Bruce Lee: The Legend Lives On... Movie Review

This fairly straightforward documentary (uncredited to any filmmaker at all) about the late Bruce Lee features lots of stuff you couldn't probably care less about (talking heads: mostly unheard-of friends and obscure colleagues) and considerably less of what you want (rare prints from his movies). But when the clips come out, this movie is awesome -- an alternative scene from a Lee-Kareem Abdul Jabbar collaboration is priceless in its kung fu-tasticness; the staging of the mirror-walled finale to Enter the Dragon is cool and intriguing.

Unfortunately, the bigger names who find themselves interviewed can be hit or miss. James Coburn's few moments on camera, discussing the power of Lee's "one-inch punch" are priceless. Unfortunately, Jackie Chan's comments are distracted by a rotten video transfer that has wavy color bars cutting off half his head. And Lee's son Brandon has few precious, cryptic moments.

Ultimately, the legend does live on. Lee is an all-time great of martial arts, with a muted class that puts today's Van Dammes and Schwarzeneggers to shame (okay, maybe not Schwarzenegger). It's just too bad his retrospective wasn't made with more care and better production values.