We were going to start off this introduction with the typical “Although Bruce Lee only made 5 movies, the impact of each can still be felt to this day,” but we’re going to save you the trouble and get right to the good stuff.
But before we do, please note: Our choices of Bruce Lee’s “Worst to Best” are not based solely on writing, fight choreography, acting, budget, soundtrack or any specific versions. We’re simply rating them based on re-watchability and entertainment value as a whole. That said, in a perfect world, the most polished, highest-grossing Bruce Lee movie with the best action would be the winner, but that definitely isn’t the case here.
Also, we are including controversial Game of Death on the list. Many would argue that it doesn’t belong (only 11 minutes of Bruce’s actual footage from the unfinished was used), but officially, it’s part of the family whether we like it or not. Besides, every damn Bruce Lee VHS/DVD/Blu-ray box set that has ever hit the market includes it.
Without further ado, here’s our favorite Bruce Lee movies from Worst to Best…
“Way of the Dragon” Chinese Theatrical Poster
#5 Way of the Dragon (1972)
Also known as Return of the Dragon, Bruce Lee’s 3rd film was – for the first time in his career – directed and written by Bruce all himself. And it shows. A lot.
Main issue with Way of the Dragon is its pacing is noticeably off. One minute it’s an awkward live-action version of a Looney Tunes skit – the next minute, someone is violently stabbing another in a bizarre, out-of-place plot twist.
You’d think that a movie with a straight-forward story (i.e. kung fu badass protects Chinese restaurant from local gangsters) would be the canvas for a perfect kung fu picture, but one too many odd, micro-plot points spoil whatever simplicity it had going for it.
With a stand out villain (Jon T. Benn), exotic location (Rome, Italty), a lot of screen time with a pure beauty (Nora Miao), bad guys with real skill (hapkido expert Hwang In-shik and karate champ, Bob Wall), not to mention a one-on-one “Roman Colosseum death duel” between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris (he’s a karate champ, too), it’s a film that’s easy to sell, but hard to revisit.
Way of the Dragon may be Bruce’s worse, yet it does stand out as having the snappiest, fasted, tightest fight choreography of all his movies. But for all the other aforementioned reasons, it’s the one we struggle with the most.
“Enter the Dragon” Chinese Theatrical Poster
#4 Enter the Dragon (1973)
After years of hustle and bustle, Bruce Lee finally lands a big budget Hollywood movie with a James Bond-esque storyline, an international all-star cast – and for the first time on the big screen – Bruce’s real voice acting and battle cries grace the audio.
For the most part, Robert Clouse’s Enter the Dragon is a smooth ride. It has just the right amount of action, well-thought-out characters, an iconic soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin, and enough memorable scenes and quotable dialogue to keep the film fresh in our minds forever.
However, we can’t help but notice its shortcomings. The big one is Bruce Lee feels like a co-star. Action-wise, Bruce is given the stage, but when it comes to everything else, he takes a backseat. A controversial business decision to sell more tickets to a 1973 Western audience? Perhaps. But John Saxon was no Sean Connery, and Jim Kelly was no Bill Cosby (okay, bad example, but these guys weren’t exactly A-listers), so seeing Bruce disappear from the movie for long periods of time is like wondering when the waiter is going to refill your empty water.
Another issue we have with it is the use of slow motion action sequences. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m here to witness one of the fastest fighters in the world, so why slow him down? You know, fans keep on talking about missing/lost footage from Bruce’s movies, but we’d equally want to see all the slowed down fights in Enter the Dragon at their natural speed.
The best fight scenes in Enter the Dragon are easily the ones involving O’Harra (Bob Wall) and Sammo Hung. But the way Mr. Han (Shih Kien) meets his demise, leaves us with more to be desired. And as Paul Bramhall says in his article Enter the Dragon: The Most Overrated Move Ever Made, the absence of a one-on-one with kung fu bodybuilder Bolo Yeung was a missed opportunity. Heck, even Bruce Le, Van Damme and Brandon Lee went a round or two Bolo.
Enter the Dragon is definitely one of best kung fu films Hollywood has to offer, but for all the setbacks mentioned, it has a reserved place in the middle ground of Bruce Lee’s filmography.
“Fist of Fury” Chinese Theatrical Poster
#3 Fist of Fury (1972)
Also known as The Chinese Connection, Bruce Lee’s 2nd film with director Lo Wei is probably the most popular, as it has been ripped off, remade and reenvisioned numerous times.
