Game of Death II (1980) User Reviews

Fight-packed sequel is even better than the first

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 20 July 2016]

Well, I've always loved all things trashy, and GAME OF DEATH II is undoubtedly trash. A well-made piece of trash perhaps, but trash all the same. Now, it's rather incredible that Bruce Lee was still making movies nine years after his death, and I was rather incredulous as to how a sequel to GAME OF DEATH could have been produced. In the first film they were struggling with unbelievable doubles and inserting left-over footage from Lee's unfilmed work but just about managed to create a believable (and very popular - hence the sequel) movie.

Thankfully GAME OF DEATH II dispenses with the Lee character around halfway through, and I say thankfully because the efforts to which the makers of this movie go to convince us that Bruce Lee has a starring role are incredible and in vain. They even resort to footage of Lee as a child in one segment (a flashback)! The greenhouse fight from the previous movie is reused as are lots of close-ups of Lee's face and the back of a double again. In one scene we see an abbot in a yellow robe in (newly filmed) scenes for this movie, in the next an abbot in an orange robe is acting with Lee from a previous film (ENTER THE DRAGON)! Supposedly they're the same person although the actor and clothes are completely different. You'll have to see it to believe.

The reason I love this movie is all the incredible stuff going on in it. It's like the makers weren't even trying to make a realistic film. For instance, at the funeral of his martial arts master, Lee sees a helicopter come down with a cage to steal the coffin! After jumping on to the cage he is shot with a poisoned dart and plummets to his death. Just one incredible scene out of many. Of course this also means we get to see footage of his funeral once again, dragged out of the cupboard since its last airing. At last the use of stock footage is finally over.

Enter the film's real hero, Tong Lung. Apart from having an amusing name, Lung lacks Lee's natural charisma but more than makes up for this in his athletic fight scenes which are very enjoyable to watch. The first half of the film has some street fights and assassin attacks which are fairly typical for the genre. The second half sees Lung travelling to a remote palace where he befriends a westerner known as Lewis. Lewis is forever being challenged by other fighters (must get tiring...) and feeds their bodies to his pet lions. Well, one night, Lung is seduced by a naked woman who turns out to be an assassin with a poisoned needle in her ring. At the same time one of the lions jumps through the window to attack and Lung has to fight it. Great stuff.

Meanwhile, Lewis is violently murdered by being hanged and stabbed and Lung believes his scarred, one-armed servant is responsible. At around the hour mark he travels to the 'Tower of Death' and from then on the film just becomes constant action, one long martial arts fight after another. After fighting and beating all of the guards above ground (including the servant who has two arms after all - don't ask), Lung ventures into the secret underground lair where he takes part in some fantastic kung fu fighting. After violently beating a room full of trained killers by breaking their bones (cue one scene which rips off ENTER THE DRAGON by having Lung brutally kill a bad guy then pulling a twisted face like Lee did) Lung goes on to fight a warrior credited as "Wildman" dressed in leopard skins (!), then has to traverse a corridor with an electrified floor, battle a hulking guard in orange robe, and finally take on the chief villain, a drug runner who faked his own death in order to get Interpol off his back! I admit it, the film has little plot and is identical to lots of other '70s kung fu movies. What I loved were the well-choreographed martial arts fights with lots of impossibly fast movies and violent bone-crunching action (one enemy is dispatched by having his legs cracked!). The film lovingly slows down at one point to watch Lung jumping through the air, kicking through a huge crate to smash a man's face in. You wouldn't get that in a western film. I love the setting of the computerised underground lair and the way that the fights take place in one interesting setting after another. I like the cheesy dubbing with unrealistic British accents and the trite dialogue the actors are given. If you're looking for a wealth of martial-arts action and not a lot else then I recommend that you give this film a try, as for me it was an unexpected surprise and even more enjoyable than the first!

This is what an entertaining b-movie should be like

[SkullScreamerReturns · 6/10 · 23 August 2020]

Bruce Lee's posthumous Game of Death was a confusing mishmash. But then comes a sequel with even less Bruce Lee in it. Can it be any good? Yes, the story is actually better, and even though the lead acting is done by a completely different guy the action is still very good. Overall the movie is more crazy and over the top than the actual Bruce Lee films. But I like it for what it is. There's a lot of fighting with exploding punch sounds, crazy characters, interesting locations, and the length of the movie is perfectly brief for this kind of thing. If you expect a serious film, this is not it. But if you like cheesy non-stop action where anything can happen, then you must see it!

Beware of the Killer Peacocks!

