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Game of Death
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The Game of Death
Directed by
Bruce Lee
Produced by
Raymond Chow
Bruce Lee
Written by
Bruce Lee
Starring
Bruce Lee
James Tien
Chieh Yuan
Dan Inosanto
Ji Han-jae
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Hwang In-shik
Music by
Joseph Koo
Peter Thomas
Cinematography
Tadashi Nishimoto (西本正)(in Japanese)
Edited by
Peter Cheung
Production
company
Golden Harvest
Concord Production Inc.
Distributed by
Golden Harvest
Media Asia Group
Release date
22 October 2000 (2000-10-22) (Incomplete DVD release)
Running time
39 minutes (Incomplete)
Country
Hong Kong
Language
Cantonese
English
Budget
$850,000
The Game of Death is an incomplete 1972 Hong Kong martial arts film directed, written, produced by and starring Bruce Lee, in his final film attempt. Lee died during the making of the film. Over 100 minutes of footage was shot prior to his death, some of which was later misplaced in the Golden Harvest archives.[citation needed] The remaining footage has been released with Lee's original Cantonese and English dialogue, with John Little dubbing Lee's Hai Tien character as part of the documentary entitled Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey. Most of the footage that was shot is from what was to be the centerpiece of the film.
During filming, Lee received an offer to star in Enter the Dragon, the first kung fu film to be produced by a Hollywood studio (Warner Bros.), and with a budget unprecedented for the genre ($850,000). Lee died of cerebral edema before the film's release. At the time of his death, he had already made plans to resume the filming of The Game of Death.
After Lee's death, Enter the Dragon director Robert Clouse was enlisted to finish the film using two stand-ins; it was released in 1978, five years after Lee's death, by Golden Harvest.
Contents
1 Original film
1.1 Plot
1.2 Production
1.3 Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey
1.4 Bruce Lee in G.O.D.: Shibōteki Yūgi
1.5 Cast
1.5.1 Filmed cast
1.5.2 Unfilmed cast
1.5.3 Intended cast
2 Game of Death (1978)
2.1 Plot
2.2 Cast
2.3 Production
2.3.1 Theme song
2.4 Reception
3 Other Game of Death films
4 Yellow-and-black tracksuit
4.1 In film
4.2 In gaming
4.3 In music
4.4 In manga, anime, and other cartoons
5 Home video
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Original film[edit]
Plot[edit]
The original plot involves Lee playing the role of Hai Tien, a retired champion martial artist who is confronted by Korean underworld gangs. They tell him the story of a pagoda where guns are prohibited, and under heavy guard by highly skilled martial artists who are protecting something (which is not identified at all in any surviving material) held on its top level. The gang boss wants Hai to be a part of a group whose purpose is to retrieve said item. They would be the second group to try to do so as the first attempt with a previous group had failed. When Hai refuses, his younger sister and brother are kidnapped, forcing him to participate. Hai, as well as four other martial artists (two of whom were played by James Tien and Chieh Yuan), then fight their way up a five-level pagoda, encountering a different challenge on each floor. The setting of the pagoda was at Beopjusa temple in Songnisan National Park in South Korea.
The pagoda, called Palsang-jon, is the only remaining wooden pagoda in South Korea. At the base of the pagoda they fight 10 people, all black belts in Karate. While inside the pagoda, they encounter a different opponent on each floor, each more challenging than the last. Although his allies try to help out, they are handily defeated, and Hai must face each of the martial artists in one-on-one combat. He defeats Filipino Eskrima master Dan Inosanto, Korean Hapkido master Ji Han-jae, and finally Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who fights with a free and fluid style mirroring Lee's Jeet Kune Do. Because Abdul-Jabbar's character has great size and strength in addition to a fighting style as potent as Lee's, he can only be defeated once Hai recognises that an unusually high sensitivity to light is his greatest weakness.[1]
Immediately after defeating the giant guardian, Hai turns around and descends the staircase, heading out of the pagoda. Despite all the talk of something awaiting up top of the (now unguarded) flight of stairs, there is no mention of anyone going up to retrieve it. No surviving material explains how this will affect Hai or his captive siblings.[2]
Production[edit]
Although the pagoda was supposed to have five floors, complete scenes were only shot for three of the floors: the "Temple of the Tiger," where Lee faced Inosanto; the "Temple of the Dragon", where he fought Ji Han-jae; and the final floor, where he fought Abdul-Jabbar was the "Temple of the Unknown". Hapkido master Hwang In-Shik was slated to play the guardian of the first floor, a master of a kick-oriented style, while Bruce's long time student and good friend Taky Kimura was asked to play the guardian of the second floor, a stylist of praying mantis kung fu.
The goal of the film's plot was to showcase Lee's beliefs regarding the principles of martial arts. As each martial artist is defeated (including Lee's allies), the flaws in their fighting style are revealed. Some, like Dan Inosanto's character, rely too much on fixed patterns of offensive and defensive techniques, while others lack economy of motion. Lee defeats his opponents by having a fighting style that involves fluid movement, unpredictability, and an eclectic blend of techniques. His dialogue often includes comments on their weaknesses.
Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey[edit]
Several years later, Bruce Lee historian John Little released Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey, a documentary revealing the original footage and storyline of The Game of Death. The documentary also includes a fairly in-depth biography of Lee and leads into the filming of The Game of Death. Fans still believe there is more footage to be found. Originally meant to be a documentary in its own right, now it can be found on the second disc of the 2004 Special Edition DVD release of Enter the Dragon, along with the documentary Bruce Lee: Curse of the Dragon.
Bruce Lee in G.O.D.: Shibōteki Yūgi[edit]
In 2000, the Japanese film Bruce Lee in G.O.D 死亡的遊戯 was released on DVD. This film shows Lee's original vision of the film through the existing footage that was shot for the film before he died, interviews, and historical re-enactments of what went on behind the scenes. A "special edition" DVD was released in 2003.
