After Way of the Dragon, Bruce Lee began filming the ending battle sequence for a film he planned to call Game of Death. But Hollywood came calling so Lee shut down production on the film to begin Robert Clouse's Enter the Dragon instead. After completing the American film, Lee had hoped to finish the postponed Game of Death, but sadly it was not to be - two weeks before Enter the Dragon's premiere, the "Little Dragon" abruptly died of a cerebral edema. Enter Raymond Chow, the famous Golden Harvest producer who owned the rights to the rare footage. Wanting to make a tribute to Lee (and make a little money in the process), Chow persuaded a reluctant Robert Clouse to reshoot the film with doubles and create an entirely different script from Lee's original idea. As good as the filmmakers' intentions may have been, in hindsight Game of Death comes off less like a fitting tribute to the master and more like a crass, shockingly amateurish disaster.

In the film, Bruce Lee (though it's mainly Korean actor Kim Tai-Jung) plays Billy Lo, a sensational martial artist on the verge of superstardom in the Hong Kong film industry. Billy's got it all: fame, money, and a pretty (pretty unbelievable, that is) pop singer girlfriend named Ann (Colleen Camp). But, all is not as peachy as it seems. Into the plot comes the Syndicate, a dastardly group of crusty old white men led by the improbably named Dr. Land (Dean Jagger). Apparently, the sinister Syndicate wants to exploit Billy and take advantage of his burgeoning film career. Or something like that.

To be honest, I wasn't really paying that much attention. Most of the movie is pretty much a blur: a bad Kareem Abdul Jabbar double makes a couple appearances, former Wyatt Earp star Hugh O'Brien tries to act menacing by carrying around a pimp cane, HK actors Roy Chiao and Sammo Hung come and go, and old footage from Lee's previous flicks is cut into the film with absolutely no regard for continuity. But the biggest eyesore is "Billy Lo" himself, supposed Bruce Lee look-alike Kim Tai-Jung. Huge sunglasses and exaggerated battle cries do not a hero make.

Truly, the only moments that stand out are during the climactic duel in a pagoda, which, as those who saw Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey know, is cut down tremendously in Game of Death. But still, though containing only a truncated performance, Game of Death is still the last real movie to showcase the charismatic presence of the legendary Bruce Lee. And for many, that's good enough. (Calvin McMillin 2002)

image courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Video