The Ultimate DVD Collection
by Patrick Vuong

Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection
Movies: The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Way of the Dragon, Game of Death, Game of Death II.
DVD extras: outtakes, interviews, trailers, photo galleries
Distributor: Fox Home Entertainment
Price: $49.98

More than 30 years after Bruce Lee died, Fox Home Entertainment is adding to his legend by releasing a five-title DVD set called Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection. Sure, it doesn’t have Lee’s magnum opus, Enter the Dragon, which was a Warner Bros. production, and Game of Death II isn’t actually a Lee film. Still, no martial arts movie buff should be without this compilation.

The Big Boss (1971)
Although Lee had starred in movies as a child and performed as a heavy in Marlowe (1969), his first starring role in a feature film was in this low-budget, box-office smash. In The Big Boss—also known as Fists of Fury—he portrays a country bumpkin who must take down his boss when he discovers murdered co-workers in their ice factory.

Like most kung fu flicks of the ’70s, The Big Boss suffers from a mundane story and poor production values. What makes it a classic, however, is Lee’s raw magnetism and near-superhuman skills. The DVD bonus material includes an interview with Hero action-director Stephen Tung Wei, who recounts his first meeting with Lee.

Fist of Fury (1972)
Also called The Chinese Connection, this movie has Lee avenging his kung fu master’s death. The story, based on historical figures, has become the quintessential revenge tale, with Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Donnie Yen all remaking it.

Like The Big Boss, it has less-than-stellar writing and sloppy direction by Lo Wei. Lee single-handedly carries the film. The movie is also notable for mimicking the freeze-frame ending from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and debuting the star’s trademark on-screen weapon: the nunchaku.

This disc contains the most absorbing bonus material of the set: Kung Fu Hustle star Yuen Wah recalls what it was like to perform the somersaults for Lee in Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon—the only times he needed a double. The short segment is chock-full of insights from a veteran who not only worked with Lee but also grew up as Chan’s opera-school classmate.

Way of the Dragon (1972)
Lee wrote, directed, produced and starred in this movie, which is also known as Return of the Dragon. While Enter the Dragon is his most popular film, Way of the Dragon is his most personal. In it, he goes to Italy to help relatives defend their restaurant against the Mafia and ends up battling an American killer, played by Chuck Norris, in the Coliseum. Indeed, Way of the Dragon is probably best-known for Lee’s clash with the Walker, Texas Ranger star in one of the greatest fights captured on celluloid.

From its lighthearted comedic elements to its complex choreography, you can feel Lee’s touch throughout this pioneering movie. This disc also contains brief interviews with a bevy of Hong Kong stars, including Martial Law lead Sammo Hung, who reminisces about Lee’s effect on the world.

Game of Death (1978)
This is a film I hate to love. Why? Because it’s the greatest Bruce Lee movie never made. He shot only a fraction of it before dying at age 32, leaving behind innovative fight footage but no screenplay. That didn’t stop the studios from inventing a story about an actor who fakes his death to eliminate a syndicate. Enter the Dragon director Robert Clouse cobbled together bits of the star’s fight scenes and shots from his other movies with new footage featuring a double. As it stands today, the film’s a far cry from the philosophical epic Lee had originally planned.

Scenes featuring the real Lee show monumental leaps in his acting, choreography and directing skills. He sheds the superman persona to play a sarcastic everyman who, while very skilled, is vulnerable—making us empathize with him even more. Meanwhile, he blends his brilliant kicking and punching with authentic grappling and devastating trapping techniques. It’s worth sitting through 85 minutes of scenes to get to the final, glorious 20 minutes, when we’re treated to him throwing down with real-life student Dan Inosanto. And who can forget the climactic combat between my all-time favorite martial artist and my all-time favorite basketball player, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?

This DVD also features a scene-by-scene comparison of the footage Lee assembled and what appeared in the 1978 release.

Game of Death II (1981)
This work isn’t a Bruce Lee movie; it’s a Bruce-ploitation movie. The producers manufactured an entire sequel by swiping an unused scene from Enter the Dragon (which has since been restored on DVD). The disc’s only redeeming quality is its use of outtakes from Lee’s original footage.

Despite having a few flaws, the collection has a whole lot of value. Fox should be commended for commemorating the 20th century’s greatest martial arts movie star. Like Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, Lee is an idol whose legacy will never fade. Thanks to DVD sets like this one, his mythos can only swell.

About the author: Patrick Vuong is a freelance journalist, screenwriter and martial artist based in Fountain Valley, California. To contact him, send e-mail to bbscreenshots@yahoo.com.