Game of Death Redux (2022) Review

“Game of Death Redux” Theatrical Poster

Director: Bruce Lee
Produced & adapted by: Alan Canvan
Cast: Bruce Lee, James Tien, Chieh Yuan, Dan Inosanto, Ji Han Jae, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Running Time: 34 min. 

By Jeff Bona

In 1972, Bruce Lee started filming Game of Death, a movie that would not only have been his 4th Hong Kong action feature, but also his sophomore directorial effort. During this time, Bruce filmed over 100 minutes of footage, most of which, was enough to make up film’s main action finale. But before Game of Death would go further into production, Bruce was offered a lucrative deal from Warner Bros to star in a major Hollywood film. Game of Death was ultimately put on the back burner; and Bruce put his undivided attention on Enter the Dragon, a 007-esque, martial arts actioner that would become one of Warner’s highest grossing films of the year. It also made Bruce Lee a true international action star.

Sadly, Bruce was just weeks away from the theatrical premiere of Enter the Dragon when he suddenly — and shockingly — died. His premature death only amplified his popularity, instantly placing him in the larger-than-life ranks of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.

Bruce Lee left behind a legacy of art, film, self-awareness, determination, and an overall body of work that one can enjoy and study for a lifetime. Most intriguing of all, he left behind Game of Death, a movie he started, but never completed. In fact, the mystique of Game of Death is probably the most talked about subject in Bruce’s life, only rivaling open discussions about his still-mysterious death. How can one ignore imagery of an abnormally tall, barefoot African fighter wearing sunglasses in-doors; a “Karate” guy wearing a traditional uniform blinged out with shiny gold trim; and of course, Bruce’s iconic yellow and black tracksuit with matching weaponry and sneakers. Top it off with its simplistic, one-location setting, and a plot line made up of endless rumors – and it’s easy to understand why everyone is so fascinated by it.

Although bits and pieces of the 1972 footage was teased in documentaries, a good chunk was released in Robert Clouse’s 1978 film, Game of Death, which uses only 11 or so of the 100 minutes Bruce filmed. The butchered footage was surrounded by a marketable plotline involving a fictional Hong Kong action star who decides to fight back after being harassed by local gangsters – of course – shying miles away from Bruce’s original, more philosophical, narrative.

It wasn’t until about 22 years later when Hong Kong film historian, Bey Logan, who at the time was employed with Media Asia Group, stumbled upon the 100 minutes of 1972 footage while having access to portions of Golden Harvest’ archive. The discovery of the footage – as well as Bruce’s notes about Game of Death’s original storyline obtained by the then-Bruce Lee Estate’s official authority figure, John Little – paved way to two projects in the year 2000: Little’s own Warrior’s Journey and Toshi Ohgushi and Toshikazu Ogushi’s Bruce Lee in G.O.D (commonly referred to as “The Artport footage”).

While both presentations utilized a lot more of the 1972 Game of Death footage than the 1978 film (30+ minutes, as opposed to 11 minutes), there’s a sense that their overall presentations felt rushed out to the market with second-rate dubbing, Bruce’s recycled “incompatible” battle cries from Enter the Dragon, subpar picture quality (even for the time), shoddy editing and musical scores that sounded like discount versions of Joseph Koo’s Way of the Dragon theme, or a blasphemous rendition of John Barry’s outstanding 1978 score. And while Warrior’s Journey at least had a decent documentary built around the 1972 footage, Bruce Lee in G.O.D featured a docudrama that’s nothing but an embarrassment to the craft of filmmaking.

As a die hard Bruce Lee fan anticipating newly seen 1972 Game of Death footage, both presentations (Warrior’s Journey and Bruce Lee in G.O.D) of the 1972 footage were “passable” or “good enough”, but lacked the integrity of being in the mercy of someone’s hands who was passionate with every cinematic detail – character by character, line by line, edit by edit – of Game of Death.

Enter filmmaker Alan Canvan, a cinema enthusiast and Bruce Lee fan, who has released his own cut of Game of Death, appropriately titled, Game of Death Redux. Alan’s adaptation showcases 23 minutes of the 1972-era Game of Death footage that’s presented closely the way Bruce intended, while at the same time, keeping in-tact some of the stronger aspects of the 1978 film, such as John Barry’s acclaimed score, as its strong audio design. Alan even brought back Chris Kent (responsible for dubbing Bruce’s war cries in the 1978 film), who once again lent his voice to match the audio portions used from the 1978 film.

There’s definitely some controversial moves made by Alan that some will wonder about. For instance, he reworked sequences for a more dramatic presentation of the narrative – in some cases – he even edits out “valuable” footage, resulting in a tighter, more concise package. This isn’t “let’s use as much Bruce Lee footage as we can just because it’s available”; it’s more like “let’s do it right so that it makes sense”. It’s a safe bet that Alan isn’t trying to please Bruce Lee fans. He’s crafted something for cinema enthusiasts in general. But if you happen to be both a Bruce Lee fan and a cinema snob, then you’re in good hands with Alan’s adaptation.

Game of Death Redux has also been fully restored with a brand-new color grade (see screenshots below), so the completed 1972 footage has never looked better. Bruce’s yellow and black tracksuit; Danny Inosanto’s black and red Filipino garb; Ji Han Jae’s Gold-trimmed outfit; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s blue and white leisure attire; blood, sweat and bruises; facial expressions; as well all the artifacts and weathered wooden floors of the pagoda – all looking as alive and vibrant as ever!

Alan’s passion to bring the 1972 footage to its fullest potential for Game of Death Redux is highly admirable. At his own expense, he orchestrated a team of professionals – having the film reevaluated, recut and restored – and presenting the footage, for the first time ever, as a “film”, as opposed to just another edit of footage clobbered together as an “extra” or a “bonus”.

There’s also a couple of Trailers Alan produced that set you up for Game of Death Redux. The first, a Teaser Trailer, featuring a subdued, chill-inducing piano-take on John Barry’s 1978 score, which does its job as being the ultimate tease. The second, its Full Trailer, is the one that shows that Alan means business about showcasing Game of Death Redux as its own cinematic entity (it even features exclusive dialogue of the American mercenary who befriends Bruce’s character prior to his journey to the pagoda). These two Trailers (both embedded at the end of this review) are a testament – in terms of creatively editing sound with picture – to what you can expect from Game of Death Redux.

The bottom line: Game of Death Redux is the newest and best way to experience the 1972 film Bruce Lee left behind.

Jeff Bona’s Rating: 9/10

The following are screenshots from Game of Death Redux: