Game of Death (Blu-ray) (1978) |
|
Game of Death (Blu-ray) (1978) |
|
|
| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Martial Arts |
Audio Commentary-Hong Kong film expert Mike Leeder Theatrical Trailer-US and Hong Kong theatrical trailers Gallery-Bey Logan (Hong Kong Cinema Expert) Outtakes-Game of Death Outtake Montage (3:39) Outtakes-Game of Death Bloopers (2:29) More…-Game of Death Revisited (39:01) Additional Footage-Alternative Opening (1:56) Additional Footage-Alternative Endings (3:52) Deleted Scenes-x 5 (7:01) Featurette-Game of Death Locations (7:28) Alternative Version-Game of Death: Japanese Print in HD (99:51) |
|
| Rating |
|
||
| Year Of Production | 1978 | ||
| Running Time | 100:50 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Robert Clouse |
|
Studio
Distributor |
Fortune Star Beyond Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Bruce Lee Colleen Camp Dean Jagger Gig Young Tai Chung Kim Biao Yuen Robert Wall Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Mel Novak Hugh O'Brian James Tien Dan Inosanto Chuck Norris |
| Case | Standard Blu-ray | ||
| RPI | ? | Music | John Barry |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 English DTS HD Master Audio 2.0 English Dolby Digital 1.0 |
|
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
 |
||
| Video Format | 1080p | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes | ||
Both Billy Lo (Bruce Lee), a martial arts movie star, and his girlfriend Ann (Colleen Camp), a singer, are being threatened by a criminal syndicate led by Dr Land (Dean Jagger), his chief heavy Steiner (Hugh O’Brien) and his enforcer Carl (Robert Wall). Land wants Billy and Ann to sign exclusive management contracts but when Billy refuses the syndicate resorts to increasing levels of violence and Billy is shot. With the aid of his friend, reporter Jim Marshall (Gig Young), Billy pretends to be dead and fakes his own funeral, hoping to use his anonymity to bring the syndicate down. But Land soon sees through the ploy and Ann is abducted and used as bait. Billy must first rescue Ann then fight his way to Land and Steiner up the various levels of a restaurant complex, on each level testing his fighting skills against a martial arts master (Danny Inosanto, Ji Han-Jae and Kareem Adbul-Jabber).
The background to Game of Death is well known to fans. After completing The Way of the Dragon in 1972 Bruce Lee commenced shooting a film in which his character fought his way up a pagoda, facing a raft of martial arts champions. However, after shooting about 40 minutes of footage, Lee was side-tracked to make Enter the Dragon, dying in 1973 just before the premiere of that film. So great was Lee’s continuing popularity, however, that 5 years after his death producer Raymond Chow hired Enter the Dragon director Robert Clouse to use some of the earlier Lee footage and create a new Bruce Lee film. As it transpired Clouse only used 11 minutes of the earlier footage, partly because in the original film Lee was accompanied up the pagoda by two friends, including James Tien who does appear in Game of Death in one brief scene with Kareem Adbul-Jabber in a different context.
Instead Clouse filled out the Billy Lo scenes using doubles, including Kim Tai-jong and Yuen Biao, footage of Lee, mostly close-ups, from other films, footage from Lee’s funeral and in one case a cardboard cut-out! The result is, unsurprisingly, uneven, which probably sums up the film itself as some of the acting is stodgy and action sequences stagey, to say the least. However, some of the fights are good and well-staged by action director Sammo Hung, who makes an appearance on-screen in a decent fight with Robert Wall. Yuen Biao doubling for Lee is an accomplished martial artist with a very acrobatic style who appeared in numerous action films including The Prodigal Son (1981), one of the best martial arts films ever. He is good, but if the footage of Lee in his fights with Danny Inosanto, Ji Han-Jae and Kareem Adbul-Jabber shows anything, it is just how unique and charismatic a fighter Lee was.
Without Bruce Lee’s name Game of Death would be forgettable. While not quite as bad as Game of Death 2, it is certainly exploitive, which is why Chuck Norris who is displayed prominently in the credits refused to be involved, his footage fighting Lee taken from their epic Coliseum fight in The Way of the Dragon, while the use of Lee’s real funeral footage feels very tacky. Yet in even eleven minutes of fighting, Lee shows just how charismatic he was on screen and why his legend still lives on, so long after his untimely death.
