Game of Death II
This film is featured as a bonus in "Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits", released by Criterion, spine #1,036.,When Lewis delivers the final kick to the face of the second of the Wu/Yen brothers, a wire harness for the stuntman can clearly be seen sticking out from the arms of his vest.,Lewis: Kung-fu fighters should be fierce like a lion and swift like a peacock so I study their styles.,There are two main cuts of the film. The first is the original Hong Kong cut, properly titled Tower of Death, which is approximately 86 minutes (NTSC/Film speed). Most of this cut's music is sourced from Les Baxter's score for The Dunwich Horror. This is the cut used for the UK Hong Kong Legends DVD. The second main cut is the international English dubbed print entitled Game of Death 2, which is roughly 94 minutes. While no footage was cut from the Hong Kong print, existing Bruce Lee and Bruce Lee related stock footage is used to create new scenes. The most prominent addition is the greenhouse fight between Casanova Wong and "Bruce Lee" (actually Kim Tai Jong doubling for Lee) which was shot by Sammo Hung for the Hong Kong cut of Game of Death. Other scenes include a childhood montage of "Billy Lo", which is actually comprised of old footage from Bruce Lee's childhood films. The other new scene is a "funeral dedication" which uses footage from Bruce Lee's real funeral, but is done more tastefully than its use in Game of Death as it plays off as more of a real tribute to Bruce Lee than a movie funeral. The other addition after this is simply a proper end credits montage. This is the cut released in the US by Fox Home Video. Ironically, of the two cuts, the extended international cut is more widely available, even in Hong Kong in the "Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection" DVD set.,Edited from Xi lu xiang (1950),Dancer
Performed by Gino Soccio
(Only in Cantonese/Mandarin versions),STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs ..........well,if you come across this movie in the video shop or on TV,please don't miss it.There's not just lots and lots of it,but it's also incredibly entertaining ,especially the end showdown,which does however get a bit tiresome as it stretches out a fair bit.Also,this is the most convincing attempt at dubbing in a Lee movie,with you being practically unable to notice that the words aren't coming out the character's mouths properly as they speak.If only similar praise could be given to the plot and the acting which are,unfortunately,exceptionally bad in this film.Still,if you were expecting it to win a 1981 Academy Award (R) for either of these things,you don't really know your martial arts action films that well.***,