Cast[edit]
Filmed cast[edit]
Bruce Lee as "Hai Tien" (also called "the Yellow-Faced Tiger")
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as "Mantis, the 5th Floor Guardian"
James Tien as "Mr. Tien, the Second Fighter"
Chieh Yuan as "Yuan, the Third Fighter"
Dan Inosanto as "Dan, the 3rd Floor Guardian"
Ji Han-jae as "4th Floor Guardian"
Lee Kwan as "Mr. Kuan the Locksmith" (voice is heard at film's end)
Unfilmed cast[edit]
Hwang In-shik as "1st Floor Guardian"
Taky Kimura as "2nd Floor Guardian"
Robert Wall as "Mr. Wall, the American Fighter and Hai Tien's ally"
George Lazenby as "Hai Tien's master"
Nora Miao as "Hai Tien's sister"
Uncast Child Actor as "Hai Tien's brother"
Carter Wong as "Mr. Wong"
Shih Kien as "Crime Lord"
Tony Liu as "Huang"
Wan Kam Leung as "Lee Guo Hao, the Fifth Fighter"
Betty Ting Pei as "Hai Tien's wife"
Bolo Yeung as "Black Belt Karate Leader - Ground Floor"
Lam Ching-ying, Yuen Wah, Unicorn Chan, Bee Chan, Wu Ngan, and 14 others as "Black Belt Karate Fighters - Ground Floor"
Han Yin-Chieh as "Thug 1"
Yuen Biao as "Thug 2"
Alan Chui Chung-San as "Thug 3"
Corey Yuen as "Thug 4"
Jackie Chan as "Fan who asks for Hai Tien's autograph"
Intended cast[edit]
Wong Shun Leung was originally approached to play the role of the Wing Chun-oriented 2nd Floor Guardian, but he declined, and was replaced by Taky Kimura.
Robert Baker, student of Lee's, was considered for the role eventually given to Robert Wall.[3][4]
Sammo Hung had been cast as the Third Fighter, but by the time Lee was ready to film with him, Hung had moved on to another project; Chieh Yuan took the part in his stead.
Chuck Norris
Jim Kelly
Joe Lewis
Mike Stone
Game of Death (1978)[edit]
Game of Death (1978)
Traditional Chinese
死亡遊戲
Simplified Chinese
死亡游戏
showTranscriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin
Sǐwáng Yóuxì
IPA
[sɹ̩̀wǎŋ jǒuɕî]
Yue: Cantonese
IPA
Cantonese pronunciation: [se̬imɔ̏ːŋ jɐ̏uhēi]
Jyutping
Sei5 Mong4 Jau4 Hei3
Game of Death
Game of Death film poster
Traditional
死亡遊戲
Simplified
死亡游戏
Directed by
Robert Clouse
Bruce Lee (G.O.D. footage)
(action)
Sammo Hung (action)
Produced by
Raymond Chow
Written by
Jan Spears (Clouse/Chow)
Bruce Lee (HK Version Opening Credit)
Starring
Bruce Lee
Kim Tai-jong
Yuen Biao
Gig Young
Dean Jagger
Colleen Camp
Robert Wall
Hugh O'Brian
Dan Inosanto
Mel Novak
Sammo Hung
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Ji Han-jae
Casanova Wong
Music by
John Barry
Joseph Koo
Cinematography
Ho Lan-shan
Godfrey A. Godar
Edited by
Alan Pattillo
Production
company
Golden Harvest
Distributed by
Golden Harvest (HK)
Columbia Pictures (US)
TriStar Pictures, 20th Century Fox (NA), (Kosovo)
Release date
23 March 1978 (1978-03-23) (Hong Kong)
9 June 1979 (1979-06-09) (USA)
13 March 2009 (2009-03-13) (DVD release, North America, Kosovo)
Running time
103 minutes (Int'l cut)
94 minutes (HK cut)
125 minutes (HK premiere)
100 minutes (US cut)
Country
Hong Kong
Language
Cantonese
English
Box office
HK$3,436,169
Game of Death is a 1978 Hong Kong action film co-written (under the pseudonym Jan Spears along with Raymond Chow) and directed by Robert Clouse. The film stars Bruce Lee, Kim Tai-jong, Yuen Biao, Gig Young, Dean Jagger, Colleen Camp, Robert Wall, Hugh O'Brian, Dan Inosanto, Mel Novak, Sammo Hung, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ji Han-jae and Casanova Wong.
Plot[edit]
The 1978 version uses portions of the original footage married to an entirely new plot involving a new character, Billy Lo (盧比利), struggling against a racketeering "syndicate" after gaining international success as a martial arts movie star. When Billy refuses to be intimidated by syndicate henchman Steiner (Hugh O'Brian) and his gangs of thugs, syndicate owner Dr. Land (Dean Jagger) orders his assassination to serve as an example to others.
Disguised as a stuntman, Land's assassin, Stick (Mel Novak), sneaks onto the set of Billy's new film, and shoots Billy during filming. A fragment of the bullet passes through Billy's face, leaving him alive but in need of plastic surgery which alters his facial features. Billy takes the opportunity to fake his death and disguise himself, exacting revenge against those who wronged him one at a time. When the syndicate threatens and kidnaps his fiancée, Ann Morris (Colleen Camp), Billy is forced to come out of hiding to save her. In the revised film, Bruce Lee's fight scenes inside the pagoda are assumed to take place in the upper floors of the Red Pepper restaurant, where Dr. Land and his thugs have laid an ambush. In the end Billy survives the ambush, rescues Ann, and destroys each of the main mobsters one-by-one.