Game of Death is presented in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio in 1080p, using the MPEG-4 AVC code.
With footage shot at various times, or footage taken from other sources and films, the print of Game of Death is patchy, perhaps more obvious due to the decent HD presentation on this Blu-ray. Some of the shots, including the footage filmed by Lee, the fight in the garden in Macau or the Lion dance, are sharp and clean with bright greens, reds and blues; other sequences are much softer with variations in contrast, brightness, colours and skin tones. Blacks and shadow detail are passable, grain is evident in some scenes and there was motion blur against rails, but I did not notice any marks.
English subtitles are available.
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail | |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization |  |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
This Blu-ray of Game of Death provides a range of English audio options with which to watch the film:
I listened to the DTS-HD MA 5.1. Dialogue was clear but the music and the effects, including during the fights, were very front oriented with mostly music in the rears except for the crowd during the Championship fight in the ring or the rain. Punches and kicks sounded strong however. I really only noticed the subwoofer during the thunder and rain. There was no hiss or pops.
The score by John Barry of James Bond fame is fairly standard but is effective.
The lip synchronisation is all over the place. Chinese extras were obviously not speaking English and in some scenes where footage of Lee was taken from another of his films different dialogue was redubbed, the change quite obvious.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use |  |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
Hong Kong film expert Mike Leeder is not Bey Logan, who is a hard act to follow, but he puts a positive slant on Game of Death talking about the cast and their subsequent careers, the locations, the difficulties of the shoot, Sammo Hung, fighting styles, that iconic yellow tracksuit and the differences between the film and Lee’s original vision. Parts of the commentary sound as if it was recorded in an echo chamber and he does get side-tracked, talking about things other than the film such as the difficulties of the English language press in Hong Kong but this is still a worthwhile listen.
The US and Hong Kong theatrical trailers for Game of Death.
Almost 60 black and white / colour film and on set stills plus poster art from around the world. Silent, stills advance automatically.
Alternate takes, errors and B roll footage. Plays with music only.
Bruce Lee’s stuff ups in fight sequences.
This is misnamed as it is not a retrospective about the film. However, it is 40 minutes of the extended fight scenes shot by Lee in 1972 featuring Danny Inosanto, Ji Han-Jae and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Only 11 minutes were used in Game of Death but this is a treasure showing just how good Lee was on screen.
The Hong Kong title sequence with a Chinese song.
Three different endings, all different to the English version. Their condition is indifferent.
Five deleted scenes, including another alternative ending. The longest is the greenhouse fight against Casanova Wong featuring an obvious Lee double. These scenes were from the Hong Kong print of the film as the dialogue is Cantonese and not subtitled.
A text on screen indicates the location in Hong Kong or Macau, followed by footage from the film then footage of how the location looks “now” (although I am not sure what “now” actually means as the date is not given). Some locations have aged better than others!
The Japanese print of the film, in English with Japanese subtitles. The IMDb comments: “The Japanese theatrical cut of the film is virtually identical to the American cut, except that it uses Bruce Lee's real battle cries during the fight scenes as opposed to the fake ones by Chris Kent. Also, there is an extra bit of Cantonese dialogue from the second fighter in the finale (played by Ji Hon Jae) in which he warns Billy Lo that he must defeat him to continue.”
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This release of Game of Death is the same as the US Region A Shout Factory release although as far as I can see the US version is only available as part a box set Blu-ray / DVD collection. In Australia it can be bought stand-alone or as part of a four disk box which also includes The Big Boss, Fist of Fury and The Way of the Dragon for a bargain price.
It is good to see Bruce Lee’s films getting a Blu-ray release in this country, even if it is the quasi-Lee Game of Death. This film has been released previously on DVD a number of times, the best release being the two disc Platinum Edition which was reviewed on this site here. This Blu-ray has mostly different extras, including a decent commentary by Mike Leeder instead of the one by Bey Logan, and it misses out on the excellent featurette Legacy of the Dragon, which is a pity. However, the Blu-ray does have an improved presentation of the film and includes the same Game of Death Revisited footage shot by Lee, the deleted scenes and adds a range of audio options including the Japanese theatrical version of the film. Fans of the film or Bruce Lee will enjoy the HD presentation and the range of extras.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Sony BDP-S580, using HDMI output |
| Display | LG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
| Amplification | NAD T737 |
| Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |