Fist of Fear, Touch of Death

Rating:
Summary: DO NOT BUY!
Review: (...) This movie has practically no truth on Bruce Lee. Do not buy this!

Rating:
Summary: Bruce Lee is rolling in his grave
Review: After viewing "Fist of Fear, Touch of Death," the words travesty, shameful, and disgraceful, among others come to mind. Without a doubt, this has to be one of the lamest attempts at making a coherent film in modern times. Whole portions of two Asian films (one in color - a Chinese period piece, the other in black & white – possibly of Japanese origins) are pasted together to tell the alleged “legend” of Bruce Lee and his great grandfather. A martial arts exhibition at Madison Square Garden frames the “story telling.” Everyone involved on this “project,” including actors Fred Williamson and Adolph Caesar (so good in “A Soldier’s Story”) ought to hang their heads in shame. The only reason that this “film” could have been possibly made was a quick killing at the box office and, now, through video and DVD sales. Trust me, watching "Fist of Fear, Touch of Death" is a mind-numbing, jaw-dropping bad experience that you won’t easily forget.

As bad as this film is, Brentwood Communications actually released this in the widescreen format and the quality of the print is very good for a budget release. But a good presentation does not make a bad film good. Save your money and try one of Brentwood’s other budget releases (they have the Sonny Chiba classic “The Street Fighter”) which you can find by typing in “Brentwood” in ...site search engine. You have been warned.

Rating:
Summary: This Bites
Review: As a huge Bruce Lee fan, I expected to see scenes of him fighting in exhibitions. Perhaps even the one that Ed Parker discovered him at. What a rip-off. The Kung Fu tournament discribed on the box is completely fake, like a WCW matchup without the realism. At one point a fighter "in a dazzling display of showmanship plucks his opponents eyes out and tosses them into the crowd." Fred Willamson appears in a stupid role, complaining of a Bruce Lee title that doesn't exist, and having sex with someone who was rejected from a porn film. I won't even get into the "Bruce Lee" biography which claims he comes from a long line of Samurai. My tape was eaten halfway through this piece of garbage, thank god!

Rating:
Summary: B Movie fans--buy this today!! Bruce Lee fans--don't bother.
Review: As anyone who's seen Fist of Fear... knows, this is a disgrace to the memory of Bruce Lee. However...

In terms of B-movie appeal, this is an 11 out of 10. This expands the boundaries. There should be a C-movie category for this one. I won't go into particulars--a previous review listed most comic elements in the movie.

Being an avid fan of the bad movies that tried to be good movies, I cannot stop watching FF/TD. I show it to everyone. I laugh about it all the time. I don't know why this film isn't in a cult film hall of fame--probably too obscure. But one day, it will be, at the top of the list. Trust me.

If you love really bad movies, this is a gold mine, a work of art. And for $, how can you go wrong!

Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: Fist of Fear Touch of Death is a ludicrous exploitation of the name of Bruce Lee. Little of it is even about Lee, and the footage of Lee is borrowed from his films. One sequence is an absurd supposed interview where the interviewer asks a question and then they play a film clip of Bruce Lee saying something as though he's saying it in answer to the question. A complete waste of money.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: Fist of Fear Touch of Death is a ludicrous exploitation of the name of Bruce Lee. Little of it is even about Lee, and the footage of Lee is borrowed from his films. One sequence is an absurd supposed interview where the interviewer asks a question and then they play a film clip of Bruce Lee saying something as though he's saying it in answer to the question. A complete waste of money.

Rating:
Summary: What A Piece Of Garbage
Review: I bought this title back in 1993 and it was not worth it. This video is a complete waste of money if you are a Bruce Lee fan. This video is not even worthy of having Bruce Lee's picture on the front cover. This title has been produced many times over using different covers. The one I have takes a film clip from "Enter The Dragon".

