Bruce Lee - The Master Collection

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Sadly, Criterion was not able to carry over the lengthier documentaries found on some of the previous Warner editions, Bruce Lee: A Warrior’s Journey and The Curse of the Dragon. The theatrical version of Enter the Dragon comes from a new 2K restoration, taken from the 35mm interpositive. Using stand-ins, doubles, and archival footage to compensate for Lee’s absence, Game of Death follows a martial-arts movie star who, when he is threatened by a cutthroat crime syndicate intent on controlling his career, must take his skills from the soundstage to the streets. The Criterion Collection presents their 7-disc Blu-ray box set, Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits, which, for the first time ever, brings together Lee’s five feature films The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon, the theatrical version of Enter the Dragon, and Game of Death.

Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits | The Criterion Collection

Disc two holds Fist of Fury, which also comes with its own set of alternate opening credits, which either present different titles (like the alternate The Chinese Connection title) or a slightly different opening, like the Japanese version (which seems to try to lessen the anti-Japanese sentiment found in the film through the opening title card). This set also includes the Special Edition version of Enter the Dragon, and Game of Death II, each of which appear over the last two supplement discs.Andre Morgan talks about the impact Golden Harvest had on the Hong Kong film business, while Grady Hendrix talks about the “Bruceploitation” genre that exploded after Lee’s death (which he considers Game of Death to be a part of). Criterion also includes a 2-minute archival interview with actor Tung Wai, who plays the young student at the beginning (this interview was found in some of the Shout!

Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits Review :: Criterion Forum

The films themselves, of course, stand as defining chopsocky classics that turned Lee into a global household name after his recently-lampooned 1960s run in Hollywood. Enter the Dragon and The Way of the Dragon are probably neck in neck when trying to determine the grainiest looking film, with Game of Death offering a finer film grain (outside of the moments that actually incorporate Bruce Lee from other footage), but in all cases the grain is rendered well, not looking noisy or blocky. While Enter the Dragon and Game of Death only offerEnglish audio in lossless PCM mono (the Special Edition offers an alternate 5. The track gets into,among other things, the difficulties that were encountered trying to get Lee his big break in Hollywood.

The presentations vary but mostly look good, and it’s a big plus to finally get all of the films together in one package. Unfortunately it’s presentation is lackluster with a horrendous English dub and even worse “high-def” video that can look like a lousy standard-definition upscale a lot of the time. Elevating Lee to a hero of near folkloric proportions, this historical revenge fantasy blends its stunning action set pieces with a strong anticolonialist statement and a potent dose of the fierce cultural pride that the actor embodied.