Save your money for something good and enjoyable

one of my absolute favorites!

Expected more

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

A film which successfully manages to tell the life story of superstar Bruce Lee in an interesting, exciting way; not a bad effort considering the dozens of low-budget similarities which followed in the '70s after the death of the Chinese legend. DRAGON: THE BRUCE LEE STORY differs somewhat by including a number of purely fictional moments but these also make the story a bit more surprising to established fans of the actor who already know his life story anyway. In the end, the film admirably works as both a biopic and an action-thriller, which is no mean feat at all. The action scenes (of which there are plenty, martial arts fans will be pleased to hear) are invariably well-shot and offer maximum hard-hitting violence and cool choreography, with every punch in devastating detail and every kick captured in loving slow motion.Jason Scott Lee), who plays Bruce, may well offer the most noticeable performance in his career; as the kung fu legend he succeeds admirably. The difference from other Bruce Lee impersonators like Bruce Li and Bruce Le is that Jason Scott Lee displays a keen understanding of the factors that made up the man and puts them to use in his performance here, and at times the realism is uncanny. Lauren Holly is also more than adequate as Linda, Bruce's wife, and although a lot of screen time is spent on the pair's developing relationship it never becomes boring. It's also nice to see a substantial and memorable role for Sven-Ole Thorsen as nightmare creature The Demon, after years of playing only supporting roles.The overall effort of the film is to convey the good qualities of Bruce, from his physical prowess to his strong personality and his characteristics of bravery and inner strength. The negative aspects - including his dodgy death - are skipped over, but really this is no great loss. Scenes in which Lee combats racism are excellently done, and the combination of film clips, interspersed with Jason Scott Lee playing Bruce Lee in the process of making his movies, comes off well. Not the best martial arts flick out there, but definitely a commendable and enjoyable one, and perhaps definitive when it comes to Bruce.

I don't know that much about Bruce Lee, besides the obvious - i.e. his legendary status as the man who basically brought the martial arts genre to the West. Therefore I can't really say how factually accurate this film is (although, in the version I watched, Bruce Lee's real wife gave a brief speech at the beginning of the movie, saying how faithful it was). However, I hope I know a good story when I see one and I'm pleased to say that this is it.If, like me, you don't know too much about the man himself, I'm not sure how much more you'll know after watching Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. I've read Bruce Lee 'purists' online saying how inaccurate this film is, but, the one thing even they can agree on, is what good performances Lauren Holly and Jason Scott Lee give as Bruce Lee and his American wife.Therefore, with good performances, decent fight scenes and an - albeit questionably good - storyline, there are worst films you can watch if anything about Bruce Lee's life or the martial arts genre in general interests you.

This is a interesting movie the details the life and death of martial arts star Bruce Lee. Dramatic and action-packed, it is good piece of action cinema that many action fans might find fun to watch.I thought Jason Scott Lee did a fine job portraying Bruce Lee, his moves and characteristics matching the late martial arts star's persona. Lauren Holly did an OK job portraying Linda Lee and I think she had good on-screen chemistry with Lee. Their relationship provided a strong subplot and kept the movie interesting.This movie really gives you the impression that Lee, in addition to his love for Kung-Fu and his hyperactive attitude, had a mysterious side to him, as depicted in the sequences where he is bothered by personal and inner demons. I thought this plot element was a little confusing in the movie in some parts, and one might have to watch certain segments over and over in order to understand it. However, I think it provides intrigue into the film overall.To cap it off, the cinematography was beautiful and the music score was uplifting. The pace of the plot is steady, and does drag in some parts. The story may not accurately detail Lee's life 100%, but it's still a pretty good action movie.Grade B-

Bruce Lee was an amazing athlete and martial artist, with a story to match. It's just too bad Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story decided that wasn't worth telling. Instead, there are lots of fight scenes in improbable places with trumped-up foes, not to mention some stupid "curse of the dragon" that the real Bruce would never have believed in. In spots, this movie is almost as campy as the old Batman series was.A few documentaries have taken honest looks at the Lee phenomenon and managed to remain interesting throughout by showing us a determined, disciplined man who made his own success. In this movie, they had the entirety of Lee's life to use and decided to make up whole sections out of thin air just to spice things up. It puts itself not much above the sensationalistic Hong Kong films that made Bruce look nearly superhuman and the victim of some vast Triad conspiracy when the real man was just as fascinating. What a waste. I know conflict is emphasized in most screen writing classes, but instead of fight after fight as shown in this movie, how about showing some of the famous friends and students Bruce taught? And avoid the idiotic scenes like Bruce supposedly shattering 300+ pound ice blocks into chips with a single punch. If I wanted to see impossible feats like that, I'd go watch a Superman movie.Bruce's fighting philosophy was to eschew flashy techniques in favor of effective ones. Fighting wasn't for show, but to win. Only on film would he do things like backflips, somersaults, superhigh jumping kicks and animalistic kiai. Show us the man who trained long and hard, and studied and thought about not just fighting, but philosophy and health. Bruce's success was as much a product of his mind as of his body.We're now nearing 20 years after this movie's release and the 40th anniversary of Lee's death, with his legend and popularity only slightly diminished. To this day, Bruce remains the paragon of martial arts in the eyes of many, the man to whom all others are compared. I have a dream that someone will do a true biopic. His true story deserves better than to be ignored and hidden. I'd like to see a real drama rather than melodrama, with characters that have depth rather than the cartoonish ones in this film. There have been too many lies and myths told about Bruce over the years and this movie shamefully introduced more. "All these years later, people still wonder about the way he died. I prefer to remember the way he lived." Too bad this movie didn't show that way.