Birth of the Dragon

2018 • 95 minutes

About this movie

In the world of martial arts, there is one man above all: Bruce Lee. San Francisco, 1965. Young, hungry and looking for an opportunity to make a name for himself, Lee (Philip Ng) challenges legendary Shaolin monk and kung fu master, Wong Jack Man (Yu Xia), to a fight when he hears that he's crossing the Pacific to observe the state of kung fu in America. Their legendary fight would change the history of martial arts forever.

Ratings and reviews

Birth of the Dragon tells the story of Bruce Lee's famous fight with Wong Jack Man. Instead of following Lee directly the film tells the story from the perspective of Steve McKee, one of Lee's students. This is where the film falls down for me. It's essentially a boy meets girl film wrapped inside a martial arts movie. McKee basically encounters and falls in love with a Chinese girl who had been brought into America by Chinese gansters. However, the girl must earn her freedom through service. To cut a long story short McKee acts as the middle man in getting Lee and Jack Man to have a fight so that the triad can take in bets. McKee's stake is the girl's freedom. The fight scene between Lee and Jack Man was pretty good when we finally got to it... however, there is no clear winner. The film then descends into fantasy with Lee and Jack Man teaming up against the triads and saving the girl for McKee. This would have been so much better if the film was from Lee's perspective. I feel Philip Ng would have made a brilliant Bruce Lee given the right script. I feel the filmakers didn't consult enough with the people who knew the true story and took severe liberties.

Anything new regarding Bruce Lee im interested in... great movie

I believe Bruce Lee, was the greatest kung fu master ever to live and his greatness may never be matched. L.C.JOHnson