Bruce Lee filmography
This article details the filmography of actor and martial artist Bruce Lee.
| Bruce Lee filmography | ||
Lee as Kato in the television series The Green Hornet (August 1967) | ||
| Filmography | ||
|---|---|---|
| Feature films | 37 | |
| Television appearances | 20 | |
| Documentaries | 52 | |
| Other | 102 | |
Several of Lee's films premiered after his death, including Enter the Dragon, Game of Death and Circle of Iron.
Feature films
| Year | Title | Chinese title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Golden Gate Girl | 金門女 | As an infant | |
| 1946 | The Birth of Mankind | 人类的诞生 | ||
| 1948 | Wealth is Like a Dream | 富貴浮雲 | ||
| 1949 | Sai See in the Dream | 夢裡西施 | Yam Lee | |
| The Story of Fan Lei-fa | ||||
| 1950 | The Kid | 細路祥 | Kid Cheung | a.k.a. My Son, A Chung. Available on region 1 English-subtitled DVD from Cinema Epoch. |
| Blooms and Butterflies | ||||
| 1951 | Infancy | 人之初 | Ngau | |
| 1953 | A Myriad Homes | 千萬人家 | ||
| Blame it on Father | 父之過 | a.k.a. Father's Fault | ||
| The Guiding Light | 苦海明燈 | Son as teenager | Available on region 1 English-subtitled DVD from Cinema Epoch / a.k.a. A Son Is Born | |
| A Mother's Tears | 慈母淚 | a.k.a. A Mother Remembers | ||
| In the Face of Demolition | 危樓春曉 | |||
| 1955 | An Orphan's Tragedy | 孤星血淚 | Frank Wong (child) | Available on region 1 English-subtitled DVD from Cinema Epoch |
| Orphan's Song | 孤兒行 | |||
| Love | 愛 | |||
| Love Part 2 | 愛(下集) | |||
| We Owe It to Our Children | 兒女債 | a.k.a. The More the Merrier | ||
| The Faithful Wife | ||||
| 1956 | The Wise Guys Who Fool Around | 詐痲納福 | ||
| Too Late For Divorce | 早知當初我唔嫁 | |||
| 1957 | The Thunderstorm | 雷雨 | Chow Chung | Based on the play Lei Yu by Cao Yu |
| Darling Girl | ||||
| 1960 | The Orphan | 人海孤鴻 | Sam | |
| 1968 | The Wrecking Crew | 風流特務勇破迷魂陣 | Action director | |
| 1969 | Marlowe | 醜聞喋血 | Winslow Wong | Also action director |
| 1970 | A Walk in the Spring Rain | 春雨漫步 | Action Director | Lee, personal friend of producer Stirling Silliphant, is credited as the film's fight choreographer. |
| 1971 | The Big Boss | 唐山大兄 | Cheng Chao-an | Also action director a.k.a. Fists of Fury[lower-alpha 1] |
| 1972 | Fist of Fury | 精武門 | Chen Zhen | Also action director a.k.a. The Chinese Connection[lower-alpha 1] |
| The Way of the Dragon | 猛龍過江 | Tang Lung | Also producer, director, action director and screenwriter The film was released in the U.S. after Enter the Dragon; hence the alternate title Return of the Dragon | |
| 1973 | Fist of Unicorn | 麒麟掌 | Action Director and fight choreographer | |
Released posthumously
| Year | Title | Chinese title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Enter the Dragon | 龍爭虎鬥 | Mr. Lee | Also action director, writer and producer Sent as a spy into a martial arts tournament hosted by a rogue-monk-turned-drug lord Released six days after Lee's death |
| 1974 | The Green Hornet | 青蜂侠 | Kato | A compilation of episodes from the TV series edited together and released as a feature film Released one year after Lee's death |
| 1978 | Game of Death | 死亡遊戲 | Billy Lo | There are two versions of this film, each one with a different plot (the original from an incomplete 1972 film and the 1978 build doing a "footage mashup") Lee was shown in incomplete original footage from 1972, plus stock footage from Enter the Dragon and other films The original was finally released as a short film in the year 2000. |
| Circle of Iron | Co-writer a.k.a. The Silent Flute Film co-written by Bruce Lee, who was seeking to illustrate the differences between Eastern and Western philosophies | |||
