For years I have avoided this title. After all, reviews I had read were scathing, calling it everything from "lame" to "worthless" to "a hunk of crap." But being the bold Bruceploitation reporter that I am, I had to take the plunge. So I reluctantly plunked down my 99 cents this past Tuesday at the video store and walked away with what was sure to be the cinematic equivalent of an 80-minute torture session. So imagine my surprise when BRONSON LEE, CHAMPION turned out to actually be entertaining!
Tadashi Yamashita stars as Bronson Lee, a Japanese-American living in Ohio with his grandmother. When grandma runs the risk of losing her farm, Lee heads to Japan to enter Master Suzuki's International Karate Tournament in the hopes of winning the $50,000 prize. 
Decked out in his
trademark cowboy hat (after all he is from Ohio), Lee arrives in Japan and immediately befriends a group of noodle sellers, Sammy, Suzi and their grandfather. Bronson then pays a visit to Master Suzuki. Unfortunately for Lee, he finds out that all the tournament slots are filled with fighters from Hong Kong, Belgium, Mexico, the United States and Japan (maybe he shoulda called first?). No problem. He just beats up the guy from Japan and takes his spot. Things get dangerous when a couple of shady gangster types actually get the nerve to try to fix the fight by having Bronson Lee go up against Black Tiger, a ruthless killer from Singapore. The two men end up in the finals, but it results in a draw! Huh? A re-match is scheduled for three days later. The men try to have Lee killed but when that doesn't work, they kidnap Suzi. Meanwhile, Suzuki finds out about the set-up and confronts the villains with Bronson Lee aiding him. Alas, Bronson Lee ends up getting blinded in the process. So the tournament finals are scraped. This doesn't sit well with Black Tiger, who challenges Lee while he is still recovering in the hospital. Not one to waste time, Lee accepts the challenge on the spot and exits the hospital immediately. Cut to a barren desert where the two men fight to the death. Good thing Bronson Lee's father, a renowned Japanese martial arts instructor, taught him how to fight as if he were blind when he was a kid. In the end Bronson Lee is victorious but ends up blind, bloodied and penniless. Way to help out Grandma buddy!
Shame on anyone who dogged on this flick! BRONSON LEE, CHAMPION is one of the most amazingly entertaining movies ever made. First off, this is a film with a Japanese lead, dubbed like John Wayne, acting like a cowboy from Ohio. Yes, a cowboy from OHIO! Secondly, Tadashi Yamashita (later to co-star in films such as AMERICAN NINJA and THE OCTAGON) does a great job and throws in tons of Bruce Lee screams and wails. Yamashita is a genuine karate master and also whips out some impressive sword tricks in this one, including the old "slice the watermelon lying on someone's stomach" trick. Finally, there are tons of outrageous fights in the film. Don't expect intricately crafted Hong Kong style fights. These are more akin to stuff like Sonny Chiba's THE STREETFIGHTER. The tournament is really unusual because the "fatal" blows are no contact (you know, like real Karate tournaments). The dubbing for the film is also outrageous. After the disgraced Mexican fighter tries to assassinate Bronson Lee, the American fighter Gary Samson yells at him, "You got a real case of sour grapes Gonzales. Get lost!" Later when Gary is shot like 16 times while rescuing Suzi, this amazing exchange takes place:
Suzi: "They shot Gary, Bronson!"In fact, pretty much everything in this film is over the top from the outfits to the 70s score. If you are hunkering for a big slice of 70s karate flick cheese, look no further than BRONSON LEE, CHAMPION.
Lee: "GARY!"
Gary: "BRONSON!"
Lee: "What did they do to you?"