I was inducted into Kung Fu action movies, thanks to my brothers, who were fascinated by them as children. Whenever they had control of the video player and remote, it meant the whole house must watch Kung Fu movies. That was how they got me interested in Bruce Lee, one of the greatest martial arts fighters, according to them.
The first film of Bruce Lee that I watched was The Big Boss (1971) and I admired how he refused to be pushed into drug making. He stood up for those who had no voice and dismantled the criminal operation of the 'big boss'.
After that introduction, I was captivated. I wouldn't shut up about Bruce Lee. What's more, he was so handsome and I kind of had a crush on him! 😝
Due to my keen interest and much persuasion on my part, my siblings and I put some money together and rented some of Bruce Lee's movies that were available in the video rental shop. We rented Fist Of Fury (1972), Way Of The Dragon (1972) and Game Of Death (1978) for the weekend. These were old movies and we did not mind that some of them were in black and white.
After watching these movies and excitedly talking about asking the video rental shop for Bruce Lee's recent movies, my Dad dampened our excitement by informing us that the martial artist we worshipped was already dead! There were no more Kung Fu movies by Bruce Lee to look forward to.
I remember being very sad that night. So I watched the Fist Of Fury again and again because it incorporated a bit of romance. The other movies showed Bruce Lee all serious, fighting and defeating the bad guys. But Fist Of Fury showed a soft side of him —he had a love interest in the film (and I am a hopeless romantic, sorry 😝)
While rewatching Fist Of Fury that weekend on my own since it's a rental and we had to return it, I used it to mourn Bruce Lee in my own way. I felt death had acted unfairly, lol.
Bruce Lee was a fine actor and I see how his fighting skills and style has influenced modern combats and Asian films. For me, Jet Li and Jackie Chan movies cannot compare.
Do you watch martial arts movies? What is your favourite Bruce Lee movie?
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