shaft2k4
Active Member
Yeah, Fist of Legend was top notch.
Was there a little rivalry between Kung Fu and the Japanese styles. I notice a lot of punkage going on with Chinese heroes beating down entire dojos full of Japanese. lol
Bruce Lee vs. Donnie Yen (CGI Fight)
- Thread starter shaft2k4
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Yeah, Fist of Legend was top notch.
Was there a little rivalry between Kung Fu and the Japanese styles. I notice a lot of punkage going on with Chinese heroes beating down entire dojos full of Japanese. lol
Stizzy
Well-Known Member
Hmmmm,,, I don't know. IP Man has the same rivalry. Even in the day, Chinese Super Ninjas (Five Element Ninjas) had it.
Fist Of Legend was a remake of Bruce Lee's Fist Of Fury(called The Chinese Connection in the US because Fist Of Fury was the US title for The Big Boss) The scene where Chen Zen beats up the Japanese students in the classroom and the teacher having to repair the injuries was pretty cool. Also the scene where Chen enters the Japanese dojo and an instructor angrily says, "Take your Chinese shoes off when you enter here!" Chen kicks his ass with his Chinese shoes. Classic.
When Jet Li made the film Hero, he played Ho Yuen Ja(or Cha), the teacher, murder victim and inspiration for Chen Zen in Fist Of Fury and Fist Of Legend.
shaft2k4
Active Member
Definitely classic. If I remember correct, didn't the Japanese have a sign near the entrance that read "no dogs or Chinese allowed"? Damn.
Lee recognized the emasculated stereotypes foisted upon Asian men (especially Chinese) and did his part to counter those negative images.
From Americana Pop Culture magazine;
"...It is with these issues as a distinct backdrop that Bruce Lee arrived on the stage to bring his image and his message to the American movie going masses. Lee’s definitive statement from his second Hong Kong produced martial arts film, Fist of Fury (1972), that the “Chinese are no longer the sick men of Asia” epitomizes one of the key messages he was seeking to promote throughout his life: that Chinese Americans were not the weak and subservient individuals that the American media stereotypically portrayed. Instead, Lee wanted to represent a strong, masculine, and dominant Chinese-American hero that was proud of his cultural heritage and openly embraced both his American and Chinese background. As a Chinese-American icon, Lee did more than any other actor in the period to advance the cause of racial equality for Asians living in the United States. As such, this paper will posit that Bruce Lee’s mass appeal during the 1970’s was influential in changing the way Chinese Americans were represented by the American media and perceived by the public at large."
Rest of Bruce Lee article-
http://www.americanpopularculture.com/archive/film/lee.htm
shaft2k4
Active Member
Do you remember the "other" Bruce? Bruce Li(sometimes me and my friends would call him Bruce Lie because even though he was built and looked like Bruce Lee, He wasn't. But, he was, in my humble opinion a good fighter and entertainer) was loose while Bruce Lee was rigid.
I think kung fu films of the 90's was at their peak. Thanks to renewed interest from fans. Videogames were a major help in the mid-90's. But the 70's and 80's martial art films enjoyed a huge popularity thanks to Chuck Norris, Thomas Ian Griffin, Michael Dudikoff, Olivier Gruner, David Carradine, Cynthia Rothrock, Brandon Lee, Sho Kosugi and others. And to television shows like Ultraman, Spectreman, Kung Fu, the ninja show called The Master, TMNT, The Power Rangers, VR Troopers and Kamen Rider. Today, with the emphasis on technology, the genre is more or less live-action cartoons. Entertaining but at times predictable.
That scene with the East Indian guard and the two Japanese guys was in Fist Of Fury(The Chinese Connection). Bruce Lee definitely wanted to change the stereotype of the Chinese people and Chinese-Americans. He even pointed that out in an interview that is on the Enter The Dragon DVD.
His widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, stated that Bruce didn't always follow traditions, but he respected them. When he co-starred on The Green Hornet, in China, the show was called The Kato Show and showed extended fight scenes. He had hoped that his idea for the show Kung Fu would originally cast him as Qi Chang Caine, but the role went to David Carradine and Bruce Lee was not even credited. But, like it was once stated by actor Tom Laughlin, who created Billy Jack in the late 50's, that white America didn't like to see a non-white beat up the white man on a regular basis on screen. So, Bruce Lee was cheated.
Check out one of Gordon Liu's Master Killer film series. In one film he marries a Japanese woman only to discover that she is a karate expert. And she trains in one side of his gym. Gordon Liu's character respectfully points out a few differences in karate as opposed to kung fu in the film.
Stizzy
Well-Known Member
I have to check that out!!