Bruce Lee plays Chen Zhen, a top shelf kung fu student who goes on a kill-crazy rampage when he finds out his teacher, Huo Yuanjia, is murdered by Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The first action sequence – where Bruce famously takes on roomful of karate fighters – could have easily been the climax, but Bruce keeps the momentum going throughout the film, which ends with a savage fight with a Russian boxer (Bob Baker) and a Samurai leader (Chikara Hashimoto).
Fist of Fury is Bruce at his most animalistic – an uncontrollable, screaming psychopath who pulverizes every enemy who stands in his way. Even when he’s captured by authorities, he charges feet first into a blaze of bullets as the film freeze frames into its legendary ending-credit sequence. The film is as no-nonsense as it gets, save for a brief comedy stint where Bruce goes undercover as a geeky telephone repair man.
Fist of Fury is without doubt a great one, but because of its somber tone, it’s not quite our go-to Bruce Lee film when we need instantaneous entertainment.
“Game of Death” Theatrical Poster
#2 Game of Death (1978)
Everything about Robert Clouse’s Game of Death equals total re-watch value to the max. Sure, we wanted Bruce Lee’s original storyline as much as the next guy, but watching over an hour of mishmosh leading up to the 11 minutes of the “real” Bruce Lee is a rewarding experience.
The other 92 minutes of Game of Death is unintentional entertainment at its finest. Even moreso, it’s a film commentator’s wet dream that’s filled with cardboard cut outs, recycled Bruce Lee footage (including his actual funeral footage/corpse) and three different body doubles (Chen Yao-po, Kim Tai Chung, Yuen Biao) to capture the essence of Bruce.
To top it off, Game of Death comes equipped with an extremely catchy, James Bond-sounding score (by 007 composer John Barry), a James Bond-esque theme song (by co-star Colleen Camp) and a James Bond-like pre-credit sequence (by John Strong).
The 11 minutes of actual Bruce Lee footage in 1978’s Game of Death has since taken a backseat since the release of 2000’s Warrior’s Journey. The latter showcased 23 minutes of 1972 Game of Death footage presented the way Bruce intended, revealing how chopped up and re-edited it was to fit the 1978 film’s narrative.
But back in the day, pre-Warrior’s Journey, the 1978 film was all we had. It was the only time we saw Bruce sporting his trademark yellow & black jumpsuit while taking on not one, not two, but three kung fu bosses: A duel with a jive-talkin’ Filipino martial artist (Danny Inosanto); a grapple ‘n throw encounter with hapkido extraordinaire (Ji Han-jae); and lastly, the iconic match with the 7′ 2″ tall master of the unknown (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
Regardless of its Frankenstein’d production and minimal Bruce Lee footage, Game of Death grabs your attention and never lets go until the final frame of the end credit sequence.
“The Big Boss” Chinese Theatrical Poster
#1 The Big Boss (1971)
The debut film of Bruce Lee, also known as Fists of Fury, is the one that shot him to instant superstar status in Hong Kong and made him a cult icon everywhere else around the world. To put it simply, The Big Boss did for kung fu movies what Elvis Presley did for music – it made it uncensored and wild.
Long before Hong Kong cinema gained respect for its graceful combination of action and drama, Lo Wei/Bruce Lee’s first collaboration single handedly changed the game with an element of gritty, realistic violence and a slow burning narrative where killing and retribution is rightly justified, which is rare to find in any movie.
Bruce Lee doesn’t even get a full action scene until way later in the film, but because of the context of his character’s promise to withdrawal from fighting, the anticipation of what he’s capable of leaves the audience with something to look forward to. It’s the best example of “less is more”.
Sure, it has its typical cornball moments we’re used to seeing in kung fu movies (“you must be tired of living!”); and you can tell it was shot on a very low budget; not to mention a brief WTF moment that comes straight out of a Road Runner cartoon, but you can’t deny that all of its parts make up a remarkable package where Bruce displays an assortment of emotions, and not just some raging animal who wants revenge.
Another selling point of The Big Boss is it doesn’t make a mockery of its co-stars and supporting roles. James Tien is at his most charismatic. Tony Liu plays the perfect snake. And the big boss himself, Han Ying Chieh, gives Bruce some actual competition. Also, the presence of Lee Kwan, Lam Ching Ying and the rest of the gang, never gets old.
In the words of Bruce Lee expert Brandon Bentley: “As someone who has stuggled with mental self-worth, The Big Boss has been my favorite film due to Lee’s character being more of an underdog than in his other films… not only in the film playing a character trying to prove himself to others and becoming a hero in the end, but also in real life as a struggling actor proving that he is far more than any studio had previously given him credit for.”
