BRUCE’S FISTS OF VENGEANCE
aka BRUCE’S FIST OF VENGEANCE
aka FAUST DER RACHE
aka BRUCE LE – FAUST DER RACHE
aka LE POING VENGEUR DE BRUCE
aka LA VENGANZA DE BRUCE
aka LA VENGEANCE DU NINJA
Philippines 1984
Directed by: Billy James
Cast: Bruce Le, Jack Lee, Romano Kristoff, Eve Wong, Micci Clark, Carla Reynolds, Ken Watanabe, Raymond Lau, Don Gordon, Tony Lao, Jim Gaines, Russell Jenkins...
Running Time: 83 min. (German Tape)
Tagline
(taken from the US DVD) The Legend of Bruce Lee Lives On. Covertext (taken from the German tape) Wegen einem Wettkampf in den Kampfkünsten kommt Jack Lee von Hongkong nach Manila. Dort trifft er mit seinem Jugendfreund Peter Sy zusammen. Peter leitet in Manila eine Kampfkunstakademie. Jacks größter Schatz ist ein Buch über die geheimnisvollen Jeet Kune Do-Techniken. Es wurde von dem legendären Bruce Lee geschrieben, der es kurz vor seinem Tod Peter anvertraute, unter der Bedingung es nur für die gute Sache einzusetzen. Der Wettkampf beginnt. Nachdem Jack seinen Kampf gewonnen hat, wird er Zeuge von Peters Niederlage gegen den Schurken Miguel, der ebenfalls eine Akademie leitet, sich aber bösen Mächten verschrieben hat. Peter bekommt von Jack das Buch, um unbesiegbar zu werden. Jetzt überschlagen sich die Ereignisse. Miguel erfährt von dem Buch und setzt seine besten Kämpfer, unter anderem Ninjas und Samurais auf die Freunde an, um Bruce Lees Vermächtnis in seinen Besitz zu bringen. Jack wird von den dunklen Mächten entführt, ebenso Mariam, die Freundin von Peter. Er steht jetzt allein gegen eine Übermacht von Feinden. Wird es ihm mit Hilfe des geheimnisvollen Buches gelingen das Böse zu vernichten und seine Freunde zu befreien? Erleben Sie selbst wie die furiosen Kämpfer die verschiedenen Techniken beherrschen. Einer der spannendsten Filme zum Thema Bruce Lee. Translation: Because of a competition in martial arts Jack Lee comes from Hong Kong to Manila. There, he meets Peter Sy, a friend from his youth. Peter runs a martial arts academy in Manila. Jacks most precious treasure is a book about the mysterious Jeet Kune Do techniques. It was written by the legendary Bruce Lee, who entrusted Peter with it shortly before his death, provided that it is used only for good cases. The competition begins. After Jack has won his fight, he witnesses Peter who is defeated by the villain Miguel, who also runs an academy but has devoted himself to the evil powers. Peter gets the book from Jack in order to become invincible. Now the events follow hot on each other’s heels. Miguel hears about the book and puts his best fighters - among them Ninjas and Samurais - onto the friends to get hold of Bruce Lee’s legacy. Jack is kidnapped by the dark powers, just like Mariam, Peter’s girlfriend. Now he is all alone against a superiority of enemies. Will he succeed in destroying the evil and rescuing his friends, with the help of the mysterious book? Experience yourself how the furious fighters control the different techniques. One of the most thrilling films on the topic Bruce Lee.
