Bruce Lee Movies Ranked: From The Big Boss to Game of Death
Top 5 Bruce Lee movies
Following the passing of martial arts legend Chuck Norris, we’ve recommended and ranked his best movies or the movies that deserve recognition. Norris was a known friend of the ultimate martial arts icon Bruce Lee. The two would work out together and share style techniques before Lee started his action film career. When Lee was finally able to direct his own project, he brought Chuck on for one of the most beloved final fight scenes of the genre.
Today, we take a look at Bruce’s films from his international stardom days. We rank his Top 5 movies, which is unfortunately the full slate. We look at his most famous ones from his adult years. Many may not know that Bruce actually had more movies on his resume as he was a child actor. We are staying with his martial arts movie career for this list. It’s almost 100% likely that you will have a different take and that’s perfectly fine, but this week, we thought it would be fun to offer our perspective and count down our favorites from least to best.
5. Game of Death (1978)
Just to be clear, this is the infamous Robert Clouse version that was released in 1978 to capitalize on the success of Enter the Dragon, which came out five years before. The reasons this movie is last are obvious and I’d assume many Bruce Lee fans has it at the bottom of their favorites for similar reasons. It’s a shameless exploitation of Lee that got to use the unreleased footage from his incomplete, unreleased film, which was also going to be titled Game of Death.
When we DO get the real Bruce footage, the movie shifts to being good primarily just from being able to see the intended film he was shooting. Many, many attempts have been made since this film to re-edit the footage into a closer representation of his vision. The supposedly definitive one is The Final Game of Death, which I hope to see in the near future.
Despite the way the filmmakers tried to shamelessly complete this film (which even used actual footage from his funeral, including a shot of his corpse), on the whole, it’s still a nostalgic guilty pleasure for me. The opening credits sports an awesome John Barry score and is like a Bruce Lee James Bond sequence. Sammo Hung choreographs some good fight scenes, including a Bob Wall “rematch.” And while the attempts to work Bruce into the rest of the movie are embarrassing, it’s still hilarious to me and I get an unintentional comedy kick out of it.
4. The Big Boss (1971)
I actually like this movie quite a bit. There are just more on his resume that are superior to it in my opinion. However, despite its obvious small budget and a more crude direction by Lo Wei, it’s a simple, but effective story about Bruce’s character trying to fit into a new surrounding, but uncovering something sinister. It feels like a prototype for what Bruce’s movies would become, but it’s totally apparent how he captured audiences from the beginning with this debut.
Without realizing it, this movie prepared me for the frustration of hive-mindedness and corruption at an early age. Seeing this really young, I got caught up in the seduction of the evil bosses and the conflict Bruce’s character faced with his cousins. It was one of the first times I saw an action movie play with my emotions and while the movie lacks some sharp filmmaking, Bruce’s charisma triumphed and his presence started to already feel larger than life.
This movie also has some of the rawest violence in his movies. There are tons of knife play, there are bodies getting sawed up and corpses encased in ice blocks. It’s got that disgusting-looking blood that 70s movies usually have, which makes it stand out as nearly an exploitation film as opposed to a straight action film. And it nearly even received an X rating when it was released in America.
3. The Way of the Dragon (1972)
This is one I recently revisited as part of my honor to Chuck Norris. And while I’ve always known how simplistic a story it had, watching it recently after a long time and with a more evolved movie sensibility at an older age, I chuckled a few times at realizing just how strangely the plot moves. Bruce is flown into Rome to help rid a mob from taking his uncle’s restaurant. He fights them off and spends time in Rome. That’s about the story.
But that’s ok, because Bruce’s intention was to show his philosophy and to make a badass fighting movie. Lee has said in interviews that he was more interested in showing action than having dialogue since movies is a visual medium. The story doesn’t matter here. The characters are there and they’re given personality thanks to their actors, but Bruce was ready to show the world how his fighting style dominates.
The fighting scenes are still iconic and his screen presence here is among the best of his career. Being the writer/director, Bruce also finally got to show his humor. Bruce incorporated more situational comedy and certain funny beats that you don’t get in his other movies. The absolute stand out is the final fight between him and Chuck Norris. Although this movie isn’t number one on my list, that finale is my number one fight scene in Bruce’s career.
2. Enter the Dragon (1973)
I’m sure there are a number of people who are surprised I didn’t put this at number one. To tell you the truth, I’m surprised too. It should be said that even if this is still my own opinion, it’s not written in stone and my rankings (much like yours) can absolutely change based on how the movie just tracks with you at any given moment. If anything, all of these films are close in rankings anyway. But I feel like many people would put Enter the Dragon at number one for the same reasons I would have. It’s a spy movie. It’s a martial arts tournament movie. It’s the movie that made him an icon.
The film is also supported by Bruce’s co-stars, John Saxon and Jim Kelly, who would go on to become another star of the martial arts movie world. Enter the Dragon also oozes personality. It’s where Mortal Kombat initially got its inspiration — the idea of a martial arts tournament on a fortress island. We get to know the ensemble of characters, not just Lee. However, cynically, I do this this was done as a way to make the movie more digestible for American audiences. However, the chemistry between all of them help contribute to the greatness of this movie.
Bruce gets to break out from his normal everyman role as an undercover agent this time around. His spy scenes were great ways to showcase his physical abilities, like the way he climbs rope with just his arms. He gets to show some complexity while he sees drugged-up female hostages of Han’s island. And the action is obviously iconic that it’d be redundant to get into. One of his bests and pretty much number one.
1. Fist of Fury (1972)
This is an amazing follow-up to The Big Boss. You can clearly see that Golden Harvest had more confidence in its star, and the budget got bigger while Lee and Wei tackled a more ambitious story. Fist of Fury was a historical drama. It was political. It gave pride to the Chinese people. It definitely showcased the word “Fury” from its title as Bruce expresses unshackled rage with every injustice he’s encountered.
The Chen Zhen story has been remade by both Jet Li and Donnie Yen, but this is where audiences everywhere really connected with the tale of revenge. The period setting makes the movie seem pretty timeless, and instead of knives and axes like you get in the previous film, Fist of Fury, it’s pure martial arts fighting here. This is the blueprint that most Brucesploitation movies seemed to copy.
You also get an introduction of the stable of actors that Bruce would regularly work with in his next films, including Tony Liu. This is also the first of two movies that Jackie Chan would work with Bruce as a stuntman. Here, Bruce gets to expand a bit as he works to break down the Japanese rivals who murdered his teacher. There’s more intrigue and Bruce gets to go undercover and set traps for the enemies. It’s just an all-around classic and feels like one of his most mature films.
What about you? What are YOUR rankings? Post them below!
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