Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1980) User Reviews

If only Bruce Lee hadn't died...

[AwesomeWolf · 1/10 · 3 November 2004]

... then movies like this would never have been made.

If you've ever seen a Bruce Li/Le/Lai/ or Dragon Lee movie, then you should know what Bruce-ploitation is all about. "Fist of Fear, Touch of Death" takes Bruce-ploitation several steps further, and to a new low. The basic plot of the movie is apparently centered around a martial arts bout to determine Bruce Lee's successor.

Most of the movie follows interviews with Bruce Lee, dubbed and spliced with Aaron Banks and Adolph Caesar. Fictional scenes of his family depict Bruce Lee as a martial arts-obsessed teenager ("Mother, I can kill a man with my bare hands - you don't understand me!", yet later calling someone else crazy...), randomly spliced with scenes from an old chopsocky movie supposedly depicting Bruce Lee's great-grandfather as "19th century China's greatest samurai" - can't have been too hard, I don't think there were many. These scenes take up most of the movie - I nearly forgot about the whole determining Bruce Lee's successor thing, and when they finished, I was so happy thinking that the movie was over, only to realize there were another twenty minutes. Damn. It seems as though the writers (if any) forgot what the basic plot was about and went off on same bizarre rant about Bruce Lee's heritage (the one they made up, not his real heritage).

This movie does not have cult-status in any way, nor does it give the cheesy-laughs you'd expect from a regular chopsocky movie. The only thing it manages to do is insult Bruce Lee and his legacy (even Fred Williamson says the same thing in this sad excuse for a movie). Avoid at all costs.

1/10

The box claimed "Bruce Lee ...in the original martial arts classic!"

[alexanderkominek · 1/10 · 19 December 2004]

Unfortunately, this film neither features real martial arts, nor is it a classic. It hardly even features Bruce Lee, except for some old footage that has been re-dubbed to make it look like Lee actually agreed to this film being made. I hope somebody got sued for this one.

This could have been a good documentary about the "1979 Karate Championship" but most of the footage from the karate matches is obviously staged, and has little to do with Chinese martial arts. Some interesting "facts" were revealed by this film however. For instance, prior to watching "Fist of Fear", I had no idea that Lee's great grandfather was the greatest Chinese samurai warrior.

There are a few funny moments in the film (the Bill Louie Kato scene, or when Fred Williamson is introduced for example) but if you have any respect for Bruce Lee or film-making in general, I would highly recommend avoiding this film.

• Lex

Spectacularly horrible

[pwt1981 · 1/10 · 7 October 2006]

Only in the presence of this movie can Gigli and Glitter be called cinematic masterpieces without a trace of irony or sarcasm. When they have a karate tournament (of which only the "finals" are shown) to succeed Bruce Lee culminate in a boxing match with a few kicks thrown in, you know God Himself will have a hard time elevating this movie from the bowels of hell to putrid. Over and above the relative absence of martial arts, there was barely a hint of a plot, what plot existed was completely disjointed, and there was abysmal acting (if that's what you want to call it), Aaron Banks' scenes with Bruce Lee, where they took turns telling each other how great they are (shoot me now), didn't even look close to being in the same room. After watching this movie, if I didn't know better, I would've thought Bruce Lee had been forced to an advance screening and applied the Touch of Death to himself.

If I had to bring up pluses for the movie, it would have to be the exhibitions of some of the true martial artists. The old chop-socky film that introduced Bruce Lee's grandfather in between Lee arguing with his dad over steak (?!) was funny in the sense of watching someone get repeated hit in the groin. It featured a little person and a guy that uses an abacus as a weapon. And if this movie wanted to be the worst ever, it succeeded admirably. If you want a new appreciation on any movie (including Santa with Muscles and Napoleon Dynamite), watch Fist of Fury, Touch of Death. All others, avoid.

Only look to this for comedy!

[groovycow · 7 September 2003]

FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH is to the martial-arts genre what KILLER CLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE is to the horror genre; it is pure and utter exploitational shlock...and yet it is hysterically, unintentionally funny.

Despite what others have said about this film being a "disgrace" to the name of Bruce Lee, I found it as more of a tribute, despite its numerous references to "Bruce Lee's successor." The general story is that the Madison Square Gardens is hosting a tournament to determine the aforementioned "successor," with Oscar-winner (not for THIS film!) Adolph Caesar as the hokey announcer. Also along for the ride is Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, determined to make his mark upon the blaxploitation world!! Through a series of poor flashbacks, the pair relate Bruce's (purely fictional) story.

