Home   >   Movies   >   Game of Death

Game of Death (1979)

Facts

Directed byBruce Lee and Clouse, Robert
CastKareem Abdul-Jabbar, Colleen Camp, Russell Cawthorne, Roy Chiao, Yuan Chieh, Yuen Biao, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Dean Jagger, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Mel Novak, Hugh O'Brian, James Tien, Casanova Wong and Gig Young
Theatrical ReleaseJune 8, 1979
DVD ReleaseMay 21, 2002
Running Time100 minutes
MPAA RatingR (Restricted)
UPC Code024543017981
Buy this item ...5 new from $39.65, 15 used from $6.45
 

About Game of Death

Bruce Lee died after shooting only a few scenes of his ambitious Game of Death, but that didn't stop greedy producers from finishing and releasing "Lee's last film," even if he's doubled for most of it. Lee planned an ambitious expression of his fighting philosophy, and his story culminates in the rigorous challenge of the "Game of Death," in which combatants take on successively greater and greater masters as they fight their way to the top of a tower. Only a few fight scenes were completed, and the released film is about a martial arts movie star who takes on a syndicate of drug dealers. Lee faces down the towering Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in an impressive battle, one of the only surviving scenes from Lee's original shoot, while outtakes from his battle with Chuck Norris in Return of the Dragon are used along with real-life footage from Lee's funeral. The rest of the film is a mishmash of car chases and clumsily edited fights, complete with awkward inserts of Lee's face. His double remains hidden behind a pair of dark glasses or a motorcycle helmet throughout, and he abruptly changes into a yellow jumpsuit for no reason other than to match Lee's costume in the final scene. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Website Links

Similar Movies

Enter the Dragon
Enter the Dragon
The Chinese Connection
The Chinese Connection
Bruce Lee - Fists of Fury
Bruce Lee - Fists of Fury
Return of the Dragon
Return of the Dragon
The Game of Death II
The Game of Death II

 

User Reviews

Average user review: 3.0 (87 reviews)

rating: 1 QuoteBruce Lee would haved kicked this film to Neptune. Watch 'A Warrior's Journey' instead.Quote
The Game of Death is the biggest disappointment you can watch as a Bruce Lee fan. It is not even a Bruce Lee film. It is a film with a terrible story, a stunt double, Bruce Lee's face pasted on the shoulders of the stunt double (yes it is actually like a photo on someone's shoulders), sequences taken from other Bruce Lee films you have seen before and the two fight scenes filmed with Bruce Lee before he died.

So most people want to watch it for the 11 minutes of Bruce Lee where he appears right at the end. There is the nunchaku fight scene and the Kareem Abdul Jabbar fight.

The bottom line is that there is a much better way to do this than watching this train wreck. The film is absolutely chronically bad and the production should have been shelved and the fight sequences released in a documentary. That is the way this should have been done... in fact it has been done! It's called "Bruce Lee - A Warrior's Journey" (2000). If you have any sense you would get that if you want to watch this for the Bruce Lee fight sequence. It contains all of this sequence and more (outtakes).

The fight scene is a classic though, although it is debatable if it's his best. It is Lee with more experience and his styles are even wider than before. He also wears a legendary yellow jumpsuit with black stripes and cute matching shoes. The outfit appears in the Tekkan games with the character Marshal Law.

This terrible film should never have been remastered for release in the Martial Arts section of Contender Entertainment Group's `Hong Kong Legends'. It should have been omitted from the Bruce Lee box set and replaced with A Warrior's Journey.

Anyway, A Warrior's Journey is where it is at. Bruce Lee would have personally smashed this production to splinters. March 9, 2008

rating: 3 QuoteGame of DeathQuote
This film is great to me due to the fight scenes of course which i thought were well done. The actual tape recieved from this seller was in a nonworking condition however. January 5, 2008

rating: 5 QuoteGame of deathQuote
This is my favorite Bruce Lee movie. It arrived in a fast and timely manner. I would order again. January 2, 2008

rating: 5 QuoteNice CollectibleQuote

If you like Bruce Lee, then you should buy this movie. I consider it a nice collectible. October 3, 2007

rating: 2 Quotelaughable Quote
As a long time Bruce Lee fan I found "Game of Death" to be a disgrace. Bruce Lee died tragically during the production of the film and for some reason the film company decided to finish it and release it with out him. A very bad decision, because the finished product is one of the most broken and comically bad kung Fu films ever made. It's not that I'm angry that they decided to finish the film with out Bruce, but if you're going to finish a film make sure that your star is in at least half of the footage. Instead Bruce Lee is in about 10% and the rest is his body double with a Bruce Lee head pasted on his shoulder. He'll be fighting and the head will remain motionless and expresstionless, it's like a gag video from youtube. On the other hand, the 10% that Bruce is in(Not his evil pasted head clone)is classic. No one can forget his fight with Kareem and it's truly one of the most memorable fights in Kung Fu film history. The rest of the film is a painful bore. I find out fast that this wasn't really a Bruce Lee film at all. Just a poorly fabricated movie built around 15 minutes of Lee footage that only comes in at the end.I felt really cheated after watching it. For Bruce Lee fanatics only. If you're looking for a good Kung Fu flick or just a good flick in general then "Game of Death" is not for you. September 13, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...