| 1981 | Game of Death II | 死亡塔 | Billy Lo / Lee Chen Chiang | a.k.a. Tower of Death Unrelated to the first Game of Death, it was marketed as a sequel in the U.S. Lee appears in stock footage from Enter the Dragon and other films |
| 1993 | City Hunter | 城市獵人 | Billy Lo | Lee appears in archival footage from Game of Death 1 |
Box office performance
| Year | Title | Worldwide gross revenue (est. US dollars) | Budget (US dollars) |
Return on investment (ROI) |
Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominal value | Inflation adjusted | |||||
| 1968 | The Wrecking Crew | $8,000,000 | $67,000,000 | ? | ? | [lower-alpha 2] |
| 1971 | The Big Boss (Fists of Fury) | $50,000,000 | $400,000,000 | $100,000 | 50,000% | [lower-alpha 3] |
| 1972 | Fist of Fury (The Chinese Connection) | $100,000,000 | $700,000,000 | $100,000 | 100,000% | [lower-alpha 4] |
| Way of the Dragon (Return of the Dragon) | $130,000,000 | $730,000,000 | $130,000 | 100,000% | [lower-alpha 5] | |
| 1973 | Enter the Dragon | $400,000,000 | $2,000,000,000 | $850,000 | 47,000% | [lower-alpha 6] |
| 1978 | Game of Death | $50,320,736 | $230,000,000 | $850,000 | 5,900% | [lower-alpha 7] |
| Circle of Iron | $2,600,000 | $12,000,000 | ? | ? | [lower-alpha 8] | |
| 1981 | Game of Death II | $349,181 | $1,100,000 | ? | ? | [lower-alpha 9] |
| Total | $741,269,917 | $3,964,000,000 | $2,030,000 | 100,000% | ||
| Average | $92,658,740 | $496,000,000 | $406,000 | 37,000% | ||
Television appearances
| Year | Title | Chinese title | Role | Country and channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | The Green Hornet | 青蜂侠 | Kato |  U.S. - ABC | a.k.a. The Kato Show (Hong Kong title) 1966-1967 |
| Where the Action Is | Himself | U.S. - ABC | |||
| 1967 | Batman | 蝙蝠俠 | Kato | U.S. - ABC | Visiting hero Episodes: "The Spell of Tut", "A Piece of the Action" and "Batman's Satisfaction" |
| Ironside | 無敵鐵探長 | Leon Soo | U.S. - NBC | Guest star Episode: "Tagged for Murder" | |
| 1968 | Blondie | Mr. Yoto, Karate Instructor | U.S. - CBS | Guest star Episode: "Pick on a Bully Your Own Size" | |
| 1969 | Here Come the Brides | 新娘駕到 | Lin | U.S. - ABC | Guest star Episode: "Marriage, Chinese Style" |
| 1970 | Enjoy Yourself Tonight | 歡樂今宵 | Himself | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Hong Kong - TVB | |
| 1971 | Longstreet | 血灑長街 | Li Tsung / Fight Choreographer | U.S. - ABC | Appeared in four episodes: "The Way of the Intercepting Fist", "Spell Legacy Like Death", "Wednesday's Child" and "I See, Said the Blind Man" |
| The Pierre Berton Show | Himself | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada - Screen Gems | |||
| 1993 | Fame in the Twentieth Century | Himself |  U.K. - BBC | ||
| 1999 | Famous Families | Himself | U.S. - FOX | Episode: "The Lees: Action Speaks Louder" | |
| 2003 | I Love the '70s | Lee | U.S. - MTV | ||
| 2007 | La Rentadora | Himself |  Spain - TV3 | Episode: "Be Water My Friend" | |
| 2008 | Dragonland — L'urlo di Chen terrorizza ancora l'occidente | Himself |  Italy - Canale 21 | ||
| 2009 | How Bruce Lee Changed the World | Himself | U.S. - TVPG | ||
| 2011 | Bruce Lee Lives! | Himself | U.S. - TVPG | ||
| 2015 | Too Young To Die | Himself |  Germany - Broadview TV | "Bruce Lee: Die Faust Hollywoods" | |
| 2017 | Autopsy: The Last Hours of... Bruce Lee | Himself | U.S. - TV-14 | ||
| 2018 | ITV Celebrities Interviews | Himself |  France - ITV | "La Grand Émission 2018 Sur Bruce Lee" | |
| 2021 | History's Greatest Mysteries | Himself | U.S. - A&E | Season 2, Episode 3: "The Death of Bruce Lee" |
Note: all the series produced after Lee's death (1973) feature archival footage of Lee.