The writer of this film certainly has a talent for penning crap, and yet my friends and I couldn't help but laugh so hard we cried. Clips from an old Chinese soap opera are re-dubbed to make Bruce's "biography," which then introduce a flashback-IN-a-flashback (got that?) about Bruce's great-grandfather, who was apparently a samurai. The footage for this segment is taken from INVINCIBLE SUPER CHAN, a cult classic in its own right due to a numerous wire tricks, a midget, and some guy with an abacus. Who knows what the writer of FIST OF FEAR was thinking when he wrote this...however, who cares??

The laughs that FIST OF FEAR will cause are practically nonstop, from Williamson's white beeyotch who insists on "making it a six-pack", to his being mistaken for Harry Belafonte, to Bill Louie's cameo as "Green Hornet"'s Kato (he kills a would-be rapist with shurikens!). The actual tournament footage is poor, and yet as a viewer you probably won't even care. After all, Adolph Caesar's final words about there being "no true successor to such a master" seem to make the whole movie alright.

Overall, FIST OF FEAR is a keeper. Show it to your friends, bring lots of snacks, and sit back to have a good long laugh. My rating: 8/10

I gave this a rating of 4, one point each for the ways in which this succeeded in entertaining me.

[Space_Mafune · 4/10 · 22 February 2006]

In the hype for a big karate championship bout between Louis Neglia and John "Cyclone" Flood at Madison Square Garden, a TV Anchorman named Adolph Caesar tries to tie the match into the controversy stirred up with regards to the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Bruce Lee and whether or not this karate match-up will crown his successor.

I gave this a rating of 4, one point each for the ways in which this succeeded in entertaining me. Point # 1 was awarded for the karate championship match itself which was exciting if a little too short-lived. Point # 2 was for the archival footage featuring Bruce Lee which was cool to see even if it was horrendously dubbed. Point # 3 was for the footage taken from the "Samurai" film which amused me with its utter lack of convincing effects combined with some otherwise intense and gory fight scenes. Point # 4 was for this film's sheer audaciousness as it preposterously tries to tie itself and a straightforward karate match at Madison Square Garden to the enduring legacy left behind by Bruce Lee succeeding in making me laugh and shake my head in utter amazement at this ludicrous presentation unfolded before my eyes.

Bottom of the barrel, even for a Lee exploitation film.

[lemon_magic · 1/10 · 5 April 2008]

Where to begin with this one? It's so bad, so unintentionally hilarious, in so many ways, that I am almost paralyzed with indecision about what to address first, and how to keep this review under 1000 words.

OK, I know. The real problem with this film is that the writer and director were apparently on acid when they put this together. It's just a mess. Several real life celebrities play themselves; a couple of minor martial art luminaries get to act out their Bruce Lee fantasies; there's some archival footage from an early Chinese soap opera where a young Lee played a supporting part; this is mixed incoherently in with footage swiped from an old time Chop Sockey film, claiming that this footage is the back story of his "grandfather"(????). There's a Madison Square "title bout" to determine who gets to be Lee's successor (or sometimes his "title', despite the fact that Lee didn't compete in tournaments after his movie career took off,and never had a "title" that I knew about, and his "successors", if any, would be members of his Jeet Kune Do training group....none of whom appear in this film) There's several badly mangled pieces of Lee interview footage where someone dubs over Lee's actual words so it looks like Aaron Banks (or the TV announcer)is interviewing him. BTW, the dubbed speeches use the terms "karate" and "kung fu" interchangeably,and it's obvious that whoever wrote and dubbed the footage didn't know the difference.

There are other extremely odd choices. Fred Williamson is in here for a bit, playing himself, and the movie wastes about 10 minutes following him as he oversleeps, tries to catch a taxi, and verbally spars with the announcer (who gives him a lift to the Square). Ron Van Clief appears (as himself) in an interview while he works out (which sort of makes sense) and then rescues a couple joggers from a gang of thugs on HIS way to the Garden (apparently the interview camera followed him out of the gym). Aaron Banks (in real life a promoter and sometime karate competitor) babbles on about the "death touch" and then demonstrates it for the camera (anyone with a smidgen of martial arts background will recognize what Banks is doing as a variant of Lee's "one inch punch", NOT a "death touch".) Some guy dresses up in a Kato costume and also rescues some girls by beating up a some thugs, and the inclusion of this footage makes so sense whatsoever in terms of the story or the milieu. Add did I mention the actual bouts? At one point one the competitors rips the eyes out of another one! I'm pretty sure that counts as a foul and a disqualification under most events that would occur at Madison Square - not to mention prison time for aggravated assault and a million dollar lawsuit.