And we agree. The Big Boss is not only our favorite Bruce Lee film, it’s also one of our favorite movies period.
Feel free to rank your favorite Bruce Lee movies from Worst to Best in the comments section below.
Best Bruce Lee movies in chronological order :
1) Fist Of Fury
2) Way Of The Dragon
3) The Big Boss
4) Enter The Dragon
5) Game of Death
Finally, someone other than Killer Meteor who at least thinks The Big Boss is a good movie. =) Middle spot for The Big Boss. I’ll take it!
Awesome read! Ok, let me take a crack, from worst to best (this was a headspinner in itself!) –
5. Enter the Dragon – For all of the reasons listed here!
4. Way of the Dragon – For similar reasons to ‘Enter the Dragon’. People like to have theoretical conversations now around who’d win out of Bruce and Donnie Yen…forget that! How about who’d win out of Bruce Lee vs Hwang In-shik, in 1972!! If you want the answer, it’s definitely not what goes down in ‘Way of the Dragon’. A lot of iconic moments in a movie that feels largely stop-start in its pacing, but iconic moments are good for t-shirts, not for repeated viewing.
3. The Big Boss – There are some things that never change no matter how much time passes. Need to make a kung-fu movie cheap? Head to Thailand! In 1971 Chang Cheh showed how it was done with ‘Duel of Fists’, and Lo Wei, well, tried to show how it was done with ‘The Big Boss’. Ironically most of the reasons I don’t enjoy this are the reasons you did enjoy it – the plot is plodding, Lee is too restrained, and it’s painfully obvious which fight scenes are choreographed by Han Ying-Chieh and which one’s Bruce took the reins on. But hey, it does have Bruce vs. a dog.
2. Game of Death – We agree on this one! For most of the same reasons. This is exploitation at its most gratuitous, but when said exploitation involves Sammo Hung choreographed 1978 action, motorbikes, a ludicrous plot, and Mel Novak before he became a living fossil, what’s not to enjoy? After so much unintentional (and, let’s be honest, some intentional) entertainment, when Lee finally does appear, it makes for an electrifying ending.
1. Fist of Fury – Similar to ‘The Big Boss’, the reasons why you listed this lower are the same reasons I rate it as number 1! Out of all of Lee’s movies, this is the one where we get to see him in beast mode, and his charisma and power burn off the screen. It’s grim and nihilistic like a fine slice of bare chested Chang Cheh helmed mayhem, with Bruce taking no prisoners throughout, making it a joy to watch.
(& because I’m that guy: 1+ – Tower of Death :-))
I can only imagine what magic would have been created if Chang Cheh teamed up with Bruce for a movie (instead, we get his “cameo” on Fist of Unicorn…. life is weird). I’m surprised you dislike it because of Bruce Lee’s slow burn to action. That plot point alone practically makes the movie for me! Every time I pop in a Bruce Li/Bruce Le/almost any kung fu film, the first thing I see before any characterization is set up is a fight. lol
I think that still is from the shoot of Blood Brothers.
Duel of Fists is a lazy vacation movie that expects us to buy David Chiang as an unbeatable kung fu master. And he wears threads that suggests he shops at the same store as Mr Ho in Way of the Dragon.
I like most of the “Iron Triangle” movies (even the ones that barely have any action in them). But for some reason, Duel of the Fists is a film of theirs I’ve never cared for. I think it was that “it takes place in Thailand so it has to be good” anticipation.
Shaws did worse Thai-set movies…Shaolin Handlock comes to mind.
The Thai setting in Big Boss is rather low-key. There is no Thai boxing, no landmarks, no water festivals, no (unlike the Meng Fei King Boxer, thank goodness) endless elephant festivals. It might as well take place in Hong Kong’s New Territories.
I’d be interested to know if it was meant to be a direct competitor to Duel of Fists.
What did you drunk guys?
No, but I was a bit giggly.
I can never make up my mind, but GOD at the moment for sheer nerve and fantastic music!
Yep. As I said before, it’s a film commentator’s wet dream.
It’s also what made me a kung fu film fan!
Don’t know what you guys where smokin lol
1 Fist of Fury………….well made,great fights and great story
2 Enter the dragon….well made,great fights,great music
3 Game of death…….what could have been
4 Big Boss…………….Not well made and so so action
5 Way of the dragon.Awful film made watchable by the action(only the finale though)
Tetrahydrocannabinol. =)
1 – Fist of Fury
2 – Enter the Dragon
3 – Way of the Dragon
4 – The Big Boss
5 – Game of Death (Theatrical)
If we are going to count the 35-minute Game of Death workprint edit (John Little), or even the Redux cut (Canvan), I may go as far as bumping that to Number 2 in a 6-film list.