[SamuraiNixon · 6/10 · 14 June 2006]

Game of Death II (aka Tower of Death) is a dichotomy of a film. It is a Bruceploitation film (though it is one of the better ones) and it is an exiting revenge flick. Raymond Chow had apparently not made enough money off of the insipid Game of Death and was slowly leaking "newly found" footage of Bruce so it was bound that he would create another film with spliced in footage, redubbed dialog and, of course, Bruce's namesake. A lot of people were using Lee's name to promote their own productions, but Golden Harvest (who Bruce worked for; though technically this was a Seasonal production) was the worst of these offenders.

The first act of the movie is the least interesting and worst part of the film. Bruce Lee stars (posthumously edited in) as Billy Lo (Bruce Lee) who visits his friend Chin Ku (Hwang Jang Lee) who is currently beating up an under-classed challenger. After an reestablishment of friendship between the two (never a good sign in a Kung Fu film), he visits an abbot (Roy Chiao revisiting his role from Enter the Dragon so they can reuse and redub footage) to discuss about his contumacious brother Bobby Lo (Tong Lung who also starred in Game of Death).

Of course, the scenes that compromise the first act are not only exploitative of Bruce Lee they are also poorly done. The most obvious is that the backgrounds do not match between Bruce's footage and the new footage. Also check out the sculpted back muscles of Bruce and compare them to his double. It is not even close. The fight scenes with Bruce (and his double) do not flow well. However, anytime you see a fight scene and that Bruce (or his double) does a difficult move such as a flip you will notice that it is the incomparable Yuen Biao (he even has a small role toward the beginning.) Bruce later visits the funeral of his friend Chin Ku and he is prevented from examining the body (this must mean something to the plot.) When the ceremony takes place a helicopter comes by and snags the coffin. For some strange reason, well to dispose of the fake Bruce character, he jumps on the coffin as it is flying away and is hit with a dart and falls to his death. This is absolutely absurd. Though this is not as bad as the 70s clothes at the funeral or the tacky real funeral footage of Bruce Lee that would come next.

Now the movie gets more interesting and less exploitative. Bobby learns of his brother's death from his father who tells him to meet Sherman Lan. Sherman tells him to go to the Palace of Death. Now this is an interesting place. It is owned by Lewis, played by Roy Horan who has been an executive at Seasonal, an actor who also acted in Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, a student of Hwang Jang Lee and currently a lecturer at HK Polytechnic University; obviously his life is more interesting than this film. Bobby suspects Lewis as the culprit behind his brother's death. Lewis likes to eat raw meat, is surrounded by lions (who are fed the fighters that he defeats), Killer Peacocks and a one-armed valet (oh my). The one-armed assistant, a monk from the Fan Yu temple, does not seem that he could be of great use to Lewis, but Lewis says that he is faithful and he has known him for a long time (do not dwell on this fact because the absurdity of what happens later is quite hilarious). I really do not trust one-armed people in Hong Kong films unless they are played by Jimmy Wang Yu.

Lewis tells Bobby of a tower built by abbot Hung Kuang. However, it cannot be found above ground. The abbot had it built underground (this is a nice twist until you see how much they spent on the set design and how many levels there actually are). Obviously there is going to be a show down there with Bobby fighting however is behind all of this madness. I will not give it away (or tell what happens at the Palace of Death) but it is fairly obvious who it will be.

The final act of the film leads to some good fighting scenes, obviously with the help of action director Yuen Wo-Ping, as Bobby makes his way down the tower (try to see how many times Yuen Biao is used as a stunt double; hint check every other move Bobby makes). Most of the film is entertaining (not counting the irritating and unnecessary flashbacks). There is always going to be tackiness involved anytime you invoke Bruce Lee's inimitable name; but once the movie gets past that it is fun to watch. In fact it is the best Bruceploitation film out there -- though that does not necessarily mean that much.

A truly surreal piece of classic exploitation...

[abentenjo · 29 April 2002]

A truly surreal piece of classic exploitation that's just so insane you feel you have to love it, a slice ‘n' dice treatment made on real Lee footage jumbled together to create yet another new `Bruce Lee movie', much in the same vein as its non-related predecessor, however this one's a lot more fun. Bruce Lee returns, so they say, as Billy Lo, eager to discover the reasoning behind his master's sudden death, which sure enough leads to his own end. Enter Billy's brother Bobby (Kim Tai Chong, or rather Lee-alike ‘Tong Lung') and the second half of this crazy charade begins, with Bobby continuing the investigations into both the deaths. When the Lee footage runs out (by ludicrously killing off the character halfway using the classic ‘fall from the under carriage of a moving helicopter' trick), the movie is left to Kim who in actual fact does quite well with it, given the circumstance: events consist of visiting the palace of crazy fighter Horan, battling a man in a tarzan outfit in some underground sci-fi laboratory, before beautifully laying waste to a random monk (Lee Hoi San) and Hwang Jang Lee. It's complete madness, but like a cute family puppy it's just too difficult to put down. A shameful exercise that's just unashamedly entertaining.

