''Legacy of Rage'' () is a 1986 Hong Kong action film directed by

Ronny Yu Ronny is a given name, sometimes a short form (hypocorism) of Ryan. It may refer to: * Ronny (footballer, born 1986), Brazilian footballer Ronny Heberson Furtado de Araújo * Ronny (footballer, born 1991), Brazilian footballer Ronieri da Silva P ...

. The film stars

Brandon Lee Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was an American actor and martial artist. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the dark fantasy film '' T ...

in his feature film debut, Michael Wong, Regina Kent and also features a cameo appearance 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 ...

, who appeared in Brandon's father Bruce Lee's last film ''

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 ...

''. Bolo was honored to fight alongside Brandon as they were best friends. This was Brandon Lee's first leading role in a film (he made his acting debut with a supporting role in the television film '' Kung Fu: The Movie'' earlier that year) and the only Hong Kong production he starred in.

Plot

Brandon Ma (

) is a regular guy with a job and a girlfriend May ( Regina Kent). He has two jobs, so he can support his girlfriend and his dream of owning a motorcycle. Brandon's best friend is Michael Wan ( Michael Wong), an ambitious and murderous

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...

. Michael also loves May and so he comes up with a plan using a corrupt police officer named Sharky (Lam Chung) that will win her for himself and get Brandon out of his way. It seems that the corrupt cop has been using his police connections to dominate the local

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

trade, so Michael has him killed and uses Brandon as the

fall guy Fall guy is a colloquial phrase that refers to a person to whom blame is deliberately and falsely attributed in order to deflect blame from another party. Origin The origin of the term "fall guy" is unknown and contentious. Many sources place ...

. Brandon goes to jail and meets Hoi (Mang Hoi), although he thinks that he will be released soon thanks to the efforts of his good buddy Michael. However, after 8 long years, Brandon finally gets out of jail and vows revenge on Michael for betraying their friendship and stealing the love of his life. Whilst out of prison he learns that May has had his son. With the help of Hoi, Brandon tracks down Michael. Whilst engaging his guards he learns that May is dead. After killing Michael's guards, Brandon confronts and kills his former friend Michael. The movie ends with Brandon bidding farewell to his friend Hoi (who aided him in fighting Michael's guards) and leaving with his son.

Cast

as Brandon Ma * Michael Wong as Michael Wan * Regina Kent as May *

Mang Hoi Mang Hoi (born 1 May 1958) is an actor from Hong Kong. He won the Best Supporting Actor at the 5th Hong Kong Film Awards. Selected filmography *''The Price of Love (1970 film), The Price of Love'' (1970) *''Pursuit (1972 Hong Kong film), Pursuit' ...

as Four Eyes/Hoi * Michael Chan as Yee * Onno Boelee as Prisoner * Tanya Lemani George as Rachel the Belly Dancer in Persian Restaurant *

Ku Feng Chan Sze-man (born 3 July 1930), better known by his stage name Ku Feng, is a Hong Kong actor. Background He studied in Beijing, and has appeared in hundreds of films, many of which were produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio Shaw Brothers ( ...

as Prison Guard *

as Thug * Teddy Yip Wing-cho as Mr. Yip *

Ken Lo Ken Lo (Kenneth Houi Kang Low) (born 19 March 1957) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, and stuntman. He is known for his martial arts and stunt work as a former member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, most notably for his antagonistic role as Jo ...

as Michael's thug *

Blackie Ko Blackie Ko () (February 22, 1953 – December 9, 2003) was a Taiwanese film director, producer, stuntman, singer and actor. Blackie was considered to be the greatest automotive stunt choreographer in Asia. Personal life In 1956, his family moved ...

as Michael's thug * Ha Kwok-wing as U thug * Ng Man-tat as Captain of the Guards *

Shing Fui-On Shing Fui-On (成奎安; 1 February 1955 – 27 August 2009) was a Hong Kong actor, best known for his supporting roles in Hong Kong cinema. He had only one leading role in his entire career. Biography Shing Fui-On was the fourth of five ...

-as Foo * Stuart Smith as Big Papa *

Kirk Wong Kirk Wong (黃志強; born March 28, 1949) is a Hong Kong film director and actor. Wong is best known for action films '' Crime Story'' and ''The Big Hit''. Wong's other films like '' Health Warning'', '' Organized Crime & Triad Bureau'', and '' ...

as Inspector Lau

Release

The film was released in theatrically in Hong Kong on 20 December 1986. In 1987, it was screened at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

and released in Japan. On May 16, The film got his cinematic release in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, under the title of ''Dragon Blood''. In the US the film was released directly to Home media in 1998 after the passing of Lee, its leading star.

Reception

Upon its 1986 Hong Kong release Lee was nominated for a Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer in this role. In 1987, it was a critical success at the

and commercial one in Japan. At one point between its Hong Kong release and the 1992 making of Lee's first lead an American Studio film the action thriller ''Rapid Fire'', producer Robert Lawrence screened ''Legacy of Rage'' and saw Lee's potential to be an action leading man in Hollywood, which led to their collaboration. When the film was launched in 1998 in the US, the Hong Kong action film was described as a good genre film. In '' News-Press'', film critic Randy Myers gave it three stars describing it as a stylish, but good early film. He added that aside from its flaws it was fast-paced, energetic, and Brandon showcased a lot of talent. Paul Harris of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'' gave it two stars saying it gives a glimmer into the largely unexplored talent of actor Brandon Lee, but found it wasn't up to par with ''

The Crow The Crow is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fiancée at t ...

'' due to the formulaic plot. Rob Lowing of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' gave it three star, saying it had a generic story but praised Lee's good performance and

's stylish direction.

References

External links

* * {{Ronny Yu 1986 films 1986 action thriller films 1986 martial arts films 1980s Cantonese-language films Films about violence Films directed by Ronny Yu Films set in Hong Kong Gun fu films Hong Kong films about revenge Hong Kong action thriller films Hong Kong neo-noir films Hong Kong martial arts films Jeet Kune Do films Kung fu films Triad films 1980s Hong Kong films