On July 16, 2025, martial arts movie iconBruce Leepassed away suddenly and unexpectedly in his sleep at the age of 32 after being diagnosed with cerebral edema a month before. A young celebrity’s death is always shocking, and by the age of 32, he was already a martial arts master. He originated a hybrid style known asJeet Kune Do, and was an avid student of many fighting styles, including fencing, andpracticed poetry and philosophy. This isn’t even touching on his career in film and television, which would make him a cultural icon.
Though he’d been active in the Hong Kong film industry for many years, along with his role as Kato in the 1966Green Hornetseries, his first classic martial arts film didn’t come out until 1971 with his breakout role inThe Big Boss. Only three other films were released in his lifetime;Fist of Fury,The Way of the Dragon(which he also wrote and produced), andFist of Unicorn.It only took those four films for him to become a legend, but as soon as his star picked up momentum, he was gone. A handful of films were released posthumously, withEnter the Dragonbeing released only a week after his death, but it wasn’t enough for the audience and the film industry at large. Lee’s death left a sizable vacuum in a genre that was only getting bigger. Who else was going to star in theseincreasingly popular martial arts movies? It’s time to dive in to the Bruceploitation genre.
What Is Bruceploitation?
It’s exactly what it says on the tin; a long list of exploitation films that profited off the death and continued fame of Bruce Lee.Enter the Dragonbecame an international juggernaut, and many film studios in Hong Kong still wanted to ride that wave. Of course, actors have modeled themselves on other actors before. People have made careers purely off imitation, as evident withRobert Sacchiand his striking resemblance toHumphrey Bogart, orCharles BronsonimpersonatorRobert Bronzi, but an entire genre is a different story.
Bruce Li,Bruce Lai, andBruce Leiweren’t any of the actors' real names who starred in these Bruce Lee-style films, but were insteadHo Chung Tao,Chang Yi-Tao, andMoon Kyoung-seok.The hiring process of these actors is outlined in the stellar 2023 documentaryEnter the Clones of Bruce. Studios scouted martial arts schools across Asia, looking for potential actors who kind of, sort of, looked like Bruce Lee, and could be taught to fight like Bruce Lee.They were given his hairstyle, they did his little mannerisms,and most importantly, they all played either Lee himself or the characters he played.
The Half-Finished ‘Game of Death’ Was Scraped Together After Bruce Lee’s Death
Bruce Lee’s tragic death left his final martial-arts film in disarray.
It truly was the Wild West, as any bizarre or blatantly insensitive concept was on the table: sequels to his classics,not-so-accurate biopics about the actor’s life, conspiracies about his death, and films where he is resurrected. Many of these actors have gone on to say they weren’t wild about these roles. They either wanted to be known for their own merits rather than someone else’s, or they knewthat they couldn’t do the man justice because they weren’t actors.Wong Kin-lung,otherwise known as Bruce Le, tells Variety:
“Bruce was a very dedicated performer and acting is not like kung fu… So it wasn’t actually as easy to imitate him as they thought, because of the acting component involved. At the start, we wanted to imitate our idol. But after making 10 or so movies, I started to create my own style — but at the same time, I was still following the spirit of Bruce Lee.”
Jackie Chan Emerged From the Bruceploitation Shadow
One of the actors who managed to successfully break out of the Bruceploitation bubble wasChan Kong-sang, or as you may know him,Jackie Chan.He worked with Lee onEnter The DragonandFist of Fury, and starred in the sequel to the latter,New Fist of Fury. (Subtle title,considering directorLo Weifirst marketed himas another new Bruce Lee.) What prevented him from getting lost in the shuffle is that,while he was a great martial artist, he was an actor first.He got his education at the China Drama Academy, where he learned about Peking Opera, combining music, acrobatics, dance, and acting. This background allowed him to be more adventurous in his performances and developed a style that incorporated things like slapstick comedy. His combination of fighting and fun is what made his performance in 1978’sDrunken MasterandSnake in the Eagle’s Shadowboth star-making and internationally beloved. Just like that, the ghost of Bruce Lee was no longer the only game in town and slowly but surely, Bruceploitation came to an end.
Recently,Mike MohplayedBruce Lee inOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood, and three big fighting games —Tekken,Street Fighter, andMortal Kombat— all have their versions of him. Someone has to be truly special to make such a lasting impact, one that could take a lifetime to manifest, in only a handful of years. It’s clear that Bruce Lee was one of those people — often imitated, but never duplicated.
Enter the Clones of Bruce
Enter the Clones of Bruce (2023) delves into the proliferation of imitators following Bruce Lee’s untimely death, exploring the phenomenon of copycat films and the cultural impact on martial arts cinema. The documentary examines the influence of Lee’s legacy and the industry’s response to fill the void left by his absence.
Enter the Clones of Bruceis available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.
