Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave (1978)

Cast:

Bruce K.L. Lea is Wong Han
Deborah Dutch is Susan
Debby Tebora
Su-cheon Bae
Anthony Bronson

What the box says:

A martial arts expert arrives in Los Angeles to look up an old friend but discovers that his friend has been murdered so he sets out to find the killer. Starring Bruce Lea.

Plot:

In a cemetery, the cardboard Bruce Lee headstone erupts and the title attacks us...

Somehow, a 6 year old making a headstone for a goldfish seems a bit more realistic...

If ever there should be a title flying at the screen ala Superman...

My nickname of Erik Estrada Jr seems more believable after this...

The stock footage of a plane landing introduces us to Bruce K. L. Lea as Wong Han getting into a car jumping back to a flashback of a martial arts studio where BL is training. His friend, Gohan, is leaving so he can make the MONEY. Suddenly jumping back to the present, the taxi driver tries robbing BL who quickly dispatches with him.

Honest, Mr...I didn't jack the mileage on the taxi meter...

BL learns that Gohan is dead. Some claim it a suicide. However, BL is positive it was murder. Later some guy in acape attacks him but BL kills him.

The cops chew BL out and try to get him to admit it was murder. They do release him on bail, grumbling. Afterweards, BL is given the cremated remains of his friend and carries them around in a box with a picture of his friend on the outside. He is taken to meet the guy who bailed him out and wants him to hire BL to find some girl. However, BL refuses and walks off.

Elsewhere, Susan is being chased around a parking lot by some large Goomer. BL walks up and quickly dispatches Goomer. Susan goes off with BL. She wants him to teach her martial arts. BL is sure his friend was murdered. She tells how his friend opened a gym and things were going good until he got sued. A group of guys talk with Gohan, and things went normal until his death.

BL wants Susan to identify the group that talked with Gohan. He realizes that the guy he fought earlier was part of that group. They head off to Chinatown to find the other guys. Somehow, he stumbles across another of the guys and starts fighting. Before, the guy is about to reveal why Gohan was killed, the evil Cowboy tosses a throwing star to de-breathe him.

BL finds that Susan has been knocked out and recovers her with accupuncture.

Later, BL walks into another martial school, and another fight breaks out. The car is stolen. BL watches a parade.

While Susan is waiting, a mugger chases her. Suddenly, a trenchcoatguy scares the mugger away. BL catches up to her but the mystery guy escapes.

The next day, Susan and BL meet Suzaki who reveals that Gohan was involved in drug smuggling and mentions that Mark Welvy is involved somehow. Suzaki and BL fight and of course BL wins.

Later, they head off to the race track to find Mark Welvy. They split up to search for the guy. Welvy head off to a boxing ring to fight BL. While Welvy looks more like a Mexican Sumo wrestler versus BL.

BL wants to know why Mark killed Gohan. Cowboy shoots Mark, he wants the drugs. Cowboy versus BL. He runs to Susan who is apparently dead (must have been shot...) BL drives off to a tree and opens the Gohan box and finds it full of money and drugs. The Mystery man walks up and is revealed to be Gohan. He faked his death and was sure that he could have BL take the urn back to Hong Kong. Gohan blames BL for ruinging his plans and decides to beat him to death.

BL versus Gohan. It doesn't look like Gohan has much of a chance when he is shot. A group of cops and FBI agents run up. They've been tracking Gohan for his drug rind and were sure that they could trail BL on the case. BL walks off mourning for Susan.

What I say:

A good movie title doesn't let you forget it. I'm just talking about a "good movie title" not a "good movie" title. Typically, the longer the title is the more off the wall and better for a memeorable title is. Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, I Married a Monster From Outer Space, Incredibly Strange Creatures that Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, I Was a Communist for the FBI, and Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter are just a few of those kind of titles. Practically anything with "Godzilla" or "Ninjas" in the titles are almost as automatically included, too. However, this movie whether it's good or not this is one of the greatest movie titles ever. Few titles are so off the wall as "Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave".

After Bruce Lee's death in the mid-1970s, movies couldn't let him go. Several movies with just a little footage of Bruce Lee were put together: Bruce Lee the Invincible, Bruce Lee: the Man, the Myth , Fist of Fear, Touch of Death, Real Bruce Lee. However, Bruce Lee footage wasn't enough. The race began for the next Bruce Lee. Today, there would have been a reality TV show. However, a number of filmmakers just took a number of actors and gave them Bruce Lee-like names: Bruce Lei, Bruce Li, Dragon Lee, etc...Thus began the rise of Bruce-sploitation. However, that still wasn't enough. Next came the movies where Bruce Lee is mentioned as having some sort of secret martial arts skills that got him killed like Kung Fu Fever or have Bruce Li star in a movie title Image of Bruce Lee.

This movie seems to just a guy walking around a city into random fights. That is how he found Susan. It's a shame he didn't walk into a resturant to help the family owners who are being harrassed by a gang wanting protection money. If only he had a few friends with him in a black van he could have done something that the A-Team would do. If you're expecting this movie to have high-quality martial arts fights, you've not seen many Walker: Texas Ranger episodes.

Explaining the plot is a difficult thing when cutting down from 84 minutes into listing Wong Han has numerous fights and the several stock footage bits of the plane landing and the Hollywood Christmas parade. A screenwriter in 70s martial arts movies seem to have watched far too cartoons. Why else would there seem to have to have the Scooby Doo moment? Gohan reappears out of nowhere as the master villain who was plotting everything from behind. Just be glad I kept from doing any Dragon Ball Z jokes. If the Gohan revelation wasn't enough, the cops showing up out of nowehere has to be the true deus ex machina moment.

Some movies aren't ever going to be known as deep, thought-provoking, or challenging our beliefs. Late 1970s martial arts movies aren't going to be thought of as high art. It is more remembered more for its title and the opening scene with the headstone than anything else. Trying to get into too much detail about some movies is the same fashion. This is even a lot harder with the random flashbacks, and jump editing along with the bad dubbing that makes 1960s Godzilla movies look to have perfectly-timed lip motions. Bad editting also includesd the Bruce Lee "Wahhhhhhhhh" noises during the fights. Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave would be a totally forgotten movie if not for milking on the memory of one of the great marial artists of the 20 Century. Somehow a zombie Bruce Lee would have been a more interesting movie.

Quotable Dialogue
"This is meant to be democratic."
"They looked a pretty mean bunch."
"I'm ready to face the world."
"I could have been set up for the rest of my natural life."
Morals of the Story
Headstones should be made out of cardboard.
A head kick is a good tip for a taxi driver.
Shirtless guys chasing women in LA parking lots are commonplace.
A "Cowboy" is an ethnic group.
Cowboys are proefficient in using throwing stars.
Cowboys wear 10 pint hats.
Santa Claus's theme is "From the Halls of Montezuema."