Bruce Lee's Secret

One of Bruce Li's most impressive films
I love this movie, but my praise will have to wait until I make sure a few important facts are established for those out there unfamiliar with Bruceploitation films. First and foremost, Bruce Lee does not appear in this picture, nor does it have the first thing to do with the real Bruce Lee; the star of the film is Ho Chung Tao (aka Li Shao Lung), better known as Bruce Li. Li is regarded by and large as the best of the Bruce Lee clones (and I might point out he never really embraced the concept of being renamed after his idol). It is unfair to even compare him to Bruce Lee because Li is a pretty darn good martial arts star in his own right. With this movie, he won me over completely. Another important fact about this film concerns the title: these Bruceploitation films of the mid- to late-70s are notorious for having different titles. This 1976 film is probably best known as Bruce Lee's Deadly Kung Fu, although you may very well see it called Bruce Lee's Secret or Story of the...

Review
This was a great movie. I remember seeing this as a kid. It really brought back wonderful memories. Thanks a lot!

Cheesy Kung Fu Flick
"Bruce Lee's Secret" is a biopic about Bruce Lee's early years in the USA. For some reason, however (probably legal reasons), his name has been changed to 'Bob.' He is played by veteran Bruce Lee imitator Bruce Li, who does a servicable job. The film traces 'Bob's' work in a Chinese restaurant where he makes enemies with a local gang, opening his own kung fu school, the creation of 'jeet kun do,' and...er, more run-ins with gangs. This seems to have been shot mostly in an Asian suburb/park, giving the movie a strange low-budget feel. It's not a whole lot more interesting than any other Bruceploitation movie, although there are plenty of fight scenes, particularly towards the end.

The DVD from Jalisco is in 1.33:1, heavily cropped from the film's probably 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The image is a bit sharper than expected, although still fairly scratchy. The dubbed sound is as you'd expect. There are, unsurprisingly, no extras. The menu design and the box are both blah.

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