Was this really supposed to be a comedy?

[mjscarface · 4/10 · 16 July 2007]

There are so many stupid moments in 'Tower of Death'/'Game of Death 2' that you really wonder if it's a spoof. At times, it felt like I was watching a sequel to Kung Pow rather than a Bruce Lee film.

To be honest, this film has bugger all to do with 'Game of Death'. If anything, it's more a sequel/remake of 'Enter the Dragon', incorporating many elements of that film - particularly the actual footage. Bruce Lee's character Billy Lo (apparently) investigates the sudden death of his friend and encounters a piece of film that was left with the man's daughter. When the body is stolen during the funeral (!), Billy is also killed and it's up to his wayward brother to avenge both men's deaths.

Tong Long stars as brother Bobby Lo and doesn't really have the sort of charisma to carry the film. His fighting abilities are very good however. Bruce Lee obviously turns up thanks to (no longer) deleted footage simply to cash-in on the legacy. Saying that, on the whole, the footage is actually edited-in better than in 'Game of Death' but it doesn't stop the film from being a mess.

OK, so the fights are actually very entertaining (dare I say mind-blowing) and make the film at least watchable. But there are so many daft elements to this film that it really tests your patience. First off, there's the supposed villain who lives on his palatial estate... or is that mental institution? Seriously, the nutter eats raw venison, drinks deer's blood, carries a monkey on his shoulder and owns some peacocks and lions (?!). This attempt to make him look tough and intelligent just makes you feel sorry for him - you half expect someone to escort him back to his room.

In fact, this middle section is awful and when the scene involving a naked hooker and a lion suit arrived I turned it off. However, I did finish the film and was kind of glad I did because the fight scene towards the end (much like 'GOD') was the whole reason for watching. While the story is an embarrassment, the action is very good and contains excellent choreography.

But even the finale disappoints if the premise was anything to go by. What we were told was that the 'Tower of Death' was a pagoda that was upside down and underground. This sounded great, like a twist on Bruce Lee's original idea with different styles of fighting on each level. Could this be the 'Game of Death' that was originally planned? No! The film should have been named "Generator Room of Death" because thats as far as the tower goes. Of yes, there were indeed one or two 'different' styles... there were foil clad grunts, leopard-skinned henchman and stupid monk. It's as though Enter the Dragon had never been made, with the plot being a poor imitation.

Worth watching once for the fast paced fight scenes, but so stupid sometimes that it hurts. If this was intended, then fine. Thumbs up, however, for recreating that projector room scene from 'Enter The Dragon'.

psychedelic C-grade Bruce hodgepodge

[r-c-s · 5/10 · 29 April 2008]

this film is a psychedelic hodgepodge featuring Bruce Lee in stock footage and even showing him in his childhood and youth. Fight scenes deserve a B but the rest is a hurried, chaotic mess. Scenery is most fake: when Billy Lo fights the thugs after meeting the bar girl, it is clearly a damn cheap in-studio shoot; the underground Bond-styled base of the drug dealers is just ridiculous, with a world map flashing with lights. The plot is paper-thin to non-existent and very chaotic at that: many events make no sense at all and some subplots are clearly a poor excuse for a fight scene. Miranda Austin's twenty seconds of frontal nudity are the only redeeming quality of this C-tier low-budgter with awful soundtrack, poor English dubbing and poverty-stricken scenes.