It just goes on and on like this; nothing connects to anything else, and the feeble "framing device" of the TV interviews doesn't even begin to make up for the weird stuff the producers just made up.

If Bruce Lee had come back from the dead, the first thing he would have done would be to pulverize the director and producers responsible for this movie. I am very surprised that his family and estate didn't sue.

The only reason to see this is a) the footage of the soap opera with the adolescent Bruce (which I had never seen before) and b)to see just how bad an exploitation movie can get.

Biggest ripoff (and worst movie) of all time

[chengiz · 1/10 · 5 September 2003]

I think this is meant to be a farce. But it isnt. It is just rotting horse manure masquerading as a movie. The DVD cover makes you think that Bruce Lee stars in this movie and there are actual Bruce Lee fight scenes. There's nothing of the sort. Somebody should sue the guys who brought this out. It is blatantly false advertising. Is Bruce Lee's estate listening?

a disgrace to the name Bruce Lee

[TrikeAttack · 1/10 · 30 March 2004]

When you look at the cover of this dvd there's a giant pic of Lee on it.

So you'll think this is going to be a great martial arts flick, but its not.

You don't even see him fighting!!!! They talk about a great karate championship, but the only thing you see is the finale and they don't do karate they are BOXING! Everything here is a lie, they even try to let you think that Lee's great grandfather was a famous samurai...this movie has nothing to do with martial arts, avoid it at all costs! if you see it in a store, hide the box so no one can buy it, this is total crap!!!!

Why make this film?

[steinbek_india · 1/10 · 25 May 2003]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS I desperately want to believe that this film was made tongue-in-cheek, but I'm afraid it wasn't. What I can't understand is why this film was even made. It is such a mockery of a great man. I supposed that this film can be enjoyed for its (unitintianal) humor, such as: -Adolf Ceasar's obviously fake interview with Bruce Lee - Aaron Banks' obviously fake conversation with Bruce ("Wow, that's quite a manuever!") -Bill Louie ripping out a man's eyeballs -Bill Louie as Kato -Fred Williamson being confused with Henry Belefante -Scenes from an old Chinese soap opera being dubbed into "the Bruce Lee story" -Scenes from an old samurai movie being dubbed into the story of Bruce Lee's grandfather -so much more!

I wanted to give this movie at least a two (for the unitentional humor), but it is such an insult to Bruce Lee, his family, his fans, and everyone watching this movie that I'll just give it a one. Watch "Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth" instead. 1 out of 10.

yikes

[bum003 · 1/10 · 29 March 2003]

This really is the worst movie ever. Not only that, but the cover deceives you into thinking it is a Bruce Lee movie! It is cheesy, with fake conversations. For example, there is an interview with Bruce Lee in which they ask him questions and then he answers, but it is so obvious that Bruce Lee is not sitting in on the interview. Instead, they took footage of him speaking, asked a question, then cut to the footage of him talking. I don't know how this material ever got approved by Bruce Lee's family. It is a disgrace.

Review

[crippler91 · 1/10 · 4 June 2009]

Check out my review of this movie on http://superfunadventuretime.com/2009/04/27/fist-of- fear-touch-of-death/

Here is a little of what you'll see: The film represents the ultimate in Bruceploitation (films following the formula Bruce Lee + anything = $$), the premise for which is a documentary, featuring Adolph Caesar, investigating the world martial arts championships and who will be the successor to Bruce Lee's non-existent title of king of kung fu. It opens with Adolph Caesar interviewing Aaron "Mr. Karate" Banks telling of how he thinks Bruce Lee was killed by the touch of death or "vibrating palm" a technique in which you "touch a particular part of the body to reverse or change the normal bodily functions" resulting in death in 3-4 weeks. Seriously, this is what he says. I couldn't make this up in that I am a reasonable and sensible human being. Thus setting the tone for the remaining 87 minutes of terror.

Check it out and leave a comment.

This is the worst piece of crap I've ever seen. IT IS VERY FUNNY THOUGH!

