Okay, there seems to be some general confusion about this title. Various online sources list SUPER DRAGON as the same film as BRUCE LEE, WE MISS YOU (aka THE DRAGON DIES HARD). They are not the same film! SUPER DRAGON is instead a dull as dirt bio pic about Bruce Lee. Also, the US poster advertises a special guest appearance by Jimmy Wang Yu but he is nowhere to be seen.
SUPER DRAGON is the second film in Bruce Li’s stab at Lee bio pics in the Bruceploitation genre. The film commits the ultimate sin in that it is very boring. We start off in Seattle (not very convincingly portrayed by China) where Shao Lung (Li) wins our hearts by throwing a newspaper and hitting a fat lady in the ass. Sadly, it goes all downhill from there. Bruce gets into a fight with some other newspaper dudes (“We rule this spot”) before heading to school to meet up with his girlfriend Lina. Get it? The producers were so clever that they took a letter out of “Linda” to avoid lawsuits.
Anyway, Bruce sees a poster for a tournament (I guess it is the Ed Parker tournament) and enters. Guess what? He wins in a quick 20 second montage. This apparently pisses some Japanese guys off (doesn’t it always?) and they show up at his gung fu school. Bruce beats up the best the Japanese has to offer. And who is that standing over there? A producer who is so impressed he wants to put Bruce on TV in a show called THE GREEN HORNET. Bruce gets the Kato gig and has Lina drive him around everywhere (he is a pimp!). But trouble strikes again when some Japanese dudes are outside his house. And this time they brought samurai swords. Not to worry because Bruce takes them out and then says to Lina, “This place is not safe. I want to go back to Hong Kong and live among the Chinese.”
Now it gets REALLY boring. Bruce heads to Hong Kong and we meet a group of stereotyped characters from Lee’s real life. We have skinny producer Mr. Gau (sounds like Chow) and a Lo Wei type director who chomps on cigars, laughs a lot and is apparently clueless on how to direct. When asked what to do he simply yells, “Fight! Fight! Fight! Just fight!” I’m sure Lo Wei was flattered. Even worse is the Betty Ting Pei who is called Tang Pei here (oh, those crafty producers). She is apparently a really callous and conceded actress whose first line at a dinner party is, “Watch out! I might steal your husbands” (oh, those crafty producers part duex). The film wants us to suddenly start liking Mrs. Tang when she starts hooking up with Lee and feel sorry for her when Lee’s wife shows up. Drama ensues while I fall asleep.
The only interesting thing about the film is when a secretary reads Lee his schedule for the next day. It is as follows:
10am – appointment with Mr. ChinAs you can see, Lee didn’t have a very busy schedule. But a long distance call to Vietnam!?! No wonder he died so young. This movie is pretty hard to find and there is probably a good reason for that. Avoid it at all costs!
11am – appointment with Mr. Gau
12pm – news conference
1pm – shooting a TV show
2pm – negotiating with Japan studio
3:30pm – sound editing
4pm – negotiating with European studios
5:10pm – appointment with Mr. Cohen
6:45pm – cocktail party
8pm – contract signing with Warner Bros.
9:30pm – dinner
10:30pm – appointment with Mr. Johnson
11:00pm – long distance call to Vietnam
11:30pm – meeting with the Red Cross