Haláljáték

More interesting than the film itself is its history. Bruce Lee died in 1973, yet he appears in this film in scenes that had never been seen before in any other movie. How is that possible? Simply because before Bruce made Enter the Dragon, which ultimately cost him his life, he wanted to make Game of Death. This film was supposed to have a relatively simple plot revolving around Bruce's character progressing up the levels of a temple, where he would fight a boss on each floor. It's an idea that nearly every action game uses, just with the temple transformed into various battlefields and levels. Several scenes were shot, but then Bruce turned his attention to The Way of the Dragon, and unfortunately, he didn't manage to return to Game of Death. Five years later, however, Bruce's collaborators decided to resurrect the scenes, create a new framework for them, and replace Bruce Lee with doubles or footage from his older films. The film was made, and its highlight is the fight with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the legendary LA Lakers basketball player. This fight is one of the scenes Bruce managed to film, and it's clear that his level was absolutely on a different plane than that of his doubles. The film, as a whole, is merely a patchwork that primarily makes sense as a tribute to a great man, and that's how it should be viewed. Even so, the film doesn’t rise above average. (2013.02.18)

Few art forms are as distant to me as martial arts (that even includes contemporary painting), but that's not why I give Game of Death the rating I do. The real reason is the film’s disrespect for a man, in this case the screaming Bruce Lee, who had been dead for five years... And yet, it seems, he was being filmed. For money, of course - but this time for money for others. The film is an absurd mess of all sorts of things, the fight scenes are boring, the twisted story (the plot about the death of a favorite actor must have been invented by someone with an extremely morbid sense of humor) is baffling, the illogicalities are glaring. Yes, we do get a triple lengthy fight at the end, in which Bruce Lee is Bruce Lee again, but hand on heart - are those scenes in any way amazing (aside from the fact that in one Lee makes sounds like a turkey in addition to screaming)? I don’t think so. Are you wondering why I watched Game of Death in the first place? For John Barry's music. Yes, I liked it in the opening credits, but otherwise I have to admit that one of my favorite composers didn't pull his weight this time and didn't compose much interesting accompaniment apart from that one motif. But this film wouldn't have deserved it anyway.__P.S. I see there is a sequel?? (2013.12.09)