#1036c: LEE, Bruce: The Way Of The Dragon (1972)

LEE, Bruce (Hong Kong)
The Way Of The Dragon [1972]
Spine #1036c
Blu-ray


After the back-to-back triumphs of The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, Bruce Lee was given the chance to write, produce, and direct his third outing as a martial-arts superstar. He used the opportunity to add a touch of goofily entertaining comedy to the typically action-driven proceedings in The Way of the Dragon, which finds him playing a rigorously trained martial artist who travels from Hong Kong to Rome to help his cousin, whose restaurant is being threatened by a gang of thugs. Reaching new heights of physical virtuosity, Lee unleashes an astonishing display of nunchuck-swinging, fly-kicking mayhem, all culminating in one of his most breathtaking fights: an epic gladiatorial death match with Chuck Norris in the Roman Colosseum.

99 minutes
Color
Monaural
in Mandarin
2:35:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2020
Director/Writer


Bruce Lee was 32 when he wrote and directed The Way of the Dragon.

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Twenty-four page paper magazine with poster featuring an essay by Jeff Chang.

Commentary

By Hong-Kong film expert Mike Leeder.

Alternate English-language soundtrack

Interview 1

With Lee biographer Matthew Polly.

Interview 2

With producer Andrew Morgan about Golden Harvest, the company behind Hong Kong’s top martial-arts stars, including Lee.

Interview 3

With author Grady Hendrix about the “Bruceploitation” subgenre that followed Lee’s death, and a selection of Bruceploitation trailers.

Multiple programs and documentaries

About Lee’s life and philosophies, including Bruce Lee: The Man and the Legend (1973) and Bruce Lee: In His Own Words (1998).

Interviews

With Linda Lee Caldwell, Lee’s widow, and many of Lee’s collaborators and admirers, including actors Jon T. BennRiki HashimotoNora MiaoRobert WallYuen Wah, and Simon Yam and directors Clarence FokSammo Hung, and Wong Jing.

Promotional materials

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

By Spine #

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