Cast[edit]
Bruce Lee as "Billy Lo" (archive footage from incomplete 1st version)
Gig Young as "Jim Marshall"
Dean Jagger as "Dr. Land"
Colleen Camp as "Ann Morris"
Hugh O'Brian as "Steiner"
Robert Wall as "Carl Miller"
Dan Inosanto as "Pasqual"
Ji Han-jae as "Restaurant Fighter"
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as "Hakim"
Mel Novak as "Stick"
Sammo Hung as "Lo Chen"
James Tien as "Charlie Wang" (US version) / "Fong Chun" (HK version)
Roy Chiao as "(Uncle) Henry Lo" (US version only)
Casanova Wong as "Lau Yea-chun" (HK version only)
Chuck Norris as "Fighter in Film" (archive footage)
Kim Tai-jong as "Billy Lo" (doubling for Bruce Lee)
Yuen Biao as "Billy Lo" (doubling for Bruce Lee in acrobats)
Alan Chui Chung-San (Assistant stunt double, also One of Dr. Land's Guard)
Albert Sham as "Billy Lo" (doubling for Bruce Lee)
Chris Kent as English voice of Billy Lo (dubbing for Bruce Lee)
Tony Leung
Billy McGill
Jim James
Russell Cawthorne
Lam Ching-ying
John Ladalski
David Hu
Don Barry
Jess Hardie
Eddie Dye
Peter Nelson
Peter Gee
Peter Chan
Mars as one of Dr. Land's guards (extra)
Lau Kar-wing
Fung Hak-on as Thug Wearing The Yellow Suit Fighting in Henry Lo's Opera Place (US version only)
Tai San
Jason Williams
Production[edit]
The revised version of the film uses only 11 minutes and 7 seconds of the footage from the original The Game of Death, and for the vast majority of the film, the role of Billy Lo was shared by Yuen Biao and taekwondo master Kim Tai-jong and was voiced by Chris Kent. The plot of the film allowed Kim and Yuen to spend much of the film in disguises, usually involving false beards and large, dark sunglasses that obscured the fact that they bore little resemblance to Lee. Many scenes, including fight scenes, also included brief close-up bits of stock footage of the real Bruce Lee from his pre-Enter the Dragon films, often only lasting a second or two. These clips are easily recognisable due to the difference in film quality between the old and new footage. At one point in the movie, real footage of Lee's corpse in his open-topped casket is used to show the character Billy Lo faking his death. There is even a scene, taken place in Billy's dressing room, where a cut-out of Lee's face was taped to a mirror, covering the stand-in's own face.
Several actors associated with previous Lee movies were included in the re-shoot for the final 1978 film. For example, Robert Wall, a villain in both The Way of the Dragon and Enter the Dragon, plays a kickboxer named Carl Miller who must battle with Billy Lo. Sammo Hung, who appeared in Enter the Dragon, served as the fight coordinator for the re-shoot of Game of Death, and also appears in the scene as a ring opponent for Miller. To maintain continuity with the fight footage taken from the original film, Dan Inosanto (renamed Pasqual) and Ji Han-jae (whose character was unnamed and was not shown until near the end of the film) were given small parts as additional enforcers for the syndicate. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar refused to participate in the re-shoot, with another tall African-American stand-in (renamed Hakim) included instead. Although Chuck Norris is credited as starring in the film, his role is limited to clips from Way of the Dragon inserted into the film.
The film quality of the Clouse-directed footage was noticeably higher than that of Lee's earlier Hong Kong films, and John Barry provided an original soundtrack. The film also featured performances by experienced actors as well as up-and-coming stars, including two recipients of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Dean Jagger and Gig Young) and several who have been honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, including Bruce Lee, Dean Jagger, Chuck Norris, Hugh O'Brian, and Gig Young (in his final film).
For Chinese-speaking audiences, the film was dubbed into Cantonese and Mandarin, and had significant changes, such as the inclusion of a fight in a greenhouse with Casanova Wong and a different opening and closing credits sequence, featuring a new theme song, plus a couple of minor scenes. Unlike the English version, they use Lee's actual battle sounds. Several scenes were removed, also, including the fight in the opera house dressing room.
In the original Hong Kong version, the fight with Ji Han-jae is included (during the middle of the film though), whilst the ending did not show Billy Lo being arrested. Instead, both he and Ann share their good-byes to Jim as they appear to depart Hong Kong on a boat. The Singaporean version ended with Billy's arrest, and it did not feature the Ji Han-jae fight. This is the version commonly found in Chinese.
The Mandarin dubbed version of the film featured a different theme song to that of the Cantonese version. The theme song sounded familiar to the main theme of Way of the Dragon. This version also included the scene where Billy and Ann share their good-byes to Jim. The Cantonese dubbed version shows the commonly found scene where Billy is arrested by the police.
Theme song[edit]
"Game of Death" (死亡遊戲)
Lyrics: James Wong
Composition and Arrangement: Joseph Koo
Performance: Roman Tam
The American score was composed by John Barry.
Reception[edit]
The film was successful at the Hong Kong box office, grossing HK$3,436,169, but was not well received. Criticism of the revised version included the inclusion of scenes that could be considered in bad taste, such as the incorporation of footage of Lee's actual funeral. Another scene, often pointed out by critics of the film, involved a shot of Kim looking at himself in the mirror, with an obvious cardboard cut-out of Lee's face pasted onto the mirror's surface.[5]
The action directed by Sammo Hung for the scenes with the Bruce Lee lookalikes and the footage that Lee shot for the original footage with the final three fights helped to alleviate the movie's problems. Apart from the cheesy techniques used to disguise the fact that Lee was being played by stand-ins, the movie enjoyed respectable production values.
Bey Logan points out a few logic issues with the 1978 film. In order for the henchmen to remain low key, they should be wearing more casual clothes instead of the multicolored tracksuits seen at various parts of the film. But as a rationale, this explains why Lee wears the yellow tracksuit. Also in the fight between Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the scene near the vase in Logan's opinion appears to look choppy along with the short fight with Hugh O'Brian. Perhaps the most important thing on the first half of the English version, Lee's fight sequence has been taken down to a more realistic level and unlike previous films, he is seen to be beaten down instead of making short work of these henchmen.
