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List Price: $59.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 18302
Released: May 21, 2002 |
| Our Price: $116.94 |
| Used Price: $29.99 |
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MPAA Rating: X (Mature Audiences Only)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Sinewy, sleek, and oozing charisma, Bruce Lee brought sex appeal to the martial arts genre, dominating even the most cliché-riddled adventures with his mix of good-humored geniality and focused intensity. His first film, the low-budget Hong Kong adventure Fists of Fury (as it was titled in the U.S.), is exactly that: a raw, rough-edged revenge drama of a country boy who uncovers a heroin-smuggling ring. Yet the film comes alive when Lee pounces into action, his wiry, well-muscled frame erupting in lightning moves. His follow-up, The Chinese Connection, keeps the revenge theme going for a tale of a kung fu student who avenges his teacher's death at the hands of a Japanese rival. The international success of both films enabled the increasingly ambitious Lee to write and direct his own feature, Return of the Dragon, a more-comic tale of a Chinese country boy who travels to Rome to help out cousins under the thumb of local mobsters. Though filled with excellent martial arts bouts, all choreographed by Lee, the highlight is a death match between Lee and karate champion Chuck Norris in the Roman Colosseum. Lee died before completing his last feature, Game of Death, and a rather unconvincing double runs around much of the film between footage of the real Lee, but the climax features an impressive bout with basketball star and Lee student Kareem Abdul-Jabar. Though a cut above most martial arts movies of the period, these are no masterpieces, but then who watches a Bruce Lee film for the story? In these films, plot is simply there for the scenes between Lee's amazing fight sequences. The documentary Bruce Lee: The Legend completes the collection. --Sean Axmaker
Bruce Lee - The Master Collection Set Reviews:
Great Idea, Poor Execution! 
2009-10-10 - Looks like Marketing did its job but Production totally screwed up here. The mostly cardboard package is well designed opening up into 5 holders for each of the dvds that comprise this set. Also included is a nice colour 8-page Program Guide. Unfortunately this overall package falls extremely short where it matters; in another example of the adage "you can't judge a book by its cover" the content is extremely poor! None of the films have been restored picture quality-wise or remastered sound quality-wise resulting in a barely tolerable viewing experience of what represents the best Bruce Lee films on at least 3 of the 5 discs. The picture quality is severely lacking with imperfections on virtually every frame while the sound quality comes only in mono. The last disc which contains a 70's documentary on the life of Bruce Lee done soon after his untimely death is also very raw although it is not the worst disc here.
On the first disc, "Fists of Fury", we get an excellent Golden Harvest flick with some of Bruce's best pugilistic skills on show as he defends and avenges his family from the unscrupulous drug dealing Big Boss. Interestingly, the hero doesn't end up in the usual happy ending that most film-goers are used to as Bruce seems to emphasize the point that violence should only be resorted to as a very last resort and that once you let the cat out of the bag there are serious consequences to deal with even for the innocent victims.
On the second film, "The Chinese Connection", we get a more traditional Chinese film in that the scene is set in Shanghai of the 1930s and themes of honour and allegience to a certain school of martial arts are paramount including the need to avenge the murder of one's teacher. To me this is Bruce's best film as he shows many aspects of his acting skills showing he is not just a great fighter but that he can also emote and act in different roles as he proves in his disguise as an old man and then as a geeky telephone repairman. There are a lot more extended fighting scenes here as compared to the first film and overall this is a very good film and I rate this even higher than "Enter the Dragon." Again this story shows how violence begets violence and both the guilty and the innocent suffer its consequences in the end.
The third film, "Return of the Dragon", is also very enjoyable as Bruce gets a chance to write and direct a script and we get to see a very funny, humorous side of Bruce's acting as well. We also get cameo appearances by famous other pugilists of the time pitting their skills against the master such as Bob Wall and of course the excellent scene at the end with Chuck Norris at the Colliseum where just like in the ancient times two gladiators fight to the death. An excellent film and together with "The Chinese Connection" represent the best two films of Bruce Lee.
In an attempt to recoup the production costs expended before Bruce's untimely death akin to what's going on now with Michael Jackson, the studios decided to put together whatever they could in a last attempt at cashing in on Bruce's popularity in the unfortunate release of "Game of Death" which contains very little of actual Bruce and only comes alive at the last 18 minutes where Bruce fights against a few renowned fighters in his attempt to get at the ultimate evil villain at the top of a pagoda. The rest of the film barely rises above filler material and you endure it just so you can get to the last 18 minutes; thankfully with this dvd you can now skip ahead.
Great idea, very, very poor execution makes this set highly NOT recommended and you are better off getting the individual movies in a properly restored format preferably with the original spoken languages as well as an option for the dubbed English if you like. The essential viewing are really the first 3 films and you can add "Enter the Dragon" to get the best of Bruce's film work. Perhaps these four films will be available in restored Blu-ray format soon? If so, I recommend the wait.
Pros and cons 
2009-04-19 - The product came as discribed, but I had to wait the right around 2 weeks for it. Then when I found it came from my state, I was even more frustrating. It's like the seller waited to ship it or something!
The Master Collection Set...ahem! Minus One
2009-04-05 - Being a fan of Bruce Lee (born Lee Juan Fan in San Francisco in 1940), it's hard not to like this collection with the exception of missing his masterpiece, "Enter the Dragon" by Warner Brothers.
This is the original release of Bruce Lee's movies unlike 'compilations' that sell for a fraction of this. The image quality of the movies is good and it has subtitles. Each disk is comprised of just the movie. However, the extra disk "Bruce Lee: The Legend" chronicles his life and work on the movies, and even covers a bit of the conspiracy theories that surrounded his death.
The man and his work introduced the Western Culture to the World of Martial Arts on the big screen. It is no surprise that, even today, his movies excite, entertain, and inspire martial artists (young and old) and movie afficionados. His work ethic and commitment to his art is evident in these movies. His movies brought "Gung Fu" to the modern day with many of his stories presented in the age of his contemporaries, rather than the more ancient periods of Chinese Warriors. These works, although superficial in plot, showcased his talents and physical prowess. We see how the acting and cinematography become more refined as we follow his career. Each subsequent movie incorporated more and more Western actors, although Jackie Chan is never acknowledged in any of the films (Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon). It is interesting that none of the movies in this collection featured his real voice (except for Enter the Dragon, separate from this compilation).
Some of the celebrities in these movies, featured in other Western films, included Bolo Yeung, John Saxon, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Chuck Norris, Colleen Camp, Mel Novak, Jackie Chan (uncredited), Robert Wall and Dan Innosanto.
Just to re-iterate, these movies carry an R-Rating; although, by modern standards, these fit the bill for PG-13.
Overall, this is a no-frills collection of every movie (Minus one). The documentary was well done and I enjoyed getting insight into this talented, introspective martial artist who passed away at the height of his career.
I am awaiting its release on Bluray, someday. I hope future releases include 'unreleased footage', interviews and a remastered version.
Despite some limitations, I enjoyed this collection, and give it 4 stars for missing "Enter the Dragon".
This collections missing one thing.
2009-02-09 - This collection is about one of the greatest Martial Artist in movie history, and some of his greatest movies.
Theres just one reason I had to give the collection 4 instead of 5 stars, how could you have a Bruce Lee collection, and leave out Enter the Dragon?
Not only was that arguably the greatest Martial arts movie of all times, but because of that movie guys (& ladies) like me enjoyed games like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Teken.
I love to watch Bruce Lee 
2009-01-14 -
I love martial arts. I like Chuck Norris. These are good movies i watched them in China when i was there in November.
Calvin