Virtually nothing to do with Game Of Death

[sliat_1981 · 2/10 · 13 August 2005]

In this 'sequel' Bruce is still called Billy Lo (get it? Bruce= Billy, Lo= Lee. No?) But apart from that, that's all it has in common with the other movie. Billy doesn't seem to be an actor anymore. He seems to be in another country. He's more like a spy. He's the only cast member to return and sadly, they kill him off to make way for a new character, his brother, Bobby. Sadly, when Bruce dies, the movie pretty much dies with him. This was extremely poorly made. It seemed like they were writing the script as they were filming. The footage works for a while (it's not too obvious at first) but soon Bruce is always shown in the dark all the time (he kicks out a light at one stage for no other apparent reason to hide the fact that it's not Bruce playing the part). Sadly when he dies the movie changes. I can't help but wonder if they were filming as they were writing and may well have planned to keep Bruce alive, but later decided to kill him off because it would not have been plausible as Bobby does not appear until Billy is dead. It's hard to change the lead character halfway in the movie and Bruce is a hard act to follow so it's hard to now accept Bobby as the star. Bruce is never seen again in this movie. I think they should have made this sequel without Bruce he has a lame role in this movie. People hoping to see a new Bruce Lee movie will be disappointed to see that although he's given the top billing, he only has a featuring role. Even the worst movies have at least one memorable bit. If there was one bit about this movie people seem to talk about, it's the scene where Billy fights in a plant nursery. Ironically it doesn't even use Bruce Lee footage. Mind you, they did it more convincingly in No Retreat No Surrender. Not one of the other actors here ever made anything else memorable. Bruce's girlfriend (Colleen Camp) is never mentioned. My advice is to turn it off as soon as Bruce is finished writing his letter to his brother. Nothing else in the movie is worth watching. I found it really sad to see Bruce die. I don't see how a small budgeted movie like this could get enough money to use footage from Enter The Dragon. This was a cheap way of trying to cash in on Bruce's name. Oddly this and the original are credited in Bruce's filmography. Thankfully so far, no one has tried anything like this again. 1981 was the year of Bruce's last movie appearance. It was a sad way to end it, but thankfully this is proof that Bruce's movie career should be left alone.

Fight

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 24 July 2020]

Game of Death 2 ... I see. Well I saw - I guess you know where I'm going with this joke. Now I think it's unfortunate that this went and tried to profit off of Bruce Lees name and death. Because the story and the action choreography especially could have worked - the latter does work, but the movie is sort of diminished by the blatant and obvious placement of either a Bruce Lee double or insertion of scenes of Lee from other movies.

Having said that and as stated above the movie has some very fine fight scenes. So if you are able to watch this without thinking too much about Bruce Lee there is entertainment to be had here ... just don't expect a masterpiece (especially in the dubbed version I saw)

Let's play make-believe Bruce!

[InzyWimzy · 3/10 · 13 December 2003]

This is high grade cheese fare of B movie kung fu flicks. Bruce "wannabe" Lee is played by Bruce Li...I think. Of course, let's show quick clips of Bruce and do closeups of his eyes and if you quint at the right angle during a certain time of the day during the winter solstice, it kind of looks like Bruce. You'll laugh in awe at how the film splicing isn't very good, but some cool deleted scenes from Enter the Dragon are thrown in the mix. According to the movie, Bruce Lee was killed by a dart while hanging from a helicopter. Of course, they think this can excuse Bruce Li for trying to be Bruce even though his character is supposed to be Bruce's brother (who for some reason still mimes Bruce's gestures and fighting style - very POORLY). See Bruce go one-on-one with the cowardly lion. The props department stopped by Kay-Bee, you see. Bruce also finds nothing wrong with savagely beating up a crippled man. Towards the end, the director decided "let's throw a flashback" for a scene just shown 3 minutes ago!! They must've thought that only one-celled organisms with attention deficit disorder could fully understand this film.

Superb kung-fu film hiding under a disgraceful cash grab

[BrickNash · 7/10 · 29 October 2016]

Game of Death II is a really sad state of affairs, and I mean sad in that this is a brilliant kung-fu film but it's so easy to get put off due to the fact that it's such a blatant cash in on the Bruce Lee name.

The first half of the film is pretty disrespectful. Footage of Bruce Lee is clumsily shoehorned in simply to get his name in the credits but it's so badly done that it's cringeworthy. For a start the footage is clearly from Enter The Dragon and it looks like they didn't even bother to match the film type as you can tell it's from totally different stocks when it cuts between the archive footage and the real film. They didn't even bother to get the make up and the outfit colour to match for the scenes with the Abbot. Add to the fact that Kim Tai-chung doubles for Bruce Lee PLUS plays his brother is totally obvious. They shoot Kim from behind most of the time in a really obvious way but on a few occasions you see a full front shot of his face and can tell it's not Bruce so there was absolutely no point to it.

