In 1972 Bruce Lee shot around 100 minutes of raw footage for a film called Game of Death. He never completed the film because he got called off to star in the Co-Hollywood film Enter the Dragon. The plot centered around a crime boss kidnapping Bruce Lee’s family to force him to fight multiple levels of a Padoga for an unidentified treasure at the top.
In 1978, Golden Harvest completed a different version of Game of Death using around 11 minutes of the original footage. The new plot involved a martial artist battling against organized crime and having to pretend to have died.
Do yourself a favor and do NOT watch this version of the film. It is bad, very bad. Instead of seeing Bruce Lee through the film we get to see a body double, clips from previous Bruce Lee films, and at one point a cardboard cut out of his Face. If you decide to watch this do it with the expectation that it is so bad that it is funny.
The original film being incomplete is such a shame because the footage is some of the best martial arts fighting I have ever seen. Each level of the Padoga is defended by a martial arts master from different styles including Hapkido (Ji Han-jae), Eskrima (Dan Insanto), and Jeet Kune Do (Kareem Abdul Jabbar). Bruce Lee’s message through the film is that martial artists should be flexible and not stuck in any one style.
I strongly encourage you to watch the original footage and you have several options. One of the best options is the documentary A Warrior’s Journey which includes a 30 minute special cut of the original footage. This is edited well and flows nicely. I would rate the sound effects and dialogue as the best of all the versions I have seen. One drawback is that the quality of the video source varies from ok to poor. The documentary before the film is also worth watching.
There is also the Game of Death Redux from the Criterion Collection His Greatest Hits. The video quality is the best of all the versions. The edit is also good. However, the sound effects are so distracting that it takes away from the amazing footage. Also, the voice overdub does not sound realistic.
Another option is the Final Game of Death found on the excellent collection Bruce Lee at Golden Harvest. This documentary style includes ALL the raw footage filmed by Bruce Lee including multiple takes of different scenes. Watching the different takes is such an enjoyable experience. This also ends with a special cut of the Game of Death footage and adds a decent prologue to show the backstory of the crime boss kidnapping Bruce’s family. The film quality is good but in my opinion not quite as good as Game of Death Redux. There are also nice sound effects, music, and dialogue but I don’t think the sound effects are quite as good as A Warrior’s Journey.
You can’t go wrong with any of these versions of the original footage. It is a masterpiece of fighting and storytelling plus you get to see the iconic yellow jumpsuit! The best case scenario would be to watch the raw takes from Final Game of Death, the cut and sound from A Warrior’s Journey, and have the video quality from Game of Death Redux. Take a look at this amazing detailed breakdown between the different versions.
Resources:
Game of Death. A movie star fakes his death to investigate who is trying to kill him. Includes only 11 minutes of original footage from 1972 Game of Death footage. Uses a stand in actor, bandage coverings, and a cardboard cutout to represent Bruce Lee. I suggest you watch one of the other versions instead! 1h 40m (IMDB).
Bruce Lee: A Warrior’s Journey. An excellent documentary produced by Bruce Lee expert John Little author of the Bruce Lee Library books. Includes a 30 minute special cut of the original footage of Game of Death. Excellent editing of footage but uses poor source video. 1h 40m (IMDB).
Game of Death Redux. An edit of Game of Death using unreleased footage. Excellent video, but poor sound dubbing. 39m (TMDB).
The Final Game of Death. Documentary on the original Game of Death movie. Includes all 2 hours of raw footage and a 30 minute special cut of the film. Added a new introduction to the film showing that Bruce Lee’s family was kidnapped. 3h 43m (IMDB).
Game of Death Version Breakdown.
AI Narration provided by elevenlabs.io. Bruce Lee quotes read by AI voice over.
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