Ouch. My two favorites at the end of yours. =) To each is own, right?
Positions 4 and 5 in this list remain light years ahead of the entire careers of most others. I love all of the films. Game of Death (Theatrical) is a different beast from the others, which you acknowledge. It never ceases to shock and entertain.
It may shock others, but I do actually enjoy the stripped down, continuous edit of the fights at the end.
I respect that you took the time to write this list and explain your decisions. I really enjoyed reading it and made no judgements. All opinions are valid.
When it comes down to it, I love all of Bruce’s films the way I love all 007 films. There’s obviously some very imperfect films there, but they all have a distinctive charm. And I’m totally with you on ALL opinions are valid.
I’m a big martial arts movie fan. It probably started when I saw Lethal Weapon 4, and I saw what Jet Li was doing onscreen. So I immediately went out and got the Bruce Lee film box set. It was disappointing. While Bruce was awesome to watch, everyone else in the movies were terrible. I ended up fighting to stay awake during all of them.
Then I started looking for Jackie Chan and Jet Li films. It was a little hit and miss, but this is what I was looking for, when I found things like Once Upon a Time in China, Fist of Legend, the Shaolin Temple, Drunken Master (and the masterpiece sequel), Project A, etc. These films are fun to watch and leave you in awe of what they have committed to film in terms of choreography.
Then I found many of the great Shaw Bros. films and Sammo Hung, Yeun Biao, etc. Again, these are much more fun to watch than any Bruce Lee film. I love watching documentaries about Bruce Lee and how his films popularized martial arts here in the west. But, I don’t think the films themselves are all that great to watch.
I totally get what you’re saying. In fact, til this day, I consider Lethal Weapon 4 best U.S. production (and one of his best movies, overall). His role is short and sweet (less is more), but you can’t his screen presence. I think Richard Donner should have made a solo-Jet Li movie. He knows how to use him.
What? The Big Boss at numero uno?
Yeah Big Boss is historically important because it introduced Lee to the world, but man the film is shoddy in terms of everything that’s not Lee(cinematography, acting, story, production values, the list goes on forever), and Lee isn’t even at his best here. No matter how good he is, it cannot make up for all the other deficiencies.
Lee only has one truly great film under his belt: Fist of Fury. The action is incredible (not just him but the camerawork, editing and cinematography are all inspired, over all better than any of his other films), but just as importantly the story is a consistent, powerful one (while vengeance is typical, overcoming racial oppression was something else entirely). There are no stupid B movie shenanigans or corny exploitation tropes with orientalism mixed in. The complete package.
His other works are all seriously flawed in some way, from the lousy directing and questionable creative/action choices of EtD, to the anything goes of WotD, to the complete mess that is only half a Lee film that is GoD. These films all have iconic moments that have contributed to Lee’s legend (hall of mirrors, colosseum show down, yellow jumpsuit/kareem abdul jabbar) but they are not technically sound or impressive films. I always wonder what kind of films Lee would have made in the late 70s and 80s.
Respect your opinion, but keep in mind the time it was released. Shoddy production values aside, there was nothing like The Big Boss at the time. I mean, there’s a reason why Bruce Lee’s stardom surged after its release, right? I guess I failed to mention that I LOVE all his movies, but since it’s a “ranking” article, there’s going to be a big winner and a big loser.
#1 Fist Of Fury/Chinese Connection
It shows exactly what Bruce is capable of in regards to Fists, Kicks and Nunchucks’ to boot!
My goto Bruce Movie for action.
Good choice. I will never get over Bruce Lee’s entrance to the dojo. In fact, the non-action scenes in this segment are just as riveting as the action scenes.
Hahaha guys April fools was like 2 months ago.
But for real tho, Robert Claus’s game of death completely disrespected Lee’s legacy and mishandled his image. Big Boss is arguably darker in tone than 3 other Bruce Lee films due to the prostitution, drug ring, and executions. I’m sorry but if we’re gonna judge these movies, do it on the merits of what defines Lee’s expression on these films. Fist of Fury should be number one for it’s strong message of standing up to injustice and racism, not only that there is a theme of consequences for your actions, and the fight scenes are not only innovated but a cultural impact for how many times its been recreated. Then second or third should be Way of the Dragon perfectly showcases Bruce Lee’s ideology for Gung Fu, as seen in the way he fights Chuck Noris by adapting to circumstances, and also it can be labeled as the First Kung Fu comedy film for its comedic side that hasn’t been showcased in other movies. Don’t even get me started on the cultural movement of the orient presented in Enter the Dragon, that alone made Hollywood recognized asian Americans in american cinema and also provide the Tournament movie that inspired Mortal Kombat, Dragon Ball, Blood Sport and others.