All this is doubly sad because this is actually a brilliant kung-fu film. The fight choreography is superb and if you disregard the Bruce Lee cash in it's actually a decent story as well (for this type of film) Having no less than three directors is a plus point and all are known names. Ng See Yuen and Corey Yuen later went on to make the martial arts triumph 'No Retreat No Surrender' and of course Sammo hung who is a legend in the kung fu world helped direct and stage the fights and boy does it show.

I'm actually surprised that Raymond Chow who was supposedly a family friend of the Lees allowed such a foul cash grab to be made. Fair enough, the first Game Of Death had an excuse as they were finishing his work (even though they changed everything) but this really was a cheap effort to make money off the dead.

Regardless, if you can stomach the first half of the film and it's really shameless flogging of Bruce Lee footage then you are in for a treat in the second half when the movie dumps the stock footage splicing and actually becomes it's own film, and it's a damn good one too. The end fight is one of the very best in kung-fu history and that's saying something.

If this film had been it's own thing then it would be almost at the top of the pile and it's a shame because most people won't watch past the first few minutes or so and they'd probably be quite right as morally this film is a disgrace, but underneath is a superb martial arts film that sadly not many with even bother with.

Terrible, from beginning to end.

[tjp91 · 1/10 · 6 April 2007]

A handful of critics have awarded this film with positive comments. I don't wish to argue with their opinion, but I strongly disagree. When I first watched this film I was mildly impressed. But after comparing it with other films, particularly with the late master, Bruce Lee I quickly changed my mind. In fact, if it wasn't for the title of the film, I would never have bought it. Game of Death 2 doesn't relate to the original Game of Death, (except it shares one character, Billy Lo.)

I was stunned to see how similar Game of Death 2 was compared to Enter the Dragon. The plots have striking similarities: Both Bruce Lee and Bobby Lo are on a mission to avenge a relative. The two locations are similar, in which they both are very isolated and are surrounded by thousands of Blackbelts. There is an element of prostitution in both films (women are sent two the guests rooms in both films.) Both Han (Enter the Dragon) and Lewis's henchman have a hand missing. Their is an underground drug operation in Enter the Dragon, believe it or not, there is one in Game of Death 2. Han has a pet cat in Enter the Dragon, the director has used his imagination and awarded Lewis with a pet monkey! The list continues.

Regarding other aspects of the film, such as the script and the acting, I felt it was very poor. It seemed to me that the director was looking for a group of martial artists to star in the film and prayed they could act.

On a positive scale, I cannot deny that the choreography is impressive. Although the fighting sequences have strong elements of acrobatics in them, they are none the less skillfully performed. However, as the plot is insufficient, i couldn't relate to the characters, therefore the fighting sequences were more exhibitions rather than having a meaning to the film.

In conclusion I would say this film is recommendable to any martial-arts fans, but for those who enjoy a solid action film, with a good storyline and strong characters, I seriously wouldn't recommend this film. My opinions towards this film may seem very bias and one-sided, but when Bruce Lee set a new standard in the martial arts cinema, particularly after his masterpiece: Enter the Dragon, this film failed to rise to these standards. If anything they imitated a truly brilliant martial-arts film, in hope of achieving the same level of fame.

In reference to my evaluation, awarding this film a very harsh 1 out of 10, the film is barley watchable, and must be thankful that it had the fighting sequences it did.

A solid martial arts film from the early 80s...

[stupid_fresh · 8/10 · 1 November 2006]

...just forget about it being a Bruce Lee film! Honestly, it's pretty good. I don't know why people slate this film, it's no better or worse than something like Shaolin Iron Claws (also starring Hwang Jang Lee), or many other martial arts films from the late 70a and early 80s.

Unfortunately, as this was planned as a 'tribute to' (read 'another way to get money out of the image of') Bruce Lee, it's what it's mainly remembered as. I would argue that there are some rather good sequences in this film - Roy Haron's fight scenes, for example, or the end sequence (which is pretty enjoyable in a James Bond type of way).

And, to be honest, the footage is interpolated a HELL of a lot better than that P.O.S. 'Game Of Death' film that came first, which is just laughable. Damn, that film was bad. This film, in comparison, is reasonably good natured, and at least moves on from the Bruce Lee footage (none of which features any original Bruce Lee fighting at all!) quite early, leaving the audience to get on with a 'proper film', rather than playing spot the edits with the original Bruce Lee footage and the stand in.

I must apologise for all the 'inverted commas' in this review! Anyway, it's better than the first Game Of Death, Hwang Jang Lee is well worth watching (as always) and Roy Haron is wicked.

So bad you will love it!!!

[pauliewalnuts-49356 · 7/10 · 19 October 2023]

I was feeling a bit down when this film came on one night after having watched it it cheered me up no end!

