Si wang you xi
Composer:
John BarryCast:
Bruce Lee, Tai Chung Kim, Biao Yuen, Gig Young, Dean Jagger, Hugh O'Brian, Mel Novak, Colleen Camp, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robert Wall, Yuan Chieh, Dan Inosanto (more)Plots(1)
Bruce Lee’s last screen work (he died during the production), Game of Death is a film that mystifies the man and the legend. Lee plays Billy Lo, a successful movie star, who is shot for refusing to join an international management syndicate. He fakes his own death as an opportunity to pursue the gang in secret. Although the death of Lee inevitably affected the final production of the film, it still contains some of the most unforgettable sequences in the history of cinema. The climax, in which Lee combats different masters of martial arts on each floor as he climbs his way to the top of a pagoda, is a perfect example. And the unique nunchaku battle with Danny Inasanto proves that Lee was years ahead of his time. (Umbrella Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (2)
Few art forms are as distant to me as martial arts (that even includes contemporary painting), but that's not why I give Game of Death the rating I do. The real reason is the film’s disrespect for a man, in this case the screaming Bruce Lee, who had been dead for five years... And yet, it seems, he was being filmed. For money, of course - but this time for money for others. The film is an absurd mess of all sorts of things, the fight scenes are boring, the twisted story (the plot about the death of a favorite actor must have been invented by someone with an extremely morbid sense of humor) is baffling, the illogicalities are glaring. Yes, we do get a triple lengthy fight at the end, in which Bruce Lee is Bruce Lee again, but hand on heart - are those scenes in any way amazing (aside from the fact that in one Lee makes sounds like a turkey in addition to screaming)? I don’t think so. Are you wondering why I watched Game of Death in the first place? For John Barry's music. Yes, I liked it in the opening credits, but otherwise I have to admit that one of my favorite composers didn't pull his weight this time and didn't compose much interesting accompaniment apart from that one motif. But this film wouldn't have deserved it anyway.__P.S. I see there is a sequel??
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More interesting than the film itself is its history. Bruce Lee died in 1973, but he appears in this film in scenes that have never been seen in any other film before. How is that possible? Simply because before Bruce made the film "Enter the Dragon," which ultimately cost him his life, he wanted to make the film "Game of Death." This film was supposed to have a relatively simple plot, revolving around Bruce's character ascending the levels of a temple, fighting a boss on each level. It is an idea that almost every action game uses, only the temple changes into different battlefields and levels. Several scenes were filmed, but then Bruce turned his attention to "Enter the Dragon," and he was supposed to return to "Game of Death," which unfortunately he did not have time for. After five years, however, Bruce's collaborators decided to revive the scenes, create a new framework for them, and replace Bruce Lee with doubles or footage from his older films. The film was made, and its highlight is the fight with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the legendary LA Lakers basketball player. This fight is precisely one of the scenes that Bruce managed to film, and it is clear that his level was completely above that of his doubles. The film as a whole is only a compilation that makes sense mainly as a tribute to a great man. So it needs to be taken in that way. Even so, the film does not rise above average. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/05/noc-patri-nam-voda-pro-slony-posledni.html
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