However, despite those major flaws, for the western audiences, the story narrative is easier to follow through compared to his earlier films like The Big Boss, Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon. Compared to the Hong Kong films, it has western characters and the story structure is more straightforward than the Hong Kong structure which has action, but the story's humor and drama might not work for the people in the west like the US and the UK.[6][7]
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports the film as holding an overall 75% approval rating based on 8 reviews, of these six were fresh and two were rotten.
Other Game of Death films[edit]
After the death of Bruce Lee, several studios exploited the situation by making their own versions of Game of Death based on what they had learned of the story from production stills and magazine articles. Some of these films pre-dated Robert Clouse's official Game of Death (1978).
Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death (1975)
Enter the Game of Death (1978)
The True Game of Death (1979)
Game of Death II (Tower of Death) (1981)
Clouse's film had a sequel in 1981 kung fu action mystery film, Game of Death II, which used cut footage from Lee's Enter the Dragon film to have him make an appearance in the beginning of the film, only to be killed off midway, allowing his on-screen brother to take on the role of protagonist. Aside from the English dub giving the "Bruce Lee" character the name Billy Lo, this movie would seem to have no connection with Clouse's film, and it was directed by Ng See-yuen.
Wong Jing's film City Hunter also has a similar premise. Jackie Chan as Ryu Saeba takes on two tall black men and the film uses clips of Lee's fight scene against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to get the better of the two.
Yellow-and-black tracksuit[edit]
The yellow-and-black one-piece tracksuit which Lee wore in the film has come to be seen as something of a trademark for the actor, and is paid homage to in numerous other media. In the Clouse-directed remake, the filmmakers rationalised its presence by including a scene where Billy Lo disguises himself as one of Dr. Land's motorcycle-riding thugs, who all wear striped jumpsuits.
In the warehouse scene, Billy Lo wears a pair of yellow Adidas shoes with black stripes and white shelltoes. Towards the end of the film, Billy wears a pair of yellow Onitsuka Tiger shoes, with black stripes. This was because the real Bruce Lee wore the latter when he was filming, and the double wore the former in the 1978 version to resemble his shoes.
In film[edit]
Uma Thurman wears a similar suit in Kill Bill: Volume 1 when she travels to Japan to take on an underworld boss and assassin played by Lucy Liu. In homage to both the film and the remake, Thurman wears a two-piece suit and the Onitsuka Tiger sneakers as part of her motorcycle-riding gear, and keeps the suit on during her battle with Liu and her gang, the Crazy 88.
In Shaolin Soccer, a similar suit is worn by the goalie "Empty Hand" (Danny Chan Kwok-kwan), who resembles Lee.
In the Jet Li film High Risk, Jacky Cheung plays an action film star who is losing his fighting ability due to his cowardice. When he regains his courage at the end of the film, he wears a copy of the yellow tracksuit. The role is generally felt to be a parody of Jackie Chan, but the references to Bruce Lee are also obvious.
The 1985 film The Last Dragon, produced by Motown founder Berry Gordy, centred around a Bruce Lee fan, (Taimak), in search of reaching martial arts enlightenment who instructed his students wearing the same tracksuit.
In Revenge of the Nerds, Brian Tochi's character, Toshiro Takashi, wears the yellow jumpsuit while riding a tricycle during the inter-Greek competitions.
In the Wong Jing live-action City Hunter film, Jackie Chan uses the scene with Lee fighting Abdul-Jabbar as a reference to dispatch his own taller opponents.
In Finishing the Game, Breeze Loo, played by Roger Fan, wears a yellow and black striped jumpsuit.
In the 2011 British comedy film On the Ropes, writer and director Mark Noyce added a scene in homage to his idol Bruce Lee which featured Mick Western (played by Ben Shockley) wearing a yellow tracksuit.
In gaming[edit]
The 1984 arcade video game Kung-Fu Master was inspired by Game of Death. The player protagonist fights bosses at the end of each level before climbing the stairs to the next, more difficult stage in a "Devil's Temple" with five floors.
Marshall Law and Forest Law, from the Tekken series of fighting games, resemble Bruce Lee with their move set, whoops and yells and wear a sleeveless version of the tracksuit.
In Dead or Alive 4, Jann Lee's third costume is none other than the tracksuit, and his ending movie includes him watching Bruce Lee films to help him practice Jeet Kune Do.
In the Playmore fighting game Rage of the Dragons, Mr. Jones (who already bears a striking resemblance to Kareem Abdul Jabbar) wears a suit very similar to the famous yellow jump suit.
The suit is present in the MMORPG Anarchy Online as a piece of equipment for powerful martial artist characters.
In Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, one equippable item is the "kung fu suit", whose icon is a yellow tracksuit with black vertical stripes along the sides.
Although the suit does not appear in any Street Fighter games, Fei Long wears it in several issues of the UDON Street Fighter comic book and in Masahiko Nakahira's Cammy manga.
In the video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, the main character can wear an identical outfit called the "Dragon Jumpsuit".
In the video game Shadow Hearts Wugui's signature move is called "Game of Death"
In the video game Shadow Hearts: From the New World, talking cat and drunken master Mao confronts the master of cat martial arts, the tracksuit-clad "Bruce Meow".
In WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, the tracksuit is available in the "Create a WWE Superstar" mode.
In Persona 4, the character Chie Satonaka's Persona is dressed in the same yellow jumpsuit, and fights with a combination of spears and Jeet Kun Do.
In Street Fighter IV, the character Rufus wears a yellow and black tracksuit. The suit matches his personality of having a great love for martial arts movies, leading to his style being adopted from imitating martial arts movies and mail order courses.
In the online game Dragon Fist 3: Age of the Warrior, one of the characters from martial arts films is Billy Lo (with Lee being animated out) from this film, dressed in the yellow-and-black jumpsuit, fighting with Jeet Kune Do, using a yellow nunchaku (which is not found in the Character Editor) as a weapon, and the one inch punch as a special move.