[zer0-3 · 10/10 · 20 February 2000]

Ok. I rented this movie last night with my friends thinking that it would be a good kung fu movie starring Bruce Lee (that's what it said on the cover). Bruce isn't even in this movie, except for a few clips that were poorly dubbed. There is this one part that shows the life of the young Bruce Lee. It uses some great 1950's jive. My personal favorite was "superstious mumbo jumbo". Oh yeah, I am still wondering why the Chinese people were named Jack, and Sue...

The fight scenes were not just okay.. they were pure cheese. I think they were the inspiration for the Power Rangers. They were totally unrealistic and they made me nausiated trying to follow the close up camera angles that were off center.

My favorite part of the film (there were actually about 6 of them spliced together) came in the first unrelated fight scene flashback when Bruce's great-grandfather dodges arrows from 4 bowmen, picks the arrows up and in one throw kills all 4 bowmen. There are so many outrageously cheesy parts to this film I can't name them all in 1,000 words!!

When watching this movie I have to suggest a few things:

1. See this with at least one or two friends. Seeing it alone is dangerous, and you will probably try to break something.

2. Watch this movie all the way through. My friends and were laughing so hard at some parts we were teary eyed.

3. Don't try to drink anything while seeing the fight scenes, I almost choked during one.

4. Watch the end credits where it says the names of all the people in the movie. Notice were it says "featuring:" and then gives the names of the members of the gang at the end (none of them were actually mentioned during the "film"). My favorite is Ron Harvey as "Jasper Milktoast".

5. When finished with this movie go back to the bad fights scenes and play them in slow motion. Pay careful attention to the guys in the background running around aimlessly. They almost stole the show!

I know this is a long review, but there's so much to be said about it. Even though this movie is probably the worst film I have ever seen, it is one of the funniest. If you want a good laugh and have a few hours to waste, please see this POS movie! It's craptacular!

Everyone's missing the point.

[Edermike · 7/10 · 5 July 2006]

First off the movie is an obvious comedy that knows it is being funny. It IS a funny movie that is a comment on all the fake Bruce Lee movies being done at the time. The violence is comic to start with. Scenes like the eyeballs are played for laughs. Making Lee's voice fem was an obvious joke too, as was his "Samururi" background. The black and white footage IS Bruce as a child actor. Redubbed to be satirically biographical it cuts between the old film and the 70s B Samurai movie in a direct parody of "The Real Bruce Lee". The skits are meant to be funny as are the would be attackers. Their are some real martial arts in the film by excellent practitioners and the point of the whole movie is that you should be yourself. The message is use Bruce to inspire you but be your own self in martial arts and in acting. I liked this very much it's fun cheese that doesn't take itself seriously.

Not even a movie

[erik_ud · 1/10 · 16 December 2006]

This movie is no tribute to Bruce Lee whatsoever. It's not even a martial arts film. It's not even a "film". It's bad. There is not plot,no decent acting, just cutting and pasting from other movies and some people "saying" Bruce Lee might be killed by some 'touch of death' and a reporter hanging out at a karate contest (that you only get to see from a distance). You shouldn't watch this film. It's not even cult. The only reason they made this movie was to be able to print Bruce Lee on the cover and because they were hoping it would sell. Anyone could have made a Bruce Lee-tribute that's better than this "thing". Don't see it. Don't buy it. Don't give it to people you like.

If you need a laugh, this is the place to get it!

[aggie80 · 1 April 2004]

What a hoot! No one could watch this without falling off the chair laughing! There are scenes of one guy supposedly plucking out eyeballs! Talk about huge amount of ridiculous stereotypes with confusion between one fighter and Harry Belafonte by the hotel.

There are scenes from lots of old kung fu type movies as well as an early Bruce Lee movie. There are also some terribly dubbed Bruce Lee interviews with poor voice acting.

There is no plot, just a poorly threaded 'broadcast' by an actor who wouldn't even put his real name on the part! (Or too unimaginative to come up with a name for the part! You have to laugh while watching this one or you are taking life all together too serious!

Your VCR will never work the same

[gomi28 · 1/10 · 1 June 2004]

I can't remember why I got this, it was in a pack with 4 other atrocious Bruce Lee-sploit movies. They were all pretty bad (except the one where they do his biography) but this was the worst. The announcer at the start does a pretty good job of letting you know this will be a crappy movie right off the bat. I doubt that acting like his was acceptable even in the 70s. I hope you read this BEFORE renting, borrowing, or stealing this movie, because after I watched this my VCR broke and I am sure it was in protest of me playing this movie in it. If you already got it, don't watch it, try to get your money back NOW (even if you stole it, they should pay you for removing it off their hands) If you have watched this already, I hope it was on someone elses VCR, or maybe you can have the store you got it from refund you for the movie and your machine.

