ladyhawk
02-Jul-2002, 11:23 AM
Lee Documentary Reconstructs Film
.c The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A new documentary about Bruce Lee has reconstructed the finale to the late martial-arts star's unfinished film ``Game of Death'' nearly 29 years after his death.
`Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey,'' debuting on the American Movie Classics channel Tuesday night, features 33 minutes of finished footage presented
according to an original outline by Lee, who also wrote and directed the movie.
The final scenes feature Lee's character as he fights his way through three levels of an ancient pagoda to lay claim to a treasure.
Producers released a version of the film five years after Lee died in 1973, but Lee only appeared in 11 minutes, and much of the new footage has never been seen publicly.
Some admirers of Lee considered the 1978 version an insult to his legacy because it features look-alikes in sunglasses and cardboard cutouts of the fighter in unfinished scenes.
`I didn't know what to think. They had to finish the movie with what they had and what they could add to it with other actors. They couldn't do it the way he wanted it done,'' said basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a trainee of Lee's who co-starred as the film's final villain.
Abdul-Jabbar said he was glad the documentary features at least part of the film in the way Lee intended.
Lee's displays of physical might and featherweight acrobatics earned him a cult following when he began starring in thrillers such as 1972's ``Fists of Fury'' and 1973's ``Enter the Dragon.''
But less than a year after his starring debut, he died at 32 from a brain edema.
On the Net:
American Movie Classics Web site: http://www.amctv.com/amc/0,3131,1,00.html
06/29/02 04:20 EDT
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
.c The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A new documentary about Bruce Lee has reconstructed the finale to the late martial-arts star's unfinished film ``Game of Death'' nearly 29 years after his death.
`Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey,'' debuting on the American Movie Classics channel Tuesday night, features 33 minutes of finished footage presented
according to an original outline by Lee, who also wrote and directed the movie.
The final scenes feature Lee's character as he fights his way through three levels of an ancient pagoda to lay claim to a treasure.
Producers released a version of the film five years after Lee died in 1973, but Lee only appeared in 11 minutes, and much of the new footage has never been seen publicly.
Some admirers of Lee considered the 1978 version an insult to his legacy because it features look-alikes in sunglasses and cardboard cutouts of the fighter in unfinished scenes.
`I didn't know what to think. They had to finish the movie with what they had and what they could add to it with other actors. They couldn't do it the way he wanted it done,'' said basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a trainee of Lee's who co-starred as the film's final villain.
Abdul-Jabbar said he was glad the documentary features at least part of the film in the way Lee intended.
Lee's displays of physical might and featherweight acrobatics earned him a cult following when he began starring in thrillers such as 1972's ``Fists of Fury'' and 1973's ``Enter the Dragon.''
But less than a year after his starring debut, he died at 32 from a brain edema.
On the Net:
American Movie Classics Web site: http://www.amctv.com/amc/0,3131,1,00.html
06/29/02 04:20 EDT
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.