In most servers of the Dragonica online game, the gladiator class can summon a Bruce Lee-styled character named Bro Lee who wears the jumpsuit to perform some Kung Fu moves. The players can also buy the suit from the cash shop to equip on their characters.
The yellow-and-black tracksuit can be bought in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for use in the Kreate-A-Fighter mode.
In Rumble Fighter, Billy's jumpsuit is available in yellow, blue and green under the name "Billy Lo". Jeet Kune Do is also available as a fighting style.
A similar tracksuit can be found and worn in the Capcom game Dead Rising 2.
In Sleeping Dogs, Wei Shen can wear the "Hai Tien Vintage Jumpsuit".
In The Last of Us, one of Ellie's unlockable costumes is the yellow jumpsuit.
In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, there are several pieces of clothing that resemble this iconic outfit. They are referred to as the "Dragon Suit".
In My Talking Tom at level 30, Tom can unlock the "Jumpsuit Fur".
In EA Sports UFC and EA Sports UFC 2 the unlockable Bruce Lee character wears yellow and black compression shorts modeled after the yellow track suit.
In music[edit]
A short promotional video for the virtual band, Gorillaz, showed the fictional animated guitarist, Noodle, taking on a pack of thugs while dressed in the tracksuit and imitating Lee's fighting style. Noodle also wore the suit in the Game of Death short clip from Phase One: Celebrity Take Down.
The band, Sugar Ray, in their video for the single "When It's Over", included a segment in which one of the band members fantasizes about having a kung fu battle similar to the fight scene between Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The band member wears Lee's tracksuit, his opponent wears a beard, clothes, and sunglasses similar to Abdul-Jabbar's, and the video duplicates the scene in which a seated Kareem kicks Lee in the chest, knocking him down and leaving a huge footprint on his chest.
Topper Headon of The Clash was known to wear a similar jumpsuit at live shows; he is seen wearing in it the 1980 film Rude Boy.[citation needed]
Avant-garde guitarist Buckethead released a cover of "Game of Death" in 2006.[8] He also wore a yellow tracksuit while playing live and performed with nunchakus on stage.
American band, Far East Movement's song, "Satisfaction"[9] featured the yellow jumpsuits in its video, as the song was the soundtrack to the 2007 mockumentary Finishing the Game.
Canadian hard rock duo Indian Handcrafts' song "Bruce Lee" uses the film as lyrical inspiration, while the music video features the two band members performing an over-the-top fight scene, with guitarist Daniel Brandon Allen wearing the signature yellow jumpsuit.
In the Iggy Azalea's song Black Widow featuring Rita Ora music video that is based on Kill Bill, Azelea wears a white & black tracksuit and Ora wears a black & red tracksuit. Both suits resemble Uma Thurman's version of the tracksuit.
In the video for Black Label Society's 2009 song "Overlord", frontman Zakk Wylde wears the iconic tracksuit, and the video pays humorous homage to the film.
In manga, anime, and other cartoons[edit]
In "Karate Island", a fourth-season episode of SpongeBob SquarePants (which is itself a take-off of Game of Death), Sandy Cheeks wears a yellow tracksuit similar to Bruce's.
In the Urusei Yatsura episode titled "The Mendo Family's Masquerade War", Ataru was wearing a yellow tracksuit with black stripes while trying to court Mendou's sister who is sporting nunchakus. Both Ataru's yellow tracksuit and the Mendou sister's nunchakus are a homage to Bruce Lee.[1][2]
In the anime/manga Tenjho Tenge, there is a short appearance of a character named "Inosato Dan" who is the leader of the "Jun Fan Gung Fu club" (Jun Fan is Bruce Lee's Chinese name). He resembles Bruce Lee very much, and wears the jumpsuit. However, in the anime the colors of the jumpsuit are switched to a black suit with yellow stripes.
Duel No. 25 of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga features some references to Bruce Lee. Yugi's fighting-game character of choice is a Bruce Lee clone called Bruce Ryu. His opponent, the villain of the chapter, wears the yellow jumpsuit and calls his fight with Jonouchi a "Game of Death". The subsequent "Death-T" arc then follows a similar structure to the movie with Yugi fighting his way up to the top stage where he has a one on one bout with Seto Kaiba.
The second episode of the anime series Cowboy Bebop, "Stray Dog Strut", further plays homage with the episode's main antagonist being named Abdul Hakim (after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's character) and bearing a strikingly similar appearance.
The character Mr. Tanaka from Sonic X wears the suit in an episode.
The character Sasshi, from the anime Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, also gets a uniform called the Game of Death suit, later imitating Lee in both appearance and mannerisms.
Another reference is found in Great Teacher Onizuka, where the main character, Onizuka Eikichi, wears the same suits when performing feats of strength like breaking a baseball bat with a kick in front of his class.
In episode 18 of the anime, Gin Tama, Kagura wears a suit similar to Bruce's suit in this movie.
The character, Mandy, from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy wore a yellow jumpsuit in the episode "Modern Primitives / Giant Billy and Mandy All-Out Attack". The episode also had parodies from Akira (Mandy drives a bike similar to Kaneda's in the series), the "Godzilla" franchise (there are several giant monsters that parody monsters from the franchise including the name of the episode), and Kill Bill (a check off list plus a red screened close-up mimicking the bride).
A game sprite resembling an Asian man can be seen wearing Bruce Lee's yellow suit during the first and third seasons of ReBoot.
A Gorillabite from the band Gorillaz is titled Game of Death. In the bite, Noodle, the guitarist, dons the yellow tracksuit to take on Russel.
The cover for the third volume of the American DVD release of the anime, PaniPoni Dash!, features the main character Rebecca Miyamoto wearing a track suit similar to Bruce Lee's. The subtitle for the DVD, "Class of Death", also pays homage to Game of Death.