Documentaries
| Year | Documentary title | Chinese title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Bruce Lee, the Man and the Legend | 李小龍的生與死 | Updated in 1984 and re-titled Bruce Lee, the Legend |
| The Real Bruce Lee | |||
| The Last Days of Bruce Lee | |||
| 1974 | Kung Fu Killers | ||
| 1976 | The Young Bruce Lee | ||
| 1984 | Bruce Lee, the Legend | 李小龍的生與死(下) | Golden Harvest tribute; focused on their films starring Lee. Featured on the Hong Kong Legends Bruce Lee, the Man and the Legend DVD. |
| 1990 | The Best of the Martial Arts Films | 金裝武術電影大全 | |
| Bruce Lee — Best of the Best | |||
| 1992 | Bruce Lee and Kung Fu Mania | ||
| Spirit of the Dragon | |||
| 1993 | Top Fighter | ||
| Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story | |||
| Bruce Lee: The Curse of the Dragon | Included on Enter the Dragon DVDs and Blu-rays | ||
| Death by Misadventure | |||
| Martial Arts Master | |||
| 1994 | Bruce Lee: The Lost Interview | ||
| Cinema of Vengeance | History of martial arts cinema with clips of Lee | ||
| Bruce Lee: The Immortal Dragon | Biography episode; available on DVD | ||
| The Life of Bruce Lee | |||
| 1997 | Secrets of the Warrior's Power | ||
| 1998 | Bruce Lee: The Path of the Dragon | ||
| Bruce Lee: In His Own Words | Featurette on Enter the Dragon DVDs and Blu-rays | ||
| Mystic Origins of the Martial Arts | |||
| The Immortal Masters | |||
| Jackie Chan: My Story | 成龍的傳奇 | ||
| 1999 | Century Hero | ||
| Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 2 | |||
| 2000 | Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey | 李小龍：死亡遊戲之旅 | Found as a special feature on the 2004 DVD release of Enter the Dragon. Also on HD DVD and Blu-ray. |
| Bruce Lee in G.O.D.: Shibōteki Yūgi | Bruce Lee in G.O.D. 死亡的遊戲 | ||
| 2001 | The Unbeatable Bruce Lee | ||
| The Intercepting Fist | |||
| 2002 | Bruce Lee: The Legend Lives On | ||
| The Art of Action: Martial Arts in Motion Picture | 功夫片歲月 | ||
| Jackie Chan: Fast, Funny and Furious | |||
| Modern Warriors | |||
| 2003 | Cinema Hong Kong: Kung Fu | 電影香江：功夫世家 | |
| 2004 | Dragon: Since 1973 | 龍：一九七三以後 | |
| 2008 | The Legend of Bruce Lee | 李小龍傳奇 | It was aired in many parts of the world: China (CCTV), Iran (IRIB), Brazil (Rede CNT; Band), Italy (RAI 4), United States (KTSF), Vietnam (HTV2; DN1-RTV), South Korea (SBS), Japan (NTV), Canada (FTV), Hong Kong (ATV Home), Philippines (Q), Taiwan (TTV), Venezuela (Televen), United Kingdom (Netflix) and Indonesia (Hi Indo). |
| 2009 | Sebring | ||
| 2010 | Young Bruce Lee: The Birth of a Legend | ||
| Bruce Lee, My Brother | |||
| 2012 | I Am Bruce Lee | It won Leo Awards in 2012. | |
| 2013 | No Way as Way | ||
| Fighter of Death | |||
| 2015 | Ip Man 3 | ||
| 2016 | Birth of the Dragon | During the premiere of the film, director George Nolfi and star Philip Ng presented a commemorative plaque to the Chinese Hospital in San Francisco, where Bruce Lee was born. / The film won the Golden Angel Award at the 12th Chinese American Film Festival. | |
| 2019 | Warrior | ||
| Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks | |||
| Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | |||
| Ip Man 4: The Finale | |||
| 2020 | Be Water | Part of ESPN Films' 30 for 30.