The Writers Need to Be Shot (but not killed)

[tony_phonet · 1/10 · 21 August 2005]

When it comes to bad movies, some are just plain bad, and some are so bad that they're good. Sometimes they are so bad that they become "good" but quickly become bad again because they're so stupid, and very few become good again because they're so terrible. This movie, however, doesn't make it back up the hill. Although this seems like a well-intended tribute to Bruce Lee, it's inaccurate to the core. I personally found some of this misleading info to be funny at first, only because I couldn't believe that someone could be so stupid, but the rest of the movie just dragged on and got boring and annoying. I was never able to watch this whole movie in one sitting. Although as a Bruce Lee fan, I wasn't offended (since I knew the truth), I just kept thinking to myself as I was watching and hoping it'd get better "Oh my gosh... the writers need to be shot."

Disgusting

[djhenebury-1 · 1/10 · 14 January 2006]

Before you reed this comment i want you to know that when I saw this movie I found it so disgusting I could not watch the whole movie.

I've been a martial arts fan ever since I saw what Bruce Lee was capable of in a two-hour documentary on the Discovery Channel. Very unfortunately this was one of the first movies I saw about him. Though "Goodbye Bruce Lee" isn't too good either, at least it doesn't put violate his reputation as "The king of Kung Fu".

If you reed this comment before you are about to watch the movie, let me warn you that if you want Bruce Lee, go get yourself "Enter The Dragon" instead.

a waste of money, not a real Bruce Lee movie

[samuraiknight-1 · 1/10 · 10 May 2007]

I bought this movie at Wal-Mart in the bargain bin. I was expecting a Bruce Lee movie but what I got was disappointment and a piece of crap. I was outraged that they used Bruce Lee's image on the cover to sell this crap. It was false advertising and blasphemy to use Bruce Lee's image in this way. The 5 dollar price tag should have warned me. It was a dirty trick to make me buy a piece of crap.

The plot revolves around a martial arts match that will supposedly reveal the successor of Bruce Lee.

A Washed out martial artist who claims to have been friends with Bruce Lee and states that Bruce was killed by the vibrating palm. They use editing and poor voice over to make Bruce Lee say things like he practiced karate. They use this technique to make false interviews and conversations with Bruce. Bruce Lee never practiced karate. Karate is a Japanese fighting form. They also use footage from different movies such as a hong Kong action film to use as Bruce Lee's great grandfather.

The movie can't decide whether it is a documentary or not,it keeps switching styles. It also has 3 movies nested in one. First the documentary, then the Bruce lee story, then that revolves into something else. then It shows random clips. The qualities are not consistent. The movie is filled with false information such as Bruce lee taking karate lessons and his great grandfather being a great samurai (samurai are Japanese, Bruce Lee is Chinese). Some of the battles are laughably bad and terribly ridiculous (A guy gets kicked in the crotch about 4 times then gets his eye balls pulled out).

all in all avoid this film unless you really enjoy bad movies, or want to see how they perverted Bruce Lee's image to make some cheap profit.

Unwatchable - I Love It

[puptentacle-329-76955 · 1/10 · 27 March 2012]

There isn't much to say that hasn't already been said about "Fist of Fear, Touch of Death". Take a screenwriter who has never written for any production before (or since for that matter) and has no knowledge of the subject whatever, several B-list or lower celebrities who need a paycheck, a few of the worst actors ever to grace a screen, unrelated and unwatchable stock footage then give the entire mess over to an apparently blind and deaf editor with some sort of palsy and call it a "Documentary". Calling this pile of garbage a "Documentary" is like trying to sell a small child's mud pies in a gourmet bakery.

I must call special attention to the first fight scene in the movie. Bill Louie pulls an opponent's eyes out and "in a dazzling piece of showmanship" tosses them to the crowd. It's just one gut-bustingly funny moment in a movie full of them. Also of note is Hollywood Browde. In slightly more than 60 seconds on screen, she manages to pull of the worst bit of acting I've seen in a lifetime of watching and enjoying bad movies. She should receive a "Razzie Lifetime Achievement Award" based solely on this performance.

