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Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth
(aka Bruce Lee: The True Story, Behind Bruce Lee, The Dragon Lives)
1976; directed by Ng See-Yuen

Even though it purports via its' poster to be "all true", Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth is perhaps not the best title for this Bruce Lee biopic, since a great amount of the "truth" presented here is in fact based on silly rumors like that Bruce had to fight members of the Mafia at the colosseum in Rome in order to get "permission" to film there. Taking that sort of thing into consideration, this actually isn't all that bad of a movie, especially when compared to many other "Bruceploitation" flicks.

Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth    Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth

Helmed by Ng See-Yuen, one of the first film-makers to cross the bridge between Hong Kong and Hollywood, The Man, The Myth has a bit of a bigger budget than most Bruceploitation movies, which isn't saying much, since it still looks very cheap. But at least here, the budget allows for the hiring of real actors and the inclusion of actual location shooting, instead of the usual M.O. for these types of pictures of filming a production with a couple of your drinking buddies in someone's backyard. Also, even though the movie was obviously released to capitalize on the notoriety of Bruce Lee's name after his untimely death, there's a sense of true love and respect for Lee's work, brought forth in scenes like one where he explains the philosophy of jeet kune do to his students.

Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth    Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth

That being said, it's ultimately pretty tough to take The Man, The Myth as a serious look into the life of Bruce Lee when the viewer is presented with cinematic fibs like the aforementioned Mafia fight. Another particularly silly montage shows Bruce training by punching the hell out of an Cold War-era IBM behemoth supercomputer that tells him that his strikes are making the mark by producing Price of Right-esque flashing lights and sound effects.

Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth    Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth

At this point in time, it's hard to say if The Man, The Myth could actually find an audience, or even if there is one left for this type of release. It's not as thorough or truthful as some later Bruce Lee biographies, so die-hard Bruce fans will most likely be annoyed or outright disgusted by the proceedings. And for those looking for a hunk of Bruceploitation cheese like Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave, the more serious tone taken here kind of takes the wind out of the sails from the possible Mystery Science Theatre treatment you might be wanting to give it. At its' core, Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth is ultimately a surprisingly decent, but not great, movie that big Bruce Lee fans might want to check out, just for the curiosity factor, if nothing else.

RATING: 5

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