''The Clones of Bruce Lee'' (Cantonese: 神威三猛龍; Korean: 蛇形三傑 ''Death Penalty on Three Robots''; Taiwanese: 複製人李小龍:三龍怒火) is a 1980
Bruceploitation
Bruceploitation (a portmanteau of "Bruce Lee" and "exploitation") is an exploitation film subgenre that emerged after the death of martial arts film star Bruce Lee in 1973, where filmmakers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea cast Bruce Lee l ...
martial arts film
Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...
capitalizing on the death of actor and martial arts star
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...
in 1973.
The film gathers together several of the many Lee imitators who sprang up after the icon's death (including
Dragon Lee,
Bruce Le
Bruce Le (; born June 5, 1950, Burma), birth name Huang Jianlong (), a.k.a. Wong Kin-lung, is a Macao-established Burmese (or Taiwanese; there are conflicting reports) born (British descent/Macao descent and half-Chinese/half-Burmese) and Bruce Lai
Bruce Lai, real name Chang Yi-tao (1950 – 2014), was a Hong Kong actor who starred in many Godfrey Ho films.
He died in 2014.
Filmography
*'' Snow Plum Blossom'' (1976)
*'' Stranger from Shaolin'' (1976)
*'' Bruce Lee's Ways of Kung Fu'' (197 ...
), alongside performers from the real Lee's films and other veterans of the Hong Kong movie industry. It has been called "The Mount Rushmore of
Bruceploitation
Bruceploitation (a portmanteau of "Bruce Lee" and "exploitation") is an exploitation film subgenre that emerged after the death of martial arts film star Bruce Lee in 1973, where filmmakers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea cast Bruce Lee l ...
films".
Synopsis
Immediately after the death of
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...
in Hong Kong, Colonel Colin (Andy Hannah) of the Special Branch of Investigations asks Professor Lucas (
Jon T. Benn), a brilliant scientist, to take samples of the late master's brain tissue. Using these samples, Lucas creates three perfect clones of Lee: Bruce Lee 1 (
Dragon Lee), Bruce Lee 2 (
Bruce Le
Bruce Le (; born June 5, 1950, Burma), birth name Huang Jianlong (), a.k.a. Wong Kin-lung, is a Macao-established Burmese (or Taiwanese; there are conflicting reports) born (British descent/Macao descent and half-Chinese/half-Burmese) ), and Bruce Lee 3 (Bruce Lai
Bruce Lai, real name Chang Yi-tao (1950 – 2014), was a Hong Kong actor who starred in many Godfrey Ho films.
He died in 2014.
Filmography
*'' Snow Plum Blossom'' (1976)
*'' Stranger from Shaolin'' (1976)
*'' Bruce Lee's Ways of Kung Fu'' (197 ...
). They are trained in martial arts by
Bolo Yeung
Yang Sze (; born 3 July 1946), better known as Bolo Yeung, is a Hong Kong former competitive bodybuilder, martial artist and a martial arts film actor. Globally known for his performances as Bolo in ''Enter the Dragon'' (starring Bruce Lee), an ...
and Chiang Tao. The mission of the clones is to fight crime in Southeast Asia.
Bruce Lee 1 goes undercover as an actor for a corrupt, gold-smuggling producer who plans to have him die on camera. Meanwhile, the other clones go to Thailand where they meet up with Chuck (Bruce Thai), a local SBI agent who is not a clone but who also resembles Bruce Lee. They have been assigned to kill Dr. Ngai, a mad scientist who is plotting to take over the world with his army of bronze automatons: men whose skin turns to metal when they are injected with Ngai's special formula.
The clones successfully complete their missions and return to Hong Kong. But Professor Lucas, disgruntled because he feels he was not properly rewarded by the SBI for creating the clones, pits them against one another. The professor's female assistants stop the three clones from fighting amongst themselves, and Lucas sends out a small army of men to dispatch the clones. By the end of the film, Bruce Lee 3 has been killed—but so have all of Professor Lucas's henchmen (including the two kung-fu instructors, both defeated by Bruce Lee 1). Bruce Lee 2 finishes off Lucas's personal bodyguard and the professor is arrested.