Why can’t every day be April Fools day? =) As a rule, I would never label a movie as being #1 for its “message”. If I did that, then my number #1 movie would be Click with Adam Sandler.
Big Boss’s low rent grindhouse feel is one of its charms for me. I feel the Peter Thomas score from the US version helps a lot – the “original” Wang Fu-ling music is more suited for a period wu xia.
Agree. And Peter Thomas gave us one of the best soundtracks in the world. =)
Enter The Dragon was the Bruce Lee movie that I grew up with, so it holds a very special place in my heart. I’ve seen them all, and I enjoy them, but for me, Enter The Dragon is where it’s at. The Way of the Dragon is just…off the walls bonkers, but it had one of the greatest match-ups in the history of the genre: Bruce Lee vs. Chuck Norris. It still stands out as one of the greatest movie fights of all time. Fist of Fury and The Big Boss are definitely his best movies, in my opinion. I think they’re equally great. To me, Game of Death was the weakest of the bunch, but it was really nobody’s fault for how the film ended up. Given the circumstances, I’m amazed the film turned out as well as it did, despite Bruce’s passing. It’s one of those situations where you’re like, “What do you do?”
Going back to Enter The Dragon, it was the film that introduced me to Sammo Hung, Bolo Yueng, Jim Kelly, and Bob Wall. When it comes to kung fu movies, Enter The Dragon is usually the one I go to most. But that’s just me.
1.Big Boss
2.Enter The Dragon
3.Game Of Death
4.Return Of The Dragon
5.Fist Of Fury
Curious, why the hate for FOF?
I know Iv taken an obvious route here, but some are avoiding the obvious. Enter The Dragon is by far his best film. And it pains me to say that because atleast on paper, it was directed by Robert Clouse.
1) Enter The Dragon
2) Fist Of Fury
3) Game Of Death
4) Way Of The Dragon (just for the ending)
5) The Big Boss
Seems like Bruce’s input as an unofficial “co-director” worked well with seasoned directors who made average movies. But Bruce alone… eh… But to be fair, he never got a chance to fully develop his directing skills (all he did was Way of the Dragon and about 30 minutes of GOD).
Saying ‘Enter the Dragon’ is Bruce Lee’s best movie is like saying ‘Battle Creek Brawl’ is Jackie Chan’s best movie!
No it isn’t. Enter The Dragon is a genuinely classic movie. Nobody apart from us freaks know what Battle Creek Brawl is. Enter The Dragon is at the very least a solidly told story with some very inspired fight sequences. And although the editor of this online-mag is only putting it at number 4, he was puzzled as to why it wasn’t in my top-5 American martial arts films..
Fist of Fury #3?!
………………………..WHY?! o_____O’
Fist of Fury Part 3 didn’t make the list! 😉
HAHAHA… Good joke.
But I wanted to say about “Fist of Fury” is in third place.
For me is the number one by far!
I can see how this gets a lot of response, haha. You make a good point about re-watch value. I found myself watching Enter The Dragon the most times (and yes) Game of Death as well due to the fact those movies aired more often on cable TV. As some others commented, Fist of Fury is arguably the best and my personal favorite not only for it’s substance, but because there is so much action. It has the most fight scenes of the bunch.. but to each his own.
Fist of Fury #1
Enter The Dragon #2
Way of the Dragon #3
The Big Boss #4
Game of Death #5
Yeah, I’m not sure if most (if they even read the intro) saw my “most re-watch value” point. Regardless, I can still see how it’s a controversial list for the die hard Bruce Lee fanatics (believe me, I’m one of ’em).
Is your name based on the black sidekick character in No retreat No Surrender?
I can’t believe you and I have The Big Boss as #1. Many decades ago it wasn’t. Now it’s my favorite Bruce Lee movie. A lot of it has to do with the history behind it and the transformation that Bruce’s character undergoes. Having said that, my list for number 2, 3, 4, & 5 varies each year for no specific reason. Still love watching all of his films. Great website Jeff! Love the humor in some of your replies. Keep up the fantastic job you are doing! Have you done a list for best Bruce Lee documentaries? I need to check the rest of your website.