It won the Gold List Award in 2021. | |
| 2022 | Bruce Lee: The Way of the Warrior |
Note: all the documentaries listed here were produced after Lee's death; therefore, all the Lee footage is composed of archive footage and some never-before-seen footage.
Video games
| Year | Video game title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Bruce Lee | Himself | |
| Kung-Fu Master | Thomas | Originally based on Game of Death | |
| 1985 | Yie Ar Kung-Fu | Oolong (Lee in MSX version) | |
| 1987 | China Warrior | Wang | Mobile phones and PS2 |
| 1989 | Bruce Lee Lives | Himself | |
| 1993 | Super Street Fighter II | Fei Long | Inspired by Enter the Dragon |
| 1993 | Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story | Himself | |
| 2002 | Bruce Lee: Quest of the Dragon | Himself | |
| 2003 | Bruce Lee: Return of the Legend | Himself/Hai Feng | |
| 2008 | Ultimate Bruce Lee | Himself | |
| 2010 | Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior | Himself | Smartphone game Limited release |
| 2011 | Kung Fu Warrior | Himself | Smartphone game |
| 2013 | Broforce | Bro Lee | |
| 2014 | EA Sports UFC | Himself | PS4 and Xbox One game |
| 2014 | Bruce Lee: Enter The Game | Himself | Smartphone game |
| 2016 | EA Sports UFC 2 — Bruce Lee Bundle | Himself | PS4 and Xbox One game |
| 2018 | Bruce Lee Dragon Run | Himself | Smartphone game |
| 2018 | EA Sports UFC 3 — Bruce Lee Bundle | Himself | PS4 and Xbox One game |
| 2019 | Kung-fu Bruce: The Legend Continues | Himself | Smartphone game |
| Circa 2020 | I Am Fighter | Lee | Smartphone game |
| Circa 2020 | Kung Fu Attack: Final Fight | Lee | Smartphone game |
| Circa 2020 | King of KungFu | Lee | Smartphone game |
| 2020 | EA Sports UFC 4 — Bruce Lee Bundle | Himself | PS4 and Xbox One game |
| 2020 | Street Kungfu: King Fighter | Lee | Smartphone game |
| 2021 | Superhero Captain X vs Kungfu Lee | Lee | Smartphone game |
| 2022 | KungFu Superstar: Call Me Sifu | Himself | Smartphone game |
| 2022 | KungFu Fighting Warrior | Himself | Smartphone game |
Note 1: In Super Mario RPG, when Mario is about to fight a boss, his comrade Mallow stops him and says "Who do you think you are? Bruce Lee? You can't go in there with your fists flying!"
Note 2: Check Kim Dragon in World Heroes (1992), World Heroes 2 (1993), World Heroes Jet (1994) and World Heroes Perfect (1995).
Note 3: Check Marshall Law in Tekken (1994), Tekken 2 (1995), Tekken 3 (1996), Tekken 4 (2002), Tekken 5 (2005), Tekken 6 (2007) and Tekken 7 (2016) as well as Forest Law in Tekken Tag Tournament (1999), Marshall Law and Forest Law in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (2011).
