Bruce Lee is not only the greatest martial arts star; he is also one of the most beloved Asian martial arts actors and choreographers in film history. An innovative filmmaker and incredible fighter, Lee had an impressive career that was tragically cut short by his untimely death in 1973. However, Lee’s influence is still visible in Hollywood today, with his character inspiring film appearances, numerous documentaries and biopics. Every year.
He is an icon with an almost mythological legacy that continues to influence today. To trace the origins of the man, myth and legend of Bruce Lee, let’s take a look at the most important moments of his short film career.
14. Fight with Hakim – Game of Death
1978’s Game of Death is a strange film. It’s the result of a low-budget re-assembly of the 1972 film, which Lee left unfinished after his death, and a closing story involving less-than-convincing stunt doubles for the late star. Despite the questionable ethics involved in finishing the film, the scenes that Lee shot are fantastic and some of the most iconic of his career. While the entire fight in the pagoda is great, the highlight of the film is Lee’s duel with Hakeem, a hulking giant of a martial arts star played to perfection by the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It’s a classic bout where the 5ft 8in star proves to his 7ft 2in opponent that the bigger he is, the harder he falls.
13. Duel with O’Hara – Enter the Dragon
Enter the Dragon is often cited as one of Lee’s greatest films, and with good reason. With a mixture of martial arts and spy films, with a pinch or two of blaxploitation jokes thrown in, this is one of the best must-see films of the 1970s. Lee, of course, is great at this. While Enter the Dragon has many great action scenes, one of the best is when Lee finally seeks revenge on the ruthless bodyguard O’Hara – the man responsible for the death of Lee’s sister. vendetta underlying it.
12. The Ice Factory Battle – The Big Boss
The Big Boss was Lee’s first major film role and catapulted him to international superstardom. One of the best scenes in the film is when Lee is ambushed by the villains at the ice factory. This fight sets a precedent for all of Lee’s subsequent films – although he is unarmed and outnumbered, he does not go down without a fight. What follows is a stunning and unflinchingly brutal beating, including punches and kicks, a volley of throwing knives and incredible abuse of an ice pick.RELATED:
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11. “We’ll show him Chinese boxing!” – The Way of the Dragon
With Way of the Dragon, Lee made his debut as a director and showed the world that he not only had fighting skills, but also a talent for energetic filmmaking. As his only completed film as a director, Way of the Dragon has a unique tone and style that none of his other films can match. With plenty of jokes and sly looks, Lee makes quick work of the smug gangsters, displaying the confident swagger he would later perfect in Enter the Dragon.
10. Duel with the Big Boss – The Big Boss
After a long and exciting build-up, Lee finally meets the big boss at the end of The Big Boss, and it’s one of the most satisfying moments in his filmography. The epic duel ends with Lee deflecting a throwing knife with a precise kick, and then finishing off his opponent with an uncharacteristic animal move: sticking his fingers into the boss’s ribs. It doesn’t get any wilder than this.
9. Fight in the Hall of Mirrors – Enter the Dragon
As we approach the top of the list of the most important Bruce Lee moments, we need to return to the seminal film Enter the Dragon. In particular, the famous fight in the hall of mirrors. Lee’s final confrontation with evil crime lord Han takes a surreal turn when their battle takes place in a room full of mirrors. The mirrors initially give Han an advantage in the fight, but Lee gets the upper hand, smashing all the mirrors in this super stylish sequence.
8. Bruce Takes on the Entire Dojo – Fist of Fury
“You must be tired of living,” says the man at the door of the Japanese dojo whom Lee knocks down at the beginning of this iconic sequence. Here, Lee destroys an entire dojo of fighters after they insult his recently departed teacher. From one of the best martial arts films of the 1970s, Fist of Fury is full of exciting fight scenes, but this dojo fight ranks among Lee’s best moments ever.
7. Showdown with Chuck Norris – The Way of the Dragon
Lee’s directorial debut culminates in an explosive duel between himself and martial arts legend Chuck Norris. Taking the incredible moment to even greater heights, the fight takes place in the Roman Colosseum and set to music borrowed from the spaghetti western Once Upon a Time in the West. The wordless eight-minute menace is judged by a stray cat and illustrates superior visual storytelling abilities. Empire Online’s Joe Berry is absolutely right when he calls it “almost the best action sequence ever made.”
6. Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan’s encounter – Enter The Dragon
It’s not every day you get to see two legendary fighters/movie stars sharing the same screen space. Enter The Dragon gives viewers a unique experience. Although Jackie Chan’s cameo appearance lasts no more than a few seconds, fans will definitely appreciate the moment when Jackie Chan appears out of nowhere to hug the one and only Bruce Lee from behind. We would have liked to see more from the rising star, but Bruce Lee put an end to it by breaking his neck seconds later. It’s not the full fight scene of our dreams, but in hindsight it’s still an unforgettable moment in Bruce Lee’s career.RELATED:
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5. Bruce Lee Imparting Martial Arts Wisdom – Enter The Dragon
If Bruce Lee’s career as an actor teaches us anything, it’s that much of struggle is psychological. Bruce Lee is not just a martial arts hero, he is also a teacher with enough wisdom to preach to the youth. In a very memorable scene in which Lee delivers one of his most memorable lines, we see him talking to his young disciple at the Shaolin Temple about the importance of feeling rather than thinking in order to get into the flow of combat. In essence, he tells him:“Don’t think, feel! It’s like a finger pointing the way to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger, otherwise you will miss all this heavenly glory.”
4. Nunchuck scene – Way of the Dragon
Although Bruce Lee hated nunchucks early in his career, calling them a “useless piece of junk” in his documentary I Am Bruce Lee, he later mastered them. In Way of the Dragon, Lee used nunchucks in his famous fight scene with a gang that was trying to throw the streets of Rome into chaos. His incredible Nunchuck choreography remains one of his best on-screen moments, as it’s always amazing to see him use heavy weapons in the face of bad guys.
3. Bruce Lee Vs. The Mafia– Way of The Dragon
After defeating the gangsters, Tang Lung (Bruce Lee) takes on the mafia headquarters. It all starts with a blow thrown at him that just sends him into a rage, and the rest is history. Although he is not fighting alone in this scene, the back and forth punches and kicks we see coming from him make him stand out from the others. He even managed to defeat four thugs that were attacking him at the same time, once again proving that he was simply the best.
2. Bruce Lee Licking His Own Blood – Enter The Dragon
Enter the Dragon provided Bruce Lee with many unforgettable moments and is one of his most culturally influential films. In the final fight, Han (Shi Kien) cuts Lee’s torso with a claw on his hand, which he must have already regretted when he saw Lee licking the blood from the open wound and looking at his opponent with eyes full of vengeance. The anticipation of what Lee will do next is enough to call this moment iconic. He then jumps into the air and attacks Han with a powerful punch right in the face.
1. The Final Flying Kick! – Fist of Fury
Fist of Fury, perhaps Lee’s greatest film, ends with one of the most shocking and exciting moments of his career: just after he surrenders to protect his master’s legacy, Lee betrays himself and comes face to face with an army of willing Japanese soldiers. to kill him. In a final act of defiance, Lee roars like a dragon and kicks the crowd of soldiers. It’s an epic conclusion to a great film and a moment that epitomizes Lee’s courageous and valiant legacy as a fighter, actor, director and man.