User Reviews

Must admit that I have been a sucker for martial arts films since a very early age; especially films that would feature Bolo Yeung or a Bruce Lee-clone. If you're familiar with the matter, then you'll know of course that there was a virtual army of Bruce Lee-look-alikes, among them Bruce Le, Bruce Lei, Bruce Lieh, Dragon Lee (there was even a Charles Bronson / Bruce Lee cross, namely, you've guessed it, Bronson Lee) – in other words: enough Bruce Lees to fill a telephone book; making them the Hong Kong version of Elvis-impersonators.

Most were somewhere between "laughable" and "embarrassing", but Bruce Le was among the most "authentic" of all. He mimics Lee's movements, choreography and characteristic grimacing (the fans may forgive me for my choice of words) to a tit, compensating for an obvious lack of acting talent.

The story itself is based on Lees final, partially finished "Game of Death" and – considering that the original ended up a pure cut&paste job and hence rather dodgy – I dare say, quality-wise it even beats "Game of Death". The martial art is hardcore, rough and brutal as they come.

Bolo, as villainous a henchman as ever, seems to be ever more muscular than ever and to my knowledge it's the only time he ever got to play Japanese (in other words: he's wearing a kimono). Robert Kerver as a Bob Wall carbon copy is a little wasted and Michael B. Christy makes a suitable slimy diplomat-cum-secret-agent, making the audience root for Le(e) to beat the becheesus out and then dispose off unceremoniously.

And as a bonus: the movie contains one of the three questions that will probably never be answered: was the black fighter in the last half the late, great Steve James or not? I've seen the movie many times and I give it a 50/50 chance – IMDb lists him as "Black Martial Artist" but there is also the distinct chance that somebody mistook him with Samuel Walls.

(The other two questions, by the way, concern Mona Lisa's smile and that thing with the chicken and the egg).

Compared to 90 percent of the other Lee-Clone-films that I have seen (trust me: there are hundreds), I'd give it a 7/10.

Can a film really be this cheesy? Can a low budget, made-on-the-cheap kung fu rip-off from the late '70s really be as amusing and entertaining as this? Well, it looks like the answer is yes, and if you're a fan of insane martial arts madness then look no further than ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH. It's a cheese-fest through and through, packed with typical genre clichés: the worst dubbing you'll ever hear, atrocious editing, and some of the poorest acting around. It's also a great adventure of a film, with non-stop fighting throughout, and action packed entertainment from beginning to end. Ignore the fact that the plot doesn't make sense, just sit back and enter the world of the kung fu cinematic feast. This is a hilarious film. There are so many scenes to enjoy that I have trouble remembering them all, although I only watched this yesterday; certainly some of the highlights are Bruce's training scenes, where we see him running through the woods to music from ROCKY; invariably he then gets assailed by five or six opponents whom he beats off effortlessly.

You know what to expect from the OTT titles, which use music from both ENTER THE DRAGON (check) and James Bond (check). From then on we get story for about thirty-five minutes which makes little sense (something about retrieving a top-secret document from the invading Japanese) then the real fun, the GAME OF DEATH-inspired action, starts. Bruce Le, complete with Bruce Lee's yellow tracksuit (recently modelled yet again by Uma Thurman) enters a tower and has to fight his way up floor by floor. Here we get guys throwing deadly metal balls, a snake master, a mystic who uses his deadly fingers to stun his enemies, a guy who can only fight in glowing red light, then some kind of viking guy at the very top. This whole sequence is excellent, but the highlight is definitely the snake master, who slides around on the floor and whose face turns purple when he dies. I absolutely love the moment when he bites the head off a snake and sprays the blood out like a hosepipe, before whipping Bruce with the now empty skin! It can never happen, yet the effect is so funny you'll laugh out loud.

As for Bruce Le, well he's doing what he does best, pretending to be Bruce Lee. So all the mannerisms are there and exaggerated: wiping his nose (check), tasting blood from a wound and spitting it out (check), stamping on somebody, breaking their bones and pulling an angry face (check), ripping off his torn clothing (check). The best thing is, his martial arts are decent here, and the action is generally exciting and watchable with a wide array of opponents. The oriental mystics are the best, but there are also good turns from a huge black guy (definitely a basketball player), American Steve James (extremely pumped up here) and, best of all, the ever-hulking Bolo Yeung. Le beats Yeung's ass three times, once in the woods, once in a ring and finally in a ruined temple, where he kicks his behind big time. You gotta love the dramatic music playing right at the end there. Basically, ENTER THE GAME OF DEATH is a non-stop roller-coaster ride of kung fu, full of vitality and always fun. Kung fu addicts should check it out immediately!