When Bruce Lee entered the international movie scene, he filled a hole in pop culture and cinema that Hollywood didn’t know it needed. After his unfortunate passing in 1974 at the height of his massive popularity, one of the darker chapters of filmmaking history began: the search for the new Bruce Lee. This gave way to a massive boom in a sub-genre now regarded as “Brucesploitation.” The mission by many studios in both Asia and Hollywood was to find someone, anyone, who even remotely resembled Bruce Lee to carry the torch and become the next money making star of kung fu cinema.
I’m surprised it’s taken this long for a documentary to explore this corner of the film world. All my years growing up through the video era, I spent a lot of time around Bruce Lee fans, and watched a ton of action movies with Bruce Lee look a likes touting them as the next Bruce Lee, or the “real” Bruce Lee. Throughout the years whenever movie documentaries discussed “Brucesploitation,” it was often with a firm tongue in cheek, or sheer derision. Director David Gregory takes a step back to give us a decidedly respectful look at the beginnings of what became an industry. It was an industry in not only exploiting the memory of Bruce Lee, but in exploiting a lot of men and women.
Many of who worked very hard and ultimately garnered very little respect among their contemporaries. Director Gregory doesn’t leave a single stone unturned, going through many of the more notable Bruce Lee clones. There’s a considerably interesting peek in to the inherent appeal of Lee, but director Gregory then side steps his tragic death to reveal the more tragic underpinnings of the studios all of whom were less interested in revering Lee and more interested in cashing in on his charisma and image. Director Gregory digs deep interviewing many of the now retired stars from Bruce Li, Dragon Lee, Bruce Le, and Angela Mao, and even individuals like Ron “The Black Dragon” Van Clief, and Jim “Dragon” Kelly, the latter of who were marketed off of their vague connections to Lee.
Noticeably missing is Jackie Chan who is mentioned briefly but never given as strong a spotlight as the aforementioned performers. Nevertheless, “Enter the Clones of Bruce” is excellent in that it pays homage to the many that were considered cheap copies of Bruce Lee, examining their own unique skill and martial arts prowess. As well the film explores what they brought to action cinema in their own right and how they packed their own unique star power. There’s no comic tone or mocking to be found, only stern reverence for many unsung individuals, all of whom were worked nearly to death by their respective studios, and decidedly left it all behind.
“Enter the Clones of Bruce” is both a fun retrospective of “Brucesploitation,” and great, unbiased look at how Hollywood fetishized not only Bruce Lee, but Asians in general. They weren’t viewed as people, so much as fantasies, and it’s sad that to this day the change in this mind set has been all too gradual. Nevertheless, David Gregory’s documentary is an utterly fantastic must watch for any film buff, Bruce Lee fanatic, or action cinema aficionado.
Fantastic Fest 2023 is taking place from September 21st to September 28th at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas.