It really annoys me when people give a film 1/10 based on the fact that it doesn't meet their expectations or that it deviates from factual history.
I have Bruce Lee's complete collection of films and every episode of the Green Hornet (including the two that he did for Batman), not to mention a dozen or so documentaries on the man. My last count of Jackie Chan's films that I have bought on DVD or Blu ray was at about 67, so I have acquired most of his body of work also. Besides all this, I have dozens of other martial arts films from various actors including Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, to name a few. To sum up, I feel that I am fairly experienced when it comes to watching martial arts films.
So why did I title this review 'Unfairly Judged'? Because while 'Birth of the Dragon' may present Bruce Lee in an inaccurate way, and while it takes liberties with recorded history, there are several aspects that are well handled and deserving of more than a 1/10. Here's my top 3:
1) The story is easy to follow, and everything was filmed and edited well. Worth at least a 5/10.
2) The acting from everyone was very good, which is more than I can say for most of the films in my Bruce and Jackie collection. Again, this is worth at least a 5/10.
3) For me, this third one is the real sore point: that Philip Ng and Yu Xia went through probably months of hard work choreographing the two main fight scenes, and in my opinion the results are worthwhile and enjoyable, despite moments where wires were used and a few scenes that were weird and beyond belief. To give these two gentlemen a 1/10 for their efforts is a total insult and shows a fair degree of ignorance from any reviewer.
You may not be happy with the approach the director took (and I sure as hell know I wasn't), but by what right do you come here and trash the sweat and hard work the actors did in making it all come together? Considering the material they were given to work with, the actors did an excellent job all the way through - particularly with those lengthy fight scenes, and it is my opinion that anyone who would reward these efforts with a big fat 'F' does not deserve to be sitting in a cinema or in front of a TV.
6/10 overall.
I have Bruce Lee's complete collection of films and every episode of the Green Hornet (including the two that he did for Batman), not to mention a dozen or so documentaries on the man. My last count of Jackie Chan's films that I have bought on DVD or Blu ray was at about 67, so I have acquired most of his body of work also. Besides all this, I have dozens of other martial arts films from various actors including Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, to name a few. To sum up, I feel that I am fairly experienced when it comes to watching martial arts films.
So why did I title this review 'Unfairly Judged'? Because while 'Birth of the Dragon' may present Bruce Lee in an inaccurate way, and while it takes liberties with recorded history, there are several aspects that are well handled and deserving of more than a 1/10. Here's my top 3:
1) The story is easy to follow, and everything was filmed and edited well. Worth at least a 5/10.
2) The acting from everyone was very good, which is more than I can say for most of the films in my Bruce and Jackie collection. Again, this is worth at least a 5/10.
3) For me, this third one is the real sore point: that Philip Ng and Yu Xia went through probably months of hard work choreographing the two main fight scenes, and in my opinion the results are worthwhile and enjoyable, despite moments where wires were used and a few scenes that were weird and beyond belief. To give these two gentlemen a 1/10 for their efforts is a total insult and shows a fair degree of ignorance from any reviewer.
You may not be happy with the approach the director took (and I sure as hell know I wasn't), but by what right do you come here and trash the sweat and hard work the actors did in making it all come together? Considering the material they were given to work with, the actors did an excellent job all the way through - particularly with those lengthy fight scenes, and it is my opinion that anyone who would reward these efforts with a big fat 'F' does not deserve to be sitting in a cinema or in front of a TV.
6/10 overall.