2
(nothing substantial)
7
(mild violence)
3
(you really need to have a specific strong interest to like this one)
"Bruce Lee True Story" is also known as "The Man, The Myth." Similar in concept to "Dragon the Bruce Lee Story" it is a dramatic recounting of Lee’s life heralded as the most accurate ever. Indeed some might have believed in its accuracy since Bruce’s good friend Unicorn Chan was involved in the making, and it included stories straight from Lee himself. In addition to Chan numerous other people who had direct involvement with Lee are featured throughout the movie adding some weight to its validity.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the movie has a whole lot of truth in it. It’s more of a fictional tale built upon the legend of Lee, though some of the exaggeration appears to have been generated by Lee himself. Indeed, this falls squarely in the sub-genre of Brucesploitation flicks popping up after his death. Some say this is the best of that lot and does contain more truth than most, but a Biography Channel special it isn’t.
Sure, if you look at it as a supposed recreation of Lee’s life the movie comes across as unrealistic and even cheesy. If you look at it as a work of fiction, a mythology built upon the character of Lee, it’s really no worse than any other average Kung Fu flick… OK, maybe a little below average. The acting is poor and the story does not flow very well. Some of the fights are entertaining although the early ones are horrible.
The movie begins and circles back to the death of Bruce. It jumps back to shortly before he leaves for America. The movie continues to jump forward from there which is one reason the story does not flow well. It skips forward to Bruce having become a teacher without showing any sort of development. At some point Bruce makes the journey to Hollywood though there is little actual focus on that part of his life. There’s no mention of Linda (his wife) until out of the blue she walks through the door with two kids.
The jumping continues until we are back at Bruce’s deathbed. Following what appears to be some actual footage of Bruce’s funeral various rumors of his demise are depicted. There is no mention of anything covered in the documentary "Death by Misadventure" so it obviously does not cover all possibilities (particularly those that might be unflattering).
Morality
There is some mild strong language and plenty of fighting, but nothing else questionable: no sex, nudity, and come to think about it I do not think anyone really gets hurt much in any of the fights.
Spirituality
There is no spirituality of note. We see the tragic early death of an exceptional Martial Artist and entertainer but none of his struggles in life or thoughts on the spirit. He is treated here as a larger than life legend rather than a human being with failings.
Beyond that the most spiritual element here is the idea that you never know how long you have in life. If a guy like Bruce can pass so suddenly from this life anyone can. Don't wait to get your life in order.
Final Thoughts
I guess this is a movie worth checking out for big Bruce Lee fans as the cream of the crop as far as bruceploitation movies. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone without a taste for campy Kung Fu.
Buying Guide
There are a variety of releases that are actually the same movie. Mine is "Bruce Lee True Story." It is also known as "The Man The Myth" (or some variation on that), and possibly as "Behind Bruce Lee" though I couldn't find any reliable product listings under that one.
There are two DVD's under something similar to “Bruce Lee: The Man The Myth,” a Digital Gold and a Silver Series. I found a 2 pack with “Fist of Fear” but details are so scarce I'm going to ignore it from here on out.
The Digital Gold DVD mentions digital remastering and 5.1 sound, however reviewers describe the exact same quality that I got with my DVD (which is a long way from impressive).
The Silver Series has several positive reviews, but unfortunately none mention the presentation quality (though by the same token it is the only one that doesn't have reviews talking about how bad the video is).
Neither the listings nor the reviews mention any extras for either release.
Final Recommendation:
Check out the details of the Video Asia edition below. That is not a bad list of extras for such an obscure title. If you're looking to be better informed about Bruce Lee rather than just being entertained by movies by and about him this is a good resource even if only because of the extras than because of the movie itself. Considering how cheap you can get this (particularly if you go for the box set - further details below) it's really a pretty good bargain for the amount of interesting material you get. Since none of the others appear to offer the additional materials that the “Bruce Lee: True Story” Videoasia release does, that's the one I recommend.
"Bruce Lee: True Story" is a single-disc DVD from Videoasia.
Video
1.33:
This isn't pretty with thin colors, a sometimes blurry image, and plenty of trash in the picture.
Audio
1.0 mono:
It sounds like it's playing through an old boom box with worn out speakers and with a good bit of white noise in the background.
Packaging
The case is standard plastic.
If you get it as part of the box set you'll also get a paper-thin cardboard box. Read more about that release here.
The interface is simplistic and features a too-loud music loop.
The run time is 92 minutes no matter what the spec listing says it is.
Extras
-My Teacher Bruce Lee (25:08) I will start with the best rather than save it for last. It is an interview with Joe Lewis, a champion fighter who studied under Bruce. He talks about the development of Jeet Kune Do and his own training. He then gives a fantastic demonstration of some of Bruce’s techniques. I guess this would be boring to some people (I would probably doze off if this were a feature about football techniques), but if you have any interest in Martial Arts studies I bet you will find this extremely interesting.
-In the Dragon's Footsteps (7:24) There is another demonstration as well. This one is a guy that has learned JKD techniques but did not actually study under Bruce. His moves are great although his does not give how-to details like Joe Lewis does. I’ve seen this same feature on other Videoasia releases, by the way.
-Insta Action (22:50) This is a special edit of the movie that plays only the main action sequences. While the fight choreography is not as good as some other movies, it's fun to watch Bruce Li in action. I wouldn't want to fight him.
-Commentaries: There are two movie commentaries literally phoned in. They include people who worked on Death by Misadventure and other Bruce Lee documentary projects as well as people that knew Bruce.
-Ed Khmara, Joe Lewis, Joe Hymams, Davis Miller, George Tan: The audio levels in this first one are so bad that it can be completely unintelligible at times. However, it covers some interesting ground such as researching “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” appeasing people with the portrayal of Bruce in documentary projects, some differences between the movie Bruce and the real man, Bruce as a teacher, and even some flaws in his fighting system.
-George Tan, Davis Miller: This other commentary cannot be selected from the menu link (it plays the first commentary when selected), just use the audio options selection on your DVD player. It talks about the history of the man that came to be called Bruce Li (pronounced “lie” not “lee”), inaccuracies in the movie, and other such things. It also is poor quality, but at least it is understandable if just barely. It's also quite interesting to hear some the actual facts as opposed to what we see on screen.
-In the Dragon's Shadow (12:15) An interview with the man the movie calls Bruce Li looks at his training, how he broke into movies, and his take on Lee including why he does not like being called “Bruce Li.” Movie clips illustrate his comments.
-The Bruce Lee Stories (6:20) This short feature takes a look at Bruceploitation movies and the inaccuracies in them.
-Interview with Director Ng See Yueng (14:04) He talks about his start in movies, the movie industry in China, and most interestingly Jackie Chan and “Drunken Master.”
-Original Trailer (2:01) A terrible quality American trailer talks about both Bruces.
-Original Television Spots (0:57) A couple of poor quality promos talking about the Bruces.