First off let’s get it out there, Game of Death as much as it is a Bruce Lee movie is not Bruce Lee’s movie. Game of Death was supposed to be a tower of challenge where in Bruce would climb 5 stages and fight a master of each art form and show why his Jeet Kun Do was more practical than traditional forms of martial arts. Instead we have 15 minutes of footage that Golden Harvest used to create their own storyline.
Had G.O.D. been planned in today’s time filmmakers could have used CGI and other new techniques to complete G.O.D. in Lee’s image much like they did with his late son’s tragic death and his film The Crow. Understandably they did not have these options in 1973-1978 the time between his death and the release of G.O.D.
I do not want to bash Game of Death, they did the best the could with what they had to work with at the time, but truth be told the movie is in no way comparable to any of Lee’s other films. For all the flaws in the story and the gripes fans may have with how the film was handled the most iconic image in Lee’s career is the yellow and black jumpsuit from his short time on camera in the film. And with a little luck my wife will buy me a pair of the re-release yellow & black Onitsuka Tigers that Lee wore during filming for Christmas.
In contrary, the attachment of Lee’s name to G.O.D.II is almost criminal, there is a few moments where they incorporated stock footage of Lee into the film and call it a starring role. Let’s just leave it as don’t watch the sequel, it will only leave you with a sick feeling.
88 mph to Roswell 