The Legend of Bruce Lee (2008)

The Legend of Bruce Lee (Chinese: 李小龍傳奇) is a 2008 Chinese biographical martial arts television series based on the life story of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. The 50-episode series was produced and broadcast by CCTV and began airing on October 12, 2008. It was intended to promote Chinese culture alongside the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. It stars Hong Kong actor Danny Chan as Bruce Lee and American actress Michelle Lang as Lee’s wife, Linda Lee Cadwell. The production period spanned nine months, with filming taking place in China, Hong Kong, Macau, the United States, Italy, and Thailand, and with a budget of 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million). Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, is credited as executive producer of the series.

Other martial artists such as Mark Dacascos, Ray Park, Gary Daniels, Ernest Miller, and Michael Jai White are also featured in the series, playing the roles of martial artists prominent throughout Bruce Lee’s life and career. The Legend of Bruce Lee has seen increasing viewership since its debut in 2008. The first 14 episodes broke China’s former record held by Chuang Guan Dong. According to the CSM survey held on 26 October 2008, the first 30 episodes of the series received viewership ratings above 10.35%. The finale episode attained a viewership rating of 14.87%, breaking CCTV’s all-time high record set in 2003. The Legend of Bruce Lee has been watched by over 400 million viewers in China, making it the most-watched Chinese television drama series of all time, as of 2017.

Plot.

Part One: High School Years in Hong Kong

Bruce Lee (Li Xiao Long) is a high school student in a school with mostly British students, with the Chinese students like him belonging in the minority. Bruce notices to his dismay that there was a subtle discrimination against his race in the school, which urges him to excel in order to prove that Chinese people are also competent and talented. Along with his childhood friend Qin Xiao Man, Bruce participates in a cha-cha competition and wins, much to the annoyance of his British schoolmate Blair Lewis. This competition, in addition to Blair’s evident dislike of the Chinese, creates tension between the two, leading to a number of physical fights.

Part Two: Late Adolescence in America.

Bruce spends the first few weeks living at Uncle Shao’s house in San Francisco. Uncle Shao then tells Bruce that he must leave Uncle Shao and have a better life. Bruce accuses Uncle Shao of getting rid of him, but he does as Uncle Shao says and leaves. He meets Jesse, an African American cab driver who cheats Bruce out of some money, but later on becomes a friend and loyal follower after Bruce saves him from some thugs. Bruce arrives at the restaurant of Ms. Ruby, a fellow Chinese and a friend of Uncle Shao’s. Ms. Ruby lets Bruce live in the basement of her restaurant, and employs him as a helper and dish washer. He later quits his job in order to go to school. He enrolls at Edison Technical School, and, with the help of Jesse, was able to rent a small room and get a job of delivering papers.

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Part Three: College Years and Opening a Kung Fu School.

Bruce passes the entrance exam at the University of Washington. Unsure of what he should major in, he asks for the advice of Professor Kane. After a lengthy discussion, Bruce decides on taking up philosophy. Bruce later applies many of what he learns at school to his martial arts. He takes a particular interest in the philosophy of Yin Yang. He also starts to teach Kung Fu for free to his schoolmates. Kimura talks to him about opening a Chinese Kung Fu school. Bruce confesses that while it is his dream to open one, he cannot afford it. Kimura then volunteers to sell his dojo and use the money to help Bruce, but Bruce refuses, saying that he does not want to be indebted to Kimura that way. Kimura sells the dojo anyway.

Part Four: Oakland.

Bruce buys a house for him and Linda and opens a bigger Kung Fu school with the help of his friends Jesse, Kimura and Uncle Shao. The rent, however, was too expensive for Bruce, so Uncle Shao decides to lend him the money. Meanwhile, the kung fu masters in America become enraged with Bruce for putting up a martial arts school without approaching Master Wang, the president of the Chinese Martial Arts Association in California. On top of this, Bruce also teaches many non-Chinese students, which is strictly prohibited among the Chinese. The masters challenge Bruce to an official match against Yellow Brat. Should he lose, Bruce is either to close down his school or to stop teaching non-Chinese people.

Part Five: Hollywood.

Bruce decides to pursue Hollywood. In order to do so, he leaves Oakland and moves to Los Angeles with Linda and Brandon. He also decides to leave the Kung Fu school to Kimura and Uncle Shao. George, Bruce and the screenwriter Robert brainstorm over the movie’s plot, which they then called Kung Fu. George’s boss Mr. William sees the great potential in the movie; however, he was not convinced that a Chinese man like Bruce should play the lead. Without George’s knowledge, William arranges for the Hollywood actor Robert Douglas to be taught Kung Fu by Bruce, so that he could be the lead actor for the movie. Bruce and George find out about William’s intentions. Bruce is so enraged at the deception that he even accuses George of being in on the lie.

Part Six: Rise to Fame in Hong Kong.

The movie industry, however, had not fully closed its doors on Bruce. The Hong Kong film company Golden Harvest seeks him out with a movie project, The Big Boss. The company president, Mr. Chow, saw Bruce Lee as the way to saving Golden Harvest from going into bankruptcy. They travel to Thailand, the shooting location for the movie. While the movie was being made, the master Thai boxer King Charles sends Bruce a letter of challenge. Bruce happily accepts the challenge but spends some time first to learn about Thai Boxing. He also tells King Charles that their duel will be filmed, and if Bruce won, he will get to use the footage in The Big Boss. He and King Charles fight, he is a formidable opponent and for a lot of the match dominated but Bruce wins.

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Part Seven: International Fame and Death.

The success of Way of the Dragon far exceeds those of Bruce’s previous films, catapulting him into international stardom. Hollywood hears of his success in Asia. Mr. William, realizing his mistake in not pursuing Bruce before, sends George to offer Bruce another movie, Blood and Steel. Wary of yet another possibility of being lied to, in addition to the fact that he is currently making the movie Game of Death, Bruce refuses at first. Bruce talks to Mr. Chow, who then assures him that he may work with Hollywood. He advised Bruce to represent Golden Harvest so that the project will become a joint project between them and Hollywood. Bruce accepts the offer and postpones the making of Game of Death in order to work with Hollywood.

External links:

The Legend of Bruce Lee (이소룡 전기) – Korean Official Website
The Legend of Bruce Lee (ブルース・リー伝説) – Japanese Official Website
Living up to Bruce Lee’s Legend
The Legend of Bruce Lee (李小龙传奇) at IMDb
Bruce lee’s Best Quotes – Bruce lee’s Best Quotes