This film is so laughable that it is impossible to be angry at it.

It is so innocent in that some people actually looked at this after the final edit and thought 'yeah this is pretty good let's put this out' It's a beautiful b movie with laughable dubbing awful soundtrack and terrible acting but I still loved it!

The bits with Bruce lee actually mirror the whole film,in that it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever!!!

The fight scenes are fantastic,beautiful to watch I have to say I did fall in love with the uncredited Asian singer May... All I can say is watch this film to cheer yourself up and don't take life too seriously Loved it!!!!

As good as the first. A guilty pleasure sequel.

[RoboRabbit89 · 4/10 · 2 August 2018]

Well, this was convenient, a sequel to the original; that I at least, heard is not related. But I would say for the sake of argument it's a stand alone follow-up.

I recently watched this a couple of days ago, because I had ordered it from my library, and at best, found it enjoyably bad. And comparing it to the first, it's just as good, having said that, let's get to it.

This story is about a secret syndicate organization called "Tower of Death", since the story starts off with Bruce Lee, I'll start here, Bruce Lee makes an extended cameo appearance as Billy Lo, at the start of the story where he is asked to attend a funeral of a respected martial arts master, and then,(killed of, yet again)! But this time for "real,"(kinda silly I know) at least in the movie, So his brother Bobby Lo must go to the tower of death, take revenge and find out the truth.

I would say this was at least as good as the first, maybe not in story, but more so for the action scenes which are done very well. But as far as the story, it makes no sense at all, truthfully I would say the story is incoherent manly because the filmmakers I think wanted this one to be just a fun no-brainer type of film.

For the beginning, the same techniques were used for Bruce Lee, using stand-ins and archive footage but this time the effects used are much better and they don't stand out badly like the first, which is good.

This film as a whole was bad but enjoyably bad, Bobby Lo also fights a lion at one point, even though it's a man in a suit LOL. I mean this movie is bonkers, then at the end the movie completely shifts into science fiction territory, but trust me it was cool. I found myself just loving this, even though this movie is so cheesy and the acting is bad, but It strangely all comes together and it's brilliant.

I give this a 4/10. To me the first is still better, as for the sequel it's as good but better with the action and truthfully, I like both.

If you don't mind a corny martial arts movie like this, see it. But you must to have a sense of humor about it or you won't enjoy it. Highly recommended.

Shambolic - the most entertaining film in existence

[BorisSlashSal · 10 January 2004]

I'll just say that the film is constructed so poorly that it is outrageously funny. I watched it with friends, and I recommend everyone does the same. If you have even half of a sense of humour, you'll be laughing for literally 80% of the film.

Everything about the film is wrong: trying to resurrect Bruce Lee with scraps of footage and a guy that "kinda" looks like him; having a man dress up as a lion and go toe to toe with the lead character; having sets that belong in a star trek episode; having jesus play the bad duy. The best/worst parts are the "twists," which are so inconsequential they needn't have bothered. The makers could not have made a funnier film had they tried. Any film that includes the line: "I may be a jung-fu master, but I need cash!" must be essential viewing.

Funny but somewhat disrespectful towards Bruce Lee's legacy

[PeterRoeder · 4/10 · 24 July 2011]

Although this is probably the best of the imitation-movies of Bruce Lee, it is still not very good. I'm a big Bruce Lee fan, and this particular movie is very funny and quite stylish but it is not a Bruce Lee movie. Scenes like the lion-puppet thrown in through the window is funny, and the movie changes character towards the end in the computer game-like tower. Thus the final half hour is much better than the beginning of the movie. The Bruce Lee aspects of this movie makes no sense. Showing images of his childhood-movies is just not a good idea. Anyway, there's some pretty good martial arts in this movie and it is recommended, actually, to Bruce Lee fans and historians, just to see how his legacy was exploited by people who wanted to make money.

Mish-mash of archive footage

[hansen-32654 · 1/10 · 17 December 2015]

A mish-mash of archive footage from older Bruce Lee movies, which actually only gives us one original and previous unseen Bruce Lee fight scene. And that is not enough to make it watchable, as the incredible archive fight scenes did it in his other posthumous movie, Game of Death, 1978.

The lack of unseen material with Bruce Lee is affecting the plot to focus on Lee's characters brother, Bobby Lo, played by Tae-jeong Kim, who also was stand-in for Lee in Game of Death.

