actor who fakes his own death after being shot on set by a member of an extortion racket which he is refusing to bow to. This is slightly unsettling knowing that Lee had died years earlier whilst the future fate of Brandon Lee lends the film an even stronger aura of doom.

Great fight sequence with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - his menace was slightly diluted as I kept visualising him in 'Airplane'. The fights at the films climax probably look familiar to any Video Game fan with Bruce Lee in a yellow jumpsuit a spitting image for Law from the Tekken series.

The version I saw was dubbed into Chinese and then subtitled back to English which seemed slightly strange - maybe there are different versions around.
13 out of 18 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed