This was the first documentary released on the late Bruce Lee, as it was produced by Golden Harvest almost immediately after his passing in 1973.
It begins with a very blunt introduction, with the narrator at one point simply stating ” Bruce Lee….is dead”. Quite morbid. It seems this movie was released around the time of his death to give the fans some insight into it and what he left behind.
The first 15 minutes or so show a lot of the footage form Bruce’s Hong Kong Funeral (as they held a much smaller one in the States afterwards). It’s quite fascinating and very saddening to see. There are thousands of people flooding the streets and the room is so crowded that it’s amazing anyone can move in there.
You see a lot of very famous people showing their respects, including most of his co-stars (including a very young Sammo Hung). But it’s quite a depressing lot of footage as everything on the faces of the people is so fresh, you can’t help but feel like Bruce has actually just died recently.
But things continue on afterwards, following Linda Lee to their home, and as she boards the plan for their trip home before finally landing and walking around certain areas where they would spend time together when they first met. From there they use her reminiscing moments to step further into the documentary and start the usual biographical story of Bruce’s life, which seems to take place in 90% of all Bruce Lee documentaries.
They interview a kung fu school he was known to be a part of and show off moves and techniques while talking about their experiences with Bruce.
Things get more interesting however as they start to pull old photos of Bruce in costume out to show, and talk about his future projects before touching on Game of Death – showing off footage that Bruce had shot (and which was obviously incomplete).
Ultimately the documentary when viewed from the eyes of today’s fans may seem a little ordinary, offering mainly the funeral footage as it’s main unique content. But watching this movie through the eyes of a fan in 1973, and you can see they did an excellent job at the time.
This documentary, to me, seems to be about mourning the death of Bruce Lee, looking at his past, what he was working on for the future and getting on with things before touching on the then future release of Enter the Dragon.
I find it amusing that they look at what Bruce ‘could’ve become’ in this, referring to Enter the Dragon as ‘his best work yet’ hoping to finish off his legacy. Little did they know how huge Bruce’s fame was to further grow after it’s release and the massive fan following which grows virally even today.
At the time of it’s release, this documentary would have been the perfect goodbye to an action star. Although many newer documentaries touch on more appropriate topics in deeper fashion, this one stands out to me as the first of many that was excellent for the time.
If you’re a Bruce Lee fan or collector – check this one out for a slice of Bruce’s history! As the narrator says during the doco “Bruce’s immense popularity has the fans deeming that no small part of his life as insignificant”.