Rating:
Summary: quite possibly the worst movie ever made
Review: i got this as a birthday present from someone who didn't have a clue about bruce lee. i'm sure they thought this would be good (and hey, it probably was about 4 dollars, so they save cash too).
but what i got was a complete mess. it's basically footage from two other movies, edited together and then put in a frame story about the supposed 'successor' to bruce lee after his death. the other reviews are pretty accurate, this thing is a stinker.
HOWEVER, if you go in knowing that it's gonna be bad, then it's quite fun. it's hilarious in the way it meanders from clip to clip, putting a flashback within a flashback (the outer flashback is in black and white, while the flashback within the flashback is in color!). there's a pointless five minute scene with fred williamson and mr. caesar driving through the city to bad funk music.
another example...there's talk of bruce lee's on screen charisma and then they show some guy jumping off a roof with one of those crazy "hoo-ah!"s dubbed over it.
and i'll go ahead and spoil the ending for you, the 'successor' to bruce lee is some KICKBOXER nobody has ever heard of and never will.
so overall, don't go in expecting quality. get some buddies, and put it in, and be prepared to laugh your butt off.
one thing: i've noticed that the VHS version is a little different than the DVD...some scenes are edited a bit in the DVD...the VHS has a few more seconds of footage (stuff that's actually funny and is missed when not there), but the DVD has the nice feature of being able to skip through the seriously boring flashbacks. so pick your poison.

Rating:
Summary: 1 star or 5? How can I choose? I must average them out....
Review: I rented The Dragon and the Cobra completely unaware of what I was getting into. The cover makes it look like just another Bruce Lee movie, and the description on the box is equally misleading. This is, by a very wide margin, the absolute worst movie of its genre I have ever seen. In fact, if Ed Wood directed martial arts flicks, this would have been his masterpiece.

If ever a movie screamed out to be showcased on Mystery Science Theatre 3000, this is the one. The flaws/laughs are countless, but I'll list a few, anyhow:

- The sound is terrible. The dialogue is often inaudible, but never mind! It's quite good fun to make up your own dialogue.
- During a demonstration karate match, a contender plucks out the eyeballs of his opponent, and then, in a stunning display of showmanship, tosses them out to the audience with bizarre sound effects.
- Bruce Lee, despite being Chinese, is touted as having come from a long line of Japanese Samurai fighters.
- The terms "kung fu" and "karate" are used interchangeably.
- Footage supposedly demonstrating Bruce Lee's magnificent stage presence is actually a one-second clip of an old man jumping off a roof.
- Jogging women with torpedo bras are prime candidates for rape and rescue.
- Bruce Lee's "grandfather" fought enormous groups of opponents in a most spectacular fashion. He hurls people into trees (well, the video just showed reverse footage of people jumping out of trees), simultaneously skewers several people with a handful of thrown arrows, and he also fights a midget with a big hat and a black, Chinese man wielding an even bigger abacus.
- Bruce Lee's growing-up footage is actually scenes from an early Chinese soap opera with ridiculous overdubbed dialogue.
- When the bad guys aren't actually fighting with the good guys, they try to look busy by running around aimlessly, doing somersaults and bad jumps. Sometimes they fall down for no apparent reason.
- Bill Louie pretends to be Kato in a non sequiter scene.
- Much ado is made of the "touch of death," the technique apparently used to murder Bruce Lee. When practiced with a human, the touch of death results in the victim's death three weeks later. When practiced with a board, the victim breaks in half on contact.
- The interviews between Aaron Banks and Bruce Lee are obviously cobbled together from several unrelated interviews. The result is disjointed, confusing, and hilarious.

I've only seen one thing that's tackier than this relating to Bruce Lee, and that would be Game of Death where Bruce Lee's actual funeral footage was used as a plot device. Yeah, Bruce's character fakes his own death, and the film makers use the open casket funeral as part of the movie. Tacky, tacky, tacky!

Like I said, Ed Wood would have been proud....

Rating:
Summary: what is this suppose to be??
Review: I've dug Bruce Lee for a Real Long time but this Film,Video,Documentary,Bad Acid trip is all over the pace&has no theme whatsoever.Adolph Caesar who is a Good Actor is presenting Bruce but yet they are tying Bruce's Moive&Martial Arts Talent&Genius all at once.Fred Williamson who I think is a Good Actor as well is Casted in here as well but i don't understand what part most actually play here.it's cool when they go back&show what Bruce wanted to do when he was a Kid.the kind of Impact He wanted.but this film is a mess&all over the place for my tastes.Bruce Lee deserved better than this.