Game of Death (1979)
Facts
| Directed by | Bruce Lee and Clouse, Robert |
| Cast | Kareem 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 Release | June 8, 1979 |
| DVD Release | May 21, 2002 |
| Running Time | 100 minutes |
| MPAA Rating | R (Restricted) |
| UPC Code | 024543017981 |
| 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
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User Reviews
Average user review:| Bruce Lee would haved kicked this film to Neptune. Watch 'A Warrior's Journey' instead. |
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
| Game of Death |
| Game of death |
| Nice Collectible |
If you like Bruce Lee, then you should buy this movie. I consider it a nice collectible. October 3, 2007
| laughable |
More reviews at Amazon.com ...





