The land of the Kung Fu movie can be a treacherous one for the uninitiated. A myriad of titles can often be found to be the same picture, and quality levels vary wildly despite the same casts. Indeed reviewing them can be equally haphazard as how to deconstruct something that has no pretext on being “good”. That's before we even begin to discuss Bruceploitation. After the legendary Bruce Lee died, scores of imitations found their way to cinemas and latterly video. This subgenre starts in bad taste and proceeds to nose dive from there. Even the official “Game of Death” is really an exploitation movie, completed several years later, with an adherence to continuity that even Ed Wood would have deemed incompetent. However as a lover of the old school Kung Fu and with the mists of time passed, it's time to don the yellow tracksuit and check out one of the better known imitators in Bruce Le.
Buy This Title
In 1930's China, Mr Ang (Bruce Le) is training in the forest when he is attacked by some Japanese fighters including Bolo (Bolo Yeung). After defeating them and later Bolo again in a tournament, he is approached by both Japanese and Chinese/German agents to recover a secret document from a guarded tower. Siding with the Chinese, he enters, but the true villain of the piece may yet to be revealed.
It's never a good sign when the opening credits feature Bruce Lee at the top of the bill when he died five years prior and isn't actually in it. A further indicator we are deep in exploitation territory is the use of the “Enter the Dragon” theme. After this, we get the traditional red screen background as Bruce Le shows off his skills. You do wonder about his common sense though, as he is ambushed three times in the opening 20 minutes. The third time in the often-imitated yellow tracksuit, which am sure was fashionable in the 1930's, along with the funky yellow trainers. In between, he takes time to beat Bolo Yeung in a fight competition that shows the low budget by clearly being filmed on a set then cutting to the crowd. Incidentally given how Shaw Brothers used the same locations frequently, count the number of times the same path is used here.
As a Bruce Lee impersonator, Bruce Le definitely had the martial arts skills. As a performer though, he is clearly limited by the need to act like someone else. The mannerisms come across as forced and he looks constipated at times instead of threatening. The version I saw was dubbed into English so wouldn't be fair to comment on the overall acting as even the best actor can have their performance destroyed by having everyone sound like they are starring in a western. Bolo Yeung co stars as the villain's henchman, adding another layer to the exploitation.
We do get a reprise of the pagoda fights. This time clearly in a cheap studio set. This feels more of a traditional kung fu set up as the original's intention was around martial art philosophy. No such depth here, as we get a bunch of oddball villains including snake fighters, and a warrior that fights in red light!! (Again this was the dubbed version so may be an explanation somewhere!). Matching yellow nunchuks make an appearance as does the familiar facial wounds. A tall black fighter appears towards the conclusion and the final duel riffs on visuals from “Fist of Fury”.
The direction on what is clearly a low budget production is not the greatest. Plenty of crash zooms and side shots/angles of its star. When we do get close ups, it becomes clear the resemblance is limited, so perhaps this makes the direction here more understandable. Less forgivable is that there is clearly daylight n between some strikes in the fight scenes. The choreography again due to the restrictions in imitating the Bruce Lee “style” appears perfunctory, with little variety outside of the pagoda sequences.
If I appear to have talked little about the plot, then it's because it could be written on a postage stamp. Bad guys are after a secret document and good guys want to stop them. This feature is about 95% action, 5% exposition. A true exploitation picture would be marketed across the world and dubbed into other languages, so subtlety and subtext are never going to feature here.
This is one of those times where, quite frankly, a review makes no difference. Is “Enter the Game of Death” any good? By normal standards it is atrocious, with a complete lack of ethical constraint in its liberal “use” of the Bruce Lee canon. As entertainment however, if you are not offended by this plagiarism and appreciate “bad” movies that are almost critic-proof, then sit back and enjoy. Just don't say I didn't warn you!
