Pretty Good

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

A Masterpiece!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Maybe there's renewed interest in the young life of Bruce Lee because of the recent hit movie about Bruce's Wing Chun teacher Yip Man. In any case, this movie has input of Bruce's young brother Robert Lee which sheds light to Bruce's formative years in Hong Kong. From this influence, much of the story revolves around Bruce's family life. Along with it we also get to see a glimpse of what life in Hong Kong might have looked like back in the mid '50s.It's a good movie about life of Bruce Lee. The only negative might be that the actor and the actress who played Bruce and his girlfriend lacked the flare that Bruce had and what was shown of the girl in the picture of Bruce at the Cha Cha competition. But this might be as close to possible of depicting Bruce by another person. Bruce Lee had very special star quality that made him stand out in every situation.I remember seeing Bruce Lee in TV commercial of the Green Hornet. His line was "Hi, this is Bruce Lee, please join me in the next episode of the Green Hornet.". He stood out despite the fact that he was little known, and he was an Asian showing up in American television. He was so good looking, and had a star quality like no other.I really liked this movie, as it shed lights on to the life of Bruce Lee in Hong Kong that we knew little about, and wished we knew more about. With the input of Robert Lee, this is as close to coming authentic as it can be, and is a good addition to the legend we know as Bruce Lee.

This is NOT a martial arts film so if that is what you expected steer clear. It is the story of Bruce Lee's early life as told through his younger brother. At times it is over sentimental and at other times just silly. Having read much about Bruce Lee I was disappointed that he was portrayed as an emotional wimp. Also in his early fights as a boy in Hong Kong he is shown he using the famous Bruce Lee scream yet from what I read he only used this for films. I had also previously read that he was regularly in street fights, some quite dangerous ones and it was for this reason that his Father sent him off to the U.S.A but in this film it was to do with him destroying some drugs when trying to rescue a friend from the pushers grasp. Is any of that true? There are some really good acting performances in this film, especially the actress playing Bruce's mother.

I enjoyed the movie. I am a fan of Bruce Lee and had read his books and of course, saw his movies. I also read numerous articles and other biographies from his wife and friends.This movie is about Bruce when he was living in Hong Kong from his sibling's viewpoint. The biggest reason why I enjoyed this movie was that it filled in some information gaps that I had about Bruce Lee.I knew that he was born in San Francisco because his father was a performer in the Chinese Opera and was performing here when his wife gave birth to Bruce. What I always wondered was why did the parents pick the name Bruce? It seems the mother said "push" when the American nurse asked what name they wanted for the baby. The father's English was not so good so he garbled "push" and it sounded like "Bruce" to the nurse. Unfortunately, another question has popped up that I hope the book will answer when I read it is why did the mother say "push." According to the movie, during the labor, the American nurse kept saying "push," and maybe the mother liked that word and stated this when the American nurse asked for the name. I'm wondering whether Bruce's mother even knew the meaning of the word "push" and whether the father even knew what the wife was saying? Again, I hope the book will answer these questions.I knew his family was in entertainment area but I did not know how connected they were in the Hong Kong entertainment scene. It seems the Lee family knew most of the performers in Hong Kong.I knew that the family lived under the same house but I did not know they had several servants and the servants' family living under the same house. This signifies that they were pretty well off.Bruce was a natural leader and it showed when early on, he became the leader of his newly formed friends. He was also a born entertainer. He began acting at an early age when one his father's friend put Bruce in one of his movies.Bruce did not like studying but loved hanging out with friends and getting into fights. The movie fills in on how and why he learned Wing Chun Kung Fu. The major basis of his subsequent fighting style.He loved dancing. I knew he was a Cha Cha Cha champion in Hong Kong but I did not know he did not win that without a female partner. In fact, he won that with his younger brother Robert Lee, as his dancing partner. The movie told the story why his younger brother became his dancing partner, and that was due to a love triangle.One of the biggest question that I had about Bruce was why did he have to leave for America so quickly? From various articles, I knew he was in trouble but there was no real elaboration. According to the movie, one of his close friends was a drug addict. Bruce went to save him but the friend was in a drug den. There was a confrontation with a drug boss. In the ensuing struggle, some of the boss' men were injured and some of the drug was lost.As stated in the movie, the father told him that if he stayed in Hong Kong, he will either be killed by the drug gang or be put in jail by the authorities. Therefore, he had to leave immediately for the U.S.A. By the way, there was a minor mistake in the movie in that the $100 bill was the modern bill with the giant portrait of Benjamin Franklin.This also filled in some gaps in that I always wondered why some people in Hong Kong thought that he was killed by the Triads or some Chinese gang. Thus the conspiracy theory.I am sure like any movie based on a real person, the movie company took some liberty with the facts but I hope it was not much. Overall a good movie that emphasized his family, friends, and career while growing up in Hong Kong.