There aren't words in the language to describe this thing. Film schools should show this as an example of everything one could do wrong while making a movie. You can't fully appreciate the depths of bad this movie aspires to until you have seen it. And you should. As a "Documentary" it's horrible but as a comedy, well, as a comedy it's GOLD, friends. Pure gold.

Lifetime Membership to the Worst-Movie-Ever Club.

[CelluloidRehab · 1/10 · 27 March 2009]

Fist of Fear, Touch of Death is a epic movie in the genre that exploited the consumer desire after the death of Bruce Lee. In the vernacular, this is a Bruce-ploitation movie. I have seen a few of these, with most bordering on the ridiculous and having little to do with Bruce Lee (except for the use of his name, image, words, etc). Some are enjoyable on that ridiculous level, but most are unwatchable. FoF,ToD is epic in the scale at which it seemingly exhumes and defecates on Bruce's image. I can safely add this alongside Orgy of the Dead, as the two worst movies I have ever witnessed.

I don't know how to start. This movie is a multi-leveled disaster. On one level it tries to fake investigative journalism surrounding the "theory" of the pressure point death spot, a.k.a. Touch of Death, and whether or not it was the "secret" cause of Bruce's death. This is mostly done through the narration/"interviews" of NY actor Adolph Caesar (who most will remember for his role in Club Paradise).

Other levels include staged martial arts exhibitions by Ron Van Clief, Bill Louie and Aaron Banks, all in tribute (of course). The Hammer, Fred Williamson, shows up as himself for no apparent reason as well. Yes I know he was one of Bruce's students, but that doesn't explain his purpose in this movie. Add another level, by showing two different movies and somehow linking them up. The first movie being an early, early, early black & white Bruce movie that resembles the Chinese version of Leave it to Beaver. That is somehow linked to a color, period-piece martial arts movie that does not star Bruce. The cherry topping to this turd cake are the dubbings, especially Bruce's martial arts fortune cookie-like sayings. It isn't even Bruce Lee's voice, it's much worse.

Others have commented that even though this movie is atrocious, it still maintains a ridiculous humor. Sadly, I searched for any spark of humor, but was met with a dull, boring pain instead. The production value just screams of a VHS copy of someone's home video of their trip to New York being found in a dumpster and edited by one coming out of a weekend of chasing the dragon.

All those who commented that they enjoyed this, did recommend not watching this by oneself. All I can say is that any fun derived from watching this with others, is laughing at your "friends" as they writhe around on the floor in agony. If Mel Gibson made a biography film based on Bruce Lee in a similar manner to the Passion of the Christ, this would be it, because you will feel approximately the same amount of pain that Bruce would have felt in death. Skip it. Don't say I didn't warn you.

-Celluloid Rehab

The invisible touch...

[fmarkland32 · 1/10 · 14 August 2007]

A tournament is held to find the successor of Bruce Lee, while the the tournament is being held we learn that Bruce Lee's great grandfather was a Samurai (Despite the obvious fact that Samurai are Japanese and Bruce Lee is Chinese) and the movie amounts to an amateurish cut and paste job that will be looked at with scorn for even fans of Bruceploitation. The biggest surprise about this travesty is the quite good cast it has, in that we have Fred Williamson (Say what you will but he's got charisma), Adolph Caesar and uh, Bruce Lee clips. It's hard to even qualify this as a movie because everything about it feels so incompetently made. The samurai clips have some moments (Well if you're an old school fan like me.) but I can always try and locate that movie (Which I most likely won't do for a long time.) and the fake interviews, fake stories and indeed the shameless promotion of Bill Louie as Kato, all make this a true labor of badness. The Bruce Lee clips are worthless since he does no fighting in them (I mean seriously if you're going to steal clips steal from Fist Of Fury) and basically it's all one cut and paste mess with very little worth or value. It's not even hilarious just painful to watch, although the music in the beginning of the credits (When it flashes the title credit) is hilarious.

1/2* out of 4-(Awful)

One of the Greatest Bruce lee movies ever.

[Nothing8900 · 10/10 · 13 January 2006]

Everything in the is movie is a 100% true about Bruce lee. Finally we have a film that tells of his; voyage to America with just the clothes on his back, his great grand fathers swordsmen ship, confrontation with the people that know him best, his journey through the early stages of KARATE, death from the touch of death. This movies also finally shows us the real successor to Bruce lee (through a KARATE match).

