Bruce’s Deadly Fingers
Picture: C+ Sound: C Extras: C Film: C
Can
anyone really count how many films tried to capitalize on Bruce Lee’s
death. The one’s starring Bruce Li were
the most successful, but there was also Bruce Le (yes, with one “e”) in Bruce’s Deadly Fingers (1980), which
tries to sell us on a plot about the kidnapping of Lee’s girlfriend in pursuit
of a book that contains all of lee’s personal notes. If they find it, they can all become as
powerful and skillful as the late master himself.
This is
as far-fetched as these films get, but the fights are not bad and the
in-betweens are as useless as they are in any other films of its kind. This may not be the best Martial Arts in
cinema history, but it is amusing if you are a fan. There is footage of Lee recycled and/or dug
up, but it only goes so far.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is not as clear as it could be, but the
color quality makes up for that enough and it was still shot to be on a big
screen. Outdoor shots are nice and the
full-frame is used from edge to edge.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 English Mono Dub is average and bad, as
expected. The only extra is a nice set
of Chinese versions of trailers form some of Lee’s best films, with both
Chinese and English subtitles.
The film
has its violent moments, but it is not as bad as what we see today or the most
graphic we have seen in films from this cycle.
It was 1980 and the cycle was in its death throes. This film represents one of its last gasps as
a new decade kicked in. This is an
interesting curio timely with Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films out.
- Nicholas Sheffo