My Thoughts
‘The Legend of Bruce Lee Lives On’, the tagline on the cover of a certain American release screams. It most certainly does, but sadly not in this film. ‘One of the most thrilling films on the topic Bruce Lee’, the covertext of the German tape release states. That’s a rather shameless exaggeration, I have to say. BRUCE’S FISTS OF VENGEANCE is a hilarious Brucesploitation epic with a great cast (who can’t act if their lives depend on it) and some hair-raising moments of incompetence. Let’s take a look at the stars first. According to the German cover artwork, we have: Bruce Le (Jett Kune Do Master), Jack Lee (Hong Kong Kung Fu Champion 1979), Romano Kristoff (European Tee Kwon Do… what? Neither master nor champion?), Ken Watanabe (Japan Master Samurai), James Gaines (= Jim Gaines, Kare Shukokai Champion), Don Gordon (U. S. Kemo 1st Place Int’l. Championship 1975), and Russell Jenkins (U. S. Air Forces Light Heavyweight Champion). Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Romano Kristoff (DOUBLE EDGE, 1986), Ken Watanabe (NINJA WARRIORS, 1985), Jim Gaines (BLACK FIRE, 1985), Don Gordon (WHEELS OF FIRE, 1985), and Carla Reynolds (RAW FORCE, 1982) appeared in many low budget Filipino action flicks throughout the 1980s, and Bruce Le (CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER, 1980), born as Kin Lung Huang, was one of the most famous Bruce Lee ‘clones’ after Mr. Lee’s untimely death. So the big question is: can a movie with such a fantastic (in my opinion, anyway) cast really be bad? Oh yes, it most certainly can. From a technical point of view, BRUCE’S FISTS OF VENGEANCE is a disaster. Period. The acting abilities of all involved, the dreary camerawork, the inept editing, the below average score, the uninspired and dull direction, the jaw-dropping errors in continuity… really, this flick is a catastrophe in that respect, and not a small one. Luckily, it is very entertaining too. It kicks off with one of those nice training sequences, where the master (Bruce Le) shows some more-or-less impressive moves that are repeated by his students. In the background, on the wall, there’s a poster of the real Bruce Lee. This poster (or a similar one) makes quite a few appearances in the course of the movie. You can make a drinking game out of this fact. Each time the poster can be seen, you have to empty your glass. Good luck! Bruce Le is perfectly trained and he knows how to fight, but he lacks the charisma that makes Bruce Lee so unforgettable. It doesn’t help that he tries to imitate his model for all he’s worth. Bruce Le is also credited as the fight director, and the (many) fights are certainly the best part of the film. In the middle of the flick a Ninja appears (well, the guy’s dressed like a Ninja), but he is no match for our hero and is dead before you can say “Oh… a Ninja!”. No more Ninjas, but at least a Samurai makes an appearance later. There are a few scenes where people are training with nunchakus and this looks very impressive. Credit where credit’s due. Jim Gaines has a thankless role as a student who is not only beaten up by Jack Lee but also humiliated quite a bit. I could also have done without the brutal cockfights that go on until both cocks lie on the ground motionless. BRUCE’S FISTS OF VENGEANCE doesn’t take itself too seriously… there are a few humorous moments thrown in for good measure, sometimes during the fights. The German dubbing is even worse than the actors; as impossible as this sounds, it’s true. The girls are nice to look at though. As a motion picture, BRUCE’S FISTS OF VENGEANCE is stunningly bad. However, as a cheap Brucesploitation flick, it serves its purpose and – because of/despite its countless shortcomings – it’s very entertaining and amusing… for all the wrong reasons! I hope that Bruce Lee doesn’t rotate in his grave, but I’m quite sure that his die-hard fans are annoyed black and blue about this particular chop socky flick. Fans of bad movies, however, should love this one. The absolute high (or low) point (depending on one’s view) of this Eastern is the overlong showdown that has to be seen to be believed. Yes, it’s that great. And with great I mean hilarious. “Come on, let’s go home, Peter”, Bruce Le’s girlfriend says in the end, and he replies with “Yes. Kiss me!” The End. I have only seen a handful of Brucesploitation flicks so far, but if all of them are such stupid, laughable rubbish I’ve got to check out more of ‘em.
© Copyright 07/2007
All text by myself (except for some quotations where mentioned)
All photos are copyright their respective owners and are reproduced here in the
spirit of publicity. All screenshots are by myself.