The top billing for Lee, and the stylization as a sequel to Game of Death is a misnomer. (Lee's character being named Billy Lo as the only real reference in the movie). Even though it is a production by Hong Kong producer Raymond Chow, who was the producer of Lee's previous Hong Kong movies and co-directed by former Lee accomplished Sammo Hung. It even has Roy Chiao playing a similar character to the one he played in Lee's Enter the Dragon, 1973. And the plot is derived from a original script by Lee.

But in fact it unintentionally ends up more as a parody to the genre instead of a tribute. (Jang Lee Hwang and Roy Horan's characters are almost ridiculous cliché) And in that way it should be watched. Which is a shame for Lee's legacy.

A Heap Of Flaming Suck

[Bevan - #4 · 2/10 · 4 December 2012]

Even by the terribly low standard of chopsocky flicks, this is the ultimate POS. From its ludicrous claim to be Bruce Lee's "final film" (hey, if I splice bootleg footage of Bruce into my next vidcam extravaganza, do I get to usurp that status?), to darkened duels with extras in lion suits, to flashbacks of the last scene, this flick leaves no stone unturned to deliver the epitome of bad cinema. Even the alleged awesome fight scenes are trumped by any number of MMA brawls you can gank from YouTube.

Honestly, the only cinematic rule this fetid ripoff follows is that of Joe Bob Briggs: if you're going to make a sequel, make it exactly like the original.

The only reason I'm not giving this abortion the lowest possible score is that Plan 9 From Outer Space and Last Temptation Of Christ exist.

2/10.

The worst Bruce Lee's movie

[Brooklyn-Boy · 6/10 · 27 May 2005]

You know, i'm a Bruce lee fan, but this movie is cold as hell.

Of course they did it after Bruce died because i really doubt the real Bruce would like to do that film been alive.

It's not like the seventies movies you know, it was different, the movie was not good, the plot has not sense at all, the villains are really dumb, some good fights but nothing special in the other Bruce's films we can see better fights.

So for me, well i haven't see fist of fear and fury of the dragon, but Including big boss, fist of fury,return of the dragon, enter the dragon and game of death this one is the worst.

I'll give it 6/10 and only because i fell respect for Bruce Lee.

Game of Death II

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 19 October 2023]

Game of Death II had the intention of what the movie Tower of Death may had been like. If Bruce Lee had not died during the middle of the production.

Stock footage and doubles are still used just as it were in Game of Death.

Billy Lo (Bruce Lee) is a renowned martial arts master. He and his friend Chin Ku are suddenly facing lots of challenges. It seems someone wants them dead.

Later Chin Ku is killed and someone attempts to steal his coffin. Billy Lo gives chase but dies in the process as he falls from a helicopter.

His younger brother, Bobby Lo (Tong Lung) goes to Japan to investigate who killed both his brother and Chin Ku. He goes to the Palace of Death run by a maniac martial arts expert Lewis (Roy Horan.) He eats raw deer for breakfast and anyone who unsuccessfully challenges him is fed to the lions. However someone close to Lewis is out to kill Bobby.

Like Game of Death, the attempts to place Bruce Lee in the movie is odd. It is not seamless. The presence of Lewis makes the film hokey but rather fun.

The plot does not make much sense, it really is chop suey. However there are some good fight sequences as Billy enters the Tower of Death.

Fierce like a lion and swift like a peacock...

[FlashCallahan · 6/10 · 18 July 2022]

While investigating his friend Chin Ku's death, martial artist Billy Lo is killed.

His younger brother, Bobby Lo, investigates both deaths, where his search takes him to Japan, where he befriends Lewis, master of the Castle Of Death.

But when Lewis is brutally murdered, Bobby must investigate the mysterious Fan Yu temple, where he must enter an underground pagoda and face off withthe most terrifying of enemies.......and dubbing...

This is a seeing is believing film, right from the word go, and I am very surprised that no one got sued making this. If you thought Game Of Death took liberties, this goes that little bit more, and starts to gut out the set and several scenes from Enter The Dragon. So after Lo is killed, it goes from silly, to stupidly bonkers cool in the wink of an eye.

Here's is no real plot, the acting is beyond awful, as is the dubbing.

But the guy in the Lion costume pretending to be one, is pure comedy gold. The Lion does martial arts, does backflips, cuddle a woman with a sharp ring on, and I'm sure i saw it sat up like a human in one part.

This is the kind of thing the filmed needed, not milking the legacy of Lee more. Golden Harvest just got away with it with Game of Death.

Here is when they are looking desperate ..

Cool lion though.....