Music videos
| 1975 | Robert Lee | Bruce Lee's brother released an album entitled "The Ballad of Bruce Lee".[4] |
| 2001 | LMF | Hip-hop band from Hong Kong released a song with videoclip called "1127".[5] |
Bruceploitation films
- The Pig Boss (1972)
- Shadow of the Dragon (1973)
- The Game of Death! (1974)
- Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story (1974)
- Bruce Lee, D-Day at Macao (1975)
- Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death (1975)
- Bruce Lee Against Supermen (1975)
- Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger (1976)
- Enter the Panther (1976)
- Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave (1976)
- New Fist of Fury (1976)
- The Dragon Lives (1976)
- Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth (1976)
- Bruce's Deadly Fingers (1976)
- The Big Boss Part II (1976)
- Bruce and Shaolin Kung Fu (1977)
- Bruce and the Shaolin Bronzemen (1977)
- Bruce Lee's Ways of Kung Fu (1977)
- Return of Bruce (1977)
- The Dragon Lives Again (1977)
- Bruce Lee the Invincible (1977)
- Bruce Lee, We Miss You (1977)
- Fist of Fury II (1977)
- Bruce Li in New Guinea (1977)
- Deadly Strike (1978)
- Bruce Li's Magnum Fist (1978)
- Bruce Lee vs. the Iron Dragon (1978)
- Return of the Tiger (1978)
- The Image of Bruce Lee (1978)
- Fists of Bruce Lee (1978)
- Enter the Game of Death (1978)
- Enter Three Dragons (1978)
- Enter the Fat Dragon (1978)
- Return of the Fist of Fury (1978)
- Soul Brothers of Kung Fu (1978)
- The Image of Bruce Lee (1978)
- Edge of Fury (1978)
- My Name Called Bruce (1978)
- Way of the Dragon 2 (1978)
- Bruce and Shaolin Kung Fu 2 (1978)
- Bruce the Super Hero (1979)
- Bruce Lee's Secret (1979)
- Re-Enter the Dragon (1979)
- Fist of Fury III (1979)
- They Call Him Bruce Lee (1979)
- Kungfu Fever (1979)
- The True Game of Death (1979)
- Bruce Against Iron Hand (1979)
- The Iron Dragon Strikes Back (1979)
- Blind Fist of Bruce (1979)
- Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1980)
- Bruce's Fist of Vengeance (1980)
- The Clones of Bruce Lee (1980)
- Treasure of Bruce Le (1980)
- Bruce, King of Kung Fu (1980)
- Challenge of the Tiger (1980)
- Enter Another Dragon (1981)
- Bruce vs. Bill (1981)
- Bruce and the Dragon Fist (1981)
- Force: Five (1981)
- Game of Death II (1981)
- They Call Me Bruce? (1982)
- Ninja Strikes Back (1982)
- Bruce Le vs. Ninja (1982)
- Jackie and Bruce to the Rescue (1982)
- Cameroon Connection (1984)
- The Last Dragon (1985)
- No Retreat, No Surrender (1986)
- Return of the Kickfighter (1987)
- Ninja Over the Great Wall (1987)
- Bruce's Secret Kung Fu (1988)
- Fist of Legend (1994)
- Shaolin Soccer (2001)
- Finishing the Game (2007)
- Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010)
- Enter the Fat Dragon (2020)
See also
Notes
- When The Big Boss was being prepared for American distribution, the U.S. release was to be re-titled The Chinese Connection, a play on the popular The French Connection, since both dealt with drug trafficking. The U.S. title of Lee's second film, Fist of Fury, was to be kept nearly the same, except using the plural Fists. However, the titles were accidentally reversed. The Big Boss was released as Fists of Fury and Fist of Fury became The Chinese Connection.[1]
- In the United States and Canada, the film earned $2.4 million in theatrical rentals.[2] This was equivalent to estimated box office gross receipts of approximately $8 million.[3]
- See The Big Boss § Box office
- See Fist of Fury § Box office
- See The Way of the Dragon § Box office
- See Enter the Dragon § Box office
- See Game of Death § Box office
- See Circle of Iron § Box office
- See Game of Death II § Box office
References
- "Alternate title confusion – The Big Boss (1972) – Chinese Kungfu Kaleidoscope". Cultural China. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- "Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, 7 January 1970 p 15
- Vogel, Harold L. (2010). "Table 3.4. Motion picture theater industry statistics, 1965-2009". Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial Analysis. Cambridge University Press. pp. 88–9. ISBN 978-1-139-49732-9.
1965 (...) MPAA U.S. + Canadian rentals % of BO (...) 29.8
- "Robert Lee — The Ballad of Bruce Lee". YouTube.
- "LMF — 1127 Official Music Video". YouTube.
External links
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