Bruce Lee is perhaps the go-to example of a martial arts movie star, and with good reason. The man was charismatic, likable, and a joy to watch throughout his action sequences, thanks to his unique form of martial arts known as Jeet Kune Do. Naturally, his skills as a martial artist made him a perfect fit for the martial arts/kung fu movie genres, and it’s within such films that he made his mark, becoming a dominant pop culture icon during the 1970s after also being a child actor earlier in his career, and appearing as Kato in The Green Horneta TV series that aired in 1966 and 1967.
Lee died tragically young, in 1973, being just 32 and at the start of what could’ve been a long and fruitful film career. Of his classic martial arts movies, three were released when he was still alive, one was complete and released posthumously, and one was incomplete but cobbled together what it could, and got a release several years after Bruce Lee’s passing. Those five movies comprise Lee’s official starring filmography as a martial arts actorand tend to be what he’s most remembered for. They’re all ranked below, starting with decent yet flawed and ending with the all-time greats.
5 ‘Game of Death’ (1978)
Director: Robert Clouse
Image via Criterion
In the wake of Bruce Lee’s passing, people were naturally shocked and saddened by the idea that there wouldn’t be any more Bruce Lee martial arts movies (50+ years later, it’s still upsetting how few there are). This was a reason why a new sub-genre was born: Bruceploitationwhich used archival footage and look-alike actors to sell new martial arts movies throughout the rest of the 1970s as true Bruce Lee movies. There’s a sinking feeling that comes from watching these, and the whole genre feels tacky and even disrespectful… but Game of Death shines a little brighter than most of its contemporaries for one key reason.
Bruce Lee was working on Game of Death when he passed away, and though he only managed to shoot a few key action scenes, these do make it into the movie and are a blast to watch. Game of Death is a rough watch for most of its runtime, with brazen workarounds put in place to make up for the fact that Lee couldn’t shoot most of the movie. But the final act contains the stuff Lee had shot, and those fight sequences are amazing, equaling the quality of the martial arts scenes seen in Bruce Lee’s earlier works. Game of Death is still worth watching for the good stuff alone, but viewers need to be warned that there’s a lot of trash to dig through to get to the great parts right near the end.
4 ‘Fist of Fury’ (1972)
Director: Lo Wei
Fist of Fury marks the point where things start getting very good, when it comes to looking at the films Bruce Lee starred in – and excelled in – during the 1970s. Game of Death might be worth watching for fans of the actor (at least the final act, which contains the Bruce Lee stuff one’s after), but his other four big movies can be recommended wholeheartedly and without caveats. Their general high quality does make ranking a little difficult, but one has to be considered the least good of all the good ones, and (the still very good) Fist of Fury is here to fulfill that role.
The movie’s plot gives Lee an excuse to play a one-man-army, here being a martial arts student who wants revenge for the murder of his mentorand finds himself fighting back against injustices perpetrated by Japanese colonialists in China (the film is set at the start of the 20th century). Whenever the fighting gets underway, Fist of Fury is understandably a blast, and the story – though simple – mostly works, and it’s also a film that comments on colonialism, racism, and prejudice. It can be uneven, but it’s largely good stuff, and also noteworthy for featuring a very young Jackie Chanhere appearing as a stunt double and an unnamed martial arts student.
3 ‘The Big Boss’ (1971)
Director: Lo Wei
Anyone wanting to see Bruce Lee appear in something that blends a crime/gangster storyline with plenty of martial arts action ought to make watching The Big Boss a priority. This was his first big martial arts movie, and holds up surprisingly well, all things considered, and arguably even feels underrated nowadays, not talked about quite as often as his other iconic martial arts films. Narratively, The Big Boss sees Lee playing a young man who’s sworn off getting into fights as a way to resolve conflicts, only to find such a thing becoming continually challenging the more he – and those he knows – get mistreated by various crooks.
Tension builds expertly, thanks to this premise, and once Bruce Lee’s character is unleashed and unequivocally out for blood, The Big Boss explodes, shocks, and awes, all in equal measure. The pacing might not always feel the quickest, as a result of the story being told, but it’s all worth it in the end. Also, Bruce Lee is typically great throughout, giving a good dramatic/reserved performance throughout the first half of the movie and an amazing physical performance throughout the more action-packed second half. It’s extremely compelling stuff all around.
2 ‘The Way of the Dragon’ (1972)
Director: Bruce Lee
The Way of the Dragon stands out for a few reasons, and is quintessential Bruce Lee through and through as a result. Lee was no stranger to working both behind and in front of the camera, being an action director for all his big movies, and being the original director of the unfinished Game of Death. The Way of the Dragon stands as his only completed movie that he was the sole director of, and he wrote the film, too. It was also the final film released before his death, it’s a good deal more comedic than most of Lee’s other works, and it’s noteworthy for featuring Chuck Norris in a villainous role.
Really, that’s the most iconic part of the movie: Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris fight near the end of the film, and at the Colosseum, no less. The rest of the movie sees Lee’s character attempting to help a family business in Rome, and standing up against various evildoers who are in the way of said business thriving. The Way of the Dragon is another Bruce Lee movie where Bruce Lee stands up against injustice and punches/kicks a good many unjust people again and again, but he was so good at doing it that it’s hard to complain. Overall, The Way of the Dragon is one of his most entertaining, and wouldn’t be a bad starting point for anyone who’s never seen a Bruce Lee movie.
1 ‘Enter the Dragon’ (1973)
Director: Robert Clouse
Within the pantheon of great action movies, Enter the Dragon is always up there as one of the very best, and is easily the most iconic/famous film Bruce Lee ever appeared in. Enter the Dragon was completed before Lee passed away, but released posthumously, serving as an inadvertent swansong for an amazingly talented actor/martial artist who’d experienced a meteoric rise in fame over the previous few years. It’s still a shame things effectively ended here, but at least Enter the Dragon allowed Bruce Lee to appear in one undisputed classic during his career, and it’s a film that still soars more than half a century on from release.
Enter the Dragonstarts as something of a sports movie, revolving around a strange martial arts tournament run by a shadowy figure who seems to be up to something else. The fights eventually are no longer for sport, and are done to the death, which ratchets up the tension beautifully and makes each action sequence feel more intense than the last. It’s a bold, colorful, exciting, sometimes over-the-top, and always entertaining movie, to the point where it’s no stretch to call Enter the Dragon one of the best martial arts films ever made, and the greatest movie Bruce Lee ever starred in.