CINEMA CYCLE
(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)
DATE: 11/19/2014
FORMAT: LaserDisc
TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 2 hours 3 minutes
DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 31.3 miles
TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 702.2 miles
SYNOPSIS: The story of Bruce Lee from his childhood in Hong Kong to his death at the age of 32.
CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Fighting (literally) against prejudice, fear and the ghosts of your culture. Never giving up and finding the right woman will make everything right in the end.
PROS AND CONS: I was not overwhelmed by this film. It was impressive to watch. Shot in widescreen, with impressive location shooting and camerawork, you can’t fault the production values.
The lead roles played by Jason Scott Lee (Bruce Lee) and Lauren Holly (Linda Lee) do a good job of acting, but the overall course of the story isn’t really all that engaging. I am sure that Lee struggled with prejudice and other obstacles throughout his lifetime, but most viewers have seen this before in countless films and it comes off as being somewhat simplistic and formulaic.
The fight scenes are interesting to watch but are a bit too voluminous. Then again, this film would have been aimed squarely at the young video game / fight audience and not highbrow deep thinkers.
Bruce Lee’s death is glossed over at the end of the film with a voice over by his on-screen wife which was a disappointment. Finally, the ghost like image and dream sequence fights with a samurai warrior that is pursuing Lee’s family through the ages made little sense. Especially since Lee eventually defeats him, yet he still dies in the end (as does his son in real life).
This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.
Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film.
This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle. A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.
The summary of the project and a glimpse of what is coming up next can be found on my public LaserDisc spreadsheet.
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