I advice any Bruce lee fan to get this movie immediately. It really shows you how great of a man Bruce lee was. Since Adolf Caesar really founded Bruce lee (and he was immediately famous) its no wonder that he is as big as he was. I mean, there's no way that Bruce would have died of natural causes, it had to be....the touch of death.

POSTHUMOUS BRUCE

[kirbylee70-599-526179 · 6/10 · 6 June 2020]

The popularity of martial arts actor reached its zenith in 1973 with the release of his film ENTER THE DRAGON. Unfortunately that popularity came after he passed away at age 32 that same year. Because of that popularity in the wake of his death tons of movies were released trying to capitalize on his popularity. Dubbed "Bruceploitation" films they exploited his name, image and abilities in the hopes of making a buck which most of them did. Similar named performers like Bruce Li and Bruce Le popped up. And then movies like FISTS OF FEAR TOUCH OF DEATH came out. Using footage of non-martial arts movies that Lee did when he was young as well as martial arts sequences from other films he never took part in, they put together a story that is at times hilarious and at other times head scratching.

The film kicks off with a martial arts show taking place at Madison Square Garden, hosted by martial arts promoter Aaron Banks. Before it starts he claims that Bruce Lee was murdered with a secret killing method, the touch of death. Announcer Adolph Caesar discusses this with him as well as conducting interviews with action star Fred Williamson and martial arts actor Ron Van Clief. After these we get into the story of how Lee came to be the martial artists he was and his trip to America.

This is where footage of others films is used, mostly a 1957 film he was in called THUNDERSTORM. It has nothing to do with his real life but the film is redubbed to make it seem so. In the film he talks to his mother and learns about his family's past. This uses footage from yet another movie, INVINCIBLE SUPER CHAN, a historical styled samurai movie. Much of the films running time is filled with clips from these two movies redubbed to form the singular story.

The film takes us back to the present where a poor Bruce Lee stand in shows off his martial arts prowess defending two female joggers in the park from would be rapists while wearing his Kato outfit from THE GREEN HORNET. He ends by killing one of the would be rapists with a throwing star.

Which brings us back to Madison Square Garden where the competition is about to begin. A two round fight sequence that doesn't take long crowns the next superstar, someone we never heard from again.

The movie isn't shot that well and the clear reason for making it, to capitalize on the death of Lee and make money, is obvious. The story feels put together as quickly as they could, the dubbing is on par for many of the chop sockey films that came out when kung fu films kicked into gear in the US and the addition of Williamson and Van Clief is mercifully short as both deserve better. And yet the film has a certain following. There is something nostalgic about the film and the craze for all things Bruce Lee at the time worth making it a movie to watch.

Fans of any and all Bruceploitation films will most likely have this one in their collection but Film Detective is trying to offer it as an anniversary edition with a newly restored 4k scan resolution of the film. In addition to that there are extras as well including an exclusive collectors booklet featuring authentic published stills and release cards from the original premiere, a featurette of behind-the-camera takes on the film in brand new interviews with starring actors Fred Williamson and Ron Van Clief, producer Terry Levene, director Matthew Mallinson, and scriptwriter Ron Harvey, a featurette of brand new interviews with starring actors Fred Williamson and Ron Van Clief, producer Terry Levene, director Matthew Mallinson, and scriptwriter Ron Harvey, and a collectors booklet featuring authentic published stills and release cards from the original premiere.

The release from Film Detective is being limited to just 1,500 copies so if you want one my suggestion is your pick it up as fast as possible.

No Redeeming Qualities

[mstomaso · 1/10 · 26 April 2008]

This utterly ridiculous film is about the martial arts legacy of Bruce Lee. There really isn't a story and the script comes across like the writing of a 13 year old fan-boy. Very little of what is conveyed in this film is truthful. For a much better treatment of the legend of Lee, see Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey.

Somehow, Matthew Malinson got a few action stars and martial artists to participate in this mess and was able to secure clips from a REAL martial arts film which were recycled into a silly ancestor-worship theme which supposedly inspired Lee. Adolph Caesar plays an annoyingly monotonous MC at a Madison Square Garden event which is supposed to result in a decision for the question - 'who will be the next Bruce Lee?'. As ridiculous as this may sound, it was a common theme for martial arts films of the middle to late '70s. Again, anybody interested in the reasons why should see A Warrior's Journey, not this film.

Scenes from the Bruce Lee Crown Event are spliced in with nearly random interview clips and poor re-enactments of Lee's completely fictionalized early life and some of his theatrical work.

Avoid.