119 - Enter The Fat Dragon

Connection To SOUL OF BRUCE LEE - Both of these films fall into the Bruceploitation category, though this is a satire of the phenomenon.

As a long-time fan of Sammo Hung and a fan of the Bruceploitation genre this film was an absolute treat - so much it was like it was made to please me (though it came out 4 years before I was born).

The film most closely follows the plot of Way Of The Dragon rather then Enter The Dragon (though there is a great sight gag early on spoofing the movie - also should point out Hung actually was in that movie) and we get Sammo Hung, who's character is obsessed with Bruce Lee acting like he is Bruce, even at one point in the movie getting a job as an action guy on the set of a Bruceploitation movie - in which he ends up in the fight with "Bruce" which becomes a pretty cool message - if you are going to pretend to be Bruce, show you are as good as Bruce.

Like the best kung-fu comedies - the kung fu is awesome of course but the comedy is actually funny - comedy moments that are universally funny and not just to the HK audience - it's odd that this film seems a little unseen in the Western world compared to some of his other classics, but there is plenty of Hong Kong films I've seen on import or whatever and thought the same about.

The opening is cool featuring Hung fighting a number of people including Mars, briefly Meng Hoi (who as a kid is in Enter The Dragon) and finally the awesome Yuen Biao, and there's plenty of cool fights in between and the final fight where he takes on three fighters one by one is cool, however how I do say this - there is a black man, a white man and a Chinese man (this isn't the start of a joke), the black man looks a bit like it could be a white guy in black face, times where different then or just could be the guys original pigment.

Overall, utterly enjoyable from start to finish, well worth it for fans of Bruce Lee and/or Sammo Hung, with the running time just flying by I don't hesitate to recommend this. 

118 - Soul Of Bruce Lee (Soul Of Sonny Chiba)

Connection To SAMURAI REINCARNATION - Sonny Chiba (again).

A little bit about Bruceploitation before I start this -

When Bruce Lee died in 1973 leaving only a small filmography and a huge fanbase, opportunist Asian filmmakers started making films trading on the Bruce Lee name - the mean't we got an whole host of imitators including but not limited to Bruce Li, Bruce Le and Dragon Lee (notice the pattern when it comes to name), we also got a number of films that where mean't to be biographies (though in fairness Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story would be as about as accurate) , we also got a couple of films attempting to do Game Of Death (this is before Game Of Death) and the story Bruce Lee might have intended, there was "sequels" - so we got Big Boss 2, Fist Of Fury 2 etc. and there's also films that put "Bruce Lee" in sometimes odd adventures (but I won't spoil any of them in case I want to cover them)...

So to be honest why am I mentioning Bruceploitation in a film starring Sonny Chiba - because he was awesome in his own right and nothing to do with these cash-ins (that I love) it's because of the marketing of the film - it's often called Soul Of Bruce Lee but as nothing to do with him, so yeah I take the marketing of the Bruce Lee name to sell the film as Bruceploitation - this is Bruceploitation at it's loosest term - but it still counts.

This was an enjoyable entry into the Bruceploitation genre or Sonny Chiba oeuvre - whichever way you want to look at it - the dubbed version I watched was suited to the film at hand and even had a bit of an Abbott and Costello routine in it - not sure intentionally - the guy he is searching for to avenge is master's death sounds similar to Someone - so you'd get him asking "I'm looking for someone" - which to me just added to the charm of the film.

Overall, if you love old kung fu movies of the 70's you'll find enjoyment in this. For me the Bruceploitation element maybe to a minimum but the Sonny Chiba awesome-ness is here and in tact.