In episode 20 of Hayate the Combat Butler, Hayate asks Maria if she knows "the art of assassination". She denies it, but Hayate does not believe her and Nagi imagines what Maria would look like wearing a yellow jumpsuit and holding nunchucks.
Episode 100 of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon depicts Master Splinter's former owner, Hamato Yoshi, wearing the yellow tracksuit.
In The Boondocks episode "Let's Nab Oprah", Oprah's bodyguard Bushido Brown is seen as a reference to Jim Kelly's character, Williams in Enter the Dragon. Brown also tells main character Huey Freeman "You come straight out of a comic book", a reference to Enter the Dragon. However, he wears a Karate gi version of the yellow and black tracksuit in the episode "Stinkmeaner 3: The Hateocracy".
When cosplaying the character Hong Kong from the anime series Hetalia Axis Powers, fans love to portray him wearing the yellow tracksuit.
In episode 11 of HeartCatch PreCure!, the guest characters for the episode, brothers Masato Sakai and Yoshito Sakai, both wear the yellow tracksuit. Masato Sakai styles himself as a Kung Fu master and his brother is his pupil.
In episode 18 of Xiaolin Showdown The character of Kimiko Tohomiko is seen wearing yellow track pants with a black stripe. The rest of her outfit is yellow with long black gloves.
In "Tofu-Town Showdown", an episode of the second season of the TV show Chowder, the character Schnitzel wore a yellow tracksuit and a similar Bruce Lee's haircut, then he turns into a Super Saiyan, making a parody of Dragon Ball.
In Jackie Chan Adventures episode "The Chosen One" a man is dress in a yellow jumpsuit and using nunchucks.
In episode 23 of Kuromukuro, the character Shenmei Liu wore a yellow tracksuit and does a flying kick similar to Bruce Lee's when her friends were filming a movie.
In episode 8 of Akiba's Trip: The Animation, the character Arisa Ahokainen wore a yellow tracksuit during her training days with her master.
Home video[edit]
As one of Bruce Lee's perennially popular handful of films to receive wide exposure to western audiences, Game of Death has seen many reissues on every home video format. It is particularly widespread on DVD[10] and Blu-ray[11] and in 2016 was released on the latter in a new 4K restoration, scanned from the original negative.[12][13]
See also[edit]
Bruce Lee filmography
Sammo Hung filmography
Finishing the Game
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Little, John. Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (book). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-8092-9722-1
Jump up ^ Game Over! by Joe Kenney
Jump up ^ http://www.thejkdbrotherhood.com/history-of-jkd/JKD-Brotherhood/JKD-Brotherhood/bob-baker-oakland-jkd.html[permanent dead link]
Jump up ^ Black Belt Times. Black Belt. Active Interest Media, Inc. September 1972. pp. 12–. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
Jump up ^ "With a whimper, not a bang: 15 particularly depressing cinematic swan songs from talented actors". AV Club.
Jump up ^ Game of Death, Bey Logan audio commentary disc one (DVD featurette) (DVD). Hong Kong Legends, UK. 2001.
Jump up ^ http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=2051
Jump up ^ BUCKETHEAD Covers 'Game Of Death': Audio Available – 21 August 2006
Jump up ^ "Far East Movement-Satisfaction".
Jump up ^ "Game of Death DVD comparisons". DVDCompare.net. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
Jump up ^ "Game of Death Blu-ray comparisons". DVDCompare.net. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
Jump up ^ "Bruce Lee's Last, Game of Death, Remastered in Glorious 4K!". Play-Asia.com. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
Jump up ^ "Game of Death Collector's Edition". ShoutFactory.com. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Game of Death
Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Game of Death
Official website at Miramax Films
Game of Death on IMDb
Game of Death at Rotten Tomatoes
Game of Death at AllMovie
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Conscription Crisis of 1917
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article's lead section does not adequately summarize key points of its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page. (November 2017)
Conscription Crisis of 1917
An anti-conscription parade in Montreal on May 17, 1917
Date
1917–18
Location
Quebec
Caused by
Military Service Act, Conscription
Goals
Repeal the Military Service Act
End Conscription in Canada
Methods
Mass protests, riots.
Resulted in
Parliament passes the Military Service Act
Parties to the civil conflict
Imperialists
Prime Minister's Office
Conservative Party
Liberal–Unionists
Ministry of Militia
Nationalists
His Majesty's Opposition
Laurier Liberals
Pacifists and anti-war protesters
Lead figures
Sir Robert Borden
Sir Albert Edward Kemp
Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Henri Bourassa
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 (French: Crise de la conscription de 1917) was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war. It also brought out many issues regarding relations between French Canadians and English Canadians and motivated many revolutionary acts.
