soulbrothersofkungfu

This Bruce Lee ripoff begins with illegal immigrants Bruce Li, his girlfreind, and his freind Lo Meng drifting on a tiny boat in the China sea. They're soon picked up by a fishing boat, and taken to Hong Kong, where they think they'll find freedom (this is one of the few Bruce ripoffs that isn't pro-communist). They soon find work on the wharves, but one day they get fired when they help out a black guy called Carl Scott , who is being picked on by the bosses thugs. Bruce and Carl strike up a freindship, hence the title Soul Brothers of Kung Fu. Although Carl knows a little karate, he asks Bruce to teach him Kung Fu.

Bruce gets another job as a waiter in a bar, but gets fired again when one of the thugs he saved Carl from sees him there, and causes trouble for him. It just so happens that the same Triad boss who runs the wharves is an important client there. Meanwhile, Lo Meng has found work at a lumber yard. He's always looking for a few more dollars, so when a workmate gives him a hot tip on a horse, he heads for the local betting agency. In a scene that re-enforces the stereotype of asians as mad gamblers, he tries to put $500 on the horse. The guy behind the counter refuses, an Lo Meng causes a scene. For some reason this causes them to shut the agency for the night. The triad boss, Ku Feng also owns the betting agency ( small world isn't it ?) and demands that Lo Meng pay for his loss of takings. Ku Feng has had a gutful of the three troublemakers, and puts out contracts on Bruce, Carl, and Lo.

Bruce's girlfreind is mad at him for getting fired again, and tells him he can't make any money from fighting. He tells her one day he'll be bigger than Bruce Lee ( and pigs might fly too) , and her criticisms of his life gives him an idea. He becomes a kung fu prize fighter, and gets so popular that he even fights in the U.S. He's even interviewed, and says " Bruce Lee was good, but I'm going to improve on his technique". Modest guy. Everything is looking peachy, until he returns to find his girlfreind murdered by Ku Feng. The cops won't do anything, so he starts a Taxi Driver style training regime, and says that even though he's outnumbered, they'll be no match for his Iron Finger technique. The Iron Finger seems to be a variation on Bruce Lee's one inch punch. It can either be used to cause internal bleeding, or as Bruce demonstrates on a training mannequin, can induce a laxative effect. He goes after Ku Feng, and his Goons, who even manage to pay Lo Meng enough money to fight his old freind. This is a pretty entertaining Bruce Lee ripoff. It even rips off the soundtracks of Rocky, and Live and Let Die. It's a laugh a minute, and has a lot more plot than a lot of kung fu flicks. I liked the way it tried (but failed) to successfully mix Blaxploitation with kung fu. The version I saw was great, because it had two endings. It had the Hollywood ending, and the downbeat ending. If you like Bruce ripoffs, this is one to look for.