GOODBYE BRUCE LEE
- Year: 1975
- AKA: Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death, The New Game of Death
- Starring: Bruce Li, Wong Ging Ping, Lung Fei, Ron Brown, "Big" Jonny Floyd, Lee Keung
- Directed by: Lin Pin & Harold B. Shwarz
"If you ever want to see you fiancée again, come to the Tower of Death now!"
This early Bruce Li vehicle is a clever attempt to fool the masses, cashing in on the death of Bruce Lee and his unfinished work GAME OF DEATH faster than you can thumb your nose. Li stars as Lee Hsaio Lung, a gymnast seeming picked at random by producers to finish Lee's film. They take him into a screening room to show him the footage Lee had completed, with the onscreen Bruce Lee also being played by Li. To make matters even more confusing, they show him an entire film. One is supposed to make the assumption he has agreed to finish it, but that is never clarified. Once they start screening the footage, it never stops until THE END appears onscreen. My head hurts just thinking about it.
The film proper (their version of G.O.D.) concerns a young man who unwittingly gets wrapped up in a money scam. When he refuses to give the cash back, the bad guys kidnap his girlfriend and hold her hostage at the forebodingly named Tower of Death.
Once there, he is given two options. Watch his girlfriend get flung off the top or fight various martial artists on 7 different levels to win his girlfriend back. Wait, I thought they just wanted their money back? What does this prove? Anyway, he chooses option two and proceeds to kick butt.
To be truthful, this film isn't really much fun until the end. Once Bruce slips on his yellow jumpsuit and the Tower of Death stuff begins, this film is a ludicrous joyride. Going from level to level Li encounters a variety of opponents in different styles (including two average kung fu guys, a samurai, a guy with a staff, a growling white dude, a meditating guy with nunchuks, a black boxer and, finally, Lung Fei with a whip). The two best levels are the samurai and the black boxer. While fighting the samurai, Li uses a technique that allows him to disappear and reappear at will (anyone know which discipline teaches that?). This eventually drives the samurai so crazy that he just stands there swinging his sword and Li just heads up the stairs. The black boxer greets Li by saying, "Hey son, you wanna fight?" and then just stands in the same position thrusting out his arms. Bruce throws a few punches and the guy quits! How the hell did this guy get level 5? Of course, Bruce makes it to the top and saves his girl just before the cops show up. My biggest complaint is that no one is actually killed in the Tower of Death. You would think with that name that guys would be pitched off the top left and right, but nothing that exciting happens.
Reviewed by William.