Contents
[hide]
1 Background
2 Conscription Crisis 1917
3 The election of 1917
4 Conscription in practice
5 Imperialism and nationalism
6 Quebec Easter riots and the end of the war
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
Background[edit]
Main article: Military history of Canada during World War I
Canada entered World War I on 4 August 1914.[1] Colonel Sam Hughes was the Canadian Minister of Militia, and on 10 August he was permitted to create a militia of 25,000 men.[1] Before the end of August 1914, Hughes had already created a training camp at Valcartier, Quebec, which was capable of housing 32,000 men.[1] The first contingent of 31,200 Canadians, dubbed "Canada's Answer", arrived in Britain on October 14 for continued training.[1] Hughes moved with incredible speed to create Canadian battalions which allowed Canadian troops to be kept together as units for the first time.[1]
Relatively few French Canadians volunteered. The experience of the first contingent suggested that they could expect nothing but ill-treatment as French-speaking Catholics in English-speaking battalions filled with what they perceived as mostly Protestant men and officers who were unable to communicate with them. Young French Canadians seeking to serve, chose, instead, the few traditional "French" regiments of the Canadian militia, such as Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, where barracks life was in French, and only the command language was in English. They had to be turned away because the Minister of Militia and his subordinates were obstinate in their refusal to mobilise these traditionally French regiments or to create new ones. However, the government continued to raise its expectations for volunteers, aiming for 150,000 men by 1915. English Canadians did not believe that French Canada was providing a fair share to the war effort. Sam Hughes, in June 1917, informed the House of Commons that of the 432,000 Canadian volunteers fewer than 5% came from French Canada, which made up 28% of the Canadian population at that time.[1] There have been many reasons proposed for the lack of Québecois volunteers; however, many prominent Canadian historians suggest that the Ontario government's move to disallow French language instruction in Regulation 17 as the main reason.[1]
Political pressure in Quebec, along with some public rallies, demanded the creation of French-speaking units to fight a war that was viewed as being right and necessary by many Quebecers, despite Regulation 17 in Ontario and the resistance in Quebec of those such as Henri Bourassa. Indeed, Montreal's La Presse editorialised that Quebec should create a contingent to fight as part of the French Army. When the government relented, the first new unit was the 22nd (French Canadian) Battalion, CEF. While a few other French-speaking groups were also allowed to be created, mostly by Reserve officers, they were all disbanded to provide replacements for the 22nd, which suffered close to 4,000 wounded and killed in the course of the war.
As the war dragged on, soldiers and politicians soon realised there would be no quick end. Eventually, people learned of the trench conditions and some casualties in Europe, and men stopped volunteering. There were over 300,000 recruits by 1916, but Prime Minister Robert Borden had promised 500,000 by the end of that year, even though Canada's population was only 8 million at the time.
Conscription Crisis 1917[edit]
After the Battle of the Somme, Canada was in desperate need to replenish its supply of soldiers; however, there were very few volunteers to replace them. The recruiting effort in Quebec had failed, and Canada turned to its only remaining option: conscription.
Almost all French Canadians opposed conscription; they felt that they had no particular loyalty to either Britain or France. Led by Henri Bourassa, they felt their only loyalty was to Canada. English Canadians supported the war effort as they felt stronger ties to the British Empire.[1] The Conscription Crisis of 1917 caused a considerable rift along ethnic lines between Anglophones and Francophones.[1]
After visiting Britain for a meeting of First Ministers in May 1917, Borden announced that he would introduce the Military Service Act on August 29, 1917. The Act was passed: allowing the government to conscript men across the country if the Prime Minister felt that it was necessary.
The election of 1917[edit]
To solidify support for conscription in the 1917 election, Borden extended the vote through the Military Voters Act to overseas soldiers, who were in favour of conscription to replace their depleted forces (women serving as nurses were also given the right to vote). For Borden, these votes had another advantage, as they could be distributed in any riding, regardless of the soldier's regular place of residence. With the Wartime Elections Act, women who were the wives, sisters, daughters and mothers of men serving overseas were also granted the right to vote in this election, as they appeared to be more patriotic and more worthy of a public voice. On the other hand, conscientious objectors and recent immigrants from "enemy countries" were denied the right to vote. In the election, Borden was opposed not only by Bourassa but also by Liberal Party leader Wilfrid Laurier, though he had been abandoned by much of his party. Laurier had opposed conscription from the beginning of the war, arguing that an intense campaign for volunteers would produce enough troops. He privately felt that if he joined the coalition government, Quebec would fall under what he perceived as a dangerous nationalism of Bourassa, which might ultimately lead to Quebec leaving the Canadian confederation.[citation needed]
Borden's Unionist Party won the election with 153 seats; Laurier's Liberals secured 82 seats, 62 from Quebec.
Conscription in practice[edit]
After the Military Service Act was passed in 1917 tensions ran high throughout Canada. Not all Canadians were as enthusiastic about joining the war effort as the first Canadian volunteers had been. In fact, many people objected to the idea of war completely. The conscientious objectors or unwilling soldiers sought exemption from combat. Instead, many joined the Non-Combatant Corps, where they took on other roles. Their duties consisted of cleaning and other labour. They did not carry weapons but were expected to dress in uniform, and they practised regular army discipline. Often the conscientious objector was abused, deemed a coward, and stripped of basic rights.[2] In the British House of Commons a resolution for the disenfranchisement of conscientious objectors was defeated by 141 to 71. Lord Hugh Cecil, who was a well-known churchman and statesman, said that he was “entirely out of sympathy for conscientious objectors, but he could not force them to do what they thought was wrong or punish them for refusing to do something they thought was wrong.”[3]
However, the government was making an effort to be sympathetic toward those who refused to take part in military service. Many communities set up local tribunals. If a man refused to serve he was put in front of a panel of two judges: one appointed by a board of selection named by Parliament, and the other by the senior county judge. The man was to plead his case, and if the panel was not convinced, the man asking for exemption was allowed to appeal.[4] If the judges found that it was best if the person stayed at home, then he was not sent overseas. Many Canadians were unhappy with the conscientious objectors' choice to refuse combat. Many people believed that if people were not willing to give service against the enemy, then the only choice for them was between civil or military prisons.[5]
Conscription posed a difficult question for the government. Conscription was unprecedented, and the problem proved to be that the government did not know who was best suited to become a soldier, a toolmaker or a farmer. The issue of manpower and ensuring that the proper men were being relocated to the most appropriate roles overseas was an issue that lasted the duration of the war.[6]
Imperialism and nationalism[edit]
Even though 35,000 French Canadians served overseas throughout the war, the conscription question resulted in French Canadians feeling more isolated than ever from the rest of Canada. They never fully supported the war effort, which resulted in the Federal government expressing deep concern over French Canada’s nationalist and anti-war stance.[7] For the first time in Canada’s brief fifty-year history, there were substantial arguments being made in favour of revoking the Constitutional Act of 1867.[8] The nation was divided between English-speaking imperialists who supported the overseas war effort and French-speaking nationalists who believed that conscription was a second attempt to impose the Conquest, therefore it needed to be resisted at all costs. The Federal Conservatives had stated on numerous occasions that conscription would not be imposed.[9] However, upon his return from London in May 1917, Borden met with his cabinet and announced that he would be imposing conscription. While in London, Borden had received a lot of pressure to send more troops to fully support the allied forces. He was convinced that Canada’s war effort was weak and only conscription could make it respectable.[10] All of his English-speaking ministers supported the idea. However his two French-Canadian ministers were hesitant. They fully understood the negative reactions that French-Canadians would have.[11] The French-Canadian nationalists who opposed conscription viewed it as neither necessary nor successful. They argued that it caused an avoidable rift between English and French-Canada.[12] The debate surrounding conscription would be one that would have a significant impact on both Federal and provincial politics for many years following World War I.
