''Legacy of Rage'' () is a 1986 Hong Kong action film directed by Ronny Yu. 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 ''Th ...

in his feature film debut, Michael Wong,

Regina Kent Regina Kent (September 4, 1967 – August 16, 1999) was a Hong Kong actress who acted in some notable Hong Kong films in the 1980s. Career Acting Kent starred as May in the 1986 film ''Legacy of Rage'' alongside Brandon Lee and Michael Wong. Sh ...

and also features a cameo appearance by Bolo Yeung, who appeared in Brandon's father

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 th ...

'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 deat ...

''. 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 (

). 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. 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 Am ...

trade, so Michael has him killed and uses Brandon as the fall guy. 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 *

as May * Mang Hoi as Four Eyes/Hoi * Michael Chan as Yee *

Onno Boelee Onno Boelee (1945–2013) was a Dutch-New Zealand actor, stuntman and professional wrestler. Although he never won a championship title, he was a popular star in Steve Rickard's All Star-Pro Wrestling, frequently appearing on Rickard's wrestl ...

as Prisoner * Tanya Lemani George as Rachel the Belly Dancer in Persian Restaurant * Ku Feng as Prison Guard * Bolo Yeung as Thug * Teddy Yip Wing-cho as Mr. Yip * Ken Lo as Michael's thug * Blackie Ko as Michael's thug * Ha Kwok-wing as U thug * Ng Man-tat as Captain of the Guards * Shing Fui-On -as Foo * Stuart Smith as Big Papa * Kirk Wong 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 ...

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 The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies are typically in April. The awards recognise achievement in various aspects of filmmaking, such as directing, screenwriting, ...

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 Territo ...

'' 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 Ronny Yu'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