Hardly a Bruce Lee movie...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 26 July 2020]

Initially I had dreaded sitting down to watch the 1981 movie "Game of Death 2" after having sat through the abysmal 1978 "Game of Death". But still, I hadn't seen this sequel before, and I had the chance now in 2020, so of course I did so. Although it was with some reluctancy.

Turns out, however, that "Game of Death 2" (aka "Sei mong tap") turned out to be a great improvement in terms of entertainment and storywise. And also, this was done in a lot more tactful manner than the 1978 movie.

Sure, this could hardly be called a Bruce Lee movie, as he wasn't in the movie all that much. And what scenes he was there, was from stock footage from previous movies. So slapping his name on the movie to sell it was just a bit distateful.

And again, we have a stand-in for Bruce Lee, for obvious reasons. But at least this time he wasn't wearing shades wherever he went, but the shots where 90% from the back, so you just saw the back of his head and hair, and other shots were from a great distance, so his face wasn't all that clear. A good way of doing it? Well, that of course, is individual taste and preference. I felt it was just sort of silly.

The majority of the storyline revolved around Bruce Lee's character's brother - good way of giving the stand-in a double role, huh? So again, calling this a Bruce Lee movie was just pushing it.

But taking these things out of the equation, then the movie was adequately entertaining. Campy, for sure, but an entertaining enough martial arts movie that necessarily didn't take itself overly serious. I mean, suddenly it took place inside a very futuristic sci-fi-looking environment with high technology death traps and such. Sure, why not...

I am rating "Game of Death 2" a mediocre five out of ten stars. At least it was better than the 1978 movie, and that counts for something, even though it took very little to surpass that train wreck.

Wonderful kung fu film

[zonayed123 · 10/10 · 9 June 2008]

Some people is dissatisfied with that film for the poor plot. Forget about the plot, man. People don't see this type of film for the so called plot. Game of Death II has the best fight scene of the century. I doubt even Bruce Lee could't do much better than this if he was alive during the filming of the film.

Tong Lung has portrayed some marvelous kung fu or jeet kune do here. Yuen Biao was fantastic and Yuen Wo Ping did an outstanding choreography. The music is fabulous kinda horror type. You will not forget the final fight scene between Chin Ku and Bobby Lo. It was long and heartstopping. You must see the film if u r an action fan. Do not bother about the plot but just enjoy the greatest fight.

Could be better

[afonsobritofalves · 6/10 · 19 October 2018]

I honestly did not like much of the movie there. This movie was much worse than any other fighting movie or any other movie with Jackie Chan. But it does not deserve a negative note, because although the plot is a bit weak and the cast (in addition to Jackie Chan), the film had some fighting scenes and other special effects. Highly recommend.

Not a real Bruce Lee film

[swedzin · 4/10 · 3 September 2013]

This is the last film, in which the producers and director tried desperately to extract the last table scraps of Bruce Lee into it. Why just couldn't call it Game of Death 2, but without Bruce. Don't get me wrong, I love Bruce Lee like every other person in the world, but… this is not a Bruce Lee film. They just took scenes from "Enter the Dragon" and maybe some others and edited it (badly) on the film… come on, man! Make a film, stop living in the past! The story is about Billy Lo and his younger brother Bobby Lo. Billy is a master martial artist and a friend of Chin Ku (played by Taekwondo master Jang Lee Hwang), who mysteriously dies and after stealing his coffin at the funder, Billy is killed trying to reclaim the coffin. And, all of a sudden Bobby Lo enters the film. By the story, Bobby loves to chase women, rather to practice martial arts. But, it turns out that Bobby is better than you think. He is very experienced and skilled, so he uses his skills to find people who killed his brother.

Now, the problem here, is that in the first, well 15-20 minutes in the film, the Bruce Lee "clone actor" is taking time from Tai Chung Kim (who plays Bobby), and credited the dead man (Bruce) instead a real actor who filled Bruce's character. I think that's disgusting. The film is no brainer, low budget, acting is very, very childish-like, just like in most of those Asian Kung Fu films… Now… this film is only worth watching because of the excellent fighting scenes. Really, check it, fighting scenes are very good, very well choreographed and filmed with such energy. Very good mixture of Kung Fu, Wushu, Taekwondo and Karate. The main star Tai Chung Kim is very good at Taekwondo, Jang Lee Hwang was excellent, just flawless with his leg techniques and to mention other actors like Roy Horan, he was good also. Overall, this is strictly for martial arts fans, and for those who practice Taekwondo and Kung Fu.