Quebec Easter riots and the end of the war[edit]
On January 1, 1918, the Unionist government began to enforce the Military Service Act. The act caused 404,385 men to be liable for military service, from which 385,510 sought exemption, The Military Service Act was vague and offered many exemptions, and almost all of these men were able to avoid service, even if they had supported conscription. The most violent opposition occurred in Quebec, where anti-war attitudes drawn from French-Canadian nationalism sparked a weekend of rioting between March 28 and April 1, 1918. The disturbances began on the Thursday when Dominion Police detained a French-Canadian man who had failed to present his draft exemption papers. Despite the man’s release, an angry mob of nearly 200 soon descended upon the St. Roch District Police Station where the man had been held. By the following Good Friday evening, an estimated 15,000[dubious – discuss] rioters had ransacked the conscription registration office as well as two pro-conscription newspapers within Quebec City.[13]
This escalation of violence along with rumours of an alleged province-wide uprising prompted Quebec City Mayor Henri Edgar Lavigueur to contact Ottawa and request reinforcements. Alarmed by the two days of rioting, the Borden Government invoked the War Measures Act of 1914, which gave the federal government the power to directly oversee the maintenance of law and order in Quebec City.[13] By the following morning, 780 federal soldiers had been deployed in the city, with an additional 1,000 en route from Ontario and 3,000 from western provinces. Despite their imminent arrival, protracted violence continued into the night of March 30, leading into a precarious Sunday.[13] The final and bloodiest conflict happened Easter Monday, when crowds once again organized against the military presence in the city, which by then had grown to 1,200 soldiers – all of whom came from Ontario. Once armed rioters began to fire on troops from concealed positions, the soldiers were ordered to fire on the crowds, immediately causing them to disperse. Though the actual number of civilian casualties is debated, official reports from that day name five men killed by gunfire. Dozens more were injured. Among the soldiers are 32 recorded injuries that day, with no deaths. Monday, April 1, marked the end of the Easter Riots, which totaled over 150 casualties and $300,000 in damage.[13]
The Easter Riots represent one of the most violent disturbances in Canadian history. This stemmed from a clash between English Canada's linkage to the British Empire and opposing currents in French-Canadian nationalism, which became exacerbated during wartime and ultimately erupted over conscription. Curiously, the event itself is rarely studied as anything other than a footnote to the larger political debate around conscription at the time. However, the severity and swiftness of Ottawa’s response serves to demonstrate their determination to impose conscription and prevent a national crisis. Moreover, the military crackdown which lasted in Quebec until the end of the war resulted in an increase in state power in the wake of growing French-Canadian nationalism.[13]
By the spring of 1918, the government had amended the act so that there were no exemptions, which left many English Canadians opposed as well. Even without exemptions, only about 125,000 men were ever conscripted, and only 25,000 of these were sent to the front. Fortunately for Borden, the war ended within a few months, but the issue left Canadians divided and distrustful of their government. In 1920, Borden retired, and his successor, Arthur Meighen, was defeated in the 1921 election. Conservatives were virtually shut out of Quebec for the next 50 years.
See also[edit]
History of Canada portal
Conscription Crisis of 1944
Francœur Motion
Conscription referenda in Australia
Conscription Crisis of 1918 in Ireland
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i The Peoples of Canada, “A Post-Confederation History”, J.M. Bumstead
Jump up ^ Bishop, Elaine. "Conscientious Objector".
Jump up ^ "Patriotism and Partizanship". The Toronto Star. September 14, 1917.
Jump up ^ "Borden Tells of Need for Reinforcements". The Toronto Star. June 12, 1917.
Jump up ^ "Opinions/ Editorials". The Globe and Mail. June 26, 1917.
Jump up ^ Granatstein, J.L (2005). Canada and the First World War:Essays in Honour of Robert Craig Brown. Toronto: UTP Press.
Jump up ^ Martin F. Auger, “On the Brink of Civil War: The Canadian Government and the Suppression of the 1918 Quebec Easter Riots,”Canadian Historical Review 89/4 (December 2008): 504
Jump up ^ Martin F. Auger, “On the Brink of Civil War: The Canadian Government and the Suppression of the 1918 Quebec Easter Riots,”Canadian Historical Review 89/4 (December, 2008): 540
Jump up ^ J.L. Granastein and J.M. Hitsman, Broken Promises: A History of Conscription in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press), 60–61
Jump up ^ J.L. Granastein and J.M. Hitsman, Broken Promises: A History of Conscription in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press), 60
Jump up ^ J.L. Granastein and J.M. Hitsman, Broken Promises A History of Conscription in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press), 63–64
Jump up ^ A.M. Williams, Conscription 1917 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1969), 1
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Auger, Martin F. "On the Brink of Civil War: The Canadian Government and the Suppression of the 1918 Quebec Easter Riots" Canadian Historical Review 89/4 (2008), pp. 9, 15–17, 83
Further reading[edit]
Shaw, Amy J (2009), Crisis of conscience: conscientious objection in Canada during the First World War, UBC Press, ISBN 978-0-7748-1593-2
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