Reaction
On the websit
Kung Fu Cinema Mark Pollard sums up much of the appeal of the film, writing:
"''Clones of Bruce Lee'' is the ''Plan 9 from Outer Space
''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' is a 1957 American independent science fiction-horror film produced, written, directed, and edited by Ed Wood. The film was shot in black-and-white in November 1956 and had a theatrical preview screening on March 15 ...
'' of Hong Kong cinema. It's the very definition of bad filmmaking and sleazy exploitation. Expect to witness mad scientists bent on world domination, death rays, bronzemen, and naked women frolicking on the beach. Despite some decent kung fu action, particularly with Bolo, it's so bad you'll laugh or turn it off."
A review on the websit
The Bad Movie Reportfinds it less enjoyable:
"Although the Lee-alikes are in superb shape, and certainly know their Lee chops, there is a deadening sameness about the fight scenes that eventually robs the movie of all joy; this flick is, after all, 95% fight scenes. I've always preferred the swordplay-oriented kung fu movies- the more weapons, and the more bizarre, the better. Let's face it, the numerous styles notwithstanding (and there are several on display), there are only so many ways to aim a blow at your opponent and only so many ways to block that blow. Without a good fight coordinator, like Lee himself, Jimmy Wang Yu, Samo Hung or a host of others, after forty-five minutes of the same fight over and over, each subsequent fight becomes the kinetic equivalent of white noise: your mind more or less goes on vacation."
/ref>
Production notes
''The Clones of Bruce Lee'' contains the only fight scene between
Bruce Le
Bruce Le (; born June 5, 1950, Burma), birth name Huang Jianlong (), a.k.a. Wong Kin-lung, is a Macao-established Burmese (or Taiwanese; there are conflicting reports) born (British descent/Macao descent and half-Chinese/half-Burmese) and Dragon Lee.
Jon T. Benn, who plays Professor Lucas and is familiar to Bruce Lee fans as the mob boss from ''
Way of the Dragon
''The Way of the Dragon'' (, originally released in the United States as ''Return of the Dragon'') is a 1972 Hong Kong martial arts action comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Bruce Lee, who also stars in the lead role. This is Lee ...
'', later appeared as an American businessman in
Jet Li
Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, Chinese martial arts, martial artist, and retired wushu (sport), Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singapo ...
's film ''
Fearless
Fearless or The Fearless may refer to:
Psychology
* Lack of fear
* Courage or bravery
Film, television and audio Film
* ''Fearless'' (1978 film), an Italian film directed by Stelvio Massi
* ''Fearless'' (1993 film), an American drama directed ...
''.
This film is one of several appearances in the
Bruceploitation
Bruceploitation (a portmanteau of "Bruce Lee" and "exploitation") is an exploitation film subgenre that emerged after the death of martial arts film star Bruce Lee in 1973, where filmmakers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea cast Bruce Lee l ...
subgenre for
Bolo Yeung
Yang Sze (; born 3 July 1946), better known as Bolo Yeung, is a Hong Kong former competitive bodybuilder, martial artist and a martial arts film actor. Globally known for his performances as Bolo in ''Enter the Dragon'' (starring Bruce Lee), an ...
, who won fame for his portrayal of the muscular villain Bolo in Bruce Lee's ''
Enter The Dragon
''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his death o ...
''.
References
External links
IMDb entryHK cinemagic entryClones of Bruce Lee– The Ultimate Guide To Bruce Lee Exploitation Cinema
The Clones of Bruce Leeat
Korean Movie Database
The Korean Movie Database (KMDb) is a South Korean online database of information related to Korean movies, animation, actors, television shows, production crew personnel and other film-related information. KMDb launched in February 2006 by Ko ...
The Clones of Bruce Leeat Korean Powerhouse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clones of Bruce Lee, The
1980 films
1980 martial arts films
Hong Kong martial arts films
1980s Cantonese-language films
Bruceploitation films
Films about cloning
Kung fu films
Mad scientist films
1980s Hong Kong films