Based upon the book Bruce Lee, My Brother by Robert Lee, Bruce's youngest brother, directors Raymond Yip and Manfred Wong take us on a journey that's begging to be made about the life and times of the formative, growing up years of Lee Jun Fan / Lee Sai Feng (Phoenix). It doesn't need to encroach into the territory that Rob Cohen's Dragon had already touched on, the Hollywood film done some 17 years back with Jason Scott Lee (of no relations) in the leading role that begins from his teenage and adult years in the USA, Jeet Kune Do, Kato, Fist of Fury and all. Instead this film takes a more nostalgic look back from the 40s to 60s Hong Kong, focusing on the somewhat wayward youth and teen actor prior to being "exiled" by his dad to the US for his own protection, and the rest, as they say, is history.In what would be something like a calling as an actor when his father the opera megastar (Tony Leung Kar Fai) assisted a director friend in need by volunteering his infant son in Golden Gate Girl, Bruce Lee's film forays was way before the kung fu movies launched him into super-stardom, starring in The Orphan and many others, and through this narrative angle, allowed the filmmakers to pay tribute and homage to famous screen actors who once were and the films they were in, the filmmaking mover and shakers behind them, and a commentary on the state of the industry at that time, with unions and hectic film schedules, actors often handling simultaneous projects that require flitting from one sound stage to another. No effort was spared in the attention to detail in sets and costumes, and I thoroughly enjoyed everything the filmmakers had in pulling out all the stops in recreating the mood, look and feel, plus the wonderful actors taking great pains to bring back the memories of acting veterans.Acting career aside, Bruce Lee, My Brother also touches upon his family members as well, with scenes involving his siblings and parents, their upbringing and the value system instilled upon them. It shows the affluence of a traditional extended Chinese family living together, and not just under the same roof with kin, but that including the servants and their children too. Glimpses of stepping out of traditional boundaries are shown through his mom, played by Christy Chung in a comeback role, as deliberate attention was paid to her wearing the pants of the household when her husband's away, taking charge of delicate situations, including cursory mention of her fine family background. It is little nuggets of information like these that make this film a wonderful gem to sit through for trivia.And of course, no story will be complete without friendship and romance thrown into the mix, especially when dealing with the pains of growing up. A tempestuous youth almost always never shying away from a fight, nevermind his semi-stardom, Bruce Lee is part of a group nicknamed the Kowloon Tigers, and it is this allegiance with his buddies that take centerstage, with a subplot running to the finale, involving loving the same girl as his best friend, and how he puts his loyalty with friends and family above everything else. They hang out mostly at dance parlours, and the hours he puts in explains his nimbleness and gracefulness that we'll see infused into his fighting prowess, not to mention being crowed a Cha-cha dance champion at one point as well.The fights are widely touted in the trailer, and here's where chief credit must go to the filmmakers for conscientiously steering clear of too much Wing Chun, and avoiding the temptation to stage clichéd big battles with the Japanese soldiers or British corrupt police. These have been touched upon too frequently of late, with the two Ip Man films, as well as the Andrew Lau's tribute to Bruce Lee with his Legend of Chen Zhen. Meeting up with Ip Man himself is probably requisite for this film, but it placed it in proper context that Bruce was most of the time being trained by one of the pupils instead, and we do see some hints of Jeet Kune Do in his fights, which are never deadly, but friendlier in nature meant as a comparison of skills and fighting philosophies.Bruce Lee, My Brother is a fitting tribute about the early life of Bruce Lee, hitting the mark on famous milestones in his life, and showing his character not as the superstar to be, but the down to earth and fiercely loyal friend, brother and son he was known to all those close to him. Dramatic license is of course heavily used especially when putting in subtle hints throughout the film that references the famous movies that he will make in the future (loved that makeshift nunchak using preserved sausages, as well as the banter with a certain Shek Kin). A definite must watch especially for fans who must stay put during the end credit roll for a photographic comparison of pictures taken in the film with the real thing. A film I enjoyed tremendously and goes into my books as a firm contender for the best this year has to offer!