Year: 1975

AKA: Black Dragon's Revenge, Revenge of the Black Dragon

Starring: Ron Van Clief, Charles Bonet, Jason Pai Pow, Thomson Kao Kan, Angie Mung Fu

Directed by: Tommy Loo Chung

Within the sub-genre of Bruceploitation, there are several sub-sub-genres. One of the more interesting ones is the "Who really killed Bruce?" style of film. Simply in nature, these films mix a dose of reality with cinematic fantasy as someone tries to uncover the real way Bruce Lee died. DEATH OF BRUCE LEE is a perfect example of this kind of film.

In a bit of a stretch, Ron Van Clief stars as Ron Van Clief, although most characters simply refer to him as the Black Dragon ("Sir, the Black Dragon is here to see you" is a perfect sample of the dialogue). Mr. Jim Yen hires Van Clief to the tune of $100,000 to find out who killed Bruce Lee. Once in HK, Van Clief hooks up with old Vietnam buddy Johnny Woodcock (no, I'm not making this up), who now goes by the name Li Po (who wouldn't?). The investigative duo decides the best way to find out whom killed Bruce is to visit the house where he died and his mistress. That idea works to no avail as the doorman tells them to go away. Meanwhile, a group of kung-fu students, distraught over Bruce's death, tools around HK as well looking for the culprit. Eventually, the two factions band together to find the killer, who is revealed in a surprise shock ending.

To be honest, the real reason I picked this one up is Charles Bonet. Bonet, billed with the nickname La Pantera, is quite possibly the only non-Asian Bruce Lee clone I have seen. He is quite good but only gets a chance to "Bruce" things up once in an alleyway fight. His starring vehicle DEATH PROMISE is highly recommended. Van Clief isn't too bad either, far better in my opinion than the overrated Jim Kelly. Apparently this film is part of a "Black Dragon" series that also includes THE BLACK DRAGON, WAY OF THE BLACK DRAGON and BLACK DRAGON FEVER. I can only hope that the others are just as silly. Choice moments include:

Stealing the score from THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS

Bonet and Van Clief visiting a Chinese Opera where The Black Dragon runs into a woman in blackface. She rubs his skin and says, "Make up?" to which he replies, "Naw, babe, it's the real shit!"

Bonet putting a stocking over his head during a covert nighttime excursion while Van Clief remains unmasked. A fight breaks out with some thugs and Bonet fights wearing the stocking.

The lead villain considers how to take out his adversaries. A lackey responds, "Why don't we just use guns?" which infuriates the boss. "You fool, Hong Kong has 10 million ears! We don't want to draw attention to ourselves!" (Finally an answer to the "Why don't they use guns?" question)

Bruceploitation